Ladies and gentleman… Steve Miller Van Volume 2!

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It’s a 2004 GMC Savana 3500 Extended with 115,000 miles.

It was actually one of the first vans I saw on Craigslist after I decided to move on from the Dodge.

The body has some rust, but nothing a bit of Corroseal can’t take care of. It’s a bit shorter, but also wider and taller (though I’m still going to look for a high top).

It was about an hour and a half way in southern Indiana, but the seller was nice enough to take it to a shop for me, where I had them do a 40 point inspection. He said the shocks should be replaced (quoted at $280), as well as the front brakes, calipers, and rotors (quoted at $500). He also said he’d flush the transmission and replace the filter (about $100). My local Brakeway will be much cheaper and I can get a good discount on the shocks and transmission flush.

None of this was serious enough for me to not consider buying it, and I was able to talk him down $500 from his asking price to $5500. I don’t consider this a great deal, but 3/4 ton vans with extended cargo areas and relatively low mileage are pretty hard to come by, so I snatched it up.

So now it begins again! I had at least 50 hours into the last van (although at least 20 of those were for the paint job), and now I have to start all over. Next weekend I’ll be in Nashville, but I’m hoping to get back early Sunday and get all the rust spots cleaned up and prepped for treatment.

With my 50k coming up in early April, my training has me at 50-60 miles a week for the next month, so my schedule has been hectic to say the least. I’m still going to get as much work done on the weekends as I can, but I imagine it will be pretty limited until I start my taper period in March. I’ll keep everyone updated as I make progress!