Hi guys, new to this forum. I own a parcel delivery startup onibag.com and a search for a reliable, yet cheap delivery van brought me here. We aren't as rich (yet))) as fedex or ups, so we can't afford to buy a decent van from a local dealer. The ones I found on craigslist were cheap but their history even shadier than Game of Thrones.

So I found this one https://www.govdeals...558&acctid=6250. Went down to Sacramento to check it out myself. Very nice USPS lady provided all the info, told me witch one out of 20, that were on sale, is the best one and even gave me the keys, so I could drive around the parking lot.

Original 57k miles, maintenance every 4000 miles or 6 months, normal wear of the interior. Some little dents on the body, but nothing major.
Now it needs a bit of love to bring it from pathetically looking ex-mailvan into something a quite alright looking.

 

After the van was picked up from the USPS parking lot, we went straight to the nearest Autozone to buy the battery and fill up all the fluids. The car was jump-started upon pick up, but of course, didn't want to fire up again when we parked at Autozone. Tested the battery - completely ruined, doesn't want to hold the charge. Old one out, new one in. Fill up the coolant and off we go. After 30 miles I decided to pull over to check on the tires. Good thing the tire shop was right off the highway, so I stopped to check the pressure, balance and do the rotation. Turned out one tire had a nail in it. Funny that it was there for almost a year and the tire didn't go flat. So I decided to buy 2 new tires. While the car was on the lift with the wheels off I checked the suspension, brakes and took a look from underneath. Overall condition if great. Just front rotors, pads and links will need a replacement in about 10-15k miles.

 

After 40 miles "check engine" went on. P0135 O2 sensor, upstream. Changed the sensor $52 from autozone. Erased the error. Right after the sensor was replaced, the car was running a bit rough in the beginning and looked like rpm were a bit higher. I thought ECU will correct itself, but after another 40 miles "check engine light" went on again. Now it shows me P1294 - TARGET IDLE NOT REACHED. Didn't touch anything while replacing O2 sensor, but the spark plugs wires. Cleaned them and reattached properly. Checked twice.

It might be a coincidence or a probable cause - the check engine light went on as soon as I filled up the tank with E85. USPS vans are Ethanol capable. Could it cause P1294?

 

Found it! The vacuum hose that goes from the intake manifold to the master cylinder wasn't connected. Pretty sure it was my fault))) Now its all good and off we go the pass SMOG check!

 

First 500 miles. All good. Treated plastic parts with TurtleWax trip restorer. Looks brand new! Found a nearby biofuel station, now testing MPG with E85. $2.55 per gallon sounds good, so if the gas mileage won't be much different, I'll stick to biofuel.

 

Quite a difference between the poor looking van I picked up 2 weeks ago from USPS parking lot and NOW. I like to bring cars (also motorcycles, trucks, heavy equipment, etc) into mint condition. Polished the headlights with Mother Aluminum Polish compound. Nice and shiny for just 7 bucks!

 

I'm looking at one of these through the same website, but in Chicago, I'm far enough away that test driving isn't an option... Any feedback now at the nearly one year point on your investment? Did you keep the cage?

 

So far so good. One thing thou, those from the Chicago area are very rusty. I picked up mine in California. Texas is also good. Dry states are preferable. They don't really like snow.

 

their great little vans but they do have a weak spot. their 95 percent dodge carvan. but their 5 percent postal van.

and that 5 percent is rear axke. if your rear axle need to be replace. you may not be able to find a post van axle. the grand carvan axle will not fix