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[Carolyne]

Hi I'm Carolyne, aka Garden Genie, YT commenter sometimes.  Researching vandwelling because i think its the only way i will survive retirement!  Finding it scary but the thought of only having a van to take care of instead of a house and yard and all the chores... well, you get it.  I have so many questions! -but  I want to do a lot of reading of material here before i start asking them, they are probably all answered!

 I currently own an older, high mileage minivan but I wish to get a van in which to live and to work from.  Im looking at cargo vans because well, i am a gardener and i need room for tools!  [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I am in the PNW and will need to stay for a few years yet, if all goes as i hope-- but this means i will need to insulate well.  I KNOW i have enough crap - ahem! I mean good quality plastic stuff to do a no-build build at first.  And so it begins.  HOW the hay does a person find a van???  they seem scarce up here.  Thank you all for being here![/font]

 

[OptimistInAVan]

Welcome to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Turtlelady]

Welcome, Carolyne. I suspect you will have fun searching for the right van. I loved the search and it prepared me to feel confident once I found the right fit for me/us. Sure surprised me, actually, what I ended up with. Certainly was not the van I thought I wanted and needed. Compromise to suit my perceived needs and my hubby's notions was a dance. I have enjoyed the van immensely, and it has fit our needs well, so far. Realizing so many folks switch up several times as they learn their real needs of the moment takes the pressure of finding THE perfect rig for all time. Happy trails to you.

 

[Qxxx]

Welcome Carolyne. Minivans work good but space is limited. I have a cargo van and it works fine for me, but I do part time. For long term living, you may be more comfortable in a larger high top van. You can get good deals on 1 or 2 year old vans, and I think ... cargurus,com ... for your area is the best place to look.

In my case, I bought a 1-yo "certified" van from the local GMC dealer. It cost a bit more, but they did a thorough inspection and provided a 2 1/2 year bumper-to-bumper warranty.

I just ran across this video and it seems about as good as it gets, .

 

[jacqueg]

You have time to search, so don't rush. I found my van on seattle craigslist after about 6 months of looking. Many cargo vans have been used by people like painters and electricians, and the ones in my price range were mostly pretty beat up. Still, I found one that had been mostly used as a toy ruler, and it was in good shape for its age. They're out there.

As for your tools - consider renting the smallest storage unit you can find. My guess would be that you don't need ALL your tools every day that you work. 

Where are you planning to park your van at night? Do you have friends/family who have some room for your van? You don't say where you are in the PNW, but it is very common for cities here to require anyone parked on the street to move their vehicles at least once in a set number of days - 3 is usual. (My seller sold the van to me because he got tired of moving the van frequently.)

 

[maki2]

Safety, find a nice neighborhood with some nicely kept apartments nearby so that you don't stick out the way you will on a street with only single family homes. On single family home streets people tend to notice vehicles that are not around everyday and they often have neighborhood "block watch" members. But with apartments there are simply too many people that come and go as renters for anyone to pay that close of attention to an ordinary looking, decently kept van.

 

[Malamute]

As for your gardening tools, Ive used the trailer hitch mounted cargo racks, they give accessible storage space without cluttering up the inside of the vehicle. I built a simple plywood (actually OSB) box the basic size of the cargo rack to keep things safe and out of the weather. I used to drag the cargo rack on curbs and low spots, so made some modifications to raise it about a foot, which helped quite a lot. Rooftop cargo/travel boxes give room also, but arent as easy to get in to when you need things, though are still an option for more storage space.

The hitch mounted rack affects being able to get in the rear door to a degree, more so when raised a foot, but in my case the utility of it was worth it.

Side benefit, getting food at drive throughs, then eating off the raised cargo box in the parking lot is nice. I strongly dislike eating in my vehicle.

 

[eDJ_]

I was talking with a woman on another message board the other day (dealing with cooking) and she told me the story of a  23 ft step vag she once purchased that was already built out as a camper.  It had a kitchenette, living area, bedroom, shower & toilet.  There was a water tank in it and an extension on the back for gas bottles & extra gear.  She was only looking for something to drive around as her car had been totaled by a tree falling on it during a storm.  Said she loved it and could kick herself for ever selling it.  She just liked driving it and was never that much of a camper. LOL

It seemed the original owner had passed away and it came to the car lot from his estate.  Originally it hauled potato chips and snacks. 

If you were to go out to the campgrounds & state parks and walk around the cramp grounds you may find some people that may know of someone wanting to sell a rig that's usable as is.  From time to time people want to move up to something better, larger, newer, or even smaller in some cases. If you network,  or go looking you may find a deal.

 

[maki2]

Sounds very much like you need a van that is long enough so that you can put in a partition at the rear. That extra space accessible from the rear door is what people who van dwell call their "garage". It is the perfect way to organize a collection of gardening tools as they can be hung and secured vertically against the partition and also against the small amount of side wall area in the "garage".

As to finding such a van there are quite a lot of sources in the PNW where people list cargo vans. Some "fleet" dealers specifically deal in used cargo vans and step vans too. I know there is one of them up in Woodinville area north of Seattle. There are also some down around the Algona and Kent areas south of Seattle. In fact bought a cargo van from a used van dealer in Woodinville quite a few years ago. They helped arrange the inspection for me. I felt it was an honest inspection and there were some incidentals in the inspection report that I got fixed as part of the bargaining process.