Most reliable vehicles for the Van life?

Looking for suggestions on vehicles I could covert to a camper setup to transition into the Van life. A few things to think of is I'm not made of money so I couldn't spend over 10k on the initial vehicle and preferably less. I was looking into an older van from the 80s or 90s but I assume that's asking for mechanical issues in the future and wouldn't want to break down constantly. Thanks!

Transit connects (first gens) can be found on the cheap cheap. I got mine for $6k + $1k worth of conversion, and beat the hell out of it for a few years. Beware, some have really shiddy transmissions. I got lucky 

Alternatively- Minivans are sick. Sienna or Odyssey.

Just not a sprinter unless you want to spend $2k/yr on maintenance

Max R wrote:

Alternatively- Minivans are sick. Sienna or Odyssey.

I was considering a mini van but the low clearance was a concern to me. 

Just bought a 2001 Ford E-350 passenger van, 92k miles and has a high roof from a Christian church for $1,800. You can’t beat the reliability and power of those 5.3l V8’s. Check around!

Max R wrote:

Transit connects (first gens) can be found on the cheap cheap. I got mine for $6k + $1k worth of conversion, and beat the hell out of it for a few years. Beware, some have really shiddy transmissions. I got lucky 

Alternatively- Minivans are sick. Sienna or Odyssey.

I second this or any Ford E series van. Stay away from Mercedes sprinters, or anything European. Cost is exuberant for repairs. I know more than a few people who had  problems with emission systems on the Mercedes engines. Domestic will always be cheaper for repair as well. 

Heck  I  have  unfixable  problems with the emissions on my Chevy.  Having a loyal mechanic who is handy with the sticker  is key....

 if you do your own maintenance/preventative care the cost of maintaining a sprinter isn't anything more than any other large vehicle. I have an 04 with 309k miles now and have had no serious issues.   Great ground clearance, 26mpg on the highway, and 600+ mile range per tank so I can't complain about mine.   

Are some of you not reading what his budget is? I dare one of you to find this dude a sprinter for less than $10k that won’t explode in minutes.

They also apparently missed the "reliable" part as well...

Max R wrote:

Are some of you not reading what his budget is? I dare one of you to find this dude a sprinter for less than $10k that won’t explode in minutes.

guess it depends where in the US they are, I paid 2500 for mine 2 years ago (central Ohio) and regularly see first gens here for 3-5k in decent shape. 

I reiterate the fact if you do your own maintenance they're not expensive and are reliable, 

unless all the beat t1n's I see at the red every weekend are secretly driven by people with very deep pockets. 

paid  9k for my  06 sprinter. 

Tyler M wrote:

Cost is exuberant for repairs. 

Exorbitant?

Astro/Safari van checks all the boxes.

Better hurry, lots of people want what you want and the word is out.

I have a 2010 Transit Connect.

Transmission went out at 125,000 miles -- $4,200 replacement.

Transmission went out again at 135,000 -- thankfully, it was well under the two-year warranty and fixed for free.

Otherwise, been a good little van (when it's not snowing), now with 144,000 miles. 

hmmm, if the transmission has gone out twice in 135K miles, it's probably not a good little van.

regarding sprinters not being that expensive if you do your own maintenance, parts aren't particularly cheap and if you factor in the time you spend tinkering (when you could be climbing or making money) it adds up pretty quickly.  the folks that i know who do their own sprinter maintenance spend more time working on their van than climbing.

Back seats in my 2014 Jetta (and I’d assume the Passat and Audi A3/A4/A6 are the same) lay down flat and flush with the trunk floor. IIRC, it should be long enough to drop a Therm-a-rest and sleeping bag lengthwise along one side of the car and still have room for gear in the other half of the trunk. That’s be for solo trips only though. I’ll have to try this for my next long trip and report back...

I’ve seen some late-2000s Jettas with over 250k miles, and mine is at 80k with no repairs other than usual annual maintenance and still runs like new.

Transmission "rebuilds" are often just yank and reinstall a used one from another vehicle, often (most often) purchased sight unseen. Same fluid in it what came from the factory. 

I have an e350 econoline with the legendary 7.3 turbo diesel. Its Quigley 4wd, and lifted. I added a home made pop top camper roof, pretty much bare bones inside cept for a homemade bed. I'm nearing 320,000 miles on this beast and she still can do 80 mph like all day long on the freeway and can then lo-gear crawl up some of the gnarl. Repair bills are not for the faint of heart, though.

My Astro has over 230k. I did rebuild the front diff once at 198k that was $1,800.. Its a great rig and my full time tool truck now. very tight for living in.  the astro really only had a few inches more space than the Dodge and Chrysler mini vans that I had previously built. It does have better clearance and very capable AWD. also the dutch doors in the back are handy for building a makeshift kitchen.    Astro liveing. 

I am hooked on sprinter life :) 

One of the truely amazeing things about the sprinter is the  massive amount of gear storage in the garage in the back under the bed. also there is a discrete squatty potty behind the dresser on the left. 

I have a nissan  cargo van, transmission went at 200,000, got  a rebuilt one for $2000. 2 years  later  my next repair  was ball joints and one wheel bearing. 

once they hit 200k you can count on haveing to replace  stuff that keeps it rolling. suspension/ball joints, wheel bearings etc..  especially if you do a lot of dirt roading....