2003 e350 7.3 SMB...thoughts on purchas.

[Taylor3633]

A couple comments which are my opinion and will no doubt differ from some others:
The seller is asking what I would say is a premium price, I personally am not sure that a premium price is justified for this van for the following reasons:
For that price I would desire/expect the full aluminess treatment (front, rear, roof rack) not to mention winch, lighting etc. That is an "all the bells and whistles" price.
While the van is set up/can handle camping for four, it is going to take some serious storage skills to make that work and the standard aluminess box on the rear and lack of roof rack aren't helping.
For that price I would expect that all known mechanical issues have been addressed; $69k and they aren't going to repair the $500 tie rod ends?

That said, it is one heck of a cool van with a layout that I can appreciate and most definitely what many/most consider to be the "Holy Grail" setup (2003 7.3, SMB 4x4). I personally don't agree with that distinction.

[JoeH]

Looks like the sellers are giving up travelling for farming. They certainly had a cool trip in that van.

Maybe it's because I'm jealous and have a 6.0 but I'm with Taylor. Not sure why an engine that has been out of production for 14 years is considered the holy grail anymore.

I'd haggle price because it's not decked out with a front bumper but the FF rear axle is nice. So, maybe that's a wash. Also, ask about the shock mount repair that was done in Baja. As I recall they had an issue common to the early SMB conversions where the lower shock mount broke from the u-bolt plate. The solution was to weld the shock mount to the front axle instead. Might be wrong on that but worth it to see how that worked out.

[mikracer]

I really like the layout with the 4 captains chairs. You can always build something for about the same price as what these are selling for now, but you also have to deal with all the down time it takes to get it done. If you want to enjoy the rig now, then buying something that's already done might be worth it. But ultimately, you have to ask yourself if the layout is what you want. You can always add 4x4, but changing the layout would require a lot of work.

I think if you can get the van for $60k, you would be doing ok. You said they were pretty firm at $65k, but they've been trying to sell that rig for a while now. People will always prefer the 7.3 over the 6.0 so if you have to sell it down the road, that will always be a selling point. If the rig is as clean as it looks in the pictures, I don't think you would lose much if you ended up having to sell it down the road.

[rallypanam]

Looks like it sold... is it yours?

[billroser]

Yep, picked it up last weekend and drove it home about 600 miles. Just got home from a quick overnight with family. Aside from forgetting dog food we had a great time.

We need to figure out food storage as the cabinets are meant for larger items so we're thinking of something that has bins so smaller items don't roll around too much.

BR

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by billroser

Yep, picked it up last weekend and drove it home about 600 miles. Just got home from a quick overnight with family. Aside from forgetting dog food we had a great time.

We need to figure out food storage as the cabinets are meant for larger items so we're thinking of something that has bins so smaller items don't roll around too much.

BR

Congrats !

[rallypanam]

Congratulations, it looks like a nice van!