Deciding between 2 vans...

[dprogram]

One is a Chevy and the other is a Dodge. I could use some advice as there are pros and cons to both. I prefer Chevy b/c i know how to work on them and I'm familiar with the general setup. This Dodge however has had a lot of repairs done and the owner has the receipts.

Chevy - 1989 Chevy G20 Classic Van. 121,000 Miles. One owner. Engine and transmission great. Interior is superb. Must see. Only thing van needs is paint and very minor work. Drive it away with clean title in hand.
http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/2865172713.html

Dodge - I recently got an oil change, tune up, new breaks, adjusted rear back, 2 wheel suspension alignment, fuel pressure regulator, dist acp & rotor, fuel filiter and steering repairs. I have receipts to show. The van has a very good motor and transmission. The tires & the battery is good. The body is in pretty good shape, there is no rust. The is one seat in the back, but the rest can always be replaced.The van runs very good. All it need is TLC.
http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/2865292913.html

Any help on deciding is appreciated!

 

[GhostWithTheMost]

One is a Chevy and the other is a Dodge. I could use some advice as there are pros and cons to both. I prefer Chevy b/c i know how to work on them and I'm familiar with the general setup. This Dodge however has had a lot of repairs done and the owner has the receipts.

Chevy - 1989 Chevy G20 Classic Van. 121,000 Miles. One owner. Engine and transmission great. Interior is superb. Must see. Only thing van needs is paint and very minor work. Drive it away with clean title in hand.
http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/2865172713.html

Dodge - I recently got an oil change, tune up, new breaks, adjusted rear back, 2 wheel suspension alignment, fuel pressure regulator, dist acp & rotor, fuel filiter and steering repairs. I have receipts to show. The van has a very good motor and transmission. The tires & the battery is good. The body is in pretty good shape, there is no rust. The is one seat in the back, but the rest can always be replaced.The van runs very good. All it need is TLC.
http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/2865292913.html

Any help on deciding is appreciated!

I used to own an 82 chevy beauville van, and it was incredible, and ran like a beast. Id go with the chevy

 

[scatwomb]

Go with the Chevy, for sure.

 

[FLoP]

I'd say Chevy. I mean it's a Chevy van. I've had 2 dodge vans. They did alright, but ate gas. It depends on the van length and engine size. I had a shorty dodge with a 3.7 v6. I liked that.

 

[Raging Bird]

Bought that same Chevy for the same price. Loved every minute of it, but had problems with the cooling system. I get the impression a lot of those G20s have the same problem, but fortunately it's not too expensive to keep on top of. It is very expensive if you don't, though.

I'd go with conversion van over 15 passenger any day of the week, but it's a question of what you're going to use it for. The headroom, track lights, and interior make the Chevy a pleasure to ride in. I'd say that unless you really expect to be hauling 15 people around, go with that - particularly since the Dodge doesn't list mileage, which is kind of sketchy.

 

[dprogram]

Ideally I want to make it as close to an RV as possible (keep it stealth) and that will require removing all the rear seats, adding a platform for a mattress, some extra batteries with an inverter, maybe a fridge, microwave, propane stove, and a heating a cooling system that could be run off the battery power alone. I've got a 1500w inverter, small fridge, small microwave, and small propane stove. I was also going to use my futon mattress in there too. So I'd be out the cost of wiring, 2 extra batteries, and figuring out a way to do a small sink and on board water supply. All the amenities would have to completed in small stages and I know I could do without most of that setup it's just I already have most of it so why not make it comfy.

 

[Raging Bird]

Hmmm, I've seen people do a lot of that in conversions, but you might appreciate the extra space of the 15 passenger if you're trying to turn it into a full-blown house and not just a car. If you're taking the seats out, you can redesign the interior to make it as comfortable as you want. Might be the better choice but either way, drop 50 bucks to have a mechanic look at it before buying.

 

[GhostWithTheMost]

Ideally I want to make it as close to an RV as possible (keep it stealth) and that will require removing all the rear seats, adding a platform for a mattress, some extra batteries with an inverter, maybe a fridge, microwave, propane stove, and a heating a cooling system that could be run off the battery power alone. I've got a 1500w inverter, small fridge, small microwave, and small propane stove. I was also going to use my futon mattress in there too. So I'd be out the cost of wiring, 2 extra batteries, and figuring out a way to do a small sink and on board water supply. All the amenities would have to completed in small stages and I know I could do without most of that setup it's just I already have most of it so why not make it comfy.

Id suggest for batteries Red top optima (or otimum cant remember) Batteries..they are a little pricey, like 150 bucks..but they have life time warranties so you'll never need to buy new ones again if they crap out.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Id suggest for batteries Red top optima (or otimum cant remember) Batteries..they are a little pricey, like 150 bucks..but they have life time warranties so you'll never need to buy new ones again if they crap out.

actually, that's not true. i owned two blue tops this year, and their warranty is limited to 7 years. which is still better than most brands. but you can find better deep cycle batteries with more amp hours for significantly cheaper.

 

[DoctorApocalypse]

I've got a buddy with a pair of die hard platinum PM-1 deep cycle AGM batteries in parallel (and a 2kW inverter) in his van and those things are pretty amazing, yeah they're a little pricy but at 1150 CCA a piece he gets a bit more than a week's worth of power before having to dock and charge. Couple of things to watch out for with those batteries though: Sears only has a 3 year free replacement warranty, not that big of a deal if you just make up some excuse to exchange em after about 30 months. Also the AGM batteries need a high current (40 amp) charger or the cells will get wrecked. Fortunately they also sell the die hard platinum charger for when you dock.

Prior to the die hard platinum AGM batteries he had a pair of the biggest costco marine/deep cycle batteries in parallel and the performance was pretty terrible under load. After a week of only barely getting a night's worth of power per full charge he said "fuck it, imma go big or go home" returned em to costco, went to sears and has been happy ever since.

 

[suprhromnn]

actually, that's not true. i owned two blue tops this year, and their warranty is limited to 7 years. which is still better than most brands. but you can find better deep cycle batteries with more amp hours for significantly cheaper.

It depends on where you buy them, Optima used to offer the lifetime warranty but they were recently bought out and the new ownership changed it to seven years. Some places however, will still honor the old lifetime warranty, even with a new battery. Something to ask about when you're battery shopping.

 

[dolittle]

Ok, here is my suggestion. BEFORE you buy Any van, talk to people who KNOW about converting a van to RV. I had the same plan you got, give my van all the modern conveneance of home... till I found out I could buy a small (van type) used RV for about the same money. So I decided to go primative, instead. A twin bed (cot), 2 burner Colman camp stove, ice chest, folding table & a dish pan to serve as sink. Nothing electric means no docking to charge. I have over head lights in the cargo area, only because they came built in with my van. Same with my radio. I did buy a DVD player, it plugs into the cig lighter thingy. Tricking out a van can be a cool, fun thing... if you got the time, money & skill. But a primative set up can be just as comfy, less hassle & hella cheaper. Again, I HIGHLY recommend talking to people in the know b4 taking on the expense.

 

[suprhromnn]

You can do it very nicely for very cheap if you know your way around a car and have the construction/electrical/plumbing skills to bring it all together.

I turned my jeep (before I rolled it) into a self-sustaining camper (except for gas of course).

You get a high-output alternator that has enough amperage to charge 2-3 batteries or you can run a dual-alternator setup and then set up different things to run on different batteries and make kill switches that completely disconnect your electronics so there is no trickle drain coming from them when they're off.

I had running water, a two burner stove, 4 outlets, bed, lighting, cabinets, drawers and I even carpeted my walls and ceiling with shag carpet and it cost me roughly $1500 and two weeks of solid work once I was done with the planning phase.

Whenever the batteries start running low, you just turn it on and drive around for a couple hours and they're charged back up as long as your alternator(s) are putting out enough amperage.

The single most expensive part will be the single HO alternator or setting your engine compartment up with dual alternators.

 

[dolittle]

It's good you had the know how. Sounds like a Hot set up. Sory you rolled it. Like I said, it's a cool deal if you got the time, money & SKILLS. In my case, though, I woulda had to hire all that out. Mine was a rush job. At the time, I had 2 choices. Live in the van, or live on the street. Not having the time, money or skill, primative worked for me. And honestly, I'm glad I went with it. I Do love me some hassle free. But, that's just me. Different things work for different folks.

 

[suprhromnn]

The skills are surprisingly easy to pickup. The plumbing was very basic, I'd hardly call it plumbing. The construction is something that just made it easier and look nice, unnecessary. The electrical and automotive skills seem daunting (I sure thought so) but they can be picked up rather quickly on the internet.

I learned how to do that in a matter of 4-5 months, I spent countless hours on multiple vehicle forums and bumming around car garages and friendly mechanics while I was off work.

Before I started this, I had zero automotive knowledge. I didn't even know how to change my own oil when I bought that jeep. Cars just seem so confusing and complex to people because they don't understand them and fuck, dealerships and garages like it that way but in reality... They are very easy to learn very quickly if you've got the time and the aptitude.

I was lucky in that I've always been good with my hands and I grew up with tools in them being that my dad has done various types of construction for nearly 30 years.

I would say if you have the drive to do this, you can learn this and do it all on your own on the cheap. It may take a few months to learn it all but in the end it is very rewarding and anyways... You don't want to live in a car that you can't fix yourself, mechanics are expensive.

 

[GhostWithTheMost]

It depends on where you buy them, Optima used to offer the lifetime warranty but they were recently bought out and the new ownership changed it to seven years. Some places however, will still honor the old lifetime warranty, even with a new battery. Something to ask about when you're battery shopping.

Ahh, well that makes sense, seeing as how I have not bought an optima batteries in quite a few years now

 

[dprogram]

Well both those vans are out of the equation...hrm. Luckily there is a neighbor who has 4 cargo vans from his business and I'm going to hit him up for one and see if he cant cut me a deal...otherwise the craigslist search continues...

 

[dprogram]

Finally Found the van I am going to get! Ford E150 Cargo van with metal divider and a gate to access the rear. It's in good condition with only 130k miles on it. I should have it in my possession by Monday and man am I thrilled. I might even start a courier service with this thing.

http://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/2915112941.html

 

[suprhromnn]

You should have him get the CEL read before you buy it. If it's been on for a good while and he has had no problems if could be something like a gear slipping in the tranny, which would be bad news.

 

[Earth]

Fords are great !!

Got me an E-350 Diesel conversion van, 1984... twin 20 gal fuel tanks (of which one's gonna be set up for veggie fuel), 6.9 ltr International V-8 thats non turbo, but the 4.88 dana rear gets that van movin quick.

Extremely ruggard and extra heavy duty BUT very very very expensive to keep running (as all diesels are)
Then again, it does get 20+ mpg on the open road, ain't nothing gonna beat that any time soon.......

Good Luck, hope you can get that Ford.