Glad to read that your trip was sucessful.

I have a 92 Astro Van and when my original alternator bearings failed at 144K miles, I also replaced the belt tensioner due to the bearings drying up and repacked the idler pulley bearings also due to the bearings drying up.

I have driven my Astro Van from Chicago to Colorado several times and also had a very comfortable ride. What most impressed me that I was able to drive up the Colorado Mountains with 6 large adults and the engine had more than enough torque to maintain highway speeds. Smaller minivans would drop below 40 MPH in speed.

When I purchased my Mercedes 98 E320 I bought it used from a private owner in San Diago. I drove it back to Chicago over a 3 day period and was even more impressed with the comfort of the ride. The seats fit me like a leather glove and I did not experience any driver fatigue driving 12 hours per day.

The advantage the E320 has over the Astro Van is that the seats have more adjustment (electric seats) and the sides of the seats angle up to keep you fitting snug in the seat. I believe that the firmness of the seat as well as the car has prevented driver fatigue.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles