Bud, I think you know enough to know you should pass on this van.
Too much to expect relative reliability out of an old high mile vehicle that doesn't present well from all angles. For me, just knowing the owner is a musician says 80% chance he don't know or don't care about taking care of a vehicle. Call it profiling, but um yeah.
What's the specific want for a van? Your intended use is towing a bay boat to the launch, or are you planning long trips and using it as an ad hoc camper?
If the former, there are 10x more pickups for sale so much more to choose from. And 2wd pickups have low resale like vans, so just as economical to purchase.
If the latter, then suburban, tahoes, and pickups with a shell could do the same function.
And again, 2wd burbs and yukons don't fetch much money. Actually, in the budget/age you're looking, the 4wd ones are cheap too. $3-5k can get you a sub 150k mile GMT 800 style suv out here. Maybe a bit more for the cherry ones.
We just bought a 01 Tahoe with only 100k on it and a towing trans 4wd loaded for $5k last fall. Was a good deal, but not a steal. Take the extra seats out of a Tahoe or Suburban and it's basically a van, with way more to choose from on the market.
