I can’t believe I’m writing these words, but we BOUGHT. A. VAN!
Van life is something we’ve been dreaming about since 2020. Once we got our dog (Bailey) in 2020, we knew it would change how we travel and our future plans.
We needed to find a comfortable, dog-friendly way to travel.
Flights and hotel costs can add up and have restrictions, so van travel sounded like our best option. And bonus, a van is something we can invest in and eventually rent out or sell.
What van did we buy?
We bought a used 2020 Ford Transit.
We did a bunch of research, and the most common options for van conversions were the Mercedes Sprinters, RAM Promaster, and Ford Transit. Ultimately, we decided on going with a Ford Transit because of the reliability and the fact that it’s easier to get serviced should it break down while we’re traveling (which was especially important for my peace of mind). We read a few horror stories of people trying to get Sprinters serviced and didn’t want to deal with that.
The main requirements we looked for were:
- High Roof
- 148 Wheelbase
- Below $50,000
- Mileage Below 50,000 (the lower, the better)
- Backup Camera
- Bonus: Rear or Passenger Door Windows
Luckily, it’s pretty easy to add all those filters to sites like CarGurus, Edmunds, True Car, etc. From researching online, we narrowed down available vans to a couple that fit our requirements and went to a dealer to check them out.
After a few hours at the dealership, a hefty payment, and signing our lives away, we were the proud new owners of a used 2020 Ford Transit.
We plan to turn the van into our dream adventure van over the next few months.
Let the van build begin!
*Subscribe to stay up-to-date with new blog posts & follow our van build journey*
Time to Crunch 