Ok ok everyone. First of all, thanks for sharing your feedback, I really do appreciate it, and I know you’re all just looking out for me. I’ve got some true mentors and advocates on this forum, and I’m thrilled about that!
I think I need to clarify a few things though. See the only reason I was able to buy this vehicle was because my brother-in-law (who is LOADED by the way as a very successful small business owner), no longer had a use for it and thought I might be able to use it as a work van. He’s a bit sentimental about it as it belonged to his boss and was a gift from the boss’ widow shortly after he died. He doesn't need the money, but before he can buy his wife another car he told her they had to get rid of one. He’d also hate to just get rid of it because like I said, it reminds him of the boss that died and left him the business that has totally changed his life.
My brother-in-law is one of nine siblings, and the fact that I clean carpets and am thinking about going into full time one day pushed me right up to the top of the list of potential buyers. He also knows I’m on the front end of this and don’t have much $, so he sold it to me for $15k. That’s enough to have skin in the game, but probably half what it’s worth (at least!). There were no strings attached, but if I didn’t find a way to use it as a work van I think the right thing to do would be to offer it back to him so he could sell it for what it’s worth to someone else, even another family member.
Meanwhile, as an asset the van is far more valuable as is, it wouldn’t make any sense to strip all the nice finishes out of it. The customization alone cost over $50k originally, so I’m gonna leave all that completely as is, except for maybe the carpet.
I don’t have any money (or space) for a separate work van, so I really need to find a way to make this work. And because all my equipment is portable it’d be a shame to not also do it in such a way that it can be easily emptied when I want to go on a road trip. Flexibility is the name of the game, not because it’s the best way to do it necessarily, but because without using it for both it really doesn’t make sense to keep it at all.
If I gave it back to my brother-in-law I would have $15k for a FAR inferior vehicle in every respect. Anything smaller would have far more miles, or far more issues. This was a no brainer.
I cleaned the carpet in it last night and got most of the dog smell out. It was pretty dirty and needed a lot of work, but it now meets the requirements of my unofficial motto, “clean enough to make a baby on…”
By the way, did I mention the back seat folds all the way down? Guys come on, I’ve got four kids. Sometimes you’ve gotta think outside the box a bit…
Now let’s stop being Debbie Downers and someone please help me find a creative way to strap machines down using these floor hooks
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