advice pls buy or rent? recommended vehicles

karenA wrote:

401nailhead wrote:
Are you sure you would not want to keep one for future adventures? Why limit it to just one trip?

Moving to Barbados fall 2017, thought I'd travel 4 months before I go

Tough call - anything 20-25+ years old, in the 100k mile range, be ready to add another $5-7k for repairs, replacements, make it safe, make it pass inspections, etc. specially if you are planning to drive coast to coast.... You don't want an unreliable and/or unsafe vehicle while on your journey. The RV repair prices seem to be higher than the car repair prices.

BTW - just got back from Barbados (3rd time there). Nice island.

401nailhead wrote:
Are you sure you would not want to keep one for future adventures? Why limit it to just one trip?

Moving to Barbados fall 2017, thought I'd travel 4 months before I go

Keep in mind she is in Canada where prices are higher. If the Canadian dollar was in a little better shape I would recommend going to the US to buy a Roadtrek or Pleasureway. Both are Canadian built RVs. I love my Roadtrek and bought it for $12,500. a couple years ago, with 87,000 miles on it and every receipt from original purchase to every repair & oil change. I came out of a restaurant last fall and one fellow was determined to buy it for $15K. I might take that for the GMC but not the Roadtrek.

Are you sure you would not want to keep one for future adventures? Why limit it to just one trip?

In that price range look for something moderately well used in a Dodge, Chevrolet or Ford van, probably 1990s to early 2000. VW vans, Westfalia campers particularly, are becoming collector items, tend to be high-maintenance, and in models before the third generation (Vanagon) were not designed for travel at today's highway speeds in North America. Even in Vanagons, you'll find older ones underpowered, later model years will have larger fuel injection engines and almost twice the power.

Actually, the more recent Vanagon campers are probably the least expensive, $20,000 to $30,000 for a high-mileage usable van, up to $90,000 restored to mint in model years with new or recently rebuilt engines, under $10,000 for a restoration project with 200,000 - 300,000 miles.

Late 1980's Ford/Dodge/Chevy conversion vans sell for under $10,000, Late 1990's in the $10,000-15,000 range. If you were inclined to get a used commercial van with enough life left in it to drive across the country, and fit it out modestly as a camper, you could be looking at under $5000 for a late 1990s van with about 150,000 miles, $10,000 to $15,000 for less than ten years old, less than 100,000 miles. For these, I looked for 3/4 ton vans only, so there would be ample carrying capacity for the most elaborate camping conversion. 1/2 ton vans might be slightly lower cost, but for the small difference in original price most commercial customers opt for the 3/4 ton or 1-ton models, so the heavier ones are easier to find.

FWIW, in 2014 I picked up a 2012 E-350 12-passenger van, 19,000 miles, for $22,000. A commercial E-250 at that age and mileage was about
$3,000 cheaper, but I needed the passenger van. Because the E-series van is no longer made, and demand remains strong, these still sell for that price today with 50,000 miles. Scarcity of Ford vans is helping hold up the price of recent model years of Chevrolet Express vans.

Buy a used van, either do the work or hire someone to convert it. Brother did a couple pretty cheap. Added two beds, a sink and small refer, plus a lot of storage.