Considering adding penthouse top to passenger Sprinter

[Silver350]

You know, a Sprinter is a really nice van, but it is also very expensive. You can pick up a 2 year old 12 or 15 passenger Ford for 1/3 the cost of a comparable Sprinter and have a very nice van that your young family can thrash and spill drinks on, mess up and generally use up. Yes, it will only get about 13 MPG in combined driving, but when you calculate purchase price, depreciation, maintenance costs ($30 oil change, not $300), interest either paid or not earned, you will be money ahead and the break even point over against the Sprinter will be around 200,000 miles. Most people grow tired of their vehicle long before that happens and you kids will likely be out of their boosters by then. And if you are so inclined you will have vehicle that can easily roll up 500,000 miles needing very little. Also, living in the Northeast, a rusted out Ford will be worth the same as a rusted out Sprinter.

[bernardp]

That's exactly what we did for our first Sportsmobile. We found a 3 year old 15 passenger extended Ford 350 at our local dealer. It had been well taken care of and the dealer even gave a 1-year warranty. Then took it to Sportsmobile and had them convert it. Worked out really well for about four years and our young family. My wife got tired of driving it since it was her primary car and because of the length. We also realized that the configuration we chose wasn't optimal for us - seat bench in the back - child was too far back from us. We then sold it with reasonable loss.

Now, several RV attempts later (old Sunrader 4x4 and Coleman travel trailer) we are looking at getting the SMB Sprinter RB with a gaucho set up.