Namaste, thought I'd share a few thoughts as a friendly observer:
Crow or "Javier" and this Dave seller are two different individuals. While I'm somewhat familiar with Crow and some of his builds & their mechanical history from SMB Forum and here on expo, this is a different seller.
Dave has the vehicle converted South of the border, where there are a few Baja 500 / Baja 1000 shops that will do conversions in the off race season. He then sells from Cardiff in SoCal for profit...I've spoken with Dave over the phone a few different times, he's a straight shooter, honest, van/Baja 1000 enthusiast.... just a community college guidance councilor who upfits class B's/ vans / the occasional motorhome and is selling for a profit. No problems there. A unique niche to help out the Baja beach driver or ski bum like myself.
I believe Crow and Dave may use the same shop that build bumpers and perhaps even conversion shops... and while I've never purchased a vehicle from either seller, perhaps both sellers and each "new" vehicle at least deserve a first unbiased evaluation, now, in 2020 or whenever they come on the market in the future, regardless of other builds we read about from years ago.
I like to think he's truthful... Dave's said: he monitors what the shop is doing, inspecting the conversion throughout the process, doing quality control where possible, runs the vehicle for a couple months ensuring everything's working correctly, listing it for sale and then inviting potential buyers to take it to any mechanic before buying. And finally, standing behind the vehicle he sells... If there's a problem down the road, he's available to explore options.
As we all know, 4x4 conversions are cool and facilitate awesome, memorable experiences. My 2 cents in reply, on maybe quick assumptions or a jump to a conclusion. Thought I'd comment as my past experiences with Dave were positive, and think he deserves a fair shake, as well as promote the sale of cool vehicles in the overland community. ?
Stone
