Great vans, I’ve had 2 Gen 4s, one with the 3.3, one with the 3.8. The 3.8 ran like a scalded dog for a minivan and had no issue laying down rubber on demand, however the 3.3 seemed better matched to the character of the vehicle IMO. We towed a 3,000lb pop-up with the 3.3 and it did so with no issues at all.
Like you, it was easy to live with if one stayed on top of the repairs. I didn’t find it bad, but I also drove old volvos, which admittedly did require a little more care than say an accord or Camry. That single-leaf rear axle design was excellent for carrying loads and preserving handling - it didn’t have camber squat changing the dynamics on the highway - they somehow really got that right.
Our 2nd one had captains chairs throughout, and it was excellent for carrying large cargo too. New washer from HD? The van with loading ramps was far easier than a modern pickup.
After living with it for a while, I found it was a little easier to work on than you’d think - through-wheel well access and under-vehicle access was pretty good, which was good because like you, I had a regular occurrence of bushings, gaskets and hoses until we got through all that.
Mine did exhibit a really bad issue with the AT, where a downshift from 4th would create chaos - best I could figure, it would grab 3rd before it could release 4th. The whole vehicle would BANG, the gauges would drop to 0, and the lurch I feared was soon to break a mount. For a while I drove it in 3rd without OD. I made it both better and worse replacing the solenoid pack. Better because the 4-3 bang went away, but worse because I didn’t clean it near well enough before pulling the solenoids, and I suspect something like sand got in there and scored something up. Eventually, a mix of transmission fix (super thick ATF) and Lubeguard, at just the right amounts each, made it driveable, and so I drove it like that for a while until it started leaking enough to look for something else. It had some miles on it and didn’t owe us anything. Had I not made that mistake with the solenoid replacement, it would have still been in top shape, many years old. Glad you are enjoying yours!