A few years ago, during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided there would be no better time to start my van life journey.
Back in March 2020, I was at my in-office content manager job when news of the COVID-19 outbreak broke out. Shortly after, my in-office job became a temporarily remote job…and then a permanently remote job. I spent the following months working from home and quarantining at home. Most international travel was halted at that time as each country was trying to figure out how best to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Some countries even completely closed their borders.
It was a grim time full of fear and uncertainty about the future. I had started to grow restless in Houston and began going on solo road trips around the state of Texas to escape into nature. As Texas is a huge state, there is no shortage of outdoor adventures.
While on one of my road trips in my little 2010 Nissan Cube, I thought, “Why not build a campervan? I could more comfortably explore Texas and maybe even set out west. I finally have a full-time remote job after all.”
With only a few thousand dollars to my name and a Pinterest board of boho vans, I spent a month or so researching van models.
I knew I couldn’t afford a Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit, Ram ProMaster, or any van that I could stand in as a tall 5’9 girlie. I also didn’t want to finance a vehicle for this as I already had student loans I needed to pay off.
What I realized I could afford though was an old Chevy Astro. It was the best-looking, affordable, mid-sized van model within my budget. My favorite feature of it that ultimately sold me on it was the Dutch back doors.
After weeks of scouring the Facebook marketplace for the best Chevy Astro deal, I found a 2005 model with 123,000 miles selling for $3,000. This Chevy Astro van was custom-fitted with a high-top roof and had a motorized wheelchair lift inside.
Once I received a solid-looking Carfax report, I decided to make the plunge to get the van. As the van was in Arkansas, and I was in Oklahoma at that time, I would have to rent a car to drive to Arkansas by myself to purchase the van and then drive the van 6 hours back home. Before I made the trip to Arkansas, I paid a local mechanic $120 to inspect the van. Once I heard back from the mechanic that the van was in decent shape (with a few minor issues) and worth $3,000, I set off to Arkansas.
Expenses of Buying a Van
After purchasing the car, I had to pay a lot of fees such as the tag fee, excise fee, sales tax, notary, etc. The total cost for the van, initial mechanical inspection, and registration fees totaled up to $3,351.44.
| Van | $3,000.00 |
| Mechanical Inspection | $120.00 |
| Auto Tag | $46.00 |
| Auto Penalty | $10.00 |
| Excise | $70.00 |
| Excise Penalty | $10.00 |
| Sales Tax | $37.50 |
| Sales Tax Penalty | $0.15 |
| Title | $11.00 |
| Notary | $10.00 |
| WST Tire Fee | $14.50 |
| Insurance | $1.50 |
| CC Transaction Fee | $6.79 |
| Inspection | $4.00 |
| Title Reprint (Lien Removal) | $10.00 |
Initial Expenses of Fixing the Van
The next part was doing some minor mechanical fixes to the van. When I purchased the van, it was leaking transmission oil and drove a bit rough. The 6-hour drive back was slightly anxiety-inducing and gave me a pang of buyer’s remorse to be completely honest. The mechanic who inspected the van advised me to replace the spark plugs, spark wires, and transmission oil pan gasket.
Thanks to having a super handy brother-in-law, I was able to save some money on mechanical labor. I spent $486.49 on supplies for the initial mechanical repairs to get the van functioning normally.
| Fixing the Van | Cost of Parts | # of Parts | Total Cost (including labor) |
| Automatic Transmission Oil Pan Gasket | $21.65 | 1 | $21.65 |
| Platinum Spark Plug | $20.31 | 6 | $121.86 |
| Spark Plug Wire Set | $47.98 | 1 | $47.98 |
| New Tires | $65.00 | 3 | $195.00 |
| Hood Latch + Flush Breaks + Replace AC Thing + Rear Main Seal Fluid | $0.00 | 0 | $100.00 |
Expenses of Building a Campervan
Once my van was finally in better mechanical shape and running smoothly, I started on the actual build.
Please note that the costs listed are the prices I paid from 2020-2021.
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Well, actually first, I started ripping out everything inside my van so that I could have a blank canvas for the actual build. This required removing the back seats, the ceiling fabric, the plastic trims, the walls, and the flooring. Not to mention, there was also a 300+ pound wheelchair lift that required 3 grown men to remove. The whole process of removing everything inside of the van took blood, sweat, and tears. You can easily skip this step if you buy an empty cargo van, though you’ll need more than a $7k budget.
Now we’re ready to talk about the cost of the campervan build.
Patching Holes
The process of stripping everything from the inside of the van left some holes in the van from the bolts that had previously held stuff in place. To repair those, I patched the holes with some coins and sealant.
The sealant and other adhesives that I needed cost a total of $59.00.
| ADHESIVES | Cost of Parts | # of Parts | Total Cost |
| 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive | $12.98 | 1 | $12.98 |
| 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Permanent Spray Adhesive | $9.98 | 1 | $9.98 |
| AP Products 017-90891 White Sikaflex-221, 10.1 oz | $15.70 | 1 | $15.70 |
| Dicor 501LSW-1 Epdm Self-Leveling Lap Sealant-10.3 Oz. | $11.38 | 1 | $11.38 |
| Henkel Corporation 908570 2.7 oz Tub Clear Silicone Waterproof Sealant | $4.98 | 1 | $4.98 |
| Duct Tape | $1.00 | 1 | $1.00 |
| 3-1/2 in. x 3/4 in. Sticky Back Strips (4-Pack) | $2.98 | 1 | $2.98 |
Sound Deadening
After the holes were patched up, I applied pieces of sound-deadening mats to the bare metal. This is an optional step to reduce noise from inside the van. I spent $59.99 for the sound-deadening material.
