Our van, Steven, is a 2014 Ford Econoline e350 xlt passenger van. It has a 5.4 liter, 8 cylinder gas engine and gets about 14 miles per gallon. We bought from some friends who used it on their maple syrup farm.
We found Steven through sheer luck (or perhaps fate) when our friends stopped by and mentioned that they were selling their farm– work van included. As it happened, we had just started looking at possible vans to convert!
No Luck
We’d visited our local Ford and Dodge dealerships to check out Transits and Pro Masters, discovering that new brand vans were waaaay outside our budget. We tried hunting up possibilities online, checking out used fleet vehicles and self-built resales. But high top and converted vans were at their peak price point, and the options in New England were scant and overpriced. We searched Craigslist, farther and farther afield figuring we could fly out to buy a van and drive it back… still rare and pricey.
Things were looking pretty grim.
But an Econoline?
We had not considered a Ford Econoline… or a low top van, for that matter. But this one seemed to fall right out of the wishing tree into our laps. And the more research we did, the more excited we became. Econolines are not the most glamorous van life vehicles. However, they are easy and (relatively) cheap to repair, roomy and strong and they have an enduring old-school charm. The e350 can haul A LOT, so weight is not an issue when converting. Although, many van-life folks choose windowless cargo vans, we would sacrifice stealth for scenery any day, so the passenger van aspect worked for us.
We went to check out our friends’ van and that was that. If it wasn’t love at first sight, it was something very very close to that. It was ample– plenty of room for a full-sized bed, clothes and gear storage, and a sink.
We found that that if the low top was an issue, we could add a fiberglass high top later on.
Our mechanics gave it a relatively clean bill of health, and the things that needed fixing were fixed before we finished our transaction.
We bought our van for about $15,000, the bluebook value at the time, cleaned out my eBay side-hustle savings account and a few other accounts to do it. But, with no car payments or debt, we were able to focus on planning the best camper build for our needs.
Our budget is tight. With a more expensive vehicle, we would not have been able to afford our 12v refrigerator, our inverter, Maxxair fan, screenhouse, and many, many other items.
Choosing a Van: A Word of Advice
We are super happy with our decision. The best advice we can give to those looking to buy and convert a van is buy the most solid, mechanically sound van you can for the money you already have.
If we’d ended up with new loans and car payments, our Crazy/Brave Adventure might be more Stressed-out/Can’t Do it Adventure, which would be no fun at all.
