Behold! The rare, 118” wheelbase, Super High Ceiling “Unicorn” (as the sprinter forum calls it) – better turning radius than a Prius(an actual fact), gets 28mpg, yet tall enough to stand upright in! Parallel parking in the city, or on your crowded street is no problem with this thing.
Mercedes’ famed T1N 5 cylinder diesel engine – the engine is so reliable it’s nuts, but don’t take my word for it… just check the sprinter forum, plenty of those people take their T1Ns beyond half a million miles. With 148K miles this might be the lowest mileage unicorn out there. Expect it to last many years to come.
– Eberspacher diesel heater (the expensive, German one, not the cheap Chinese one), and insulated – Imagine staying in Mammoth on a peak ski weekend, for free… oh, and your lodging is ski-in ski-out, ha. This was our reality for the past few years. We slept in it in single digit Fahrenheit temps on multiple occasions when our daughter was just a baby and still couldn’t use blankets. She was just in a fleece onesie and we were all toasty warm.
– Almost Endless Power – With the current appliances in the vehicle it’s very hard to kill the aux battery. 100AH 12V Lithium Iron Battery with bluetooth monitoring. 30A dual MPPT and DC to DC charger (thing is sweet – trickle charges your vehicle’s engine battery, ensuring you’re always topped off). Solar on Roof. All Renogy Ecosystem. If you have sun, there’s enough power to run every electrical component in this truck almost endlessly, including the heater, fridge, fan, lights. If you don’t have sun, you’re still capable of nearly a week of energy, or, you can take it for a short drive and let your vehicle’s alternator automatically charge the battery in no-time.
– ARB 37QT 12V fridge – $1,000 fridge. Matter of fact, I bought a pint of ice cream (salt and straw ;) stuck it in this fridge, left the van roasting in the sun at hatch hetchy, close to 100 degrees. Went backpacking in the wilderness for 3 days, came back, STILL COLD! Was the best post-backpacking celebration.
-NEW AC – Just put in a brand new condenser and swapped an AC line. Swapped the AC control until as well. It’s cold.
– Super Loud Fire Truck Horn – Wake up 405 texters who merge into your lane unawares. (Don’t worry you can swap back to the OEM horn with the flick of a switch from the driver’s seat).
– 2” lift
– ARB Awning
– Proper Audio – Kicker 8” subwoofer. 2x 6” Rockford speakers. Replaced the OEM 4” speakers with 2x Polk Audio DB 402s. JVC bluetooth stereo.
– Retractable Toddler Bed fastened via plus-nuts to the vehicle’s ribs.
– 2 swivel chairs – rear seat and passenger seat.
– Lagun Table – this rig has been my home office for the last year.
– MaxxAir Fan
– All-Terrain Tires with plenty of tread.
– Bright LED flood lights on rear
– Kuat swinging 2” hitch mount, ideal for bike racks. With a lock-by-key hitch pin.
– Rexxing dash cam and backup cam with recording.
– Aftermarket Alarm with Kill Switch and remote.
I ONLY service this by “Sprinter Expert” in San Fernando. Look him up, people drive hundreds of miles to have him service their vehicle. I never let the dealership or anyone else touch this rig. Additionally, I only put diesel #2 in it, never biodiesel, R99 or anything. And when I do the regular maintenance myself, I only use OEM parts, like… I even bought the Mercedes spec wiper fluid… ridiculous I know… but hopefully that shows how paranoid I am about keeping every inch of this vehicle in great condition.
In the last 3 years this van received:
– A new radiator
– New Front Suspension – Tie Rods and ball joints.
– Replaced 4 of the 5 glow plugs.
-Last year had Anatoliy from “Sprinter Expert” check for injectors for Black Death while swapping glow plugs – she’s clean.
– Within the last year I’ve changed the tranny oil and filter, fuel filter, differential fluid, and of course oil and filter every 10K or 1 year.
2006 = no def :)
Please note!
There is body rust, especially in the water channel below the windshield. Chassis however is rust free.
This rig was a dream for us, with 28mpg, the short wheelbase and awesome turning radius we decided having a camper van as our second around-town family vehicle was justifiable. However, my wife is due for another any day, and we’ve decided it makes the most sense to sell this one… I hope someone makes loads lifetime memories in stunning places the way it did for us… it was the best big-purchase we ever made.
