A couple of days ago I got an interesting message on Instagram. He said he was thinking about buying my old van and had some questions about a couple of issues with it. (He wasn’t blaming me for them, just looking for info.) The last I knew, I’d donated the van to Forgotten Angels, and that’s the last I’d heard of it. Here’s what it looked like then, the last picture I ever took of it.
And here’s what it looks like in the Facebook Marketplace ad.
That is definitely the same van! But with some changes. The side door handle is missing. The bumpers, wheels, and lower part of the body have all been painted black. This is no doubt to hide the van’s terminal body rust. All the stickers are still there, even my 2022-2023 LTVA pass and the Smokey Da Van Instagram decal on the back of the roof. That’s how the guy tracked me down.
The LED headlights and light bar are still there. So is the cracked windshield I couldn’t get replaced in March 2023. The crack isn’t too visible, but the old Rhode Island inspection sticker that was on that windshield when I got the van is still there. An interior picture does show the crack, as well as a headliner. Someone must’ve replaced it because the old one from that van still hangs on the wall of my current one!
Here’s the text of the ad:
2004 van e250 150,000 MI clean Georgia title in my name 5.4 automatic the van has rust on the bottom body the frame looks good just has surface rust and it probably needs the air sensor clean I put a new filter on it when you stop sometime it goes dead and the brakes you have to pump them sometimes you need bleeding I got it on a trade I have more than that in it I put new coil packs on it new starter I just don’t need it first person with 2000 cash can have it I will only hold it if you’re on the way it needs work it ain’t pretty make a good deer hunting camper this van is on YouTube it’s the original Smokey the van
It was listed for $2,500 last night when I first saw the ad, and he’s already dropped it to $2,000. For the record, I paid $1,700 for it in December 2020. Let’s pick this apart.
The mileage sounds about right. If it has a clean Georgia title, why does it have South Dakota license plates? That’s a very popular state for nomads to register their vehicles because they make it so easy there. I don’t know if South Dakota doesn’t bother issuing titles after, say, 20 years, which may explain it.
The rust is presented accurately, both through this description and photos. The black stripe on the bottom hides it better than the original white.
The “needs the air sensor clean” is probably a failing mass airflow sensor. I never had a problem with it, but my friend Amy with a similar van had one fail on her as she rolled into Quartzsite for the winter of 2022, and had the same symptoms. Replacing it cured the problem.
The brake problem concerns me. I experienced something similar, which was fixed when the shop in Los Angeles replaced the brake booster and did a lot of other vacuum work for me in November 2021. In less than three years the same problem is happening again?
The new coil packs confirm for me that this was the cause of the misfire as I rolled into Florida for the last time. (Ironically, I recently replaced one in Melissa’s 4Runner and two in her son’s Land Cruiser, immediately fixing similar problems. They were much easier to reach than under the van’s hood.) I never had starter issues, but that’s a part that can definitely wear out and need replacement.
Finally, I find it highly amusing that he’s using my Smokey Da Van YouTube channel as a selling point for the van. I’m sitting pretty with just 1,300 subscribers, about half of those arriving AFTER I donated that van! But those old videos with that van are still up, so people can see its previous adventures if they really want to. Open the doors, though, and you won’t recognize the interior.
It’s been completely torn out and redone! The side windows have been covered up. An RV interior light has been added to the roof. Some of the old angle iron frame still exists. It looks like the center of the old bed frame got cut to create a pass-through instead. Most of the cabinets and their associated framework have been removed. The potential buyer told me none of the electrical stuff works, including both Maxxair fans. This tells me that my original wiring probably got torn out when the interior was redone and not replaced.
In fact, I can see some of my color-coded wiring hanging above the sink. The nice wood counter has been covered (that’s definitely not real marble), but the hand pump faucet and mixing bowl converted into a sink remain. There aren’t pictures of it, but the video shows what looks to be a tiny bath or shower area right behind the driver’s seat! I certainly had nothing to do with that.
It’s very strange to see my old home on wheels up for sale. Don’t worry, I have no desire to buy it back. With the changes that have been made, that’s not my van anymore. And that’s okay. I’m curious how it got from Forgotten Angels to the current owner, but I guess I’ll never know.
Update
I’ve put together a few more details about my old van’s fate. David from Forgotten Angels confirmed my theory that they gave it to one of the young men they were helping out. He wanted to go live the van life, start a YouTube channel, and all that good stuff. He never heard from him again after he left. His phone was disconnected, and even his family doesn’t know where he is. I contacted the seller of the van, just to ask if it was Carlos who traded it to him. He said no, it was a guy named Drew. This corroborates what the guy who contacted me on Instagram said, that the van had been through two or three owners since I gave it to Forgotten Angels just 18 months ago.
There’s still a gap in the chain of events between what happened to Carlos and how Drew acquired the van to trade to the current seller. We may never know what happened there. We can only hope that Carlos is still alive and well somewhere.
Smokey Da Van 