Thinking about getting a van. Any advice?

[CP]

Yeah, I’m thinking that I might “need” a van for comfortable road trips, camping, towing a boat, carrying a couple bikes, etc.  I’m kind of overwhelmed by the lack of choices and the cost of new vans.
 
Any suggestions on what to consider, and what to avoid? 

[Jake Dogfish]

A few years back they bought a new Nissan minivan at work.  Total piece of junk.

[pianoman9701]

Some of the transit vans are pretty cool to modify for camping and hunting.

[Sakko300wsm]

Like sprinter van? All you need is a man bun and a mountain bike - drive over to winthrop and you can tour every brand . Just kidding kinda 🤣🤣

[Jpmiller]

You can find deals on most from brands from rental car agencies. Really important to go look and really inspect before you buy. Looked at a whole bunch before ending up with the dodge mini van. Some were sparkly clean and some were beat to crap. Haven’t done it but was told it’s pretty straight forward adding seats to a cargo van if you want that but never did try. Most the ones I saw for sale weren’t in great shape used.

[Boss .300 winmag]

For down by the river?🤣

[WAcoueshunter]

For down by the river?🤣

Haha, lol, first thing that came to mind for me too!

[2MANY]

I can't believe I got beat to the man bun comment.
Those vans suck.
Especially the Mercedes.

[scotsman]

I have the answer for you….. for a number of years Chevy made full size vans with all wheel drive. I got one around 15 years ago and its still going strong. The first year I took it elk hunting I topped a ridge after miles and miles of ridiculous dirt road… you shoulda seen the looks I got from other hunters in their giant dodge pickups. It never has let me down and now has close to 200K on it. Just routine oil and filters, no mechanical issues at all. Mine has full windows and removable seats  which was great for  family vacations and my works too.Not to  mention comfy hunting rig  - I just set up a cot with thick mattress and have all my stuff close at hand.

They are still out there and not crazy expensive either. I did a very brief Craigs list search for Chevy express awd and several popped right up: https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/bellevue-2006-chevrolet-express-awd/7774516364.html.

[WapitiTalk1]

Sorry, I’m an older hunter. This popped up in my dusty memory banks. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QZnqhuwjqT0

[dwils233]

You'll need a real, full-size van if you want to tow anything and even then, the 4WD options are limited and spendy.

That said, I saw a Toyota Sienna AWD with a 3.5 inch lift kit plus the largest tires he could fit for another 1.5 inch lift. It looked pretty fun until he said towing capacity was only like 1500 lbs

[LDennis24]

Here ya go!

https://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/d/mukilteo-2007-ford-60-e350-diesel/7771201218.html

[LDennis24]

https://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/cto/d/renton-2019-gmc-savana-4x-lt/7772154601.html

[LDennis24]

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/seattle-2019-ford-transit-150-xlt/7774876296.html

[LDennis24]

Or if your a little guy

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/d/bellingham-daihatsu-hijet-van-for-sale/7772724117.html