Van Pictures - Exterior Sides

1996 Sportsmobile Van from CL

We decided to buy a 1996 Dodge Sportsmobile van for $9,000 listed on CL in Bellingham, WA. See the add below:

Price just reduced to $9500 a great value. My 1996 Dodge Sportsmobile is For Sale: 82,000 miles, Gas 5.9L w/overdrive, 19 ft., Generator, 2 air conditioners, Propane thermostatically controlled furnace, microwave, Sony am/fm compact disc player w/remote and removable face, 50W Solar charger, Duel Electric Fridge, Clifford Security system with pager to about 30 yards, Awning, unused Thetford Porta Potty, hot water heater.

I purchased this Ram 3500 in July of 2000, I replaced all the tires, the Michelins still have good thread but there are some small weather cracks on the sidewalls. The following year I added a Freedom II awning and replaced the compressor in the Norcold Duel Electric Fridge. The CD player and Security system were added in November of 2005.

In March of 2002 I added a 50W Specialty Concept Mark 15 solar charger and electronic controller. This does a nice job of keeping the 2 house batteries charged while sitting. The controller prevents over charge and displays battery voltage and charge current.

I am moving within town to a place where there is no good storage for my Van. I have changed the oil on a regular basis. All 3 batteries were replaced in October of 2005. The oil sender and Serpentine belt were replaced in May of 2008.

The Onan MicroLite 2800 Series Generator has only 120 hours. The Oil, Spark Plug and fuel filter were replaced in July of 2008. The rear makes into a 73x49 inch bed. Max interior height is 73 inches. There is 20 gal fresh water tank, a grey water holding tank, but no stove. A propane line is available under the counter if someone wanted to add
this

Sportsmoble makes a GREAT camper van. You can find their web pages on the internet. Lots of little storage compartments and 12V lig hts placed in good locations with 4 12V accessory outlets. Email me for more photos.

Decided to buy van

Before committing to buying the van we emailed back and forth with the owner Ron a number of times and Anja talked to him a few times. He was 6’6” and used the van to drive to and from New Mexico. He seemed like a really good guy, very meticulous about taking care of the van, and very helpful with any questions we had. I had seen the van posted at one time for $10,500 and saw when Ron dropped it to $9,500. Since we were going to have to travel so far to buy it and then drive it home Anja talked him down to $9,000. Well for $9,000 with everything it had I was in and Anja loved the fuzzy aquamarine color everywhere so she was sold. He also said he would have the brakes serviced before selling it because they were surging a little.

We decided to go for it and asked Ron if he would take a $500 deposit to hold it until we could fly up there and he agreed and agreed to take Paypal as long as I paid the $20 (3%) fee which would be incurred to Paypal for the charge. I felt this offered the most protection from a fraud situation. I knew Ron was on the same page when he reminded me several times not to bring a cashier’s check as we would need to get one from a Bellingham location. After we sent the deposit he sent us the VIN number, and we got the carfax report.

Interestingly, in September 2005 it was reported stolen. We weren’t too worried since it was also listed as being recovered the next day, and the vehicle seemed to be in great shape (based on the other information in the report, the photos, and Ron’s descriptions). Between that and the security system installation listed in October 2005, we figured there would be a good story. 

Before the trip to Bellingham we continued pestering Ron with questions and he patiently answered them and sent us more pictures. We were both so excited we would view them almost daily, and I would carefully zoom in and analyze each one. I asked about the A/C a few times, so Ron had it checked out. The repair shop found a leak and Ron paid about $500 to have it fixed and recharged!

Changing Van Choice

Before backing out we called around and talked to a few van owners I had email previously about their vehicle. These were a Roadtrek and a Sportsmobile in Washington all the owner were really nice to Anja and she enjoyed talking to them most seemed to be in retirement and wanted to sell there vehicle to a couple who would enjoy it as much as they had. The best of the bunch for features and price was the Sportsmobile in Washington so we began to pursue a deal with Ron in Washington. I felt best about this deal to because if we went to Washington and the deal went bad I knew Justin, lives in Seattle and is like a second brother in my family, would help bail us out

Van We Didn't Buy

I sent Anja a craigslist post with a cheap van in Vegas.
Subject: 1994 Dodge B-350 15 passenger hi top handicap van - $2750 (Las Vegas)
I guess she liked it or the price and called the owner. He said he had a buyer coming so she offered him more money and he agreed. She then called me and I said what? Really? I was less than excited. I didn't think we really wanted to convert a van ourselves as it would just take too much time. So we started to analize the other options and finally I said no baby we are not buying this van. She folded and the owner agreed to return her deposit for $100 for backing out of the deal.

What we wanted

So we were refining what we wanted. We were considering 2 options:
1. A fully converted Class B Van build from a 1994 Dodge or newer with high roof, 21 ft in length or less, (max for LA street parking) must have a 6'3" bed, an electrical system, and added features such as A/C, propane heat, propane stove, solar panels, solar charging system, shower, sink, generator, awning, or water tank. Must have power door locks, power windows, and cruise control. One nice thing about the Class B RV is they almost always have the best stock features like cruise and power windows.
2. A cheap Extended Van (less than $5,000) with high top which we could do a conversion to ourselves.
The real tipping point for me seemed to be a generator. If we had a generator ($3,000 new) we have no power worries which would be sweet.

1995 Chevy Roadtrek

We went and saw a 1995 Chevy Roadtrek Versatile which it turned out the owner was a friend of Anja's. It had 61,000 miles on it and he as asking $17,000. Anja loved it; I hated it. It was a 90's van just like the 1991 Chevy my father had owned and I'd learned to drive in. It felt really old to me because of that and no way in hell was I spending $17,000 on such an old vehicle. The bed in the back was too small and the used toilet grossed out Anja but she thought it felt like "a home." She also liked that it was finished with little work to be done. I agreed that she was not going to be happy spending 80 hours of weekend converting a van. After some research at home we concluded maybe we could get a 1994 or newer Dodge Roadtrek but in the Popular model which has a 6'4" bed on one side so we started looking for Dodges but still keeping an eye out for Sportsmobiles or other Class B RV's. I could not find pictures of the one we say but the pictures are about right.