Hello everyone. I've been reading/lurking for a bit now - but have finally taken the plunge.
My wife is an Endurance Sports coach and ultra trail runner - and we've been looking for an adventure vehicle she can take on her excursions, or something our little famliy can crash in when we go camping/exploring together. We definitely wanted 4wd/AWD to get us out on forest service roads, so we considered a truck/camper - but thought a van would be more manageable and less expensive. So we ended up searching for an Express/Savana AWD. We test drove a pile of used ones, and even considered flying half way across the country for one - but ended up finding one right here near home (Seattle area) that met most of our criteria.
So here it is - the Mothership.
It's a 2011 GMC Savana AWD. It came to us with the people pusher on the front, and with the off road tires. The tires are new, but it appears the brush guard has been on there for quite some time. We can't figure out if it was previously some sort of police van or what. It's got super high miles, clearly a fleet vehicle - but was really well taken care of.
It's a standard 8 passenger van. The plan is to leave the second row in there - for the daughter - and build a platform for a queen bed in the back. It'll be high enough off the floor to get a dog crate under there for the pups. We'll do drawers, curtains, lights, backup camera, probably a roof rack of some sort- but nothing too nuts like kitchen or heater or toilet. Then we are going to use the hell out of it and see what else we need and go from there.
Wish me luck. And thanks in advance for answering what is sure to be a ton of dumb questions.
My wife is an Endurance Sports coach and ultra trail runner - and we've been looking for an adventure vehicle she can take on her excursions, or something our little famliy can crash in when we go camping/exploring together. We definitely wanted 4wd/AWD to get us out on forest service roads, so we considered a truck/camper - but thought a van would be more manageable and less expensive. So we ended up searching for an Express/Savana AWD. We test drove a pile of used ones, and even considered flying half way across the country for one - but ended up finding one right here near home (Seattle area) that met most of our criteria.
So here it is - the Mothership.
It's a 2011 GMC Savana AWD. It came to us with the people pusher on the front, and with the off road tires. The tires are new, but it appears the brush guard has been on there for quite some time. We can't figure out if it was previously some sort of police van or what. It's got super high miles, clearly a fleet vehicle - but was really well taken care of.
It's a standard 8 passenger van. The plan is to leave the second row in there - for the daughter - and build a platform for a queen bed in the back. It'll be high enough off the floor to get a dog crate under there for the pups. We'll do drawers, curtains, lights, backup camera, probably a roof rack of some sort- but nothing too nuts like kitchen or heater or toilet. Then we are going to use the hell out of it and see what else we need and go from there.
Wish me luck. And thanks in advance for answering what is sure to be a ton of dumb questions.
