Plenty of factors come into play in what type of vehicle one wants/needs.
For us:
We like working out of our Astro Van and Ford F150.
We purchased and NV this year, everything is great about it but getting ladders off of it.
Love the storage
Love the organization
Love the rolling ad it is
How does it do in the snow up there?
Awesome. Always have studded snows on it for the winter, and I have a set of chains I throw on the front wheels when the roads are really sketchy. Iām just thinking that a heavier vehicle (especially a āback heavyā minivan) might not do as well with only fwd, so Iād want to find something with awd/4wd
Iāve really been wanting one of those. Does yours have the extra high roof of is it super tall with just the regular roof?
Sounds like an AWD Astro/Safari might be what youāre looking for. Iām thinking thatās what Iāll go with when Iām ready for a 2nd vehicle to supplement my Tacoma. The 2003 and up got upgraded wheels, suspension & brakes. They seem pretty cheap to get into a decent one and spare parts are still pretty plentiful for those inevitable repairs.
Iām on the same boat . I have a 2001 Tacoma . Everything works great , no complaints . Iām the original owner and been driving it since is had 10 miles . Currently has 150,000 miles . The only thing is has a bunch of small dents dings on the paint. The paint looks faded and dull. Paint job would probably be 2k.
Sometimes I just want to get a van . I been looking at the siennas . Maybe a 2006-2008 , low miles probably $5-7k . Iāll remove all the seats from the in side and have a full working work van . And if the family wants to travel I can still add the seats back .
But I donāt see my self getting rid of my truck . I told my 12 year old , he can have it when he turns 16.
So thatās where Iām at
not the super high one.
if my only complaint with it is taking the ladders off of it then there are options.
I use a particular ladder tie down which would not work with many ladder racks. Probably could have gone with the option which has the bar and flips over to the side.
i have a 2001 dodge ram van 3500 extended model. it is way to big. paint sucks but im getting it repainted for $650 want to get a f250/2500 type truck next or maybe a astro van depending on how my business grows
We have 2 tundras and a sprinter (high roof). Although well always need at least one vehicle for heavy towing, and the crew cabs are handy sometimes, I will only buy sprinter style vans moving forward. Specifically the big ford transit they finally brought to the states this year. We got a drop down ladder rack, and couldnāt be happier with this style of vehicle. The sprinter is reliable, but a rust bucket (2010), and parts are expensive. We bought it used, as an experiment. Gets about 18-19mpg all around. If it towed 6000+ and had a back bench seat, it would perfect.
You can do anything (Windows, wfp, scratch removal, pressure washing, gutters, etc etc). Without coming back to the shop for week. All while carrying 10 sheets of decking for lifts, a baker scaffold, surface cleaner, gear for a 4 man crew, and rigging equipment. Seriously. And you can stand up in the back. And you donāt have unload the entire truck to retrieve something.
Before you repair, decide if a new vehicle will save you man hours in trips to the shop, etc. As our foreman take their trucks home, this is a substantial savings in labor costs.
that sprinter set up sounds sweet
