You have a very nice, and despicably clean and organized van. I'm not a doctor, but that might be the definition of OCD. LOL! One nut talking to another Ladder racks really do mess up mileage. It did even in my Ram C/V mini van. I get around 17-19, but that is a lot of around town too.

Honestly I wish more people took as much pride in their service vehicles as you have. It would do a lot for raising up consumer thoughts of our trade.

 

Thank you for the kind words. I do suffer from a little OCD. When I get busy things don't always look this clean. I figure my customers will eventually see inside my van and those that do usually comment on how organized it is. I have to admit that my wife does help keep me organized especially on those busy days.

 

Here are a few more pics and one of my old truck. The main reason I purchased this truck is because I could not find another van of this size with all the features plus the shelves and ladder rack for under 30,000. In my search for vans I was not to concerned with the brand as I was with warranty and cost. The NV has a 3 year 36000 mile bumper to bumper plus a 100,000 mile power train. Ford and Chevy both wanted over 30,000 and I looked at the Ford Transit but fully loaded with shelves and ladder rack my local dealer wanted 27,000 plus tax and paper work fees. I hope others find this useful. In my search for vans I was unable to find much info on the work vans and with all the new vans out I thought I would post a short review. I will update if I have any problems.

 

That's a beautiful truck! You did good on the price too, all the guys around here that have them are very happy.
You just shamed me into organizing my truck!

 

I just organized it so I figured I would take some pics. I try to keep it organized but that doesn't always work out. I sometimes wish I had purchased the high top but at 9 feet tall without a ladder rack I thought it would be to high to get into my customers back yards with the low limbs on trees. Also I would have never been able to go through a drive through. But it sure would be nice to stand up inside the van. What is the saying you can't have your cake and eat it to. I could not believe how much they wanted for one of those little Transits. I do have a couple things that I wish were different, the back up camera only works when I am in reverse. I wish it would work when I am in drive. I also wish I had the side window in the sliding door so that I could see when I am turning left. I think that would make it a little safer. Hindsight is a always a pain in the butt. Coming from a truck with a service body I had to get used to having a van. I like that everything stays dry and I think my equipment is safer when I go into Lowes. If all I have to do is basic maintenance and put gas in it I will be one happy camper. I looked at the Sprinters but I had two friends that had them and when I asked them about them they had horror stories of problems of being in the shop for weeks at a time. Nissan took the tried and true 4 liter v6 out of the Frontier & Exterra, and put it in the NV. You also have a choice of the 5.7 liter V8 from the Titan. I used to have a Nissan Frontier and I never had a problem out of the motor so I hope to have the same results with the NV. I am a small family run business so with that being said I can not afford two service vans. I was very concerned with reliability when I was looking for a van. The NV had only been out 2 years when I took the plunge. I have had the van for almost a year now with no problems. I wonder how many people that bought those sprinter vans had to tell their customers that they could not take service calls because of their van being in the shop for more than a week. I hope I never have to go down that road. Any how I love the van and hope to get many more years of trouble free operation from it.

 

You sold me, but I would really need the high top version. I'm too use to my high kuv's, and that is the reason I won't go back the van route.

 

I hope my review did not come off as a sales pitch. I am not much on the whole review thing. But I have been reading on this forum for a few years now and have learned a ton about tools and what not. Things like the blu vac, or the Veto tool bag, or my favorite tool my Digi-Cool AK900. I would have never bought these things nor would I have the pleasure of using these tools if it not for this site and the people on it. So I thought I would try to give back by writing up a review of my van. Now that I have almost 1 year and 13,000 miles of trouble free service. I thought I should let others know how satisfied I am with it. I know cost of ownership is important but so is reliability, and if you can get both that would be a home run hit in my book. I hope my story helps others who might be on the fence about what van to get.

I to think I would like one of those kuv's but I would imagine they are quite expensive. You get the convenience of a service body and the storage of a van. Kinda the best of both worlds. I do miss going out to my old service body and opening a hatch and grabbing a tool or part. Now I have to climb in the van and stay bent over, and if it is raining or my feet are dirty I get my van dirty and wet. But I had to have something for under 30,000 so I had to make a few sacrifices. Out of curiosity what brand did you go with and what type of MPG do you get? Also how has your reliability been?

Also I notice I did not post a pic of the rear of the van.

 

my next truck, you'll see the mileage with the v8 as it wont be straining so much to carry our light loads, great truck, veryyyyy comfortable, power windows,HELLO, no more ford or Chevy crap, had big problems with both of them the Nissan's are the service truck of the future, you'll be seeing more and more GAURANTEED....nice looking truck BTW enjoy..there's a pleasure to work off/drive/etc...great trucks, really are!!!!!oh, and after re reading your post, my 350 motor went bad as well, lower knock said it has to get a new motor....its a bad LOUD knock, out of no where, I have tracking so the guys drive right, he Chevy's, all of them except newest one I changed the transmissions in them........about time we have some OPTIONS, the meat wont inherit the earth, BLUE COLLAR WORKERS WILL INHERIT THE EARTH,LOL, obviously were meat, you know what i'm getting at , that was for all the analytical guys on here, with no sense of humor..BLAH TO YOU SIR!!!

 

Oh yea that V8 has a ton of power. I chose the V6 in hopes of better gas mileage. But I am not so sure that was a good idea. I think the V8 might deliver the same gas mileage with power to spare. The NV weighs almost 6000 lbs. add the shelves, ladder rack, tools and supplies and I am sure my van weighs over 7000 lbs. The V6 does not lumber but as the saying goes you can never have to much power. \

My chevy had the same knock. After taking it to 3 different mechanics I finally found out that the number 6 cylinder quit making compression. That was the second motor and it had less than 30,000 miles on it, the fist motor went at 120,000. I was done at that point.

What kind of gas mileage does your buddy get with his V6?
Let us know when you get your van.

 

OH and P.S. my buddy has his v6 like you for a few years now and loves it, he turned me onto it, took the v8 for a spin, SOLD thATv8 is un believably fast for real?????I was totally shocked, asked the guy if it was supercharged or had a turbo????yes that fast!!!the v6 is probably faster than that pickup you got and its bigger more weight, amazing trucks really are!!!! btw , like the stool, is it ok with the lower version, I imagine so, and that chair you have PERFECT....lol.....

 

 

oh I certainly will, and i'm not sure on mileage, but I know he said he's not getting sticker, due to weight most likely, that's why I figure ill go with the v8 and not beat the cap outta it, although its tempting, did you drive one/ there damm ass fast, and good torque to get you there,lol , that nv3500V8 Moves on out boys!!!! I tell ya,ll',,ill pull trigger in like 2 months its winter, I don't wanna mess it up loading material and snow and salt into new truck, lol, and wana letter it up nice so July ill have a STOCKED ready to go pic for ya'll all stocked lettered and ready to roll, I have 2 ford 350's dually's I have to unload, I swear going to burger king in town burns $20 of fuel, after I bought all the fords, I read the 2009 and such were the WORST models on gas PERIOD out of any truck, never mind a dually work truck with a stand up 10 foot box, that was nice, but slow as crap, that's why I say I think the 8 will be the way to go for me this time around....

 

you got a great looking truck tho, what are you getting mileage wise??

 

12 to 12.5 -- I use 87 octane. If you go to http://www.fuelly.com/car/nissan/nv1500
That is my van and it shows all my fuel ups from last year. I did not start using this MPG tracker when I bought the van so it does not show but 8,300 miles. The van has over 13,000 miles on it.

I am not sure, but some of the research I have done after I purchased my van points to the V8 providing better gas mileage. You can not get a V8 in the 1500. You have to get a NV2500 and then it is a $1,200 option. So it would have cost me $2,200 to get the V8. $2,200 buys allot of gas. The V6 has plenty of power but if I was pulling a 2 ton trailer it would have been a must have. If my memory serves me right the V6 in the NV has more HP and and almost the same amount of torque as the Ford E150 V8 4.6 liter. And the Ford suffers 2 MPG less fuel mileage. I think Nissan got it right with the 4 liter V6

 

Excellent looking van! How do you like Adrian Drawers in that style? My Transit arrives next week and debating Master Rack or Adrian.

 

I am only familiar with the Adrian steel style drawers. Nissan offers a free up-fit package with Adrian Steel. So because I got the shelves for free, I purchased the drawers to match. The drawers and the wire spool rack was a little over $800.00. They are proud of those drawers. Before I had the drawers I just had the yellow tubs. It was a pain to keep things organized. Now that I have the drawers it is so much easier to keep my van stocked and also less frustrating when I am trying to find something. I was trying to be frugal when I bought the van. So I only bought the ladder rack and the tank holder. I wanted the drawers but they were expensive and I was not sure how many or what size to get. Get the drawers if you can swing it, you will not regret it. I like both styles of drawers Adrian Steel has. I also like how their drawers with the tracks on them allow you to mix and match the different drawer sizes with the same cabinet. Makes it easier to set up and organize your stuff. The hard part for me was picking out what drawers I wanted and were I wanted them mounted. I thought I wanted more of the big 18 inch drawers but I actually ended up liking the smaller drawers to help keep thing separated. For me I wanted to be able to open a drawer and see that I am out of a certain part. When I was working with the tubs I would think I would have more parts than I actually did and I would end up running out. Nothing worse that leaving the shop and go on a service call only to get there and need a part that I thought was on the van and I not have it. Let me know if you need any info on drawer size or what ever.