Used RV valuation?

[RunningBum]

I would have a house on wheels, why would I go to a place like Michigan in the winter?

I guess it's Wisconsin where you're at, not Michigan, but yeah, with a house on wheels you can go wherever, if your contract work gives you flexibility.

 

[Bamaman]

The nicer Class B's are relatively expensive units, and they're more for touring and occasional camping than a vehicle used to live in every night.

Someone took a work van in this case and did a added all the RV items. And it looks almost like an amateur job. A 1 ton van, as is too heavy duty for light RV usage.

I used to have a Class B--Ford high top conversion that was out of a first rate 3rd party converter. The chassis was built for RV usage, and even the wiring harness matched up with the conversion company's wiring harness. With a gas engine, I averaged 14 mpg on the open road. I would think it weighed 8000 lbs. total.

Being single and wanting to travel, you're in a predicament. You might want to hit every RV dealership within 200 miles of you. Surely there's something that'll meet your needs, but it's not a Class B. I have no idea what to suggest as I'm spoiled to a 36' fifth wheel with 4 slides.

 

[aja8888]

You won't be able to run the roof A/C unit with those solar panels. If you don't have a plug in, then you will need the generator.

 

[aaronc879]

You won't be able to run the roof A/C unit with those solar panels. If you don't have a plug in, then you will need the generator.

The solar panels will run the fan. The fan combined with the window awning gives good air flow which should be fine for sleeping at night since I wouldn't be in really hot locations in the winter.

I probably won't buy it but not because it wouldn't work for me. If I don't buy it it's because of the cost. Then again I wouldn't be paying $600/mo for rent so that's over $7000/yr I would save. I'm still considering it.

 

[FUEGO]

Yikes! $45000!

Any way you could buy a van of some sort and deck it out with the stuff you need? I'm thinking used Toyota Sienna for $8000 or so (6 months ago we spent $8200 on a 2009 with 112000 miles on it). You could fit a top quality twin mattress in there and still have room on one side. With proper shelving you could have storage space under the bed frame. I bet you could find someone to rig it up for you including a/c, solar, basic kitchen, etc for much less than $30000. And a minivan would be way more stealthy than a sprinter van.

+1 on the suggestion to rent something like this before dropping $45k. Borrow a friends van/minivan or rent a construction van and throw an air mattress in there and try it out for a few nights.

 

[Sunset]

How about this idea
And I don't mean this exact one, but a pickup with camper on it. It's flexible as you can take off the camper part and just use the pickup if the situation changes, and as long as you got a 3/4 ton pickup (ex ford 250 , not 150) then you would have the ability to change to towing a trailer if you wanted.

 

[Sunset]

I wouldn't want anything bigger. At least not longer. I'm already wondering how i'd park a 21ft long vehicle at a library or a McDonald's. A lot of parking lots don't have back to back spots where you can just use both of them.

You could park on the street if you couldn't find a grocery store or something within walking distance, if Mcd or library lots are too small.

All the Mcd's I stop at when on the freeway have huge parking lots.

Are you thinking you could stealth camp in the library or Mcd's parking lot ? I don't think that will work out well.

 

[Sunset]

So you get contracts, aren't these in a city, its pretty hard to find some really long term or even 2 months spot to park (unless you just rent a driveway spot).
I once considered parking a camper at the work parking lot, but the cooking outside, brushing your teeth, showering all presented issues.

 

[aaronc879]

Yikes! $45000!

Any way you could buy a van of some sort and deck it out with the stuff you need? I'm thinking used Toyota Sienna for $8000 or so (6 months ago we spent $8200 on a 2009 with 112000 miles on it). You could fit a top quality twin mattress in there and still have room on one side. With proper shelving you could have storage space under the bed frame. I bet you could find someone to rig it up for you including a/c, solar, basic kitchen, etc for much less than $30000. And a minivan would be way more stealthy than a sprinter van.

+1 on the suggestion to rent something like this before dropping $45k. Borrow a friends van/minivan or rent a construction van and throw an air mattress in there and try it out for a few nights.

A Sienna might be an option if I was 5'6" but i'm 6'6" so I doubt it would work. I may look into it though.

 

[Sunset]

I have a Sienna, and when you take out the middle seats and fold down the rear ones, it makes a bed space about 8 ft long.

 

[FUEGO]

A Sienna might be an option if I was 5'6" but i'm 6'6" so I doubt it would work. I may look into it though.

Pretty sure you can lay a 4x8' sheet of plywood in there, so I think it would work.

The headroom might be an issue if you put the bed on a platform to create storage space underneath, so YMMV. It's certainly no full height sprinter van though. There might also be some kind of aftermarket mods you can buy that will convert the front passenger seat into a captain's seat that you can rotate toward the rear and use as a recliner/comfy chair.

 

[Fermion]

The sprinter itself with 39000 miles is probably worth $35k.

So the question is the stuff he added worth $10k? The DC compressor fridge is over $1000. He went with cheap solar, not worth much. The magnum pure sine inverter he used is about $1000. Awning is $500. A/C is $500 to $1000. Furnace is about $300.

It does add up. Then you have the labor to correctly install everything (assuming he did a good job). It might be worth $45k, but if you offered $40k and got it you would be getting a super deal considering you could sell the van itself stripped down for $35k if you didn't end up liking it.

We can run our compressor refrig and air conditioner off of pure solar, but we have 1100 watts and only a 6000 BTU A/C. 200 watts doesn't even seem like enough to keep up with the fridge...ours uses about 600 watt-hr per 24 hour (but it is 9.1cu-ft)

 

[GravitySucks]

I'd value that rig by looking up the van on KBB plus add in 1/2 of what the guy paid for the AC, awning, etc. Also, talk to your insurance company. Years ago Mine would not insure a customized van that had a previous owner added a furnace.

 

[rodi]

I had a former coworker that lived part time in the work parking lot (stealth - management would *not* have approved) and part time down by the beach, on the street. She had a roadtrek that was built on a dodge ram van. It had AC, kitchen. She showered in the workplace gym or one of the 2 gyms she had memberships for. She had a dog -so on hot days she had to run the generator for the AC for her pooch.

For her it was a way to afford her triathalon lifestyle/training. (She was very hard core)... She was underpaid because our corporate overlords were taking advantage of her green card limbo and significantly underpaying her. (Filed for, approved... but waiting for 2 years on final processing by the government.)

Most coworkers didn't know she was living in her roadtrek... But it gave her the cash flow she needed to afford training and travel for her iron man competitions.

 

[38Chevy454]

You can find a lot of RVs for sale at RVTrader.com: RV Sales - Class A, B, C Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, & Pop Up Camper RVs For Sale although the one you are looking at is not going to be found. You can find similar one to give an idea for comparison.

I would consider the size for a whole year, you may want larger than a class B. Ultimately it is your choice. Also be wary of the stealth camping, it is not always so easy due to city ordinances. It is also nice to be in a campground with electrical and water at your site. Although your example case the water is not really an issue.

 

[braumeister]

Another small consideration: Let's say something suddenly needs repair (engine malfunction, recall, whatever), and the vehicle has to go into the shop for a week or so. Not a good situation.

I would also consider Sunset's suggestion. Years ago I had a friend with one of those campers that slide into a pickup truck bed and he loved it. It even had a standup shower. He would often go off on vacations lasting two or three weeks with wife and child. I was surprised at how roomy it was inside, and the great part is that you can leave it at a campground and drive your pickup out from under it to have a more practical vehicle.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I really like Sunset's idea about the truck camper. That would give you a lot of the flexibility you are looking for in a smaller package and still be a vehicle you can use to tow a trailer later if you upgrade.

We had an older RV for a while, a 1976 to be exact, and although it had some quirks, it ran pretty well and had only around 100k miles on it when we bought it for $9k. It was an easy and cheap way for us to try out the lifestyle and we sold it last year to a guy for $7k who was using it to drive and live in while doing contract work.

Maybe consider a cheap "try it out" version before investing in an expensive custom job like that one. And perhaps you may find that stealth is overrated, since folks park RVs in all sorts of places without much comment, unless you linger on a residential street for weeks at a time.

 

[Jack_Pine]

I have heard those truck campers called widow makers. They are top heavy and really change the center of gravity making them prone to roll over.

I would look at one built on the Sprinter chassis with the smaller Mercedes diesel engine. They are nice, small and versatile. Maybe a little pricey though.

 

[travelover]

I have heard those truck campers called widow makers. They are top heavy and really change the center of gravity making them prone to roll over.............

It takes a much bigger truck that one would think to handle a camper with all the junk in it. I'd recommend an F350 dually.

 

[Fermion]

In an accident I would rather be in a truck camper than a Geo Metro.

 

[Sunset]

OP has given up on the RV idea and is now looking at buying a house

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/which-is-less-bad-83445.html#post1780748

 

[aaronc879]

OP has given up on the RV idea and is now looking at buying a house

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/which-is-less-bad-83445.html#post1780748

I'm still potentially interested in purchasing an RV but it wouldn't be to live in year round. It would be to live in while snow birding in Florida in the winter probably starting in early 2018. I would be looking for something under $10K and not over 22ft preferably. I would no longer be considering the campervan in the first post as it would be far too expensive if I have a mortgage.

 

[yakers]

I haven't looked at all the postings but I did watch the whole video and it really is an interesting RV. In its favor are 1) Price, espicaly for low mileage, 2) really well thought out systems. I have been studying Class B RVs, including Roadtrek, Pleasure Way, Winnabego and Sportsmobile. New versions of these Class B RVs run from $90K to $140K.
Couple downsides, no toilet/shower, sink or stove, killer for DW or I would be on the phone to them and AFAIK the Ram units are a cut below the MB or Ford transit platforms. Less powerful engine, Fiat and probably harder to get serviced. (I had a diesel needed replacement in my Jeep and the cost was remarkable).
If it suits you as a 'toy hauler' configuration (not commenting on the bar ) then I would have a mechanic check out the drive system, maybe a compression check or oil analysis and go for it. If I could talk DW into it I would be on a plane to check it out for myself.