Advice needed on Craigslist find

[panamax4]

I found this van near me and it looks to be in decent shape, from the pictures. i plan to take a look at it tomorrow and would like everyone's take on it. What should I be looking at closely? should I have the owner start the appliances up prior to my visit to test them? How does the price look?

Any help is much appreciate.

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/5663546008.html

 

[panamax4]

My ultimate goal is to drive it from Austin to Alaska and then back down to Baja for the winter, stopping along the way to do seasonal biology work. I plan on staying in Alaska for three months or so and Baja for a few months. I will likely spend this winter in Austin at my current job to save money and decide if the van/vandwelling will work for me and my dog.

 

[Gunny]

Looks like a nice B model but about 2500 too high. I've seen a couple in the DFW area anywhere from 2500 to 4000. Maybe pristine for 5000 but not more. JMHO

 

[panamax4]

Im getting the same advice on other forums.

 

[Wanderer]

Well, looks nice, but one never knows till one inspects it...Saw a YT vid and that was going for $14K...I saw pics and none had that a/c above....Pretty low miles for such an older vehicle.....I'd look it over myself....But as for $$? Not sure...

 

[TrainChaser]

Always keep in mind that there is the ASKING PRICE and the PURCHASE PRICE. They're usually not the same. The seller can ask any amount he wants, but sometimes, no one wants to pay that amount.

 

[drysailor]

I found this van near me and it looks to be in decent shape, from the pictures. i plan to take a look at it tomorrow and would like everyone's take on it. What should I be looking at closely? should I have the owner start the appliances up prior to my visit to test them? How does the price look?

Any help is much appreciate.

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/5663546008.html

Hi Panamax - If it were me, I would look for signs that all the little things had been kept up; if I found a lot of stuff that needed attention I might be wary. Good, long term maintenance records would be a big plus for me and can help verify stated mileage. If it has a mechanical odometer, verify that all the digits kind of line up. Tampering will often leave some slightly out of whack. Check out every single thing that you can. Start it all up, turn it all on. If all that looked good, and I was happy with the way it started up cold, and the way it ran both cold and warmed up, I would get a real mechanic to look at it. I remember that Carfax had some kind of mechanic inspection service advertised on their site, cost was $150 or so for an organized, written report with a test drive. I would not personally let $1000 +/- in the cost deter me if it looked good. Tires alone would cost near that. Just MHO.