We purchased this beautiful Mercedes Sprinter from the geniuses at NJ’s Soda Deco van conversion specialists about a year ago. It offers a very comfortable and practical way to travel, camp, stealth camp, or vanlife.
The expertly engineered van has a power-bed that lifts all the way to the ceiling and allows for full use of the “garage” underneath. It can even carry large bicycles or a motorcycle. It’s a lot like the Winnebago Revel that way, but (if fellow Revel fans will forgive) it’s even prettier and more refined.
The van comes with:
- Dual Sliding Doors (that’s right, sliders on BOTH sides!)
- 25 Gallon fresh water tank
- An amazing diesel cabin heater that is very quiet and sips fuel from the main diesel tank (don’t worry, it’s extremely efficient and the heater will never drain your tank to empty. It’s great for winter trips!)
- Two max air circulation fans with thermostatic remotes. (You won’t need AC when summer camping if you run the fans correctly to bring air in/out of the van. Although if you prefer, the van’s AC alone will easily/quickly cool the full space to a very comfortable temperature — even on the hottest days.)
- 2.5 Gallon Electric water Heater (for the kitchen sink, which has a 10-foot hose you can use inside/outside the van. AND, there is a second propane water heater for the outdoor shower. Both heaters draw directly from the fresh water tank. It makes showers very simple.)
- 3,032 watt hour lithium Ion Battery (as part of a wonderful GoalZero Yeti 3000x system that is wi-fi enabled and can charge quickly from shore power, the van’s heavy duty alternator and/or the solar panels on the roof)
- 300-watts of solar panels (mounted firmly on the roof)
- An Electric Induction double stove (This stove works off the on-board inverter and it’s sturdy glass top really adds to the clean/modern look of the interior (there are no junky counter tops in this vehicle — just lots of space for you to make your own.) Plus, no hot surfaces or open flames inside the van, and no need to find propane for cooking unless you really want to, in which case…)
- A “bonus” Propane Camping stove that slides out on a drawer on the driver side for flame cooking (you can use it on the slide out drawer itself, or remove it and use it anywhere on your campsite. And, of course, the removable stove is color-matched to the van.)
- Rotating Driver and Passenger seats
- 360-degree cameras (which make parking and navigating tight spaces very easy) and tons of safety sensors so you won’t be surprised
- Computerized adaptive cruise control (a must if you plan on long stretches of highway driving. Just set your desired speed and the Mercedes system smoothly accelerates/decelerates automatically to match traffic in front of you.)
- 10.5” screen on the Mercedes OEM vehicle entertainment system (it’s great for Google maps, Waze, Apple Carplay and all the Mercedes Apps.)
- Power folding mirrors with integrated turn signals.
- Upgraded LED headlights (the better to see with on those back roads!)
- Roof mounted lights (with diffusers) on the roof for full camping site visibility.
- Hot and Cold water sink (with a separate spout for filtered water.)
- 5-gallon portable drain container (no messy grey tanks. Just pour the thing out and you’re done.)
- All-Terrain Tires and custom painted wheel caps
- Full-sized 4-inch foam mattress on linear actuators (two switches raise the bed all the way to the ceiling to give you stand-up access to the massive cargo area underneath. You lower the bed for sleeping (there’s still plenty of cargo space under the bed for bikes or a motorcycle when it’s down.) And, since the actuators are on separate switches, you can even level the bed for sleep when the van is parked on uneven ground!
- Portable (new) toilet mounted on a heavy duty slide. Just open the cabinet door to use it, flush it, and slide it back into place securely. When it’s full, open the driver side sliding door and easily access the back of cabinet for easy emptying. It’s a great system that eliminates the need for black tanks.)
- Isotherm Cruise Elegance 65 Dual power refrigerator (this fridge is a gem of a thing. It’s roomy, efficient, keeps food/drinks very cool, and it’s very quiet!)
- 15 amp shore power plugin
- Pro quality switches for seamless transition from shore to battery power
- Propane outdoor hot water shower (mounted inside the sidewalk side rear cargo door.)
- Fiamma F80S Awning
- Mercedes OEM Class III 2-inch trailer hitch with 7-pin receiver
- Mercedes OEM Factory step rear bumper
- Ladder for roof access
- and tons more.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous/thoughtful build on a unique chassis (the dual-sliding door is very rare on Sprinters. It allows for even more open-air views and cross breezes, and creates new possibilities for your adventures!)
BTW, this is not just a 2020 Sprinter chassis, it has the full technology package! And, everything (truly, everything!) works perfectly. In fact, before listing it, we even had our local Mercedes dealership change the oil, check all of the systems, address any open recalls, and do the full state inspection. You can drive it anywhere you like. It’s even better than when it left the dealer showroom floor.
So, why sell it? As you can probably tell, we love the van. But family health issues keep us from using it as we had planned (hence the “almost off the showroom floor” mileage.) We’ve only gotten to use it once – on a three-day trip down the East Coast. The rest of the time, the van has lived a pampered life on our driveway. No one has stayed in it while it’s been stored, and we’ve never even used the microwave, the stove, or the awning. A lot of it is even in the original packaging.
We did upgrade a few things after purchasing the van (all the upgrades can be easily removed if desired, although we strongly recommend that you keep the upgrades as they make the van even more flexible and practical.) The upgrades are as follows:
- Customized magnetic covers (black on the outside, tan on the inside) to all the windows/windshield/ceiling hatches. We got those from Vanmade Gear. They were quite expensive, but they are of top quality and offer complete privacy when parked.
- A White Tops Adventure aluminum shelf (with curtain rod and thermal black curtain) specific to the van’s model. It works great, adds even more handy storage above the cab, gives complete privacy whenever the van is stopped (it does not let any light through from the “house” part of the van), and it’s very easy to remove if desired.
- A NOCO 2D battery charger/tender. It’s mounted on the side of the driver’s seat. It’s also easy to remove. We really liked having it because it protects the battery when the van is parked, and it ensures the van was always ready to roll-out for an adventure. Like everything else in the van, it can be powered from the Lithium/solar system (which has a built-in 3000-watt inverter) or, if you prefer, through the shore power plug under the rear bumper.
- We also added a Lagun table mount swing arm with a teak table top. We used matching pop-up chairs (we’ll include them) that we easily store onboard for an instant dining area in the kitchen. The setup works great.
So, please give the photos and information for “Pratique” a careful look (one of Soda Deco’s design/engineering team is French, so they named the van “Pratique.”) BTW, if you like, you can see the original listing of the van for yourself at: https://www.sodadeco.us/vans/pratique or watch their video below explaining all of the van’s systems.You’ll quickly see that it’s a very unique van with everything you’d need for that trip to, well, anywhere and anytime. And it doesn’t hurt that the darn thing is just plain pretty, fuel efficient and extremely capable.
The van is also listed for sale locally and we priced it fairly/carefully. So, please… serious buyers only.
We would like Pratique to go to a wonderful new owner who wants to take it on the adventures for which it was designed and deserves. If that’s you, please reach out. We’ll gladly tell you anything else you want to know about the van.
We have a clean title to the van and there are no liens on it. That noted, buyers MUST have cash on hand or arrange for their own financing before we will make final transfer of the van’s title to a new owner.
After purchase, you may drive the van home, of course. We are also willing to assist buyers with shipping if preferred/needed.
