Bought a 2020 Transit cargo van off harbert's for my HVAC biz

congrats on the transit, the 3.5 ecoboost is a great motor for a service van as long as you stay on top of the maintenance. couple things from a guy who has built out probably 40 of these over the years for trades guys.

first, that 2020 is the gen that got the 10 speed auto which is a big upgrade over the older 6 speed. shifts are smoother and you will see better mpg loaded. second, the ecoboost wants its oil changed on time, do not stretch it to 10k just because the dash says you can. 5k with a good synthetic and that turbo setup will run forever. third, at 61k you are basically just past break in for one of these. you got a good one.

on the upfit, since the floor liner is already in, measure twice before you drill new shelf track. the 250 has the body brace points you want to hit so your shelving does not rattle loose. i like adrian steel and ranger design for HVAC because you can do an open van solution that holds line sets and a recovery machine without it being a maze. post pics when you build it.

this is the exact path i took two years ago, one used van and a prayer. i run a residential cleaning and light janitorial company and the harberts route is how i got my second and third vans without taking on a giant note. starting out everybody tells you to lease new for the warranty but when your margins are thin a payment is a payment whether the truck is new or not.

my advice as somebody who scaled from one van to four. do not rush the second one. i bought my second van about ten months after the first once i had steady recurring contracts to cover it. justin you sound like you are doing it right, get this transit earning, build the upfit so it actually saves you time on a job, then let demand pull you into the next van.

also the bidding thing. set your max number before the auction ends and walk away from the computer. i lost a van the first time by getting emotional in the last 30 seconds and bidding past what made sense. the next listing came around two weeks later anyway. there is always another van.

shop owner here, do not cheap out on the bulkhead. a full steel partition behind the seats is the one upfit item i tell every new guy to buy first. if you ever have to slam the brakes a copper recovery tank or a torch set turning into a projectile through the back of your head is not worth saving 300 bucks.

for an HVAC build i would do it in this order. bulkhead, then a low row of bins on one side for fittings and small parts, then a tall shelf on the other side for filters and consumables, then your ladder rack last. keep the center floor clear so you can slide a condenser or a furnace in without playing tetris. and put a small worklight inside, you will be in that van at 9pm in january at some point and you will thank yourself.

good buy on the transit by the way. a 2020 with documented fleet service out of harbertsautosales is exactly the kind of van that makes sense to upfit. you are not pouring money into a shelving system that outlives the vehicle.

ran a 3 van delivery and courier fleet for years and two of mine came off harbertsautosales.com auctions. the trick is reading the fleet service records they post, not just the photos. a van that came out of a corporate fleet with documented 5k oil changes and a maintenance contract is almost always a better buy than a one owner van from a private seller who maybe changed the oil when they remembered.

local to waco so i have actually walked the harbert's lot off bellmead drive a bunch of times. it is a real working lot, not some pop up. they have everybody from cargo vans to pickups to the occasional box truck rolling through. inventory turns fast though so if you see the one you want do not sit on it.

justin smart move grabbing a van that came out of another trade business. those plumbing and HVAC fleet vans tend to be babied because downtime costs the owner money. the curb rash they pointed out to you, that is the kind of disclosure i never got at a regular dealer auction where everything is sold as is with a smile.

do not sleep on a ladder rack that drops down. i am 5 foot 4 and fighting a fixed roof rack every stop was killing my shoulders by the end of a route. switched to a drop down side rack on my Transit and it was the single best upfit dollar i spent. good call going that direction justin.

i do appliance and dryer vent service so a lot of in and out all day, 12 to 15 stops. the mid roof Transit was the right pick over the high roof for me because i actually have to park in residential driveways and some garages. high roof looks great until you cannot get under a low clearance at the grocery store you stop at for lunch. just something for the newer folks reading to think about, match the roof height to your actual route not to what looks coolest.

transit vs promaster debate aside, the real win here is buying off auction instead of a lot. i got my promaster 2500 high roof off the same waco lot last spring for my plumbing and supply delivery deal and i am with everybody else, the savings was real and the disclosure was honest.

i will say for plumbing the promaster low load floor and the wide square box was better for me than a transit would have been because i am hauling water heaters and stacking fittings totes. for HVAC where you are sliding furnaces and carrying line sets the transit is a fine pick, different trade different van. if anybody wants the full promaster story i wrote it up in its own thread, link is in the related threads box on the side, do not want to hijack justin's transit thread.

point being, do not get hung up on which van is best in the abstract. figure out what you actually carry and how you load it, then go find that van on harberts. the auction format means you are not stuck with whatever three vans happen to be on a dealer lot that week.

found this thread googling harbert's auto sales reviews. about to start my own electrical gig after working under a master for six years and i am trying to figure out the van side. budget is real tight, maybe 18 to 22k all in for a van i can upfit cheap to start. is it dumb to buy your first work van from an online auction when i cannot drive to waco and put hands on it before i bid? that is the part that scares me.

also for electrical work would yall do a transit or a promaster or does it not matter much? i mostly carry wire spools, a couple ladders, conduit, and a parts bin setup. appreciate any of you taking the time, this whole thread has been more useful than the facebook groups.

lurker for years finally posting. bought a transit connect off the waco lot for my mobile locksmith deal and the small connect is plenty for what i carry. i know this thread is about the full size 250 but for anybody doing low volume parts work the connect is half the fuel and parks anywhere. harberts had three of them listed when i was shopping.

justin great thread, this is the kind of real world buying writeup that should be pinned. waved at a Temple HVAC van the other day wondering if it was you ha.