CHOOSING YOUR PERFECT VAN

Choosing your perfect van or your perfect future home if you wanna call it, can be really intimidating and exciting in the same time. First things first, you want to decide if you want  to get Gas or Diesel powered vehicle. Diesel will be cheaper in a long term because you can drive more miles with a tank of diesel then a gas and vehicle itself will last a lot longer, while gas is more common and more expensive and has shorter lifespan.

We’ve opted out for Diesel, but mainly because we wanted Mercedes sprinter. Before making your final decision, take a look at a bunch of other peoples vans and imagine yourself in it, or even better if you have money to spare, rent a few of them for a night or two to try it out in person. That will help you narrow it down to what could potentially be your new home on wheels, remember to have fun, this is exciting thing in life, not everybody is able to do it.

One of the most important things is budget ,get your numbers together and start you search for a van, for budget friendly option, most people opt out to buy used van, usually completely empty so you can customize it to your liking. Let’s go through some options together!

MERCEDES SPRINTER

If not one of the most popular options for adventure weekend van life and full-time van life. Mercedes sprinter is overall very nice looking van all around, inside and outside.
It comes in variety of sizes(wheelbases), from 144wb to 170 extended we that measures 24 feet from front to back, also comes in both, standard and high roof for extra head room for taller people (like me lol). Most of Sprinters will be rear wheel drive(which is still way better then front wheel drive) but they can also be found in 4×4 which is really cool.

I am 6’6″ so we had to go with high roof, and we really  wanted Mercedes sprinter since it was the most popular all around and it already had a bunch of pre-made stuff you can get that is specifically designed to fit in sprinter vans, one of them was for example headliner shelf that goes above driver and passengers head, instead of having to do a lot of hard work to cut that perfectly, there are already kits out there that makes it easy.

Keep in mind that Mercedes are foreign vehicles in USA, so repairs are going to be more expensive then regular American made vehicles. Overall if it’s your first conversion, you’ll most likely be the happiest with Mercedes sprinter due to many layouts and conversion ideas that already exist out there, and your conversion can be a lot easier.

Mercedes Sprinter sizes

VOLKSWAGON

The classic van that started it all, there is definitely no person on earth that wouldn’t want to have one of these in good condition, converted into tiny home and ready for adventures, let’s stop dreaming now and get back to reality.

It is really hard to come by one of these vans these days, they have stopped manufacturing them a long time ago and it’s hard to find one that doesn’t need a lot of work just to keep it in driving condition since they are so old, but it’s not impossible, some people managed to do it and they look really cool.

If you get lucky to find one of these near you without a lot of rust and frame damage, consider yourself lucky. This would be our first option, but there was just none available anywhere near us. If you read this blog and got one, please send us some photos to my Instagram

FORD TRANSIT

For USA, one of the best long term choices would be Ford Transit, it is made in USA, it is FORD so maintenance can be done anywhere and parts should be available anywhere in the USA. Besides that, it comes with a high roof option, so all tall people can enjoy standing up inside the Van, which is really important especially if you’re going into it full time for a while.

One of the big downsides for this option is the price, these vans are pretty pricey at around $20,000+ for used one with 50-60k miles on it. Another downside is if this is your first conversion, there is not a lot of guides and tutorials out there, so you’d have to figure out a lot of stuff yourself, being handy comes in handy with this one.

DODGE PROMASTER

Ram Promaster is becoming very popular in van life community lately, a lot has to do with it’s sweet price in the middle, not too expensive, not to cheap, just right, you can get one in $13-16k range with 60-80k miles on it which still leaves you plenty of life on it even though it’s gas powered vehicle.

Downside for them is, they break down quite often and when you’re full time in your van, you don’t want it to break down, that means you’ll have to get a hotel, car rental and all that additional cost if repair will last couple days.

Overall this Van option was our least favorite because we know a lot of people that own them and they are breaking down on them all the time, so that was automatic no from us since our van was going to be our only home for longer then a year.

CHEVY EXPRESS & FORD ECONOLINE

These Ford and Chevy vans are probably one of the most common and popular ones out there due to their price, they are very affordable for anyone wanting to try out van life, you can pick up one of these used for couple thousand dollars, and conversions can be done on low budget as well. These vans are the most budget friendly and will get you on the road the quickest. They are also heavy duty so you can load them up pretty good and they will handle it.

After all, we are all trying to get on the road, the outdoors, explore… so one of these vans will definitely do the job, you really don’t need all bells and whistles of the actual home to have good time while van-lifing. It’s all about outdoors anyways. Sure, it makes it more comfortable, but it is not a deal-breaker, if this is the only thing you can afford, definitely go for it and have fun! 

Remember, you are here for an adventure

Don’t let the options confuse you, get the one you can afford and start slowly, time is flying by, don’t wait to be one of those people in their 60’s saying i wish i would’ve done it when i was younger. Happiness comes from inside of you, your mind, better van is not going to make you happier.

Once you find the one you like, bit the bullet and go for it. I literally sold my dream car and got a van, imagine how many judgements i got from my family and friends, a lot, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that i’m happy about steps i’ve taken towards my future…

All of my content is completely free and I’m glad if I can help, i never want the cost to stop someone from living your dream life, but if you’re feeling generous and this post helped you, you can thank me by going to any of my YOUTUBE videos and clicking THANKS button below video, and i’ll keep working towards keeping this website up and creating even more content.