I need help.from the community.

[The Ethiopian man]

Greetings to everyone. I am not new here but it has been a while since I log in and I forgot my password so I created this similar nick name. I love adventure and the freedom to be with nature. The idea of living in a van is very appealing to me. After reading so many good people here in this forum who have a lots of experience living in a van , and how they found happiness made me realize that I can do the same. I am oreginaaly from Ethiopia and I lived in U.S for 30Yrs and all that time i worked different jobs that never made me happy ,it was more of survival or modern slavery. Now I am.50yrs old living in apartment and on disability for depression,high blood pressure and type2/diabetes , I am getting sicker ev eryday and I am sure this life is the main cause of lmy illiness and if I don't change I.will die of between this four walls so called apartment.
Here is my situation now ,as wrote earlier i am on disability and recieve $800 a month. I also have 8000 saved up and want spend a van on $4000 and use the rest on converting the van.and rest for gas and security in case of breakdown.
I am not a mechanical person and I don't know anything about cars other than changing tires ,putting gas and driving g it. So I need help finding a good van and where to get help with the conversion. I live I Portland,Oregon.
Thank u.

 

[sephson]

This should be a good starting point for you:

http://portland.craigslist.org/search/cta?s=100&maxAsk=4000&minAsk=1&query=van&sort=priceasc

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I would buy a full size van off craigslist. Ford, Chevy or Dodge. Spend $2500 - $3000 and get it thoroughly inspected by a mechanic before purchase. Then take that extra money and expect it use it for repairs... which may or not happen.

When looking for a van the two most important factors are 1. Has it been well looked after with records and receipts as proof? 2. Lowest mileage as possible within your budget.

The most important thing is to hire a mechanic who you can trust to do a good inspection.

 

[cyndi]

You're doing a great job of finding possibilities, judging from your other thread. Buying a vehicle is one of the most stressful things I know. It's torture

That last van looked good, although a bit over priced for it's age. Get a mechanic to look at it and if it checks out make an offer. A mechanic might even tell you what to offer and how high to go.

I don't trust myself when it comes to buying cars. Although, I've been doing it pretty successfully for 30 years. I believe that's a fluke. I've been looking for a van for over a year, now. I am just that fussy.

Call the owner and get more information.

Some of the questions I ask when I call are
Is it on the road now? Can I test drive it? Can I take it to a mechanic to check out? If it's no tregistered and on the road, that a whole 'nuther ball game

How many owners? More than 2 or 3 freaks me out

Are there maintenance records available? How far back do they go?

Is the vehicle guaranteed to pass inspection or I get my money back (in some states it's illegal to sell a car that won't pass inspection)

Before I physically go to look at it I want to know engine size, options and trim so I can check the book value.
With Engine size, trim, options, other information you can go to edmunds.com and get a base price.
http://www.edmunds.com/used-cars/

Here's a printable list of things to look for, when you go to look at the car, before you spend the $100 for a mechanic to go over.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/data/used-car-checklist.pdf

And this is a great article to help you feel more comfortable with the whole stressful endeavor
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-to-buy-a-used-car-without-getting-burned

 

[The Ethiopian man]

If anyone live in Portland and knows about vans want to help me pick the right van pls contact me. I.will greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[The Ethiopian man]

This look good ... http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/4744927128.html

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Looks good. Go with a mechanic and check it out.

 

[cyndi]

I'm looking at almost the exact same van. For 3500. Hopefully a mechanic will be looking at it on Monday.

 

[Bdog1]

The 318 is a well respected engine.

 

[akrvbob]

That's one to look at for sure.
Bob

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

With $8,000 and $800 / month, you can do it, but it will be tight. Are you going to be working? How much traveling are you going to do? With a budget of $4,000 for the van, you won't get something that's going to last a real long time, especially if you are driving it a lot. So I wouldn't want to spend much on fixing it up, because if you need to replace the van you'll need to do all the converting all over again. You can live in a full size cargo van just fine. I spent 3 months living in a 1989 Dodge cargo van next to Washington, DC. Being able to stand up is real nice. I couldn't stand up in the Dodge, and it drove me nuts. Things that are essential to live in a van are a good cot, good sleeping bag, long underwear, stocking cap, and a bucket. Anyway, good luck!

 

[wagoneer]

It sounds to me that your health needs to come under control, High blood pressure is not a good thing. Extreme diet alterations are in order. Stop any alcohol abuse and get out and walk a lot breath deeply.
My blood pressure lowers when I'm on the road camping. As we all age our past self abuse catches up and the mistreatment payback is a bitch.
On the van thing, That one looks like it may be a carpet delivery van
with factory conversions everything is hidden or hiding in dark musty corners wiring tubing things will break disconnect wear out burn out some are better than others. Looks luxurious and thats the problem.

 

[ccbreder]

That dodge conversion is only a half ton. I turned down many of those. I prefer 1 ton, 3500. But i found a deal on a clean 2500 window van. Because I wanted to build a camper, there was less to remove from a window van than a conversion. While the window van has up graded interior trim compared to a cargo van. my 2 cents.

 

[wagoneer]

Get at least a 3/4 ton i personally prefer window vans The 1 ton I drive is relentless will tow most anything and with the high-top can't be beat paid 3500 and spent another 4500 through the years. (diesels cost more to work on). Just drove 55k miles.

 

[gypsychic]

Hello. I am also in PDX and looking for a van. I'm learning things just like you. I'm also in the same situation as in I'm on disability and looking to live full time in a van. Portland rent is high. I am not looking to purchase something right away necessarily so I'd be happy to meet up and help you go over a van or two and go on test drives. No competition for a van is what I'm saying. I wouldn't put an offer on something you are looking at.

As far as building I'd be happy to help you build. The only payment I would ask is that you help me with my build when the time comes. Depending on where you live in PDX there are community tool sheds that you can borrow tools from. I'm pretty handy. Don't have a lot of experience but everything I've done has turned out well. Must run in the family. My grandfather had his own woodworking shop and I used to watch him when I was little. I also used to watch my uncles work on cars. I always wanted to learn with them but they wouldn't teach me since I was a girl. So I've picked up skills here and there when I needed to.

See my request for advice earlier this evening. After I couldn't sleep, I opened up the computer again and started reading your thread because it had a lot of replies. And you're also in Portland PM me if you want and we can work together. My offer stands anytime throughout the process from now to ready to hit the road.

Best of luck to you!

Gypsy Chic

 

[The Ethiopian man]

Gypsychick Check your PM.

 

[gypsychic]

I don't have a PM and I checked my account to make sure the box was checked to allow PMs. I sent you one basically saying this. Can you send your PM again, pls. If it still doesn't show I will ask the mods for help. I also have email enabled so you can email me if you want.

Cheers