Very nice Van, I like he kept the steel safety wall
https://youtu.be/4a4OBXYLNqk
Very nice Van, I like he kept the steel safety wall
https://youtu.be/4a4OBXYLNqk
Tin Can
Tin Can
Tin Can
It's not, not only that, repair would be slow because it is rare
Right now every pickup, van, camper is way overvalued
I just sold my 4 year old F150 for almost what I bought it for, I figured good time to sell and cash out
also a good time for me to NOT have any car or truck
I no longer need or desire a car, they are death machines, people are driving like idiots and a lot are dying
I am staying home, I already get everything delivered, I am very close to medical, as I planned
A county bus will come to my front door, load me and haul me far for $1
Time to stay home, for me a good solution
I can walk to 3 restaurants, the farmers market delivers, as does Kroger
I can take a big or tiny camera on my eBike to my local Historical Village and shoot portraits
btw, I am keeping my camper trailer, as I love it as an escape 10 feet from my home
ymmv
Tin Can
to me a vehicle is critical, because all the places I want to take photos of are far away, and a 4x4, while not 100% necessary is still highly desirable because the most beautiful places in New Mexico are all at the end of a long dirt road. Nonetheless, US$80k is more than my house cost, and I've never spent more than US$10k on a vehicle.
That said, I still love the idea of a go anywhere camper van. I know someone who has a Sprinter--really nice 4x4, with decent accommodations for two--but I'm pretty sure they spent more than US$100k. It it primarily setup as a search and rescue base station with a half dozen radios and antennas. I do agree with Tin Can that the market is severely upside down at the moment. My POS Land Cruiser (actually a LC rebadged as a Lexus) that I'm putting up for sale soon has a current market value twice what it had 8 years ago when I bought it, and it much rougher than it was then.
Wait till the pandemic is reasonably over, when lots of these live-on-the-road types will either have become tired of that lifestyle or have gone back to work. And anything new auto-wise is at a premium right now due to parts scarcity. I predict that there will be plenty of bargains down the line. The fad won't last. Once the inevitable sea change arrives, you'll see lots of fancy exercise machines dumped first, then right after that, fancy marginally-used RV's. What happens to cute designer face mask manufacturers, well, glad I didn't invest in any of those.
As far as Sprinters go, there are just such ridiculously high numbers of new ones being snatched up by all the parcel carriers, especially Amazon and FedEx, that once this first round of tax depreciation cycle has run its course, they're going to hit the used market in significant quantity, just like we once encountered whole dealerships of moderately used Hertz rental cars and trucks. But today, everyone is competing with those big parcel distributors just to buy one. There is no incentive for lowering the price to anyone - they can't make em fast enough.
I'm surprised nobody has mention Thomas Heaton's videos of his Mitsubishi Delica camper van conversion.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...75l8E_ZWKAeZrN
He is a photographer, after all, and has even dabbled in large format a few times.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/
Tin Can
After borrowing or renting camper vans for years I finally built my own. Used a 15 passenger Ford E350 van as a basis. Enough room for me and the Missus, but a little better solo. It gets used a lot - last night I used it for some film astrophotography with a couple photographer friends. When we were done I got to simply go in and sleep in a comfortable bed while they had to drive home in the middle of the night.
I didn't go with a 4WD or European van. As a field geologist working in some pretty remote areas almost every time I got stuck was while in 4WD. After keeping it in 2WD all the time I never got stuck again. Getting out and walking, or using a more capable vehicle like a dirt bike or jeep works better for the rough stuff. 4WD isn't much of an advantage in a big long van - cannot go where a jeep or ATV can go, and if you install a locking diff and good tires that's 90% of it anyway. Everyone I know who has a Sprinter van has had serious problems with them. Mercedes isn't what it used to be.
Bookmarks