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sophree
Jan 20, 2016, 3:58 AM
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Registered: Jan 18, 2016
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Hi All,
Does anyone have a van for sale or know someone that may have something for my partner and I to adventure our way around the States?
We will be arriving in LA in May, looking for something 4wd/good clearance, some kind of cooking set up,looking at all options right now
Cheers
Soph
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happiegrrrl
Jan 28, 2016, 4:45 PM
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Registered: Mar 25, 2004
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You'll have better luck posting on Supertopo, or Moutain Project in the Southwest Forum. Good luck to you and have a great trip!
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Rokjox
Feb 16, 2016, 11:55 PM
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Registered: Nov 14, 2006
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aww, screw Supertoilet and the horse they rode in on.
Happy is just pimping for her sales team.
Guys, you are probably rich and fat. But if not, do what I have done. A lot of people overlook Aerostars when talking about vans, but I've had one for about 12 years (two actually) and they run like Jesse Owens.
Because they are hard to work on, the factory built them like tanks, a full unibody on top of a 1/2 ton pickup frame. All wheel drive, several interiour options that you can pick and choose from and pretty good gas milage. they share a lot of parts with the Ford Explorers and full size pickups.
When they were new they sold for up to about 42 thousand dollars in the full on eddie bauer package. (a digital dash with trip computers, air adj. seats, pine trees on the upholstry). But since they made the last one in 97 they are CHEAP now. You can get the alternate interior parts from a junkyard. They got bench seats that fold flat either way (...not both ways in one unit...), so you can get a full or 2/3 benchseat that makes into a table, a full bench that folds flat the other way for a bed and a lot of storage space under the seats, two big ice chests enlarge the bed torwards the back door perfectly. The mid row can be replaced with one or two capt. chairs also. mid row benchs fold forward to stow even tighter. Or throw all the seats out. Put the flat seat in the middle. Hsving a side open hatch is great for living out of.
The 4wd package was exceptional but never used by ford for anything else, the center of gravity is lower than a pickup so some kinds of cross hill 4 wheeling is easier in the Aerostar than any huge 350 conversion van. The fuel economy is better and they have a mid-high profile for comfort, but will often fit under roadbeds and through culverts that stop big trucks.
They are also pretty stealth. Lots of them, reputation of a soccor mom car. 3 million made, lotsa parts easy to get, every mechanic has worked on them, and they mostly hate them. But they know how.
I bought my most recent one for $250 then put about a thousand into it, but you can likely do better. Be sure to grab an extended version. They were POPULAR for a damn good reason. The full time awd is completely transparent/inperceptable, except that when you gun it, it digs in and becomes pretty controllable. Weight/powerline balance isn't bad 60/40 drive favoring rear wheels and locked out when no rear wheel is spinning. Buy a new set of all weather tires with a lug pattern, they may be more expensive than the van but nothing works without good tires.
I can get FIVE GUYS with 5 packs, five dogs and five bikes inside with the doors locked, and enough beer in a cooler to keep everybody happy. And the bikes don't even need to get broken down, just roll them in. And last week I went up a steep muddy rutted trail. The only things that reached/passed my stopping point that day that I saw, was a jeep Wrangler and a Gator.
Go for it. That other womani, well HER van sucks BIGTIME, its always broke, costs her more than she can afford and often leaves her sittin on the side of the road. She's posted about a road trip she made, how much trouble she got in, and of waiting for the angels to show up... donations accepted.
The Ford Aerostar. Most underrrated vehicle evah! Cheaper than evah. As good as evah.
The XLT 97's mostly all big V-6 w/ automatic 5 speed trans AND push button overdrive, lite mag wheels, anti-loc brakes, huge radiator/heater/AC systems, electronic full time AWD and extended length body with tow package. And the thrid brake light.
I gave up my 93 eddie bauer for a '97 passenger van. Too much good improvements to the chassis. But these were the most popular packages, HUGELY popular, and they are still commonly available and CHEAP.
Dont register the Van in Kalifornee for GODS SAKE. ANY other nearby state will be HUGELY cheaper registration, so run that 30 day temporary registration until you get to Arizona/Nevada and you will save HUNDREDS, maybe more than the cost of the Van. Or anywhere else for that matter. Cheaper insurance rates in Arizona, too. Easier emissions standards, easier safety checks. And Arizona gas will make your car last longer, but you are stuck as long as you are in Kali over that. Sorry. Kali is CAR CRazy.
The Van itself might be cheapest in the LA area through, not sure about how the local tax rates might affect that, but taxes on a thousand dollar van is pretty small overall.
Read what I have said twice, its all correct as far as it goes.
If you do get an old Aerostar, have the transmission fluid flushed and replaced, its cheap and nobody ever remembers to do that. It will increase your transmission torque and your mpg.
(This post was edited by Rokjox on Feb 17, 2016, 6:54 PM)
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happiegrrrl
Feb 19, 2016, 1:29 AM
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Registered: Mar 25, 2004
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I simply meant that there was little traffic on this site and that her post would not reach very many people...... jeez, some of you angry white men and the bugs up yer arses.
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Rokjox
Feb 19, 2016, 6:37 PM
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Registered: Nov 14, 2006
Posts: 71
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...they don't need a lot of answers. They need One that works.
THere is one that works for me. Oh yeah. Looks easy worth a thousand dollars and it makes me shake to look at if. I LIKE that color scheme, it makes my heart stutter. It was still the daze of the Ford Blue Oval grill emblems. Absolutely beautiful Running boards. Got upgrades.
And as long as I'm here. (Too bad you still can't upload images now)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Aerostar
The Aerostar is very easy to drive and park, takes up no more room than a standard car, as was a selling point in all their ads. You don't need a trucksized parking space. No wheel locks or gimmacks to use the 4 wd either. Its just THERE the instant you want it. So its easier to drive in every way than a full on van. And thats kinda big, most your driving is gonna be in traffic, not the wilderness. Days and days of it. Carlike handling and parking is HUGE. Instinctive no-details use of 4wd is big, too. No extra skillsets to develop. Any woman can just DRIVE it, no extra stickshifts scattered all over the floor.
No cooking arangements built in though. And you need to find the right junkyard seat options to really make the interior options work. The standard 9/10 passenger van seating was not optimal for a camper. Both seats folded up, not flat. Tables not beds. You can get two full size fold-flats and make both seatrows do the bed, as one fold flat is kinda small unless you add a couple ice chests to lengthen it just behind the back hatch. But what van has full size beds AND seats??
There were a lot of option seats over the entire line, midline capt. chairs won't go to the rear line, but the other benchs full length and 2/3 length, go either row, you can mess around quite a lot. I got seats I keep in the garage for special occasions.
Biggest problem I have is that killing the lights when the doors are open. They ought to put a switch on the dash. Who want the interior light on every time a door is open?
These rigs is dirt cheap today. You can afford to fix them up and customize them a little. Then put the rest of your money back in your pocket. The QUEEN of soccer Mom vans. The only one with a full frame and rear wheel drive, I think. Abuse it. It begs for abuse. It loves abuse. Built like a brick shithouse as they say. It is rated to tow another car or full trailer (even uhaul admits it. (suddap and Gimmee that trailer yo little weinie...))
Just hold back allittle before you kill it. But if you do, a repalcement is easy to come buy.
3 million made.
??worthless today??
(This post was edited by Rokjox on Feb 19, 2016, 7:43 PM)
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happiegrrrl
Feb 20, 2016, 12:15 AM
Post #6 of 7
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Registered: Mar 25, 2004
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Does anyone have a van for sale or know someone that may have something for my partner and I to adventure our way around the States?
She didn't ask about a type of van - she asked to buy one. HENCE the reason I thought she would have a better chance on a website where there were actually people who MIGHT know of one for sale.
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Rokjox
Feb 20, 2016, 4:48 PM
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Registered: Nov 14, 2006
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yours is for sale. You'd do well to get rid of it. Pay them to take it and save some money next year.
Whats the top flat out bust your engine top speed of you van? What is the best gas milage and what speed must you go to get it on your van? Do you have a full tow package?
Honestly, I'd bet the OP would really like to know what to expect from a two wheel drive van.
Every city, town and berg has an aerostar sitting on a lot with a bigass Se Vende !Cheep! sign on it. Right now. And a high percentage of them is electronic assist full automatic 5 speed 4 wheel drives.
Compared to actual custom factory or even homebuilt real 4 wheel drives, for every ONE you can find on the market anywhere, there are EASY 100 Aerostars available. And instead of an average of 20,000 for a beat to death oversize lifted van, you can get and refurbish a Aerostar for under $2000. Way under.
So my business major suggest the economic efficiency of the decision lies about a thousand to one in the favor of the Aerostar. Rough first estimate. Not that hunmans usually make decisions based on that, but it shows the trend.
They would good good in front of that machiine. Hell, You would look good in front of that thing, but you'd need two lollipops.
None of the old geezers over at supertorpid have anything much, very often. Most of them are either parkservice employees or people like yourself trying to make a living off;n climbers and climbing, with bleedover into any sport that can be cashed out on image and personality. Its a fashion show. SuperT = Zoolander for Dirtbags.
(that one van sold for 18,000 and was a definate fluke. It also was a farm implement. It should of had a plow bolted to the rear bumper. It got under 13 MPG and I bet at top speeed (70?) a semi passing by at 85 would feel like a Kansas Tornado, Dorothy.)
(This post was edited by Rokjox on Feb 20, 2016, 4:55 PM)
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