Solitary Spell
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- Joined
- Oct 28, 2016
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Hey van experts,
Two separate issues/vans in my quest for a van. Shopping in New England with a $3-5K budget.
I am looking at Astro vans, Chevy Express vans, and earlier Ford Econolines (before the spark plug issue which I learned about here).
I spoke to the owner of this 1991 Ford high top.
Somehow it only has 50,000 miles and he said it's because the original owner ran a mobile pet grooming biz out of it so she didn't put many miles on it (hmmmm, maybe). It looked super clean in the pics and he said it had no rust (maybe the groomer stayed home when it snowed). It had new tires all around and a new battery, that was all he could tell me that was replaced. He's only had it for a year and was using it to sleep in the casino lot (he's a poker player and financial planner, go figure). I actually googled his name and he really is an apparently respected financial planner. He offered me the name of his mechanic who checked the vehicle over and thinks it's great. He said I could have it looked at by a different mechanic if I wanted to (I would). He is a 3 hour one way trip and he offered to meet me at the train station and return me there if I didn't buy it. All this sounds just wonderful, but he wants $5,000 for it and it's a 1991. Is it even possible for a 1991 to not have dry rotted rubber and etc? And is the 1991 Ford E150 6 cyl engine the 8th wonder of the world? He won't budge on the price. Should I even be thinking of this as a viable option?
The van has shore power external plug and outlets inside and is a cargo van inside, which is nice because then I can build it out the way I want. It has a silly 5,000 btu airconditioner mounted in the back of the high top which I don't like, I'd want to take it out but I'd have to then patch the hole. I just wouldn't use an a/c (at least i don't think I would). Can't get this silly van out of my mind.
#2 van
Then there's this rust issue
on a 2001 Astro cargo van, white and perfect looking inside/outside, with 130,000 miles on it that my mechanic shop has had in its fleet of rentals (for when people have to leave their vehicles for repair, they offer cheap rentals). I spotted the van in the lot and asked if they might be selling it, they said they might be but they want "between $3500 and 3800" -- that is more than twice the blue book value. I crawled underneath and of course there is rust. The picture I took of some kind of joint where the rust is all crackly is the most worrisome. I would not buy it unless I took it to another shop for a second opinion on the whole van and on the rust. But even though this is a fleet-maintained vehicle how can they justify that price? Is blue book just a guideline anyway? Astro vans seem to go quickly on Craigslist but comparable condition/mileage go for $2000 - 2500K around here. Any feedback would be appreciated!
Please keep in mind that I am thinking of this purchase as a "starter van" to set up and try out vandwelling. I'll go camping in it and I can even try some stealth in my local area before I really go all out. I'm worried mostly about being able to find campground host jobs. I would love to move into a van and stick around my local area and save up an emergency fund before going for real. And I could do that...a few people in the forum suggested I move into my car first, but I know myself and realize that won't work for me. Thanks for reading this rather long post!!
Two separate issues/vans in my quest for a van. Shopping in New England with a $3-5K budget.
I am looking at Astro vans, Chevy Express vans, and earlier Ford Econolines (before the spark plug issue which I learned about here).
I spoke to the owner of this 1991 Ford high top.
Somehow it only has 50,000 miles and he said it's because the original owner ran a mobile pet grooming biz out of it so she didn't put many miles on it (hmmmm, maybe). It looked super clean in the pics and he said it had no rust (maybe the groomer stayed home when it snowed). It had new tires all around and a new battery, that was all he could tell me that was replaced. He's only had it for a year and was using it to sleep in the casino lot (he's a poker player and financial planner, go figure). I actually googled his name and he really is an apparently respected financial planner. He offered me the name of his mechanic who checked the vehicle over and thinks it's great. He said I could have it looked at by a different mechanic if I wanted to (I would). He is a 3 hour one way trip and he offered to meet me at the train station and return me there if I didn't buy it. All this sounds just wonderful, but he wants $5,000 for it and it's a 1991. Is it even possible for a 1991 to not have dry rotted rubber and etc? And is the 1991 Ford E150 6 cyl engine the 8th wonder of the world? He won't budge on the price. Should I even be thinking of this as a viable option?
The van has shore power external plug and outlets inside and is a cargo van inside, which is nice because then I can build it out the way I want. It has a silly 5,000 btu airconditioner mounted in the back of the high top which I don't like, I'd want to take it out but I'd have to then patch the hole. I just wouldn't use an a/c (at least i don't think I would). Can't get this silly van out of my mind.
#2 van
Then there's this rust issue
on a 2001 Astro cargo van, white and perfect looking inside/outside, with 130,000 miles on it that my mechanic shop has had in its fleet of rentals (for when people have to leave their vehicles for repair, they offer cheap rentals). I spotted the van in the lot and asked if they might be selling it, they said they might be but they want "between $3500 and 3800" -- that is more than twice the blue book value. I crawled underneath and of course there is rust. The picture I took of some kind of joint where the rust is all crackly is the most worrisome. I would not buy it unless I took it to another shop for a second opinion on the whole van and on the rust. But even though this is a fleet-maintained vehicle how can they justify that price? Is blue book just a guideline anyway? Astro vans seem to go quickly on Craigslist but comparable condition/mileage go for $2000 - 2500K around here. Any feedback would be appreciated!
Please keep in mind that I am thinking of this purchase as a "starter van" to set up and try out vandwelling. I'll go camping in it and I can even try some stealth in my local area before I really go all out. I'm worried mostly about being able to find campground host jobs. I would love to move into a van and stick around my local area and save up an emergency fund before going for real. And I could do that...a few people in the forum suggested I move into my car first, but I know myself and realize that won't work for me. Thanks for reading this rather long post!!
