How long do you keep your SMB?

[gregd]

I've noticed that at least a few people on this forum have sold their vehicles. In one case there seemed to be a great deal of excitement and commitment (for months) leading up to the purchase. Then there were pictures of an awesome SMB 4x4 decked out. Obviously the new owners were very excited about their purchase. Then a year, or two, or three, goes by and it gets sold. How common is this? What are the reasons people sell their vehicles?

I am getting very close to committing and would like to know how people feel two or three years down the road.

Cheers.

[surfgeek33]

We had our SMB for a little less than 2 years before selling it. Here are a few reasons why we sold ours.

1. At the time of purchase, our daughter was only 2y/o. Both working in the medical field, we had lots of random days off during the week, sometimes 5 days straight. We would use the SMB to go to lots of places on a whim. However, once our little one started school, as responsible parents , we can not pull our daughter out of school every time we had our days off. So our SMB sat on our driveway as a 4th car .

2. We did not use the 4x4 enough. We only wanted the option for snow and light trails. The SMB has great capabilities, but it comes with the cost of comfort IMO. Driving on paved highways was not the best. We seem to feel every bump on the road.
There are lots of people happy with the stock SMB 4x4 suspension. But unfortunately, I've got friends with SMB's with Quadvan and Deaver springs upgrades that I had a chance to drive. Man they drove like Cadillacs!

3. The EB was just a little too big as a daily driver. With the Aluminess Bumpers, galley box, etc., your looking at a long rig.

Now, our SMB belongs to another forum member that totally fits his lifestyle. And he is very happy with his rig.

In the next few years, we are still going to get another SMB. This time, I know what we need and want. Speaking to one of the SMBW staff, he mentioned that lots of SMB owners are a lot happier with their 2nd rig. I can see why. For now, I'm trying out an RB van and making it somewhat of a transformer style. I love it. Hope this helps.

[saline]

I was often curious about the sometimes quick turnover of SMB's. My guess is that a SMB is a big commitment financially and that if money gets tight it's probably the first to go.
Another example would be the SMB we bought. The people we bought our 2004 from were headed out of the country for over a year and didn't want the SMB sitting so they decided to sell.
I know if three certain propositions pass here in Colorado I will be out of a job, of course the SMB would be the first to go if this happened. Hope they don't!

[Burklin]

We’ve just ordered our third SMB. We sold our first one after 3.5 years to order our 06. I wanted the same set up (RB50), the new highly touted 6L diesel and a rig without the attention grabbing bumpers. (After driving in Mexico I decided I wanted a less conspicuous look).

So here we are, four years later and realizing that we have seldom used the 4X4, we are going to try the Sprinter (RB150) this time around. I could have easily keep each one until I ran the wheels off of em. I really don't have a good reason to sell a perfectly good SMB. Maybe I’m addicted to the new vehicle smell.
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[yvrr]

A fellow used to video tape the Sportsmobile Rallys that SMB West did each year (the tapes were available through SMB West) and while our van was being converted, I would watch them over and over, thinking forward to the day ours would be done. In one of the videos, the cameraman asked an owner how often they used their 4X4 SMB. Their answer? Twice since they got it...at the rally the previous year and the current rally! I'm guessing that they eventually sold it.

Ours is 9 years old next month and has about 85,000 miles on it. We plan to keep it until we can't get up into the penthouse to go to bed. We will be off tomorrow for another week long trip...

[TomH]

Originally Posted by surfgeek33

....In the next few years, we are still going to get another SMB. This time, I know what we need and want....

Would you mind sharing that? It's good to hear an opinion formed via experience.

[JoeyNick]

I'm on my fifth year of ownership (purchased new and custom) and I couldn't be happier. The 90k miles I've put on her should attest to that.

I keep my SMB in better shape than my daily driver and use it just as much. If there's even a tiny chance I might overnight, need a change of clothes or have company along for the ride, I use my SMB.

Buying my SMB has probably been my smartest purchase, ever. The amount of amazing memories I've accumulated because of her are countless and I plan to keep her until she's falling apart. Then I'll buy a new one...

[flyfisher]

After several months of agonizing over spending close to $80k on my SMB, I "pulled the trigger". That was 5 1/2 years ago. It still ranks right up there as one of the least rational "investments" I ever made (don't ask me how much I have "invested" in my stereo system). That being said, whenever I head out for a fishing trip, or road trip, it gives me such pleasure, and I never regret buying it. I'm fortunate that when The Van isn't being used, it gets to live comfortably in my garage, out of the weather, so it's still almost as shiny as the day I picked it up in Fresno. With a mere 40k miles on it, I have no plans to get rid of it. It's packed and ready to go to the Grande Ronde in SE Washington next week.

Tom

[Ford_6L_E350]

We've had ours for 6+ years and 80K miles. The only reason I could imagine selling would be to buy another SMB that might better fit our current lifestyle.

Mike

[saline]

Let me add that we have had our SMB for about 1 1/2 years and have loved it. It is the best purchase we have ever made. We have put nearly 20k miles on it in 8 different western states and spent 75 nights in it. On top of everything else, it's nice to hang out inside in the warmth eating popcorn and watching a movie when the wind is blowing 50mph outside.