Buying a used van: what to look for
So I've spent the past few days trying to absorb all the different numbers involved and reading thread after thread, and I think I'm ready to ask my own questions. I'm sure I'll still sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about, but just imagine how I would have sounded a few days ago! ;)
We're hoping to buy our first travel trailer in the next few months. At the moment our vehicles are a Toyota Sienna and a 20 year old Camry, so clearly we're going to be buying a TV as well. There are 6 of us: my husband and I and 4 boys (one of whom is 14 and already adult sized and two more will be soon. Youngest is just 2, so he'll stay shrimpy for awhile).
It looks like having 6 people is a big limiting factor, and I'm thinking our best bet as far as cost and practicality is going to be a full size van. We're looking to spend under $20,000, but well under that is, of course, better and would free up more money to spend on the trailer (but safety's the most important thing, so if I need to get an older trailer or one with fewer bells and whistles to get the TV we need, that's what we'll do). We'll be looking for a trailer under 30 feet that will sleep all of us.
I've been looking at used Ford E350s and at Chevy Expresses (everyone says the Fords are way cheaper, but I'm seeing a huge difference in price in the casual searches I've done so far). I'm seeing plenty of both with low to lowish (under 100,000) miles in the $12-18,000 range.
My questions (one technical and one not)!
1. What exactly do I need to look for/ask about these vans? It looks like the towing capacity for the V8 e350s is 6700, which should be fine (the heaviest trailer I'm looking at right now is a Rockwood Mini Lite 2505s....that one would actually come in fairly close, but I've read that the e350 stated towing capacity is on the low side?). But would I be better off looking for a V10? They're harder to find and the gas mileage would be terrible, of course. (Van will likely be my husband's daily vehicle; he only drives about 6 miles to work...he'd rather hold on to his beloved Camry, but I don't think the gas savings would justify an extra insurance payment--plus it's one more thing to find room for in the garage/driveway). Is a tow package standard/common or is that going to be a big issue when I'm looking?
What else am I missing?
2. Just how uncomfortable are those bench seats going to be for the kids on long road trips? My husband's a teacher, so we're hoping to do a lot of long summer trips in the next few years. We have one in a carseat and one in a booster (he'll be out of it within a year, though, I'd guess), but everyone else just has to sit on the hard seats. Is having more comfortable seats installed a reasonable thing do to, price wise?
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
We're hoping to buy our first travel trailer in the next few months. At the moment our vehicles are a Toyota Sienna and a 20 year old Camry, so clearly we're going to be buying a TV as well. There are 6 of us: my husband and I and 4 boys (one of whom is 14 and already adult sized and two more will be soon. Youngest is just 2, so he'll stay shrimpy for awhile).
It looks like having 6 people is a big limiting factor, and I'm thinking our best bet as far as cost and practicality is going to be a full size van. We're looking to spend under $20,000, but well under that is, of course, better and would free up more money to spend on the trailer (but safety's the most important thing, so if I need to get an older trailer or one with fewer bells and whistles to get the TV we need, that's what we'll do). We'll be looking for a trailer under 30 feet that will sleep all of us.
I've been looking at used Ford E350s and at Chevy Expresses (everyone says the Fords are way cheaper, but I'm seeing a huge difference in price in the casual searches I've done so far). I'm seeing plenty of both with low to lowish (under 100,000) miles in the $12-18,000 range.
My questions (one technical and one not)!
1. What exactly do I need to look for/ask about these vans? It looks like the towing capacity for the V8 e350s is 6700, which should be fine (the heaviest trailer I'm looking at right now is a Rockwood Mini Lite 2505s....that one would actually come in fairly close, but I've read that the e350 stated towing capacity is on the low side?). But would I be better off looking for a V10? They're harder to find and the gas mileage would be terrible, of course. (Van will likely be my husband's daily vehicle; he only drives about 6 miles to work...he'd rather hold on to his beloved Camry, but I don't think the gas savings would justify an extra insurance payment--plus it's one more thing to find room for in the garage/driveway). Is a tow package standard/common or is that going to be a big issue when I'm looking?
What else am I missing?
2. Just how uncomfortable are those bench seats going to be for the kids on long road trips? My husband's a teacher, so we're hoping to do a lot of long summer trips in the next few years. We have one in a carseat and one in a booster (he'll be out of it within a year, though, I'd guess), but everyone else just has to sit on the hard seats. Is having more comfortable seats installed a reasonable thing do to, price wise?
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
