refrigerated catering van as conversion?

[DragonStar]

I have an opportunity to purchase a long wheel base 2011 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 with under 150K miles. It was a catering van for a local restaurant.   The interesting part is it has a Thermo King V300 refrigeration system.  It seems that several inches of insulation have been added to the floor and the entire bottom 1/3 is covered in stainless steel diamond plate.  This all interests me for a few reasons.  One, it has already been professionally insulated.  2, it has a refrigeration unit installed.  So I already have a built in fridge that is tied into the electrical system.  Also, should I later use it to haul produce to the farmer's market, I have a refrigerated vehicle. Three, as a catering van it probably hasn't seen the rough wear that a cargo van would have.  It's spotless. 

So... are these reasons sound, and is there something I'm overlooking that makes this a poor choice for a conversion?  Thanks!

 

[bullfrog]

The Mercedes Sprinter I believe has some service issues and finding repair facilities and parts may be a concern. If it is registered as a commercial vehicle depending on which state you are in you may not be able to afford insurance and have a problem getting your registration. You need to weigh and see exactly how much cargo capacity you have left after all the added weight.

 

[DragonStar]

These are great things to consider, thank you!

 

[XERTYX]

Yeah the registration is a big consideration. In my state Ga, skoolies are nearly impossible to be registered as a not commercial vehicle. In Ga apparently if it's a bus it's a commercial vehicle period. On another forum I was reading when I was hoping to find a shuttle bus that pretty much the only way here was to either keep trying and keep trying in more and more rural counties until someone didnt know what they were doing and pushed it thru for you.

Or. You could pay the annual $5,000 for commerical insurance. Its $5k up front in 1 chunk for the remainder of the year. I.e. Jan 1st its $5k. Or on Dec 31st its $5k until Jan 1st then it's a new year and another 5k.

Maybe a food service van would be easier to retitle. Definitely worth looking into before you buy a potential money pit. But that is a "cool" van.

 

[B and C]

Check your states requirements to get it retitled as an RV and/or check with an insurance agent to see if it can be insured for personal use only.