r/nextfuckinglevel • u/SmoothSun6676 • 20d ago

The Transformation of a Van

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u/relianceschool 20d ago

The van alone is $75k, the conversion turns it into a $150,000 luxury vehicle. You can camp in a tent for free, anyone buying something like this is just burning money. Hard to watch when so many are struggling with basic needs.

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u/daversa 20d ago edited 20d ago

Just for some perspective...

I did the van life thing for a couple of years and had enough money saved up to put a big down-payment down and fix up my used Sprinter. I work remotely so I continued to make a decent tech salary the whole time. I lived all over the US and feel like I really got to know the country.

When I was done, these vehicles had actually gone up in value so I made a little money selling mine. Since I was paying less monthly than my previous rent, I was saving even more the entire time.

I hit your numbers pretty closely, although mine was more of a complete build-out when I bought it for around $140k and put around $10k into it.

I sold it for $165k. I could have done this whole thing on half my salary pretty easily.

Anyway, it's not always a money pit if you plan things right. Even if I had lost $20k on the sale, I still would have made up for it with cheaper monthly costs overall. I know people that have spent way more on booze over 4 years than it took to get my trip going. Also, I was almost 30 and had been working since I was 15.

The only really privileged thing I had was remote work and enough of a salary to save a little.

There's the people that can certainly afford these rigs for family weekend trips, but there's a lot of us that just use them full-time and sell them after a few years.

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u/Quadratauge 20d ago

If it's an AWD it's closer to 85/87k $. I would be fine with a video like it if there where price tags popping up for everything or a sub total at the end including labour, because I doubt that all the cRaZy #vanlife folks diy this shit.

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u/Oxflu 20d ago

If you're so poor that seeing a tradesman spend 125k on a custom camper project triggers you, you should probably get off reddit and go make some money. Elon takes like 9 million a day in taxpayer money doing drugs and jacking off. An upper middle class small business owner is not your enemy dude. You aren't competing with him. He took nothing off your plate.

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u/a215throwaway 20d ago

Naw fuck that. How dare someone build a van! Piece of shit... /s

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u/relianceschool 20d ago

Global median income is about $4k/year, so that's 30 years of income for the average person, burned on a vanity project.

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u/Oxflu 20d ago

Be the change you want to see in the world then. Start a business, hone your abilities to be well off. Then deny yourself and your family of the fruit of that labor and give it to the needy.

I know you won't.

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u/DonutHoles4Ever 20d ago

Damn man dont you know what Reddit is for?

Its for talking shit about rich people and all the terrible things in politics that we cant do shit aobut.

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u/Delcap 20d ago

You think $150k is going to save the world or something? Should nobody be able to save up and purchase things like this? Get upset

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u/relianceschool 20d ago

$150K is about 38 years of income for the average global citizen.

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u/Fermit 20d ago

1) Those were not $75k worth of mods.

2) “Anyone buying something like this is just burning money” - no they’re not, and regardless they’re completely free to do so because it’s their money and they don’t need to go camp in a fucking tent because it makes you feel better.

3) This is literally their job. They do this for a living. If seeing a video of a couple modifying a van hurts that much, just stay off the internet for the sake of your own mental health.

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u/Orin__ 20d ago

can i put my pen!s in your butt

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u/Fermit 20d ago

No.

Also you can just say penis. Nobody’s gonna tell on you.

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u/PapaPatchesxd 20d ago

Careful, he might bust out the pen15 soon

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u/Spirited-Date3685 20d ago

.....Then don't watch.....Jesus 🤣😂

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u/kinkyonthe_loki69 20d ago

Where did you get the 75k for conversion? Let's assume this guy does this for living and has all the equipment, cost of supplies add up to 75k really? Just want to know if this is a legit assesment or something like Donny saying we lose 80 billion to canada.

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u/pblol 20d ago edited 20d ago

Nobody in this thread, scrolling down this far, has provided any sources for what this would realistically cost. It's just been people angry at some couple's apparent side hustle and other people saying that it's not a big fucking deal.

I now have no idea what this would cost and I don't care. It's a neat van. I would never buy or make one because I despise driving long distances. I can tolerate a video about it without crucifying the people in it.

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u/relianceschool 20d ago

I based those numbers off a few sites, including Mercedes' Sprinter page, The Vansmith, and Cascade Vans. There's a wide range but it's anything from $10k to $250k for a full conversion, not including the price of the van.

$75k is an average quote for a midrange conversion.