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In order to understand the varying cost of van builds I’ll explain 3 different markets for conversions: new vans that have been converted to sell, new vans that turn to DIY projects, and finally our custom builds. This will allow you to get a good ballpark of what prices are relative to each other.
Starting first with new vans converted to sell, a simple Google search for a new built-out van will show a number of results, typically from companies selling templates they’ve created for $130,000 - $190,000. Most van conversion companies offer a choice of 3-7 different build models and allow their clients to choose from a number of colors or finishes (thus calling themselves “custom”). You probably won’t get exactly the layout and features that you want and you may pay for some other features that are useless to you but either way, it is quite a steep price tag.
Side note: Now that van life has been popularized for a while, a lot of these templated builds that people have purchased over the years are breaking apart or malfunctioning. The companies responsible either don’t offer services to fix and repair or they simply swap out the broken parts with new pieces of the same material (which are bound to break again in the same way a couple years from now). At Ventura Van Builds we will help you maintain, fix, or repair any of your build components whether it be electrical issues, broken cabinetry, or botched plumbing. Even if it was built by another company, we are confident we can provide you with solutions that will make what’s broken infinitely better. You’ll always have the peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, we’ll be around to help you fix it (that is, as long as it’s not a mechanical issue with the van itself, of course!).
Now, back on track! In order to save money, a lot of people turn to DIY solutions. Considering the cost of the van itself (for comparison’s sake, we’ll keep looking at new vans only) at about $50,000, your DIY build would have to cost less than $70,000 to be worth your time and cost less than a templated one. However, during a DIY build, people typically fail to anticipate a number of factors. First is the cost of tools required to get this job done. For each trade involved in a build (plumbing, electrical/solar, carpentry, and welding) there is a whole world of tools that would make your building experience a lot easier. Without those tools, you might spend 10 times the length of time doing the same task. A great example is a wood planer. Let’s say you’re planing wood that will be going up on your van’s ceiling. With a planer (which on the cheap end costs around $600 and on the expensive end can run up to $10,000) it would take probably a day of labor. Without it, you’ll be sanding for at least a week to get to the same result.
Another factor people fail to consider when choosing to DIY their van is the value of their time and the learning curve involved in the build. Especially if you don’t have prior experience in the trades mentioned above, it’s very unlikely that you will complete a successful build on the first try. In fact, a very common theme among vanlife influencers is that they almost NEVER currently live in the first van they’ve built because they’ve learned and changed so much that they are often on their 3rd or 4th iteration!Assuming your income level matches the average American at $54,132 that converts to $27.10/hour. We’ve had clients come to us that have been working on their DIY vans for the past 2 years for about 40 hours a week. That adds up to about 4,160 hours, or $112,736! Even if you miraculously made minimal mistakes and took half that time to complete it in one year at 40 hours a week (which is the time you spend at your full time job), the labor you put in would have been equivalent to $56,386! That number doesn’t even include the cost of materials, tools, or a place to work!
Let’s now consider the cost of converting your van fully custom with us at Ventura Van Builds. We offer premium, standard, and basic options for almost all of our modules. Additionally, we offer full builds where you bring us an empty van and we build it out completely, partial builds where you have existing components in your van and want to add more, OR we can build module-by-module where we start with an empty van and you can elect to start with floors and work your way up to each module until the rest of your van is complete the way you want it. Let’s add up the cost of all of the premium estimates and see what we have! At our highest price range (premium), the total cost of build would be estimated at $51,000. That means each part of your van would be custom to your lifestyle and taste, nothing templated, and nothing to compromise on. Our standard build would cost around $39,000 and our basic would be around $25,000.
Comparing these three options, it seems obvious which is the best bang for your buck. And if your budget is tight, you could even elect to purchase a used or old-school van instead of a brand new Transit or Sprinter.