I'm looking for a 1996 or newer high-top: ideally in silver; otherwise white with some decals. I really like blue, but it is harder to cool. I know this sounds a little silly, but I don't like to spend lots of money on something if I don't like its color. I would prefer a 2-year ownership history: firstly, pet dander decomposes in about that time and I am allergic to cats & dogs; also, short-term ownership often indicates someone trying to ditch a lemon ("we don't need it because the kids grew up" doesn't happen in 11 months).
I found a 1999 Ford with 108k miles (4.6 L V8) asking $2800, about 3-4 hours away. It looks good in the pictures. It's been in the Rust Belt it's entire life, but that's where conversion vans were / are most popular.
The seller's LinkedIn demonstrates a responsible white-collar career. He has returned my calls.
The cons are that he's only owned it a couple of months: claims to have traded it for a motorcycle. In the ad, he states "Second owner with all the original paperwork". He also says that it was used for a business, probably real estate. But CARFAX says 4th owner, so either he's lying or some of the transfers involved the same individual, i.e., swapping ownership between his business and himself. The actual breakdown is 1 year "Corporate fleet", 12 years lease, 3 years personal, then sold to the current owner in November.
The seller said he'd contact the previous owner about pets, but apparently hasn't; he didn't even send me the VIN without my calling back to bother him; he said he has locals interested and I'm 3 hours away. I told him I'm serious and would like to send a deposit by PayPal if he'll work with me.
I have identified a mechanic in his area that does thorough inspections (including compression tests). The price is right. But I am concerned about a) pets and b) potentially lying to me about the ownership history and therefore who knows what else.
I'm not seeing a lot of vans posted that meet my specifications, and I really need to get this done quickly; the time I'm spending on this is negatively impacting my work performance. I could always buy a different van later, and it would probably be easier if I could drive to look at vans without incurring hotel costs. I would also be willing to spend more after I had some experience successfully stealthy camping in my town.
I think that given the CARFAX issue I will have to insist on a mechanic's inspection, which I might have been willing to skip otherwise (given the low price). But he might not agree if he's got other interest. I am willing to pay a deposit before he does the inspection; it's probably the only way to be competitive with local buyers.
Advice?
I found a 1999 Ford with 108k miles (4.6 L V8) asking $2800, about 3-4 hours away. It looks good in the pictures. It's been in the Rust Belt it's entire life, but that's where conversion vans were / are most popular.
The seller's LinkedIn demonstrates a responsible white-collar career. He has returned my calls.
The cons are that he's only owned it a couple of months: claims to have traded it for a motorcycle. In the ad, he states "Second owner with all the original paperwork". He also says that it was used for a business, probably real estate. But CARFAX says 4th owner, so either he's lying or some of the transfers involved the same individual, i.e., swapping ownership between his business and himself. The actual breakdown is 1 year "Corporate fleet", 12 years lease, 3 years personal, then sold to the current owner in November.
The seller said he'd contact the previous owner about pets, but apparently hasn't; he didn't even send me the VIN without my calling back to bother him; he said he has locals interested and I'm 3 hours away. I told him I'm serious and would like to send a deposit by PayPal if he'll work with me.
I have identified a mechanic in his area that does thorough inspections (including compression tests). The price is right. But I am concerned about a) pets and b) potentially lying to me about the ownership history and therefore who knows what else.
I'm not seeing a lot of vans posted that meet my specifications, and I really need to get this done quickly; the time I'm spending on this is negatively impacting my work performance. I could always buy a different van later, and it would probably be easier if I could drive to look at vans without incurring hotel costs. I would also be willing to spend more after I had some experience successfully stealthy camping in my town.
I think that given the CARFAX issue I will have to insist on a mechanic's inspection, which I might have been willing to skip otherwise (given the low price). But he might not agree if he's got other interest. I am willing to pay a deposit before he does the inspection; it's probably the only way to be competitive with local buyers.
Advice?
