That depends on how lazy I am, as I'll be doing it myself. I'll be using it for weekend fishing trips with no plans for long term camping for another 5 years until I retire. So I will be keeping it simple.
I've been doing big van research for about a year now and here's how I wound up with a NV.
I drove both the I4 and V6 Sprinters. They're very nice BUT owner feedback was so damning that I just
don't trust them, and I'm just outraged at MB pricing before and after the sale. That combined with the crippling amount of emission control crap that the new diesels are burdened with, and $ differential of gas vs diesel, took the Benz and all other diesel vans out of the running.
I really like the Promaster and I think it has a lot of potential if it shows good reliability. But it is the most uncomfortable vehicle I've ever driven. I'm 6'4" and apparently Ram isn't too interested in the big guy market. So the PM was out.
So I was waiting on the Transit. When the pricing data started leaking out on this website, I did a bit of
"build and price" research. I was bumping into the $40k wall pretty easily.
When I started looking for a jumbo van, the NV wasn't really on the radar. I was looking for a longer cargo area. But at this point I thought I probably ought to at least drive one before I committed to the Transit. The wife and I test drove one on a Saturday.
I was very impressed and she really liked it
I bought one on Monday. It's a High Roof 2500 V6 S
with $1200 of options.
I paid $25,300 + tax/lic. They aren't selling all that well, so the boys at the dealerships are pretty motivated.
Sure, I would like the extra 2' of cargo length of the Transit. But not enough to pay an extra $15k for it.
The NV may not be the right rig for everybody, but it will work just fine for my needs. I'd recommend that you guys test drive one before you make your final decisions.
I'm finding it less hideous looking every day !
