2005 Chevy Astro AWD Stealth Campervan - Meticulously Crafted Inside & Out - SOLD

[drivethruecp]

You've been advised, rather gently, by several Expedition Portal members, that your $35,000 asking price was high.

My asking price has been significantly reduced as you can see above on this page ^. I feel I'm taking a loss, but that's on me. You can not edit the original post after some time.

I looked in your post history and see you have a reputation for KBB "wisdom." KBB wouldn't be able to accurately determine the value of any of our custom rigs or any rv/camper for that matter. NADA is better, but has to be a large production brand. You should be ashamed for being so rude. So you mean to tell me the $13k invested and 500 hours aren't worth anything, so that effectively makes the rig worth whatever KBB says? Which brings me to my next thought...do you have a KBB affiliation that you keep posting this nonsense all over Expedition Portal?

Much like vanagons, there's a market for Astros in the condition of mine. When I bought mine I paid $10k, which I had to fight off other buyers to get. And at the time, your holy KBB had it for $8k I believe, when really it was worth, true market value of $14k.

 

[drivethruecp]

I disagree...

KBB means close to nothing for something like this. There’s a TON of well thought out customizations and a crapload of man hours Involved here.

This is no different than the younger crowd on here selling their Tacoma’s for 2-3x what they’re worth (or their KBB value) because they bolted everything they heard about on Instagram onto it.

The price on this one is high, yeah, but it’s not appalling by any stretch of the imagination when you take the silly Tacoma’s on here into account

Thank you again RAM5500 CAMPER THING for maintaining a high level of mutual respect you and other members have shown. Incredible build btw ? Hopefully no one facetiously posts the KBB value on your build thread ??

 

[Battle]

KBB is dumb. Your van is AWESOME! You should just keep it - no WAY you'll recoup your money back even to a small percentage. It's the same for all of us - modifying a vehicle is not an investment for resale value, it's an investment for ourselves.

I bet you could get $15-$18k for it... maybe.

 

[drivethruecp]

KBB is dumb. Your van is AWESOME! You should just keep it - no WAY you'll recoup your money back even to a small percentage. It's the same for all of us - modifying a vehicle is not an investment for resale value, it's an investment for ourselves.

I bet you could get $15-$18k for it... maybe.

Thanks Battle, definitely was not intended to be an investment. However at the time I was sure I wasn't going to have kids, however like anything your mind can change. Knew that it could, but went in with both feet. As mentioned, I've had three offers at $20k, maybe I was foolish for not taking the offer. Most agreed my price was fair had they had the asked amount....so just need to find that buyer that both wants what I've built and also has the money, for what I "believe" is a bargin. I don't mean that with ANY underlining condescending tones. Expensive if compare apples to rocks, but more than fair to the prospective buyer IMHO, pending we ever find one another.

 

[eporter]

Wow, MTVR needs to go outside for a nice walk and get some fresh air. Internet pricing guides are just that, a guide. They often aren't at all accurate on any kind of older specialty/collectible/enthusiast type vehicle, and most people know that.

I think the market is showing that your price is high, since no one has bought it yet. You can hold out for the right buyer, but you might not find one and in a year your vehicle will be that much older. Factor in the whole baby thing, and free time/drive time starts decreasing. I sold my Chinook RV project when our baby was young, since I just didn't have the time to devote to it. I also sold mine somewhat off-season. I could've waited a few months and asked more, but by that point I'd grown tired of the tire kickers and time wasters.

I like to fix up old, classic MTBs. It's hilarious the emails I get off CL ads for a $500 bike with "the bicycle blue book says it's worth $100, I'll give you $50." Yeah, ok, delete. Eventually someone comes along and it's "OMG, I've been looking for one of these, DO YOU STILL HAVE IT? I'll send a deposit NOW." So that makes it worth it. Hope your right buyer comes along, but don't wait too long, vanlife fall is coming, it would make a good ski rig, too.

 

[Deshet]

I have a couple of these Astro vans and have always really liked them. I have never put any miles on either of them but do you really get mpg 20+ mpg that you posted.

It is almost impossible to price a conversion van or a custom van. My 2000 7.3 conversion van cost more than my 2000 4x4 7.3 limited excursion. KBB is based off of a cargo van. Also kkb has some serious flaws when looking at mileage.
Type in the same vehicle with
100,000 miles
200,000 miles
300,000 miles
And you can see the flaws.

 

[drivethruecp]

I have a couple of these Astro vans and have always really liked them. I have never put any miles on either of them but do you really get mpg 20+ mpg that you posted.

Yes, I was in stop and go driving yesterday, out and back 130 miles with AC on and still got 23mpg without trying, just looked at my app. Lots of idling and had to make a few stops and kept it running. As I mentioned I use the ODBII port to communicate with the Torque app, all calibrated for actual vehicle including tire size, engine, etc.

I'm sure being so up on all of my preventative maintenance and even tire pressure has a lot to do with it if you haven't seen the same.

 

[Herbie]

I have a couple of these Astro vans and have always really liked them. I have never put any miles on either of them but do you really get mpg 20+ mpg that you posted.

I was wondering about that myself. That's certainly higher than anyone I've ever heard report getting. There are a couple of guys on the ASV forums who get between 20-25 with 2WD vans with shorty bodies, with skinny tires and basically empty vans. You're running AWD and VERY tall tires for stock gears (at least you haven't mentioned regearing in your ad, so you're either running 3.23s or 3.73s), and heavy. You've got more water and twice as much battery as I have, with at least as much woodwork, and I know I'm right at my GVRW.

Whatever your app says, I'd take it with a grain of salt until you did a fill-drive-refill with a GPS track and divided the distance by the 2nd fill amount...

 

[Deshet]

Check out live, work, wonder on YouTube. (Or something like that)

They had a pretty respectable Astro Van that was a lot more capable than their VW syncro. The syncro broke down nearly every episode.

The GM 4.3 V6 is one of the most reliable engines ever produced by GM. It is a 350 or 5.7 with two cylinders missing.

I understand that folks love syncros but this of similar size, much better reliability, has a stronger frame, and suspension, and you can pay to have it converted to true four-wheel drive for less than 1200 bucks or do it yourself for under 500.

This is one of the only American vehicles this isn't a sports car or motorcycle that is highly coveted in Japan.

 

[Herbie]

Agreed that they're great vans. I love mine. I'm just all about not overstating the plusses.

The Van that LiveWorkWander drove was this one, IIRC: https://www.instagram.com/shortcakechronicles/

The Syncro is Broken so We're in an Astro : S1 E4 - Live Work Wander

With our Syncro in the shop and the founders of Overland Bound in town from California, we were given the Mule Expedition Chevy Astro to take to Salmon La Sac campground in Washington. Our friend’s at Mule recommended against taking their Astro up a moderately difficult four-wheel drive trail...

liveworkwander.com

But T.Low was doing all kinds of awesomeness with his van as far back as 2008 or so:

 

[drivethruecp]

Herbie, I didn't mean to overstate and only answered the question recently because it was asked. I edited my earlier post to 23-25mpg until I re-verify since it has been a little while since I've run the numbers. Of course I'm only talking since it was converted. 23-24 mpg seems to be my sweet spot. Again, take it with a grain of salt. I admittedly put a lot of trust in the Torque app.

Did you account for any difference in tire size? It DOES make a difference.

In any case, anything over 20mpg for a fully converted van is impressive in my book

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

The GM 4.3 V6 is one of the most reliable engines ever produced by GM.

100% fact

 

[drivethruecp]

SOLD to a very good home. He'll be taking it out West for longer term trips as the van deserves ??

 

[Rubicon51]

I love your build. The cleanest I've seen it. I'm building my van using extruded aluminum also. I'd like to know what hardware you used to attach the wood panels to the aluminum channels. Also it looks like you have a filler plate in some of the exposed aluminum channel, where did you source that?

Thanks Matt

 

[drivethruecp]

I love your build. The cleanest I've seen it. I'm building my van using extruded aluminum also. I'd like to know what hardware you used to attach the wood panels to the aluminum channels. Also it looks like you have a filler plate in some of the exposed aluminum channel, where did you source that?

Thanks Matt

Thank you very much Matt, I'm also a Matthew.

I used the 80/20 brand Stainless End Feed Fasteners with an extra 316SS washer at the cap so when you tighten it doesn't create that rubbing action since the washer will stay still at a point. The gray extruded dust covers with end caps at the end. All 80/20 brand. In some cases I sourced 5/16-18 fasteners in stainless of different lengths and profiles depending on application. All the extrusions were secured to the subfloor with stainless T-Nuts held by 5/16-18 screws. I purchased the majority from McMaster...while not the cheapest source for their products they had everything, I could easily download CAD for planning/machining/CNC and very organized. Please don't hesitate to reach out for any other questions at all.