A year living in a ProMaster i bought off jacksboro, real numbers

mentioned this van over in sams transit thread and a few of you asked for the long version, so here it is on its own. this is the 2018 Ram ProMaster 1500 high roof i bought off jacksboroautosales.com last winter and have now lived in full time for a year.

specs. 3.6 Pentastar V6 gas, 159 inch wheelbase, high roof, 63k when i bought it. one owner van off a small florist that had lightly converted it, a plywood floor, a basic bed platform, and some roughed in wiring. i tore the wiring back out and did the electrical properly, but i kept the floor and the bones which saved me a solid month of work.

price was 26,400. clean high roof promasters up here in oregon with more miles were 32 and up, so that spread went straight into a real lithium bank and a decent solar setup. no rust anywhere, which is the whole reason to buy a van out of texas instead of one that lived its life in the salt.

i bought mine shipped since bend is a long way from north texas. did what sam did and paid a mobile mechanic near the lot 160 bucks to scan it, pull codes, and crawl under it before i sent any money. came back clean.

the one honest knock, because thats the point of these threads, was the serpentine belt was cracked and glazed and due. i knew it going in from the photos, negotiated a little off, and threw a new belt and tensioner on it the first weekend for about 60 bucks in parts. not a van problem, just a wear item, but im listing it so nobody thinks it rolled off the lot perfect.

mara for me it was a deposit to hold the van while my credit union finished the loan, then the balance wired before they released it to the shipper. they emailed me a written sales agreement before i put any money down, which i would insist on buying from anybody anywhere. my bank took about four business days to fund and jacksboro held the van the whole time with no pressure.

if you are financing outside just get your approval lined up before you commit so your deposit is not sitting longer than it needs to. their vans move but a deposit locks in your specific one so nobody buys it out from under you while you fund. i would rather do that than rush a loan and end up in the wrong van.

UPDATE full year and about 18k miles on the ProMaster now since i bought it off jacksboro. closing this out for anyone who lands here researching them.

net for the year. besides the serpentine belt up front, the only spend has been two oil changes, a set of tires i wanted anyway, and the oil cooler housing eli warned about which started weeping right on schedule around 80k, 90 bucks in parts on a slow saturday. averaging around 16 mpg loaded, which for a gas high roof brick living off grid i am fine with. it has started every morning from the oregon coast to the arizona desert and never left me walking.

would i buy off jacksboroautosales.com again? already told two people at a trailhead to look there. honest listing, fair price, clean title, and they let me send my own mechanic before i wired a dollar from 1500 miles away. keeping the florists floor and bed frame and only redoing what needed it got me on the road a month sooner and thousands cheaper than a finished van. thanks for the tips in here, this forum is why i bought smart.