We're looking for a van to use primarily for camping trips. We were thinking minivan, say a mid-2000s Toyota Sienna.
But....our next-door neighbor wants to sell his 1994 Ford E150 conversion van for $500. It has 125,000 miles on it. He thinks the radiator needs to be replaced. The third row seat/convertible bed was removed by him, so that would need to be replaced as well. I've priced the third row seat at $100-$125 at local salvage yards. I'm not sure how much replacing the radiator would cost. There might be other problems as well (we would have a mechanic look over the vehicle and identify them), but he was driving the van within the last six months. The gas mileage is not great at all (12 city, 17 highway), but it would not be driven that often - maybe a couple of trips per month.
For comparison, the 2005 Sienna gets about 18 city, 26 highway, and is listed at $7,500, with 119,000 miles. For our usual camping location (200 miles roundtrip), at current gas prices, the E150 would cost $14 more in gas. I have no idea how much more we would need to spend per year for repairs and maintenance on the E150 vs. the Sienna.
So...would you buy it?