So, you decided that you want a camper van, more specifically a Wayfarer Van.

Maybe you’re into skiing, hiking, climbing, fishing, backpacking or mountain biking (like Brian in this video) or you’re generally new to the whole outdoors scene. Regardless of the activity, you’re getting a Wayfarer Van so that you can get out there and do your thing – travel around, explore within nature and most importantly, not sleep on the ground.

Brian Kennedy runs a youtube channel called BKXC, he travels all over the nation (and world) documenting mountain bike locations and trails to inspire others to get out there and explore on their bikes too. And as he puts it, while weighing the pros and cons of getting a van,

“I didn’t want the negatives to stop me from getting a van because the pro’s greatly outweigh them… because the pro’s, the pro’s of getting out on the road and seeing all these smaller places throughout the United States and Canada, maybe even Mexico, anywhere I could drive to, greatly outweigh the cons. There are all these little one stop places I’ve heard about that I wouldn’t be able to spend a week in and get a weeks-worth of riding footage out of if I flew in and coordinated everything like I normally do, but instead if I’m passing through I can shoot over here and shoot over there and get a great one day out of a place and do it justice and tell you about it. Now I can roam, I can roam to wherever the heck I want!”

However, the first hurdle to achieve camper van freedom, like Brian has, is acquiring the van, and there’s two primary routes you can take. The first – you can try finding your own van somewhere by searching online, (like Brian) or the second – work with us and our dealership partner and select from one of the many vans that we often have. 

We’ll weight the pros and cons for you.

In this video Brian took the first route. After finding a van in Oregon with the specifications of his liking, he then had to schedule time off to fly up from California to pick it up. And with the exception of a few amenities missing from the vans that we carry he found one that meets pretty much everyone’s basic criteria, which are: not white, cruise control and windows in the rear and sliding doors.

What’s different with the vans that we carry though are just a few added amenities to Brian’s list, such as: dual swivel seats, rear backup camera and a tow package. The pro for Brian or finding your own van is sometimes you can find that diamond in the rough for a better deal than you can get at our dealership (and don’t worry about hurting our feelings, we just want to see you in a Wayfarer). However, the cons are it’s often inconvenient searching for that diamond and Brian clearly expressed trepidation in the video over having to deal with an unknown car dealer. He then had to find the time to go to Oregon and pick it up, taking time off work, or in his case, taking time off mountain biking and driving it back home. He then had to schedule more time off to drive the van to us for the conversion. If you can find a van that meets your needs that saves you a few thousand dollars, then it might be worth it – depending on how much you value your time or your ability to take off work. 

The pros to purchasing a van from us.

• You know who you’re dealing with.
• We handle everything for you with our trusted dealership with very little interaction with the dealership at all, with the exception of some paperwork and a few phone calls (and not with a sales rep).
• We are continuously making kits for the vans that are either at the dealership or in-transit to the dealership; so sometimes you don’t have to wait as long for us to make your kit if you were to place an order online for a van you found somewhere else.
• Our vans all come complete with dual swivel seats, rear back up camera, tow package, windows in the sliding and rear doors and in a few different color options.
• The vans are smog approved for all 50 states – yes, even you California…
• You pick up your new Wayfarer Van at our shop! Skipping the dealership all together. Then we will review your van with you, some key features with the kit and you can even pick up some camping gear that we have here so you can fill in those last-minute items before venturing off in your new van.
• Since you saved yourself some time trying to locate and pick up a van somewhere else you now have a few days to really enjoy owning your Wayfarer Van. And we’ll set you up with the Wayfarer Vans “Cairn” app before you leave so you can explore some great camping spots posted by other Wayfarians in and around Colorado or on your journey home.

The cons to purchasing a van from us:

• Since they have a few more amenities than your standard cargo van, they can be a bit more expensive. Around $40,000 for the 159” Promaster (without our kit) and around $37,000 for a 136” Promaster (without our kit).

Whichever route you decide to take in getting your van, we’re stoked that you decided on a Wayfarer Van. Because we know that getting a camper van is just the beginning of many years worth of travel and adventure and we want to support and promote all those journeys the day you leave the shop. Whether by using our app to inspire you to discover new places or by joining the Facebook Fan page so you can talk with other Wayfarer owners to brainstorm ideas or discover little hacks they have done to make their camper van more comfortable.