Longtime Lurker Now Sportsmobile Owner

[Vanimal]

Belize was asking if you could share a round about price of what you paid or at least the list price. As a long time lurker that you said you were, you will know and understand that many come here in need of guidance. Most people here come to find out what their units are worth or what they will have to pay to get a decent unit as it appears you have purchased. As Belize stated, he is in the market for a van and would appreciate a value guage from you and other recently sold or purchased units. It is totally up to you but I am sure he would appreciate it!

[Spr]

Congrats, Your going to love it!!

[BVerhulst]

Welcome! What part of Colorado are you in? I'm in Estes Park.

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Vanimal

Belize was asking if you could share a round about price of what you paid or at least the list price. As a long time lurker that you said you were, you will know and understand that many come here in need of guidance. Most people here come to find out what their units are worth or what they will have to pay to get a decent unit as it appears you have purchased. As Belize stated, he is in the market for a van and would appreciate a value guage from you and other recently sold or purchased units. It is totally up to you but I am sure he would appreciate it!

Congrats to the new owner! Vanimal and Belize, it’s just my humble opinion, but I don’t like advertising what I paid for big things. To me, that’s what PM’ing is for, private conversation. Then the person isn’t put on the spot publicly. Like I said, just my humble opinion.

[Vanimal]

Just trying to help out Belize there. I am sure the bill was higher than most would pay hence the silence but oh well. What is the saying "one man's junk is another man's treasure". No point intended just that some will pay more for items to save themselves a ton of work. This unit definitely looks to be in awesome shape again depending on the dollar! Congrats on the purchase.

[Belize]

I have to sheepishly admit that after a little digging, I was following this van for some time and made a bid on it. The owner was nice enough to let me know the price paid privately. I am a little confused on the bullet proofing. The van was not bullet proofed as far as I know. Did the new owner get it Bullet proofed?

Vanimal and Otter are both right and I appreciate their input and support. I had 20 vans in a spread sheet I have been looking at, listing details and costs and when sold selling price. Most have gone $5k-$10 below asking price. That helps a ton in negotiations and in setting price. I currently have a deposit down on a van that has checked all the boxes for me and in 2 weeks will get the pre-purchase inspection done, and if all is good, my search will be done and the next adventure will begin.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Originally Posted by Belize

I have to sheepishly admit that after a little digging, I was following this van for some time and made a bid on it. The owner was nice enough to let me know the price paid privately. I am a little confused on the bullet proofing. The van was not bullet proofed as far as I know. Did the new owner get it Bullet proofed?

Vanimal and Otter are both right and I appreciate their input and support. I had 20 vans in a spread sheet I have been looking at, listing details and costs and when sold selling price. Most have gone $5k-$10 below asking price. That helps a ton in negotiations and in setting price. I currently have a deposit down on a van that has checked all the boxes for me and in 2 weeks will get the pre-purchase inspection done, and if all is good, my search will be done and the next adventure will begin.

Apologies for the comm silence. Been out skiing.

This van did get bullet proofed in 2016, about 1-2,000 miles before we bought it. The previous owner had a very organized file of everything done to the van, from the files of when he was trying to decide what he wanted in a build back in 2003 and 2004, through the whole back and forth with Sportsmobile for the build, all the way up through work done just before we picked it up. I also talked to the shop that did the bulletproof work as well as line up what "bullet proofing" entails vs. the parts ordered and installed.

As someone above said, I'm not a fan of advertising what I paid for something like this. We had watched quite a few for sale ads - and you're right, the prices were all over the place. But the diesel 4x4 RB/EB50's with moderate mileage seemed to be in the $60's-$80's. We paid in the mid $70's for the van, but then put another chunk of money into the van with Aluminess. After looking at several other diesel 4x4 RB/EB50's out there, we paid on the high side of the range for this one due to the condition, work done, and quite a few conversations with the seller and mechanic.

Good luck with your search. We haven't put ours to extensive use yet, but have a winter trip coming up and a whole lot of biking and hiking and climbing around CO/UT/WY/NM/MT to do in the near future.

Cheers!

[Belize]

Ok, then this is not the van I was bidding on. Was it bought from Mario in Grants Pass?

[Vanimal]

That is great! You were able to speak with the mechanic, that makes the purchase price worth at least $5-7K more as these upgrades can be costly, not to mention the piece of mind associated with the expenditure! Knowing that it was done is huge especially with the 6.0's. The treasure just up'd it's value!

[KDB]

Great looking rig!