WANTED Broke Newbie Looking for Fixer Upper Shuttle or Ford Mobile Home Shell, etc

[DynamicNemo]

Hey, there!

I'm finally starting my digital nomad journey and I've saved up enough to get my base vehicle. Any vehicle I get I will likely gut, so I am looking for partial conversions or cleared out shuttle vans. I love the skoolie vibe, but I'm looking for something similar to an airport or mobility shuttle, 16 passenger. Older small motorhomes in the Ford family, etc.

I am familiar with vehicle repair, so I am willing to bring parts or tow in some circumstances.

I have searched locally and seen a range of vehicles this size, priced from 1,000 to 7,000 USD, and mile ranges 30,000 to 300,000. Below are the range of parameters I'm trying to stick to. Ultimately, I'm down to take that stagnant conversion project of your hands.

My specs:

Price: 2,000-4,000 USD (okay with fixer upper)

Miles: under 170,000 would be cool, but I don't mind higher if some parts are newer.

Year: ideally north of 1990

Fuel: gas

Type: Automatic

Area: I'm based in west central Wisconsin. I'm willing to go from Minneapolis area down to Chicago area, but for the right price, anywhere in the US.

Let me know if you have any questions! I realize my price range is pretty low, so I'm down to hear best offers.

Thanks! 🚚

[oricha1984]

Good to hear you are moving forward and know what you want.
Keep in mind it is a sellers market just as with housing.
gl to you brother!

[dbsoundman]

"Ian Ruck- The Bus Nut" on Facebook may be able to help you out. He's in Columbus OH.

[Booyah45828]

Broke newbie.....

Are you living by yourself? If you are, my recommendation is to downsize what you're looking for to a van or smaller. Why? Because vehicle repair and maintenance costs increase exponentially with vehicle size. Skoolies aren't cheap, and you being broke will only make you desperate when not if something goes wrong. And not to be a buzzkill, but if you only have 4k for this, you're not going to be getting very far into a conversion. Most here have more then that in their initial purchase price, and will have well over double that into the conversion costs.

Skoolie life ain't cheap, and it leads to burnout and financial ruin more often then it leads to financial success.

Also, being based currently in Wisconsin, do you desire to stay there? If so, you'll have to put a lot of consideration into heat and insulation to do that. Most full timers view the wheels under them as an asset, and travel to more temperate climates in the winter. Food for thought.

Whatever you decide, good luck with it

[Sehnsucht]

Booyah is right, if you're broke from the outset this is just not the right lifestyle for you. Take some time to peruse these forums and you'll see plenty of conversion projects that were abandoned for lack of funds or completed rigs that end up going for scrap because they breakdown on the road and no funds to even get them back running again. I recall one about a year or two ago that they blew an engine on the maiden voyage home and towed into a diesel shop where the repair estimate was more than they'd just paid for the whole bus! Needless to say they walked away from it after one day. We're not trying to be mean, just trying to warn you off of possibly making a financially ruinous mistake. If you can save up for a better starter and an equal amount to get the build started, that carries a lot more weight than starting on a shoestring on the initial purchase.