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@laharview: Been following your conversion, especially the "cutting the body for a window" adventure...Very nice job! We are going to add a window on the driver side, maybe above the existing window in the sliding door for cross ventilation and then a square hole in the roof for the fan. I am switching back and forth between "Oh, I got this how hard can it be" and "Holy (&$%, I should bring it to a body shop to have those cuts made." I am very experienced working with wood but cutting holes in a brand new van is quite a bit outside my comfort zone. Nice job also on the insulation and the paneling. Hopefully I'll "catch up" to your level of conversion so we can compare notes in real time as the conversions progress!

@andy_george: We'll be working a bit out of the van but over the next 12 months we'll be transitioning into a mid-life retirement for a few years. After really stressful careers in DC for 6 years we are ready to slow down and leave the 80-100 hours weeks behind us. Lived very frugally to allow us to leave DC and be financially secure. @radin2son: Did lots of research over the past 2 years about which vehicle to get and in almost all categories the NV came out on top and was the logical choice. Price, warranty, reliability, ease of conversion, comfort of ride position, safety, price of maintenance to name a few. Yes, a Sprinter or Ford Transit would have offered a bit longer cargo area allowing for addition of bathroom and both offer diesel options, but then one has to look at price. To get a Transit or Sprinter similarly equipped and adding the diesel and stretch version would have cost between $50-55k, compared to just over $30k for the NV. I am not willing to pay $20k more to have and extra 2 feet in length or a diesel engine. And long-term maintenance and possible repair costs 20 years down the road will be many times higher for the Sprinter than for the NV. So while the NV is not perfect it comes pretty close and offers great value for the money. It's a lot of car for $30k with a ton of features that would all cost extra in the Sprinter. Want bluetooth or USB in the Sprinter? $1000. Want side curtain airbags? Another $1000. Want adjustable drivers seat? $1000. And so on. It'll quickly add up to be a $60k vehicle. Been talking with Chris CM quite a bit the past few weeks also on the phone regarding our factory order. The dealership we bought it through was not the most competent/too busy and so things got delayed quite a bit. That's why we ended up getting a 2016 NV instead of 2015, the first one the dealership received. We stayed firm on the rebate after they tried to bump us by $2200 since there are obviously no rebates on the 2016 as there were/are on the 2015s. Not sure how exactly they are booking it internally and I am pretty sure they are losing money on the sale as invoice for the SL with Technology Package was $33,200 and we got it for $30,000 before fees and taxes. Overall glad we got it for a great deal, but the hassle of chasing after the dealership and being held in uncertainty for months/lac of communication and having a 4 hours negotiating marathon yesterday was quite draining. All good now and will be soon forgotten. Thanks for the compliment on the blog. That's all my wife's work. I'll start posting once the conversion starts. :-) Originally we were hoping to do the conversion in September and October and hit the road during winter enjoying snow-free weather in the South. But with the delay we'll settle into a family condo near Lake Tahoe, I'll learn how to ski or snowboard and once ski season is over we'll hit the road. In between ski runs I'll do the conversions, hopefully get the wiring and insulation done before the first snow hits at the end of November. I'll make "fresh" posts for conversion updates so it'll be easy to follow along.

will do! I am sure i ll have questions too as we get into the conversion. we also have website where we'll update about trips and a build thread. www.travelswithcharley.us

The amazing price was the only reason we stuck with it. And we wanted glass on doors, blue, SL trim with technology package and since that is hard to find we kind of had to wait for it. The deal we had agreed to in June almost fell apart today as they tried to renegotiate on the (manufaturer) discount but after 3 hours of back and forth in which we held firm we got the deal.

After almost 5 months of waiting, our 2016 NV2500 SL is finally here. Picked up our van named Charley earlier today. Heading across the country to CA starting Tuesday and will settle near Lake Tahoe for the winter while slowly converting to camper van. Come spring we'll hit the road towards Alaska.

Yes, now it works! Thanks a bunch!

Prices vary quite significantly. I checked Progressive, Farmers, State Farm, and Geico so far and Geico is by far the cheapest coming in at around $75 for a mid-range coverage with $500 deductible for collision and comprehensive. State Farm wants $189 for the exact same coverage.

Thank you very much for all your inputs! Very helpful! I used to have Progressive when we had a car in the past, so maybe I'll go back to them. I think I also checked Geico a few months ago and they had the NV listed.

Thank you very much for all your inputs! Very helpful! I used to have Progressive when we had a car in the past, so maybe I'll go back to them. I think I also checked Geico a few months ago and they had the NV listed.

could you post the link again? the link you provided is broken/incomplete. Thanks a bunch!

Quick question, now that we have the Vin number we are in the process of looking for insurance for our NV2500. Any recommendations for insurance companies? Most car insurance websites don't even list the NV. It would also be nice to be able to insure the customized interior. Thanks for any suggestions!

Also no differences based on the brochures. Colors stayed the same as well.

The 2016 NV 2500/3500 is out. We are supposed to take delivery in 2 weeks. Production started third week of September so they are definitely out there

Quick update. Got the VIN today. NV is on the ship and delivery scheduled for between Oct 22-Nov03. this took a while but hopefully the wait will be worth it!

All reconfirmed with dealer and confirmation from Nissan Corporate in writing. It'll be a 2016 model, VIN number by 3rd week September and expected delivery by Mid-October. We'll be chilling in Tahoe until then leaving DC behind us on Wednesday. While waiting another 6 weeks is not ideal it works out alright and getting the same deal on a 2016 that we expected on a 2015 model is quite the upgrade. I have seen a bunch of NV conversions where folks put the propane tank on the driver's inside into the kitchen in an airtight container with vent holes to the floor/outside so that's what we are planning on. That's how David did it as well. I have a copy of his "instruction" manual which shoes how to turn on/off the propane when friends use the NV.

Looks like 2016 Cargo will be available starting in October. That's when we are promised to receive our NV2500 High Roof. (disclaimer: doesn't seem to be the most competent or customer friendly dealership, so take this info with a grain of salt)

Hi everyone, so turn out unfortunately it's still not "picking up the van" time... After our sales person kept giving us the same answer (it'll be here next week or the week after) we went to the dealership yesterday in person and spoke to the New sales manager (Ben). The manager we had done our original deal with is no longer there unfortunately. Turns out that whatever NVs our dealership had in the order pipeline could not be modified to fit what we wanted so they went all the way to regional/district manager to figure it out and place our order. When we were there yesterday he couldn't see our order in the computer but promised to call us back as soon as he spoke to regional. He called today and informed us that when they placed the order (we were there in early June and our sales person confirmed by late June that they had ordered) the "blue" color run for 2015 models was no longer open. (Something Chris had mentioned in an email to me as a potential obstacle.) So, instead we are getting a 2016 model. Looks like they'll be shipping soon to answer someone's question in the forum about 2016. We are promised a VIN number by Sep 23rd and delivery between mid-end of October. Since we only have a handwritten note from the old manager with the terms of our agreement, I am now insisting on something official and Ben said he'll email us a copy of the "order bill" (?). There was a bit more confusion since Ben suggested we had wanted the "all around glass" package even though the note and email confirmation from back in June clearly states rear and sliding door glass only. Also if I am not mistaken, there is no all around glass package for High roof commercial, no? At least according to the "build and price" feature that is not an option. Can anyone speak to this? I have seen all around High roofs with glass but those are probably aftermarket and not factory, right? Since NV2500 High Roofs with SL trim level in Blue with TP and glass don't fall out of the sky and I can't find one anywhere else, especially for $32k out the door it looks like we'll have to stick with the dealer and hope they'll follow through. What I find very annoying and bad customer service is about not keeping us informed. If they knew the 2015 cycle was closed for Arctic blue, why wait until we walk into the door to tell us so. I would suspect they knew or at least could have found out, before yesterday. So now we gotta do all kinds of rescheduling and figure out alternative accommodation and then hope for delivery by the end of October. So an 8-12 weeks delivery promise likely turns into a 20-22 week wait. Not happy, but not much we can do. Please keep your fingers crossed! :-)

Cheers! Thanks for the recommendations. My wife and I are both from CA so we look forward to returning home. We'll be stopping at the Grand Canyon for a week or two to get our annual Rim to Rim hiking in and then we'll drive up US 395 (love the Owens Valley) to say hi to a couple of folks in Lone Pine and get some hiking in at Mt Whitney (mid September is a great time for summit bids especially with the low snow pack) and then stop at friend's at Lake Tahoe for a few days before taking US 50 to drop down into the Bay Area. Probably going with Jim Bone Nissan in Santa Rosa (had good experience with them in the past) if we ever need service while in the Bay area. We'll be doing a few shorter drives Nov-March in the West and South West before departing for Alaska in late April.

We'll be using Charley as a moving truck to drive from DC to the Bay Area mostly along I-40. In the Bay Area we will store our belongings with family. Then we'll spend 6-8 weeks building out Charley. I'll have a detailed build thread on the blog and will update here as well. It'll be similar to David Anderson's High Roof build. A bit of a different bed/sofa construction but other than that the general layout will be similar. Kitchen will include 122L Nova Kool fridge and Atwood RV-2135 oven. 200W on roof and 225Ah. Also Propex heater.

Should be any day now. I called last week at which point the first units from the order that our van is part of had started to arrive. Was told by our sales person that it'll get here most likely this week or next and second week of September at the very latest. They already had a bunch of Arctic blues ones come in but they were low roofs, so at least we know Canton produced some blue ones this month. :-) Second week September puts as at right around 12 weeks so towards the end of the 8-12 weeks we were told when we ordered it June 6. The van will be called Charley, and our travel blog will be www.travelswithcharley.us, based on the Steinbeck novel Travels with Charley. Ahhhh...getting so impatient. The apartment is packed up and we are ready to hit the road as soon as he gets here. Keep your fingers crossed!

We had a similar experience when we bought our 2015 NV2500. The dealer initially tried to sell us on a 2013 NV2500 with 45k miles for around $28k. We made it clear we weren't interested in buying used, especially since the price difference between a 2+ years old vehicle and a brand new one was less than $5k. Reading everything above about resale value I feel really good about having gotten a 2015 NV2500 High Roof V6 with Technology Package and Glass Package for $32.5K out the door including taxes and fees. I doubt we are going to sell it within the next 5 years since we'll be converting it to camper van and plan to be on the road for the next few years, but even if we do, it's good to know we'll get good money for it.

Fred, you are absolutely right, the 2012 did in fact come in SL trim. My bad. I found the old 2012 Model description PDF from Nissan. Glad things worked out for you trading the 2012 for a 2015. Keep us posted how you are liking it! We are patiently waiting for our HR model to be delivered from the factory. Should get here in August, fingers crossed.

We haven't received our NV2500 yet so I can't speak from experience, but indeed from everything I am reading online in Sprinter and other cargo van fora it seems that the NV is very reliable as also indicated by the industry-leading 5-year warranty. Just from having read on this forum fuel consumption (at least for some people) appears to be the only major issue. Also, it appears that NVPs have a few more issues than NV Cargo vans, or that could be that more people on the forum have passengers versions, who knows.

Unrelated question: They already offered the "SL" trim level on 2012 models? I thought the SL was started for 2015 models only and before the option was "S" or "SL"?

Who would have thought the NV is 100 inches wide with the mirrors. Could one just fold in the outside passenger mirror and would that bring the width to below the 7'10" requirement? After all it's perfectly legal to drive without the passenger side outside mirror so driving with it folded in should be fine as well. The NV is 99.5 inches wide and the limit for the tunnel is 94 inches so folding it in should bring the width down to below 94 inches. Thoughts?