Finding the Van

Once I’d decided on the Sprinter as a base vehicle for the conversion, it was time to figure out what I wanted to put in it and which size I needed in order to fit everything. Criteria for the buildout were based on how I want to use the vehicle. My primary requirements:

• Bike storage inside the vehicle
• Self-contained plumbing with toilet and shower
• Kitchen with sink, cooktop, and fridge
• Minimal energy use, able to be supported by solar panels
• Stealthy enough to not draw unnecessary attention
• Ability to be used in winter, including plumbing

That’s quite a bit to fit into a van, Sprinters come in two body styles, the 1995 – 2006 T1N, and the 2006 – present NCV3. The newer NCV3s are a few inches wider and generally can be found in better condition with lower mileage, so that’s the direction I decided to go. I was originally looking at the 170” wheelbase (vs the shorter 144” model), assuming I’d need all the room available to cram in that much stuff. After doing some research, sketching out a few layouts, and stealing some great ideas for space usage from other people’s builds, I decided I could probably get away with the 144 after all. Many people actually prefer the shorter van, as it fits in a normal parking space, is more maneuverable, and performs a lot better off-road or on less than well maintained dirt roads.

With the basic criteria defined, I set out searching for vans. Buying a new van to build out is not uncommon, but the prices for new vans are a lot more than I wanted to spend on a base vehicle, so I didn’t opt to go this route. I still wanted something with relatively low mileage and in good shape though. My search was thus: a 2006 or later 144 WB Sprinter (Cargo or Crew version) with the high roof option and less than roughly 150K miles, preferably not white and with factory rear windows.

If you’ve looked at Sprinters at all, you probably know that 95% of them are white, and often have the outline of a local plumber’s logo still visible on the side. This was largely what came up in my search, at least. It was surprisingly difficult to find vans meeting my criteria, even white ones. I found a few though, and called around to get more info on them. A few were halfway across the country, which I wasn’t completely opposed to, but there was actually a dealer in Chicago with a couple that looked promising. I was planning to take a drive down there to check them out, when I randomly stumbled across this beauty on Craigslist in Michigan.

Score

Most of what I had found in this range was more like $19-20K, so this one definitely jumped out. Plus, did you see those tires? Just waiting for some off-roading. I talked with the dealer and it sounded pretty legit, so I made plans to go see it. My awesome friend Mike went with for the fun of it and to drive my car back if I bought it, and my friend Jacob was nice enough to let us crash at his place in Ann Arbor while we were in the area. Since the van was significantly cheaper than comparables, I was expecting it to have some issues. I can fix a lot for $4K though, and it was actually the only non-white van I found that met the rest of my criteria – including rear windows!

The headaches, however, started before we even left, with the van being in the shop for what turned out to be a broken glow plug. I talked with the shop that was working on it, and they assured me they’d have it fixed soon and were also able to give me their (not so independent) opinion on the condition of the vehicle. “Looks and drives great, super clean”, they said. Ok, good enough to go see I guess. We got out there and it still wasn’t fixed, but we were able to visit the shop it was at and check it out / test drive it there. Aside from almost backing into a haphazardly located pipe in the first 30 seconds of driving it, the test drive was good and I was pretty happy with it. The interior looked good enough, and body was largely rust-free. I decided this was the one, pending a successful glow plug fix at least.

After sitting around for another day waiting for the repair to be finished, I rode up with the dealer’s mechanic to pick the van up from the shop and bring it back to take care of the paperwork. Unfortunately for them, the check engine light came on as we were pulling out of the shop. It was the Diesel Particulate Filter, which is not a simple thing to fix. Turns out they’d already had issues with it and had tried to fix it, apparently unsuccessfully (they probably could have mentioned that beforehand). Now we were starting to see why they had it priced where they did. After some negotiating with the dealer, I ended up buying the van and leaving with an extra DPF they had lying around (supposedly functional). If that’s the biggest issue I have, I’ll be happy with it. Time will tell though.

The drive back was mostly uneventful, and I was pretty happy with my choice of the 144 WB when I was able to pull into the Jimmy John’s parking lot without worrying about where to park or how to get out. I did stop for fuel at a truck stop and was thoroughly confused by the bigger nozzle (which didn’t fit in my fill spout) which is apparently common on diesel pumps intended for large trucks. Oh well, lesson number one of many I presume. Now the van is patiently sitting in my driveway reminding me that it’s time to finalize my layout and get to work!

Sitting, waiting, wishing