2004 Mercedes Sprinter Camper Van

The Van & Us

Our van is a 2004 Mercedes Sprinter that we built out as our long term adventure machine. It was originally badged a Dodge, but the previous owner switched all decals over to MB.

I’m (Sean) a freelance software consultant and Mary is a teacher. We try to get away every summer and every long break from work we can get. After having traveled extensively in small cars and SUV’s, we decided to try something a little bigger!

We purchased the van from a trustworthy private seller in the Spring of 2015 and drove it home to Las Vegas to begin the build out. Over the next couple months, we simultaneously built out the interior while also revamping a few mechanical components to ready it for a 6,000 mile summer road trip to British Columbia.

After returning from that summer trip, we made a few interior modifications like installing the built-in stove, Xantrex power monitor, etc. and fixed a few upcoming mechanical issues (starter began acting up, alternator was making an odd noise, brakes needed replacing, etc.) Once summer came, we made a second 6,000 mile summer road trip circling the western US and back into BC.

We realize how stressful it is to make a purchase like this online, so we’re hoping to do everything we can to provide you with thorough and honest details and make this process as smooth as possible for you! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you have!

Why are we selling?

The van has been a phenomenal adventure machine! We would not hesitate to hop in it right now and hit the road again. In fact, the only reason we’re not still on the road is because we had to get back home in time for Mary to start her school year as a teacher. I supposed I ought to do some work as well.

So why are we selling it if it is so wonderful? Well, because we both loved the build process nearly as much as we love traveling in the thing. So now that we’re back home and back to work, we’ve made the tough decision to sell this one and start over on a new one! We don’t have a plan yet, but we’re hoping that a year and a half in this van will give us some wisdom when it comes to building another one.

This van is 100% perfectly ready to hop in and go! We’ll make sure all the maintenance is done up to schedule and the tank is topped off so you can hit the road in it ASAP.

Photos

eBay limits us to 12 photos on this listing, so we’ve created a few albums for you to click through on Imgur. Please see the descriptions for the photos as I elaborate on certain parts.

Exterior photos

Interior photos

Adventure photos

Build process

In addition to these photo albums, I've been working on a website to document the entire build process. It is incomplete, but it should give you some insight into how the build went together.Here is the link to that.

What you get!

• A completely built out camper van ready to hit the road. It will have a fresh oil & filter change and tires rotated immediately before you pick it up
• Everything listed in the interior build details section including an ice cold fridge ready for your food and beverages!
• Custom cut grey rugs from IKEA that cover the entire floor. Great for dirty or muddy travels so can take them out and hose them off.
• We’ll include our complete maintenance log
• We won’t include our sheets and blanket, unless you really really want them!
• We’ll include all manuals and warranty information for all of the components used in the build
• One starting key and another non-starting key (currently in a magnetic box hidden under the chassis)
• We will include all maintenance items we’ve accumulated including: transmission dip stick, old alternator (if you want, it could be rebuilt as a spare), spare turbo resonator, extra fluids, etc.

Van Details

• This is a 2004 Mercedes Benz Sprinter van, 140” wheelbase and high roof. While these van may look huge, they easily fit in a standard parking space, just don’t try to get them into a parking garage! This thing is very easy to drive as you sit high and have a very good view out front and to the sides. Backing it up takes a little practice if you’ve never driven a truck before. But with a little practice, you’ll be parallel parking in the tightest of spots!
• Since we tend to venture off into the backwoods, we’ve outfitted the van with heavy duty all terrain tires and we keep up very well on maintenance so we don’t get ourselves stranded hours away from help. So far, so good! Sprinter vans have about the highest clearance of any of the vans of this size without any aftermarket modifications. While we won’t recommend testing your skills with this on the slickrock of Moab, it is plenty of capable of negotiating severely washed out forest roads with a little bit of driving finesse.
• Mileage: 276,135 (this will grow slightly until it’s sold, but not too much)
• Clean title in hand
• Complete camper build including solar power, fridge, kitchen, stove, bed, dining table. See interior details below.
• It has been obsessively maintained by us and the previous owner, addressing any issues before they cause havoc. Additional maintenance details below.

The objective of our build was to create something nice and simple that we would look forward to calling home for months at a time. We wanted the space to be bright and clean to make it feel bigger when we’re trapped inside on those rainy days. I (Sean) have a small passion for woodworking so I opted to make everything from scratch: ceiling, walls, kitchen and cabinetry.

We opted to leave the rear of the van (we call it the garage) open and semi-unfinished to allow us freedom in how we packed things up for each trip. Sometimes we take four bicycles and other times we take a bunch of snow gear. This space could easily be finished out with sliders, drawers, etc. by you!

Interior Details

• Fully insulated: Reflectix layer on all walls, ceiling and floor. 1” polyiso board on ceiling and floor. 4” of recycled denim insulation in walls. Walls covered with vapor barrier sheeting.
• Ceiling constructed of tongue & groove pine slats finished with polycrylic to seal wood and prevent discoloration
• Walls constructed of painted 1/8” paneling
• Floors constructed of snap-together vinyl for easy cleaning and water protection
• Custom kitchen cabinetry with plenty of storage
• Flush mount two-burner Suburban brand propane stove plumbed for use with 1lb bottles. We didn’t want the risk of mounting a large propane tank under the van, nor did we want the risk of a 20lb tank venting inside the van. Our solution was to continue using the 1lb propane bottles. They’re a little more expensive than filling a larger tank, but they’re safe!
• TruckFridge (custom branded Indel B) 50 liter top-opening fridge positioned between front seats. Uses very little power, only about 15 amp hours in the course of a night. This has more than enough space for the two of us to travel long term. (In the photo above, the fridge is missing as I have it inside my house. You can see photos of the fridge in the linked albums)
• Kitchen sink drains into 5 gallon jerry can under sink
• Kitchen faucet is hand pump fed from 5 gallon jerry can under sink
• Overhead cabinets spanning entire length of driver’s side of vehicle
• Dining table and 30” bench seats. Seats can fit two small people each.
• Bench seats have hinged lid with large storage areas underneath.
• Custom seat cushions with backs made of high quality upholstery foam
• 4” thick custom cut high quality upholstery foam for bed mattress (purchased from a foam distributor here in Las Vegas)
• Custom slide out bed platform turns into a slightly-larger-than-queen sized bed. During the day, the bed is compact and allows you to sit up there or access the storage bins. At night, the rails slide out from under the bed and the seat cushins are set atop the rails, extending the bed out to about queen bed length.
• Fantastic Fan vent positioned over bed to allow inward operation on hot nights
• Spacious storage area accessed from rear doors. Can simultaneously fit five bicycles and three large tote bins, or any other combination of stuff you have!
• Custom-made insulated and reflective side window shades attach via magnets
• Custom-fit windshield reflector
• Fire extinguisher
• Cargo net storage area over front seats great for storing jackets, pillows, etc.

Interior Electronics:

• 100 amp hour house battery charged from both the vehicle alternator and solar panels. This has been plenty adequate for the fridge, lights, fan and charging laptops and phones. Even on cloudy days, we have more than enough power to keep everything running without concern.
• CTEK D250S Dual battery isolator and charge controller all-in-one unit handles the connection to the alternator & acts as the MPPT solar charge controller. This allows the battery to be charged from both the solar panels and the engine. This unit will even trickle charge the starting battery with excess solar power.
• Xantrex LinkLite high end power monitor. Displays power going into and out of the battery. Keeps a running total of amp hours used so you know exactly how much power you have remaining.
• TruckFridge (custom branded Indel B) 50 liter top-opening fridge positioned between front seats. Uses very little power, only about 15 amp hours in the course of a night. This has more than enough space for the two of us to travel long term. (In the photo above, the fridge is missing as I have it inside my house. You can see photos of the fridge in the linked albums)
• Brand new CO & Propane alarm
• Dual port USB charger over kitchen
• Two LED puck lights over the dining table
• String of LED lights around the perimeter for ambient lighting
• Small string of LED lights over the sliding door for entry light
• String of LED lights over the kitchen
• String of LED lights in the rear storage area
• Aftermarket stereo unit w/ bluetooth connection, SD card slot and USB port
• Two extra speakers mounted to ceiling behind front seats. They came with the van when we purchased it, so we reinstalled them when we built it out. These could easily be move/removed.

Exterior Details

• Goodyear Duratrac tires with only 25,000 miles on them
• Side windows tinted dark (@ the legal limit) using high-quality ceramic tint. This helps greatly living in the desert southwest. Keeps the van nice and cool while out camping.
• Windshield tinted with clear ceramic-based UV & IR filter. This makes a world of a difference when driving into the sun.
• Side window flares for cracking the windows and letting air in on a rainy night.
• 2x 100W Renogy solar panels affixed to the roof (see above for interior components of the solar setup)
• Fantastic Fan, 3-speed, reversible, positioned in the rear over the bed
• Installed a double-seal on front two and sliding doors. This makes a very big difference in wind noise.

Maintenance Details

The van was preemptively repainted by the previous-previous owner to inhibit rust issues. This was a godsend as Sprinters of this era have notoriously awful paint jobs. Even so, considering this van was in Connecticut before we purchased it, there has been a little rust develop at the bottom of front two doors and the rear doors. Since bringing it to the desert southwest, it seems all rusting has ceased. So far, all of the body rust is purely cosmetic and has not opened up any holes or anything. The only area I’ve found where rust has caused an issue is the rear bumper. A lot of the metal has fallen away from the bumper structure leaving just the plastic cover. This could be fixed easily by inserting a new piece of metal under the plastic cover. In the meantime, careful stepping over only the frame part of the bumper is fine.

The only other mechanical issue is a noticeable flare shift between second and third gears. In case you don’t know what this is, it’s like the transmission comes out of second gear and hesitates for a split second before going into third. The previous owner stated the van had this issue the entire time he owned it with no change and it has not changed any during the time we’ve owned it. The solution for us (and the PO) has been to slightly let off the throttle during that shift interval to allow the transmission to slip into gear without over-revving. After speaking with a mechanic at the Henderson, NV Mercedes Benz dealership, he recommended continuing driving it like this and to not worry too much about it until much further down the road. More information about these types of flare shifts can be found on the Sprinter Source forums.

The engine runs smooth and does not have any of the “black death” (leaky fuel injector) issues people often ask about. Last spring, I started to obsess about the sound of the engine wondering if it was my imagination or if something was different. I took it to two different shops, the second one being Mercedes Benz of Henderson and they both assured me that everything was normal and I had nothing to worry about. I even ordered a full compression check be done just so ease my mind.

Now on to the maintenance log. The previous owner and ourselves have been meticulous about maintenance, changing fluids and filters at the recommended intervals with only OEM-spec parts. This includes motor oil & filter changes every 10,000 miles as recommended in the service manual.

• We’ve purchased all replacement parts through europarts-sd.com to ensure we get quality OEM parts
• New lower-left-front ball joint done by the previous owner before we purchased the van
• Goodyear Duratrac tires installed @ 250,640
• New starter @ ~257,000
• New air filters (engine & cab) @ 257,558
• New alternator, pulleys and turbo resonator @ 259,387 (turbo resonator was not needed, but wanted to do it since the stock ones have a reputation of failing)
• Tires rotated @ 260,265
• New fuel filter @ 261,575
• Latest oil & filter change @ 264,921
• Engine checked out okay by Mercedes Benz of Henderson, NV @ 264,926 (Had the dealership do a full checkup including compression check just as preventative maintenance)
• New brake pads and rotors on all wheels, new caliper on rear right and new parking brake cables and shoes @ 270,000
• Front-left wheel bearing re-packed @ 274,987
• Windshield wiper blades replaced recently
• Air conditioner maintains charge and works perfectly
• Heater works perfectly
• Passes Nevada emissions

Inspections

We don't know anything about how third party inspections work, but a friend has told us we will likely be asked about them. We welcome this, just let us know what we have to do!

Purchase & Pick up

We are located in Las Vegas, NV. This fact offers many cheap flights in from nearly everywhere and very cheap hotel rooms. We can pick you up from the airport or a hotel and make sure you get on your way safely. We’ve elected to require a $1,000 deposit within 48 hours and full payment within 14 days. We think this is plenty reasonable, but if you have issue with any of this, please reach out to us and we can discuss further. We will require full payment in the form of a cashier’s check or cash in person.

Conclusion

We’re both excited and sad to see our van / adventure home go on to a new owner, but we’re even more excited to start building a new one. We’ve spent countless nights in it dreaming of never going back to work!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’ll try to get back to your promptly and give you any additional details you request. You can message us through this listing, but we’re happy to continue correspondence through email, phone, video, etc. We know all too well the anxieties online car buying causes, so we hope to make this as smooth for you as possible!

Happy bidding!

Sean & Mary