I would say that borrowing money to purchase a van does work depending on the circumstances. If it is the right van for you and you are afraid another won't come along for a while then I think you should find a way to snap it up. Personally I like to put down as much cash as possible and finance the remainder and I have taken out relatively small loans to buy 3 vans over the course of my "Bus" Life. Risky? perhaps a little...however I look at how much needs to be borrowed and long it would take me to pay it off. If it is within one to two years and my payments still allow me to purchase parts and beer then I look at it as more of a short term car payment with the added bonus of being able to start using the van - as well as working on it and coming up with an overall part replacement strategy.

I guess it also depends if this vehicle will be your daily driver or not - hopefully not or you have some other transportation lined up from time to time as you work through repairs. Depending on the type of van air vs water cooled - there is a lot of old and parts just waiting to fail. As well the main issue that will succumb a van to its eventual death is rust - so make sure it is not lurking like a pandemic underneath a fresh coat of paint.

At no point will this vehicle save you money as every one of us fools have pointed out! But it will provide a ton of fun as well as the occasional heartache.

The cost of borrowing is very low - so I don't imagine you will have a problem getting financing.

Bruce

On Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 6:01 AM David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:

> Though it is not my business, I guess you asked a question, so I'll > respond. If you can't pay for the van without borrowing, then you don't > have the resources to own and operate a vehicle like this. These vehicles > simply require, on an ongoing basis, what realtors call tlc, meaning > substantial monetary input. You have to be prepared for that to keep one > operating. mcneely > > On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 10:34 PM VW Vanagon <t3vanagon@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Been considering options to fund a good chunk of a (hopefully) upcoming > > purchase. > > Going to hit my local credit union and explore a couple other > conventional > > bank options on an RV/Camper loan, but I'm anticipating some hesitation > > given the age of the vehicle. > > > > Wanted to put this out to the group to see if anyone might have some > > options that I may have either not considered or possibly may not be > aware > > of. > > > > I've got great credit and it's a very reasonable price for a quality > > vehicle, so if there's a lender out there who "gets it," this should > pencil > > out pretty quickly. > > > > Any input is greatly appreciated! > > > > *Drew* > > Missoula, MT > > >