First, it was super cool to try #vanlife.We weren't lucky with the weather, but it was a great experience anyway. But we DID get two absolutely glorious days in Vermont during foliage. So we were confined a bit and couldn't enjoy the "outdoor living room" with a canopy and chairs outside and picnic table and the door thrown open to the fresh air and breeze except for a couple days. Darn.The trip didn't start out great...had some minor starting issues...Tom had had the van completely serviced and I think the service team missed some things that caused us to have to charge the battery on day one, but that only happened a couple times, and he had provided a lithium charger that stared it in ten secs. Then the van ran great and was surprisingly easy to drive. Actually it was EXCELLENT and after Tom told me how to better drive it (lay off the gas on the hills) we got 20mpg. Crazy good for a sprinter van I understand. In fact we only filled that tank twice, and on top of the full tank when we picked it up, we averaged a solid 400 miles per tank with fuel to spare.Tom was super responsive by text. Like...FAST. We needed it on that nervous first day.The interior was very clean. We could tell Tom took care of his baby. We half-camped, half luxed, so never used the water supply or shower as we stayed in KOAs and used their showers etc. But the stove, lighting, and toilet were fine. He had all the hookups and adapters for power.The van had 175K miles on it, so we weren't expecting a super-badass van with super-cool features. No laser beams of flame throwers. The inside table was wobbly, (which made it hard to work on a computer,) which weirdly was my biggest gripe. The radio/XM/Sirius didn't work (probably just a antenna connection issue.) But we had brought a Bluetooth speaker so that was minor. The heater was really loud but super efficient. There was other minor stuff that you'd expect with a 10-yr old vehicle. But too minor to mention.However, it was the driving functionality that shined for us. It was just fantastic on the highways and the visibility and drive-ability was superb. We give that a 4.5. The interior and living functionality, not quite as good, so 3.5 for that. Overall a 4, and we certainly would use it for a second adventure.
Tom was great with pick-up and drop-off.Overall a great trip and we'd recommend this vehicle to anyone with adventure on their mind. Most importantly it was worth the money and value. He has this vehicle priced well and it's a reliable and comfy way to get out there into nature or wherever your inner-explorer wants to take you.Thanks Tom!P.S. Getting fuel in New Jersey is a royal pain in the butt, as it is full-service only. Gas up before you hit the NJ Turnpike!
