tatest wrote:
Your budget makes it unlikely that you will find an RV that you can live in, and can pull your equipment trailer, unless that is less than about 2000 pounds. Most 70s C motorhomes, and small 60s-70s box motorhomes, which is mostly what you will find in that price range, were not designed for towing very much.
But it is possible to get lucky, find a 30-36 foot class A from the 80s in good condition, for sale around that price. I have friends who have done it, buying from an estate where the heirs were in a hurry to liquidate. What they got for $800 (a 80s Brave) was feasible to get road ready for less than another $3000. However, the buyers don't rely on it for road trips, only use it to drive the 30 miles to and from local campgrounds about 6-8 times a year.
Having spent a year shopping used passenger vans, I can tell you your budget will also be a problem there. First users sell them at 1-2 years, currently around $20,000 with 20,000 to 40,000 miles; buyers are usually churches and civic groups, who will run them 5-15 years, however long it takes to get to about 100,000 to 150,000 miles. I was finding those at around $7000-$10,000 for the model years I was willing to accept, e.g. post-2003 for Express/Savana, post-2004 for E-series, ten years old at the most.
You will find price depends mostly on model year, and to get down to your $4000 budget you will find the vans to be about 15-20 years old, mid-90's to 2000. Most of the 15-passenger vans at that age will be high mileage, but some of the rare examples in personal use might be under 100,000. Old enough for low price, and only moderately high mileage, it is more likely to find a conversion (travel) van or a chair lift van, than a straight commercial passenger van.
I would be tempted by the possibilities of converting to your needs a small van-chassis school bus (8-14 passenger) since these have more interior space than a passenger van, and are usually sold at about 10-15 years with about 100,000 miles. Since they are almost always diesel, should be good for 100,000 more, and with a smaller frontal and diesel power, might give much better fuel mileage than a 12,000-18,000 pound gas motorhome with a 90 sq ft frontal area.
So look for used conversion vans (Chevy, Ford, Dodge) as well as passenger vans, and check out prices in your area for used small buses.
FWIW, I just found a 2001 30-passenger transit bus under $5000, gas on a Ford chassis. This is old enough that wheel-chair accessibility was not yet mandatory, but because law now requires this for transit operations, any bus lacking a chair lift should sell cheap.
Thank you so much for your response and detailed information. I appreciate you taking the time to do that. It's invaluable to me.
What do you think about this? http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/rvs/4758735065.html
