Pls help! Should I get an ambulance?

[Lorelei072]

I’m thinking about bidding on an government auction ambulance

https://www.govdeals.com/asset/1/27907

(Pls don’t be rude and start bidding against me. My finances are in poor shape & I’m barely hanging on.)

What I hope to find is another rig that’s 1) not so far behind on maintenance and repairs and 2) comes with a lot of cabinets and built-ins. But is that even knowable with auction vehicles? And I’d have to remove some hardware and fashion a bed as a bare minimum, then move on to establish a kitchen space.

I’m currently in a 1994 Ford E150/Mark III conversion van with under 140k miles.

I’m in a really weird place: Over the summer I worked on building storage to organize my belongings better but now everything is more disorganized than it was before. Winter clothing takes up more space and takes more effort to cram everything in. I have tools, toiletries, and food in multiple places. I have ideas to build more storage but I have multiple projects that I’m working on so my time is limited (especially after working 40hours/wk).

Edit: Issues with my current rig are some electrical problems, battery, tires + spare wheel & tire, no horn, no heat/AC, no radio, wires falling out of dash, needs brake work, shocks, fuel tank, fill neck, fuel pump, fuel filter, and if that doesn’t fix the check engine light & sporadic hesitation with acceleration & going uphill then more investigation & work. It does start & run reliably otherwise.

My mother and I have 4 acres that I try to work on at least once/week except during the heat of the summer. I’m mentioning this to account for the time, tools, and materials associated with wood clearing, gardening, chainsaws, PPE, Alaskan sawmill, burn barrel, and a gas pony for shou sugi ban. I’m trying to make a side hustle out of lumber. Most of those tools are stored on-site but I keep a couple things in the crammed van after spiders decided my steel-toe boots made a nice place to live

I think if I had a lighted & powered garage I could get more done but I don’t. So I’m limited to working within seasonal daylight, temperature extremes, precipitation, and dealing with too much clutter which has to be moved out of the way and restowed for me to do anything. A garage would facilitate if I didn’t have to restow everything every time I can’t finish a project at the end of a day or have to leave and go do something else.

My financial situation has been abysmal for the last 2 years and I haven’t had funds to maintain her. I’m making a little more $$ now but it’s a slow process to earn enough for another repair bill. I feel like I’m on living on borrowed time before another breakdown It’s especially bad because my job is very remote and I have no means to get to work when the van is in the shop. It’s just so disruptive. I stay in my mother’s apartment when there’s an extended repair and sometimes she has had to pay the bill She’s has had to step in & bail me out several times.

I’m working full time making fair but not great wages in the commercial plant nursery industry. I’m hoping to stay with this company for the insurance, employee stock options, and achieve state certification for arborist. Consulting arborists can earn six-figure salaries so there’s my literal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was “part-time/seasonal” with the company for my first 15 months and the job I held before that (almost 8 months) was FT but low wages.

Food is eating up most of my earnings (no pun intended). I end up dining out a lot. I have breakfast & lunch stored, prepared, and consumed at work but dinner is about $15-$25 at an affordable yet better-quality establishment. About once a week I get a Little Caesar’s pizza for $7.50 & make 3 meals out of it.

Sorry this is so long. I organized this post so my most pertinent issues are at the beginning.

Please let me know what are your thoughts.

 

[maki2]

Your needs are not those of a typical nomad. You need to think beyond just temporary housing and look at your needs for storage now and include future goals too.
A box truck would be a better choice than an ambulance. Sounds like you will have need of a ramp in the rear for easily moving stuff in and out of it. Plus tie down rails on the wall and in the floor to secure stuff. Lots of roof space for solar, etc. Then plenty of length inside for protecting lumber boards and onsite equipment. It is easy to do a no build build in them with free or very low costs furniture and cabinets. You can have tons of storage that way. Big, flat, exterior surfaces for advertising signage for your new business. But get a moderate size box truck as you will be parking it in a town. You might also be wanting to tow a portable saw mill behind it or store one inside of it.

 

[Gr8ful]

I'd be wary of that engine. I did a search & got this. A 2011 Chevy 6.0 diesel engine, often referred to as the "6.0 Vortec," is known for potential issues like oil cooler failure, EGR cooler problems, leaky radiator, and faulty fuel injectors; these can lead to significant repair costs if neglected, making it important to check for these issues when considering a used truck with this engine.
There are plenty of you Tues & web info. Good Luck

 

[Lorelei072]

A box truck would be a better choice than an ambulance. Sounds like you will have need of a ramp in the rear for moving stuff in and out of it. Plus tie down rails on the wall and in the floor to secure stuff. Lots of roof space for solar, etc. plenty of length inside for lumber boards. It is easy to do a no build build in them with free or very low costs furniture and cabinets. You can have tons of storage that way. Big, flat, exterior surfaces for advertising signage for your new business.

Why do you think an ambulance is not the better choice? I’m fine with larger items being stored on the property. In the ambulance there’s a lot of cabinets already there to manage all my clutter. I’d have to start from scratch and live with the clutter in a box truck.

 

[Lorelei072]

I'd be wary of that engine. I did a search & got this. A 2011 Chevy 6.0 diesel engine, often referred to as the "6.0 Vortec," is known for potential issues like oil cooler failure, EGR cooler problems, leaky radiator, and faulty fuel injectors; these can lead to significant repair costs if neglected, making it important to check for these issues when considering a used truck with this engine.
There are plenty of you Tues & web info. Good Luck

I don’t understand. The listing says it’s a diesel Duromax engine. I thought those were good?? Where do you see it’s a Vortec engine? Where does it say Vortec engines are diesel??

 

[Morgana]

Agree with maki2. At least you know what the problems are with your current rig. The chances of finding some fabulous bargain that makes these problems go away without creating new ones = slim to none.

One way out of the overwhelm is to make a list of problems/needs, prioritize them, and tackle them one at a time. (Your excellent big-picture problem statement was time well spent; but when you move on to a concrete action plan you'll inevitably need to put some of those things on a back burner.)

Some of your problems may have easier solutions than you think. A $5-15 plastic bin could be preferable to keeping stuff in the van just to keep the bugs away. (This seems obvious to me; but if I had a nickel for every time my own problems had an obvious solution that I didn't see, I could probably buy Greenland)

Since your mom is a big support --- and you may not want to rely on that but you must sometimes --- plan for how and when you will lean on her; don't just let it happen randomly as an emergency. This does not mean you have to involve her in your plans (though that would be ideal, if the two of you get along well enough); but be realistic about how much you are likely to need her help, what her limits are, and how to you are going to approach that.

If you're serious about the career plan, then in order for that to happen (given the things that are threatening it right now) you will probably have to put that at the top of your priorities, including over van living.

Stop eating out. Unless you want to prioritize that over your career and van living. It is a very expensive treat and prices are getting worse all the time. I know how comforting it is, and I have often spent a lot of money on this myself even when I was broke, and I am not saying cutting back will be easy to do --- but especially if you don't have enough money for car repairs, you cannot afford it.

I would say prioritizing and making the tough choices = your best bet, and it may feel bad but it will make you feel much better in the long run.

Good luck.

 

[Lorelei072]

Your needs are not those of a typical nomad. You need to think beyond just temporary housing and look at your needs for storage now and include future goals too.
A box truck would be a better choice than an ambulance. Sounds like you will have need of a ramp in the rear for easily moving stuff in and out of it. Plus tie down rails on the wall and in the floor to secure stuff. Lots of roof space for solar, etc. Then plenty of length inside for protecting lumber boards and onsite equipment. It is easy to do a no build build in them with free or very low costs furniture and cabinets. You can have tons of storage that way. Big, flat, exterior surfaces for advertising signage for your new business. But get a moderate size box truck as you will be parking it in a town. You might also be wanting to tow a portable saw mill behind it or store one inside of it.

Excellent perspectives - exactly what I was looking for!!
For what it’s worth the side hustle plan is to have would-be (no pun intended ) buyers to bring their own trailers to pick up lumber from the property. At this stage of the game I can’t take on any additional expenses of having to provide commercial trucking & business insurance. Plus living out of a vehicle is quite restrictive in available space. I like the idea of a sawmill trailer but they cost thousands. My Alaskan sawmill was <$1500 for the rails, 2nd-hand chainsaw, chainsaw tune-up, and 20’ 2nd-hand aluminum ladder. This is only a hobby until I can establish viability of the marketable endeavor. But these are great points to flesh out!

 

[maki2]

…. At this stage of the game I can’t take on any additional expenses of having to provide commercial trucking & business insurance.

Ambulances also require commercial insurance. You will need it insured right away in your name and that is the only choice for insurance you will be getting if it is still titled as an ambulance. It is hit or miss for how much of a hassle you will face getting it converted to insurance as an RV “motorhome”. Not something I have had need to try. I do know that topic of insurance class change over to RV has been covered a number of times in this forum. Search for that in this forum using keywords. Best wishes for your dreams to come true on an easy path to navigate.

 

[Gr8ful]

I have a Ford E350 ambo with a Horton body. The title said cutaway not ambulance as many or most do as it was delivered from Ford to Horton as a cab & chassis. I told the DMV & the Insurance co it was an ambo & had no problem registering or insuring as a motor home yrrmv. Mine has 88k miles & is the last year before they had computers & emission stuff that causes problems. Simple is good. I'd talk to someone about doing a prebuy inspection if you're not handy. Here's a YouTube on the engine.