Lots of SMB's for sale on the SMB website, what's going on?

Ben10281 · 11-10-2015, 11:14 AM

I counted something like 28 that were showing for sale on the SMB website. I joined this forum about a year ago and it seems like over the course of that year there have been more and more SMB's listed on their site for sale. I thought spring would be the season that you would normally see a bunch of SMB's for sale(similar to motorcycles) but as we enter winter it seems like SMB is listing more vans for sale then ever.

Also, when I joined it seemed like RB/EB50 was very sought after and kinda rare, but now most of the SMB's listed are RB/EB50 layouts. Any thoughts on what's going on out there in the SMB market?

Many of the SMB vans for sale are the 2005 & up 6.0L diesels with just under or right around 100k miles on them. Is there a major ($$$$) maintenance on tap at 100k for these vans and owners are bailing before paying for the maintenance, or maybe they are sick of repair bills if they never bulletproofed the engines? If not bulletproofed, are the prices quoted by SMB too high then and that is why they are not selling?

Just curious what everyone else's thoughts are, on what feels like a lot of SMB's on the market.

JoeH · 11-10-2015, 01:52 PM

A better question might be what's the average time of ownership? Or, have a look at the forum member list and note how many are still active. Most folks buy one and use it for a couple of years and either outgrow it or decide they're not using it enough to justify the expense. Go back through some of the old threads and not many members from the late 2000s are still active. Kinda sad but lots of fresh new faces!

But also with the E350 being phased out I think lots of folks are looking to sell with re-sale value so good. My gawd, there's incentive to sell if you can get 100 to 120k for a 5 year old rig with 50,000 miles. By comparison, I bought mine in 2010 with 50,000 miles and paid almost half that. I guess the economy really is rebounding.

copescobra · 11-10-2015, 03:50 PM

I think many are looking to capitalize on what they think is a new market for used SMB's and
that people will pay extra for the old body style.
Personally, most people are not realistic on pricing them especially when they are looking
to make money over what they paid for it....

Happy to hang onto my old reliable 94 4x4 7.3 SMB.
Although I would love to find a reasonable priced RB50 style to replace my older
style.

Ford_6L_E350 · 11-10-2015, 04:19 PM

This is the time of year to park a van that is used primarily in the summer. If you are not going to use it, sell it.

Mike

86Scotty · 11-10-2015, 05:07 PM

I think it's a little bit of everything mentioned. I must agree that it seems like a lot of folks on here are selling or have sold in the last year, and there is definitely an uptick in new members to fill in the gaps.
I'll be selling mine soon, too, after I fix a few things, but only to get a newer and bigger van. There are probably a few others like me as well. Audisnapr and 1der come to mind. Many homebuilders like myself build one from scratch and then want to replace it with a genuine SMB when they see an opportunity. Like I said, I think it's a little bit of everything.

**daveb** · 11-10-2015, 05:41 PM

What everybody said ^^^
They are all reasons that people drop out of the race. A select few move up to a $300K+ vehicle. I do think most people do not use their SMB 4x4 for what it was designed for. So many may be looking for other solutions. A trailer is probably something I might look at in the future...Did I just say that

Sheriffdoug · 11-10-2015, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveb

What everybody said ^^^
They are all reasons that people drop out of the race. A select few move up to a $300K+ vehicle. I do think most people do not use their SMB 4x4 for what it was designed for. So many may be looking for other solutions. A trailer is probably something I might look at in the future...Did I just say that

Dave, Canoes, Trail bike, Quad bike, 3 Wheel Land Sail, Remote buggy, Bicycles,
Plus more, secure, with own power supply.

Cheers, Doug

**daveb** · 11-10-2015, 06:33 PM

Well I was referring to more of a travel type trailer

but I doubt I'll go that was for several years. I am considering a nice Jeep to tow behind the sporty.

ctb · 11-10-2015, 09:52 PM

Man...this is one sad post!! First, who cares how many OTHER people are selling their SMB's!!! One, ten, a hundred...if there was ANY PROBLEM with ANY PARTICULAR MODEL, PART (S), or STYLE this thread would have talked about it, offered solutions or proven fixes, and generally thought out every possible end...there's nothing 'wrong' or anything to be suspect about...particularly lack of maintenance...I have never been in love with a vehicle more and wanted to make sure it is maintained, repaired, and/or upgraded whenever possible...as with a great majority (got to go with over 80%-bellshaped curve stats) of SMB owners. A majority of us take care of our rigs! Next, what do we expect? The Econoline is no longer!! We now have collectors items! Rare beauties that make people dream...even if they buy and can't justify keeping b/c of usage or a plethora of other reasons...they still dove in head first b/c of that dream that the SMB evokes....all i see is positives with SMBs for sale...new members, new adventures and trip reports, new dreams to realize!!! I'm going out to the garage and look at Sporty...take care members! Look forward to your trip reports and positive vibes!!! Here's a recent (sadly short..rain

) pic from a quick trip out west...trip report soon!

jydog · 11-11-2015, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

I think it's a little bit of everything mentioned. I must agree that it seems like a lot of folks on here are selling or have sold in the last year, and there is definitely an uptick in new members to fill in the gaps.
I'll be selling mine soon, too, after I fix a few things, but only to get a newer and bigger van. There are probably a few others like me as well. Audisnapr and 1der come to mind. Many homebuilders like myself build one from scratch and then want to replace it with a genuine SMB when they see an opportunity. Like I said, I think it's a little bit of everything.

Just curious what you would be looking for? I kind of admire that you have one of the rigs older than 97. Just wondering what you are looking for in the newer model? I've gone back a forth about this myself especially about the engines. The older 351w and 460 are simple and reliable and cheap to replace and rebuild. The newer 4.6 and 5.4 s are expensive and a pain to work on. I have no experience with 7.3 or 6.0 diesels but I think for my use I will stay away because of the weight and expense. I just wish the dash would swap out with the newer model.