WHAT VANS ARE YOU ALL LIKING

tim smith

Need to decide shortly on which van to get, not sure from all reviews?

STEVEusaPA

I've been kicking around this too with the taller boxes. The only hurdle for me is I can't (without a lot of expense) get a van with 4 wheel drive. The Mercedes Benz Sprinter has 4wd, and the small Nissan NV has front wheel drive. I might go with a utility body truck. I do like working out of the van.

Erin Holohan Haskell

@tim smith - Here's a discussion from March that might help answer your question too.

Paul S_3

just bought this ford e350 dejana package ....great for service and install ....i can have equipment in it and still run service calls comfortably....

Tom_133

I just bought the Transit T250 long and tall 6'8" inside. It has the ecoboost, and goodnight it's quick!! I love it so far, got a great deal cause it was a holdover. I would have thought about a sprinter since Ive owned a few, but with no dealer within 150 miles I can't take the chance of excessive down time.

kcopp

I see a lot of guys w/ the vans. Climbing in and out would be a hassle to me. I really like having access to the side of the truck w/ the compartments. Too bad Toyota and Nissan don't do the cut away chassis

Tom_133

kcopp,

I just sold my truck with boxes and access. I liked it a lot in some ways, quieter up front, access was good, and I liked having 4wd.
The down side is many access boxes don't lock with a key fob, most boxes are very heavy and that wears out suspension and is hard on the engine, and aerodynamics aren't the first on their list of design features. Also, you have to get it long enough to put 10' pipe in or it's useless. Vans have their place, I love being able to get around in the huge van without smashing my massive dome on the ceiling.

kcopp

My Spartan is 10' long. I can stand up pretty easy in it...but im not really tall. We will see if they come out w/ any new stuff later in the year...!

GreenGene

Back in the day when Mother,Jugs & Speed was a hit I wanted my van to look like this............boss woudn't approve. oh well

hot_rod

I saw this PU cap up in Canada. It has some outside access bins and they can customize. Nice if you like a 4X4 PU base.

JUGHNE

GreenGene, So There.....be envious....even with minor hail damage and bird bomb.

This is my work truck, 1984 1 ton extended out back and up. I got this from my local Fire Dept. They bought it new, I got it with 69,000 miles in 2004. Now have 91,000 on it. Don't have to go far for work.

These come on the market a lot. Advantages: good maintenance records, always garaged in heated building, no rust (in my case), every component is speced heavy duty, every extra possible is usually included. Spotlights, side and rear headlights, 2 batteries with isolation switches. Rear/side steps, tow hooks etc.....and at 5-10 I can just about stand up straight.
2 fuel tanks because 460 CID V-8, (7.5 L??) 4BBl Holley carb. (remember them). I have driven it as an ambulance over 110 MPH...was lighter then.
However today 2 bbl carb is less troublesome than Holley. I have weighed it loaded pushing 10,000 lbs, not typical weight.
But mileage on this beast...if you get almost 10 MPG on the highway you feel good. 3-5 MPG in town wintertime. But only 2000 miles per year.

A few years ago PM truck of the month featured a van with a "wrap" for "Emergency Plumbing Co." or such. It looked just like an ambulance. Owner said he did his entire fleet for about $2000 each van. I got the entire truck for $2250.

Not for everybody everywhere but they are seen for service trucks in the rural areas quite often. (I don't need lettering, recognized for a 10 mile radius).

GreenGene

Ambulances make GREAT work vans, you can stand up, you can customize, they can go great with a company name, "emergency service" makes sense, plenty of storage and extras, as you said affordable, they rock!

tim smith

Thanks all for your input. I still cannot decide, I probably will go transit. Just not Sprinter again.

GreenGene

The only thing I can add and it concerns any auto purchase, go for last years model or slightly used.'

The economy has not improved to what they claim and a lot of dealers have last years model sitting around.

There was a time until about 2003 when all new models were out by the fall, so this fall you'd see the 2017's and nothing else.

Now since 2003 that isn't the case, there are a lot of leftovers, coupled with the fact that a lot of dealers closed the bargaining chip is on our side.

There are also price guides available, not NADA or Edmunds, they show what the dealer paid from the factory and list options, typically they should make $500-$1000 off a vehicle unless it's really hot.

good luck

hot_rod

JUGHNE said:

GreenGene, So There.....be envious....even with minor hail damage and bird bomb.

This is my work truck, 1984 1 ton extended out back and up. I got this from my local Fire Dept. They bought it new, I got it with 69,000 miles in 2004. Now have 91,000 on it. Don't have to go far for work.

These come on the market a lot. Advantages: good maintenance records, always garaged in heated building, no rust (in my case), every component is speced heavy duty, every extra possible is usually included. Spotlights, side and rear headlights, 2 batteries with isolation switches. Rear/side steps, tow hooks etc.....and at 5-10 I can just about stand up straight.
2 fuel tanks because 460 CID V-8, (7.5 L??) 4BBl Holley carb. (remember them). I have driven it as an ambulance over 110 MPH...was lighter then.
However today 2 bbl carb is less troublesome than Holley. I have weighed it loaded pushing 10,000 lbs, not typical weight.
But mileage on this beast...if you get almost 10 MPG on the highway you feel good. 3-5 MPG in town wintertime. But only 2000 miles per year.

A few years ago PM truck of the month featured a van with a "wrap" for "Emergency Plumbing Co." or such. It looked just like an ambulance. Owner said he did his entire fleet for about $2000 each van. I got the entire truck for $2250.

Not for everybody everywhere but they are seen for service trucks in the rural areas quite often. (I don't need lettering, recognized for a 10 mile radius).

A contractor up in Alaska


.

He needs a van like yours.

rick in Alaska

We have to have 4wd up here. My van is a 2004 Savanna extended one ton with the Quigley four wheel drive conversion. I can't even get up my own driveway without 4wd. Would love to have a nice tall van to work out of that is 4wd, but I also get in to a lot of driveways that are overgrown enough that I am already knocking branches off.
Rick

JUGHNE

The "Vanulance" as the mechanic's secretary calls it has oversized heaters, you can almost leave the windows rolled down and still keep warm, also it came with the Posi Traction rear end and with the weight it does pretty good, I've learned to load the weight to front for steering & braking control, but still certainly not as good as 4WD.

I do have a 4WD pick up for emg calls if it looks that bad out, often just choose the option to stay home.

It is often said that 4WD lets you get buried deeper farther from home before getting stuck.