With bittersweet feelings, we are selling our van.
We’ve shifted paths a little bit in terms of the adventures we chase, and we’ve unfortunately outgrown our ole girl.
We’re happy to answer any additional questions you may have, but here’s the great, the good, and the not-so-good:
The Great
– Solar System is fully operational, and definitely a no-maintenance situation (other than periodically cleaning the panels, of course). The van comes with 3 fixed 100W Solar Panels., a 2000w inverter, Rover Charger Controller, and a 400 amp hour deep cycle gel battery. Everything was purchased at the same time, directly from Renogy, and it’s all 100% solid. It’s frankly a larger system than this van needs, by design.
– Dometic top-entry fridge on a slider that lives under the bed.
– 2 light circuits – one that is 4 “hockey puck” lights around the bed on a dimmer, and 2 “puck” lights in the kitchen on a toggle switch.
– Ceiling fan with remote and moisture sensor. Works great. Leave it open in the summer on a hike, it’ll close itself if it starts to rain while you’re away from the van.
– 2 burner click-to-start propane stove and oven
– Spacious “garage” (storage under the bed with access from the rear)
– Fiberglass topper was completely redone- sanded, resealed and repainted summer 2022
– New Pergo flooring and rigid-foam insulated floor. Flooring and insulation extends to cab instead of just stopping behind captains seats.
– The entire van was rebuilt from the steel and fiberglass outward, and was diligently insulated (we have all the photos from the build if you’re curious). Despite the many windows, we’ve done -16 degree nights in her and been good to go in the morning.
– If you’re not super tall, you can easily stand up to cook, put your pants on, tidy up, etc., in front of the stove.
– The bed is a fixed, full-sized bed that is exactly 6′ long from window pane to window pane. (your choice on the mattress- we’re happy to remove it or include it)
– The interior living space is about 9′ from the back of the captains seats to the back door. Because the nose of this van is short, this means that the van is ferry-friendly as a regular passenger vehicle (we took her to Orcas island) and “normal” parking friendly, as well as drive-through friendly (she is indeed less than 9′ tall).
– We’re including new jumper cables (only like 2 months old), a jumper pack that you can just recharge off the solar to keep it ready all the time, and an ice brush/scraper.
– Replaced transmission since we’ve owned her
– Professionally (as in paid a mechanic at a shop, not a DIY job) Rebuilt Engine Electric Box
– New fuel pump in November ’24
– New starter Battery March ’24
– Drives super smooth!
The Good
– All-terrain tires that are in decent shape, but will likely need to be replaced in the next year or so, depending on her activity level.
– Aftermarket front speakers and head unit – USB and bluetooth compatible
– Power locks and front windows
– Back doors and side doors all have “pop open” windows for extra airflow
– The van has windows all-around, so you can have all the natural light you want- or use the included blackout covers for stealth mode.
The Not-So-Good
– She is a 1999. We will not pretend she is a factory-fresh Sprinter.
– She is a bit stinky from the exhaust pipe upon startup, and when we took her into the shop about it, they essentially said that she’s old, and if we wanted to replace all the lines that run out to the exhaust pipe in the van, that would solve the problem. We decided against it. So we were advised to make sure that “all the levels stay consistent” and it would be fine. That was in the summer of 2021, and thus far, it has indeed been fine.
– We honestly don’t know if the AC works. It hasn’t “blown cold” in the time I’ve owned her (since 2017), and I’ve just lived without it, but I also have never taken her into a shop and paid a mechanic to try and fix it (it wasn’t a priority to me).
– The fuel gauge on the dash can lie below 1/8 tank, so we generally try to never let it get below half. As we said, she’s old.
234000 miles.
Again, feel free to reach out with any questions!
