The beginning of the end...

[JohnandMandi]

Thanks simplesez and Spr.

A service, much like the local “car guy” who works out of a bank or credit union, could be very beneficial. Our local car guy became quite the legend, his price was always much better for both new and used vehicles. No matter what incentives, trade values, etc were being offered by the dealers he beat them every time. The only competition came later, in the form of the corporate car guy, as CarMax started to grow. His success was from the network and connections he built across the country and, of course, his talent. Something similar could work in the van space.

[b. rock]

I would suspect most of us have to some extent become that resource within our own social groups. But the idea of a nation wide camper van specialist could fill a niche - a lot of the companies springing up are basically just doing interior builds and aren't super aware of the mechanical underpinnings or the differences between the different models. A select few are, and that makes them special, and those folks seem to be growing like crazy.

[Orv]

Originally Posted by kelpie

It may be the beginning of the end of offroad backcountry solitude as we knew it.

It might be, but I doubt it. It's just the currently trendy hobby. My personal experience is that there was a huge surge in interest during the lockdown because backcountry camping became one of the few forms of recreational travel allowed. I'm already seeing availability at National Forest campgrounds improving.

Another source of off-road vehicle buyers is the prepper/survivalist community. How long that lasts will probably depend on how long people stay interested in QAnon and what theories bubble to the top next. But a lot of those people don't really take their vans out much. They just want to know they have them. So they contribute to driving up prices but not so much to backcountry crowding.

Related story: My dad is a fly fisherman and when the movie "A River Runs Through It" came out there was a huge fly fishing trend, with a lot of good fly fishing rivers ending up overcrowded. But as one guy put it, "don't worry, eventually they'll make a movie about something else." Some of those people found a new, lasting hobby (and good for them!) but most tried it and then moved on.