Update: Van has sold! Happy trails 🙂
(Added interior pictures here: Interior pictures of my van for sale.)
The time has come to sell my van! You can tell by the fact that I keep this blog that I LOVE the Sprinter Westfalia 🙂 But I’ve just bought a house and I can’t keep the van anymore. I’ll be saving up my money for another one, though – there’s absolutely nothing like these vans in the USA.
The van is near Maltby, WA – about 30 miles northeast of Seattle. Price is $55k.
(Update: I had the mileage wrong when I posted this ad. Actual mileage is 44,000.)
Ian Stock’s blog post is a great overview of the vehicle for anyone unfamiliar with a Sprinter Westfalia. Basically, it’s an award-winning European camper converted by Westfalia, on the Mercedes Sprinter platform. In 2005, Airstream imported just 250 of them, making them literally the van for one person in a million 🙂
The van is in excellent shape; everything works except the air conditioner, which is the only unreliable appliance on these vans. More and more owners are replacing their original units with simpler, lighter modern American versions; some have removed them altogether. I was planning on replacing ours with a solar panel. (Update: I should make clear that the rooftop air conditioner is broken, but the dash air conditioning works perfectly!)
The generator fires up each time, the propane stove works beautifully, the hot water heater provides plenty of shower time, the fridge stays cold. I upgraded the black water system on the van, replacing the stock tank with a custom tank twice the size (20 gallons).
At the same time that I replaced the plumbing, I added digital tank sensors to the black and grey water tanks. Instead of the 33% / 66% / full gauge that came stock, the new sensors provide 1% levels to the digital display.
There’s a Stowaway Max cargo carrier in the rear hitch, which provides 16 cubic feet of storage on a swingaway frame. We carried firewood for the trip, camp chairs, Tonka trucks, and more! It has a locking lid and a locking hitch pin, and is completely waterproof.
Even without the box, the van has an amazing amount of storage. There are cupboards and shelves throughout the entire vehicle, and we happily camped as 2 adults and 2 young kids with all of our stuff.
The engine runs beautifully, and I’ve always used Mobil 1 synthetic. There are 44,000 miles on the odometer – barely broken in for these 5-cylinder diesel engines! I’ve averaged over 20mpg this whole time. Though I never took the plunge, many have run straight biodiesel in their identical Sprinters with fantastic results.
So there you have it! I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve forgotten to mention. You can get in touch with me through the contact form on this site. I’d love to talk with anyone on the phone, too – just email me first and I’ll send you my number.
Happy travels!
Mike.
Looks good, would love to talk to you about the sale of your van. Down here in Portland, so not too faraway. Thank you for your time, Linas
Thanks Linas! I’ve sent you an email 🙂
Mike,
Don’t leave us. Don’t sell to Portland, it appears that city is trying to corner the market on Westies. What’s going on in Portland. :0)
Seriously, I’m sorry you’re having to sell and hope you can come back in the coming years. I have gotten into habit of checking your site on a weekly basis.
On another note, re: anti sway bar brackets, when you replaced your brackets did you replace with both brackets and bushings for the 35oo size bar?
Best wishes ,
Juju
Haha! Yes, I think they’re trying to corner the market on Westies! Thanks for checking the blog – it’s been fun, and I’m really not ready to part with my van, but we’re happy to be in a new house (which is the reason I’m selling).
For the sway bar, I seem to recall that the bracket and the bushing are both 2500 series parts. The bushing needs to be drilled out to fit around the larger sway bar. Part numbers are in this post: http://sprinterwestfalia.com/broken-sway-bar-bracket/
Thanks Juju!
I would like to talk about the Westy.
Hi Mike! Thanks for your interest – I’ve sent you an email.
mike,
just wondering if the van is still available. we are looking at upgrading from our 89 westy and have realized their is no perfect vehicle for 2 adults and 2 teenage boys. They, along with their socks should be outside anyway.
we live in coeurd’alene so driving over is easy.
thanks,
terry
Haha! Yes, I don’t imagine teenagers’ socks belong in any enclosed spaces 🙂
The van’s still available – I’ve sent you my contact info by email.
Cheers,
Mike.
Hello Mike,
Any idea on replacement cost of the roof AC?
We have a very steep driveway and wonder if the diesel has enough torque to make it up.. any experience in that regard? We had a dodge diesel truck which was the only way to haul a 27′ 5th wheel up the hill. I realize there is a huge difference between these rigs, but it is mandatory we have any RV on our property. Thanks for any info, everything you have posted has been thorough.
Cheers,
Tom
Hey Tom,
I think it would cost about $1200 to put a brand new air conditioner in there – $700 for the unit itself (Polar Cub or Coleman) and maybe $500 for labor.
As far as torque, the van has heaps! (243 ft lbs at 1600rpm.) It’ll accelerate nicely up any hill. I was shocked when I first drove it – I expected it to be a lumbering thing, but it turned out to be quick and agile and really easy to drive.
Feel free to send any other questions my way!
Cheers,
Mike.
Looks like it sold, is that correct?
Hey Tom – I do have a sale pending.
Hi Mike, I only discovered you had it posted on ebay this morning and saw it was no longer available. Keep me in the loop of info please. tom
Is the Van still available? They are hard to come by and I’ve been looking for about a year. A friend of mine owns one and loves it..
Please tell me you have not sold it…
Sorry Caroline – it’s sold! I’ll post others as I hear about them.
HI MIKE.. THANKS FOR YOUR RICH ENTRIES.. INTERESTING AND ENCOURAGING !
JUST TOURED THRU MY FIRST LOOK OVER SUCH A CRITTER ! NICE ONE OWNED BY A LOVEL COUPLE TOURING FROM SANTA FE . PLEASE KEEP ME IN THE LOOP OVER YOUR ADVENTURES !