Help With Finding Ideal Vehicle

[KittensOnTheRoad]

First of all, I know there has to be a better place for this post to go but I can't find a "Vehicles Wanted" section, so I'm hoping someone will (kindly) move this to a more appropriate thread, if one exists.

My wife and I are planning on traveling in the next few months, but we have a few stipulations for any vehicle we find. In order of importance they are:

0) Has to be $35k or less. We aren't rich.
1) Has to have a place to install a car seat. We have an infant, and we don't *plan* to sell her before we leave, so the ideal vehicle will have a back seat with either a seatbelt or some other way to anchor the car seat for her.
2) Has to have a shower inside. It's important to my wife that we be able to rinse off ourselves and the baby easily, no matter where we are. (Maybe I smell bad. Who knows?)
3) Has to have a toilet. It could be a portipotty, but it's important (to both of us) that we be able to do our business when and where we need to.

Mostly what I've found that meet these criteria are conversion vans, like the Roadtrek. They're affordable, generally, all of them seem to have wet baths, and many of them have extra seats behind the cab. However, frankly, they're not exactly good-looking vehicles, nor do they seem particularly capable for anything other than paved roadways. Basically I'm wondering if any of you Expo Experts™ have some advice to enlighten me on other options. (For that matter, perhaps some of you have experience traveling with infants and can shed some light on that aspect of it.)

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Looking forward to your insights.

Mr. Kittens & family

 

[Crypto2k]

Few questions to help scope.
What size vehicle are you after?
What kind of terrain do you anticipate/require it to handle?
Fuel economy target?
Seasons for use/temp expectations?

Thinking of more...

 

[PhulesAU]

Does Not Exist.

 

[KittensOnTheRoad]

Few questions to help scope.
What size vehicle are you after?
What kind of terrain do you anticipate/require it to handle?
Fuel economy target?
Seasons for use/temp expectations?

Good questions. Thank you!

-We don't have an exact size in mind, which may not be very helpful. The best I can really say is, bigger than a Westy but smaller than a Class C RV. Something navigable. I think our ideal size is like a Sprinter or a large conversion van.
-Terrain-wise, I'd say 80% of the time we'll just be on regular paved roads. We will be doing a lot of camping, but nothing too rough, at least in the beginning.
-Fuel economy I would prefer be around 20-25 mpg, although I don't know how realistic that is. I'd say anything below 15-17 mpg might be a deal-breaker.
-Seasons of use would be all seasons. We're going to be full-timing for a while. We aren't planning on any excursions above the arctic circle or anything, but we would like to spend some time up north. However, we're prepared to make some sacrifices obviously. We aren't expecting perfection with our first go.

To give you some idea of what we'd like to find, this would be perfect, except that it doesn't have the extra seat for the baby. It might be something we'd just have to add ourselves. (Though with such limited interior space it would obviously require sacrificing something else, like the dinette.)

 

[Crypto2k]

4wd required?

 

[Crypto2k]

Side note, ran across this while clicking your link. Little spartan but still some room for customization and could figure out a forward facing child seat.

Fixing link:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Ford-E-350-Ambulance-Expedition-Camper-Conversion-/272479707529

 

[KittensOnTheRoad]

Side note, ran across this while clicking your link. Little spartan but still some room for customization and could figure out a forward facing child seat.

Fixing link:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Ford-E-350-Ambulance-Expedition-Camper-Conversion-/272479707529

Yeah, I actually reached out to that seller about the extra seating issue. He recommended installing one offset between the two front seats. (I would also uninstall the bench seat in the back and install a wet bath.

To answer your previous question, 4WD isn't necessary. Nice, but not necessary.

 

[jscusmcvet]

IT is all doable except for the MPG deal breaker you mentioned. Off the top of my head I cannot think of anything returning that kind of mileage. I'd love to be wrong.

 

[Crypto2k]

IT is all doable except for the MPG deal breaker you mentioned. Off the top of my head I cannot think of anything returning that kind of mileage. I'd love to be wrong.

From what I've seen so far, a Sprinter is about the only thing that comes close. Greatly depensd on the build, the year, weight and driving conditions.

A Sprinter in that price range would likely be a personal conversion which often leaves out the bath.

Adding the offset seat and wet bath to the one I posted seems like it would leave a lot of flex room within your budget to do whatever you needed. Also buys a lot of gas. Not advocating that one specifically but like it.

 

[Philp100]

Given the budget and fuel economy requirements maybe a 2wd diesel pickup with slide in camper would be a better choice? 2wd would drastically reduce purchase price and a crewcab would provide required seating. There are lots of used slide in campers out there.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

[KittensOnTheRoad]

Given the budget and fuel economy requirements maybe a 2wd diesel pickup with slide in camper would be a better choice? 2wd would drastically reduce purchase price and a crewcab would provide required seating. There are lots of used slide in campers out there.

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Indeed. I didn't mention it, but I am definitely open to the idea of an affordable camper/truck combo. I'd love to find a crew cab Tacoma, say, with a FWC attached. (I like the FWC because of the low-profile for off-roading, and generally good anecdotal reviews).

However, from my cursory investigations it seems like such a combo would be over my price limit.

 

[Philp100]

Put the taco idea right out of your mind! Thers just not enough room or payload forward 3 people, shower and toilet!

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[UHAULER]

There are plenty of these for sale for 10-20k. If you find out you need 4wd you could have it converted and be under budget.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rvs/5913879808.html

 

[KittensOnTheRoad]

Put the taco idea right out of your mind! Thers just not enough room or payload forward 3 people, shower and toilet!

Haha. Well, I don't have any experience with this but the FWC Fleet fits in a 6' bed Tacoma and can include a shower and a toilet. If you're suggesting that the truck simply can't haul that much added weight, I'll take your word for it. Frankly, as we're doing more research, we are realizing it might be better to go with a full-size diesel truck anyway. More room, better fuel economy, and higher payload.

 

[KittensOnTheRoad]

There are plenty of these for sale for 10-20k. If you find out you need 4wd you could have it converted and be under budget.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rvs/5913879808.html

True, and I don't mind that kind of a rig, really, but it just doesn't have the seating arrangement we need. We're still stuck having to modify it, and I just don't know if that's the best way to go.

However, budget-wise, it definitely leaves enough room for said modifications, so I'm left going around in circles. lol

Thanks for the help either way!