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Old 06-19-2009, 08:55 PM   #2
85MH325
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Profile:  Tipton , Iowa
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Pete, I just bought a '94 with 32k miles. Even the newest B-Van is 10 years old now, so you're going to end up doing some maintenance. It's the nature of buying an old van. They're also not that easy to find nearby (unless you live in Florida maybe). We had to go to Kansas City for ours. The going price for a well maintained B-Van in the "new" body is between $15k and $20k, so if you can find a '94-'95 with less than 60k for under $10k, you'd best be jumping on it. I have yet to see one going for that. As a matter of fact, if you can even find a Falcon B-Van for under $10k, you're going to be doing good.

The V-10 in those years is a solid engine except for it's propensity to spit plugs. The 460 was a solid engine, but had some issues as well. Ours is a 460. Basically, finding one that is well maintained is more important than finding low mileage. My initial concern on mine was because it had so few miles on it, that I'd be seeing engine/transmission seal rot and subsequent leaks, but fortunately that's not the case with this one.

As they age, they're going to be harder to find. The up side is that in another ten years, the '05 Westfalia Sprinters will be down in the $15k-$20k price range!

I would have loved to have gotten a '99 (the last year they were built) but truth to tell, there's not much difference between any of them (on the '92 and up chassis), so whatever you find ought to be fine. The older Ford chassis was fine too, but the cab features/dash are basically from the '80s and weren't as refined as the later interiors.

Roger
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