My 1998 Dodge Ram 318 engine has 79,000 original miles on it. Bought it when it had 29,000 and my husband (yes, my nickname's "Rex" but I'm a woman) has maintained it religiously mechanically, and me cosmetically.
We used to tow a pop-up, which graduated to a 27' camper, with our Yukon (which now has 120,000 miles on it - also well-maintained) but once our son got to the age of independence (and moved out with our Bishi, 140,000 miles and running perfectly), we couldn't justify the work that went into setting up a towable just for the two of us.
We'd always done "overnights" in my van - so it's a natural for me now to do a full conversion on it. SO much easier for my husband and I to travel anywhere we want, and best of all - I can keep it in the driveway.
We could buy a "real" camper van, but I've worked hard to get what little I have saved for retirement (LOL!) and I'm not ABOUT to spend $65,000 of it on a Class B. Does my van need repairs on occasion...? Of COURSE! Will those repairs EVER total 40, 50, or 60 thousand bucks...? Never.
Don't be afraid of mileage. Just invest in repair and maintenance and there's no reason you should have less confidence than if you bought a new vehicle because, let's face it, vehicles break down when THEY want to - regardless of whether you've owned them for years or just drove them off the lot.
