ArcticAthlon

The van has sold. For Sale is our one of a kind 2021 Nissan NV3500 SL 12 passenger van. It is the same Top Trim SL package that many other people are selling but none are unique as this one. The mileage is 11,980 miles, and most of these are highway. This van was used for several family camping trips to Georgia, Arkansas, and many inside Texas. This where most mileage originated (actually true highway miles). The oil has been changed with Mobile 1 Extended Full Synthetic (20,000 mile oil) at 1k miles, 6k miles and 11k miles. I only use Wix XP (rated the best) oil filters. Also a new Wix air filter was installed at 11k miles. We have towed our 5,000 lbs camper with it and you would not even know it is towing anything. No side to side rocking sway like the Ford Transit van we had before. This is the newest NV3500 you can get and probably one of the last NEW vans that was driven off the Nissan Dealer Lot (Purchased in June 2021). Since they are no longer made, this van is incredibly hard to find with low mileage and none of them have the upgrades ours does. Upgrades: 1. Van has been stripped down to bare metal interior and Kilmat Butyl Automotive Sound Deadening mats were installed. This sound deadening was installed in the Doors as well as the floor and the inside cavities of the walls and roof. 120 square feet of Kilmat were installed. The wheelwells received a double installation of Kilmat, as that is where all cars produce the most road noise. Not anymore. 2. Along with the Kilmat, I installed 200 square feet of Havelock Sheeps wool. https://havelockwool.com/van-insulation-products/ This is the best insulation you can get for sound dampening, and temperature insulation barrier. It is the gold standard for CamperVan conversions. 3. Front seats have WeatherTech FloorLiner mats. Rear of the van has one complete sheet of vinyl flooring installed over the carpet. This is to enhance to look, make cleaning easier, and protect the carpet underneath. This upgrade was completed 1 month after having purchased the van from the dealer. So the carpets were practically unused, as we had started our summer travel yet. 4. AC Upgrade. Rear AC Slimline Air Flow Kit purchased from https://nissannv3500rearairflowkit.com/products/nissan-nv3500-rear-air-flow-kit for $460. This kit improves the airflow to the rear vents, as the original design is flawed and restricts the flow. You can find plenty of videos on youtube with people complaining about the rear AC and this kits fixes this. The AC upgrade along with the Kilmat and Sheeps wool insulation makes this van an Ice Box. It gets genuine cold in the van in the Texas heat, and we have to lower blower speed down, because it gets really cold. The kids will complain that it is too cold and that want the air turned down. This does not happen in regular NV3500's. 5. A ReesePower CompactIQ Trailer Brake Controller has been built into the dash behind the steering wheel. Is it hidden and built into the plastic panel and is in an excellent position to adjust while driving and also manual engage the brake controller (push the round button to brake). Normally installing an after market brake controller means that it has to be installed on the dash or at the kick panel where your legs/knee can hit it during driving. This brake controller is connected to the factory harness that Nissan had prepared for brake controllers (no wires were cut to splice in crappy wiring harness). 6. Antenna upgrade. The original antenna was great, but way too long. It would have to be removed every time we wanted to go through a car wash. A AntennaMastsRus 6inch antenna was installed. This antenna works as good as OEM and was German Engineered. 7. Front and Rear Cameras. I installed a front camera into the grill, just above the Nissan Emblem, and an additional backup camera into the 3rd brake light to help with towing. Both Cameras can be operated while driving and will display in the rear view mirror. This mirror has two LCD panels build in and can receive a total of 4 Video feed signals. Currently 2 feeds (front and rear) are connected. The front camera is beneficial when you are making a wide turn and are not sure if you can squeeze by something and if you want to pull up to something really close (garage door, etc.). The rear camera works at the same time OEM rear camera video feed that comes up on the Navigation screen, but it complements it for towing. When towing my utility trailer, I can see the contents of the trailer, and watch to see if something is loose and needs to be tied down again. And when backing up, the hitch is clearly visible and makes hitching up super easy. I can backup and see exactly when I need to stop and if the receiver is directly above the ball. I don't have to get out of the van over and over to adjust when hitching up my camper. 8. Dash Cam. All our cars have dash cameras installed. This is sadly a necessity, as we have been hit by several people and then they would claim it is our fault. We won our insurance cases every time because of the video we could provide to our insurance, and they are invaluable. The dashcam is installed on the front Windshield, behind the rear view mirror, so you will not see it when you are driving. However, it records sound and 1080p video when you forgot about it and need it the most. Video is loop recorded and saved on a MicroSD card that can be removed to retrieve any video needed. This camera is hardwired directly to an open slot in the fusebox and connected to the Ignition circuit. This means that the camera turns on when the car turns on, and turns off when the car is turned off. It will not drain the battery when you are not driving. 9. Running Boards. APS iBoard Aluminum Silver powder coated 5 inch wide. They look great, and match the chrome trim of the van. They are obviously useful for getting in and out of the van, especially for small kids. The extra step makes a big difference, and our 2 year old has no problem climbing in and out of the van all by himself. 10. Hood protector and Bug deflector. Genuine Nissan hood protector was installed to prevent bugs and rocks from hitting the hood and windshield. It looks great and works great too. 11. Large sun visor mirror for makeup and all that girl stuff. Everyone complains that the NV3500 does not offer any Sun Visor Vanity mirrors to check for broccoli in your teeth, but we found the perfect Makeup Mirror. It has built in led lights and there is one installed for driver and passenger. Size of the mirrors are 8inches x 5 inches, which is massive but fit perfectly on the huge Sun visors that the NV has. Brilliant!! 12. The dual horn has been upgraded with a Air Horn with compressor and Dual Horns. When you honk your horn, it sounds great and is louder than stock! 13. This van has 4 keys with 4 remotes! So there is no freaking out if one of them is lost or misplaced. Pictures can be found here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3hpU Obviously this van has all the same Trim options that other SL's have. Fog Lights, Factory Tow package with extending mirrors, Backup sonar sensors, Navigation, Leather, Center Console, AUX port, Bluetooth, all 12 seats, etc. I just paid off the loan with my Credit Union, so I will have the title in my hand in about a week (8/25/2022). Vehicle is located in Richmond, Tx. Sales price is $69,750. Reason for selling is that we are upgrading our camper to a 5th wheel and will be purchasing a Dually 3500 Truck. Contact me to get more pictures than what I have posted (especially the project pictures), and I can take additional specific pictures that are requested. I can easily pick up anyone from Hobby or Bush International (IAH) Airport if you are flying in, or will work with a car transporter to ship the van across the country. The Texas plates will stay on the van, so you will be able to drive to your state and then have time to register it (# of days varies state by state, from 14 days to 30 days or more). Congratulations you read my entire Ad! Call or Text at 713-. If you are texting me, start off your Text Message with "American Grasslands" otherwise you might be ignored and considered a spammer.

Here is where i am coming from and why I am OK with the low gas mileage. I previously had a Transit T150 10 passenger. It had the EcoBoost engine with 310HP, and was pretty much the best possible Ford Transit setup for towing capacity and power. It was terrible for towing my Camper. I was 105% over weight limit on my Transit (5200lbs ) and I could only safely drive 60MPH with it on Interstates. I was getting blown around by everyone passing me at 15MPH or more, and I was only getting 10mpg at 60MPH. If i was on a country highway (less cars passing or lower speed limits), i could increase my speed to 65MPH but that would drop my fuel non-efficiency to 9MPG. To top it off the Fuel tank was smaller on the Transit, so I had to stop often for fuel and had major fuel anxiety when driving. Compare that to the NV, which I bought to move my family, tons of camping gear, pull my camper, and ask it to keep up with the regular speed limit. With me towing at 70 or 75MPH to keep up with speed limits, I can drive 60-75 miles more per day due to faster speed, and it tows better. I am not mentally exhausted from the white knuckle driving and getting blown around in my lane every 5-10 seconds when being passed. Physics state that if I am driving faster with more wind resistance, It will cost more energy, and I feel like I am on the same MPG curve, if I would have been able to push my transit to drive 70-75 towing the same setup. 60MPH is 10MPG, 65MPH is 9MPG, 70MPH is 8 MPG and 75MPH is 7MPG. I am fully accepting the gas mileage, and am loving the NV.

Whereabouts in Texas? I am in Richmond, Tx, which is in the south west of Houston. I saw you mentioning a Texas meet in a different post, and I would be up for it. Welcome aboard.

Welcome. I just joined myself.

I just joined the forum and we came from a 2018 Transit as well. Towing, carpet and many other things were terrible and I am going to install vinyl flooring. I just posted my mods for cameras, floors, running boards, etc. on my Introduction post, before I saw yours. I put all my links in there. I can share pictures of what they all look like. I am jealous of the 4x4 conversion. maybe someday.

Hi NVP'ers, This is my first post here and we are excited to be new owners of a Black NV3500 SL. We are a family of 6, and we came on board from a 2018 Transit. I tried everything to be able to pull our 4600lbs Dry weight camper, but it was unbearable. We had to upgrade and just completed our first camping trip with the camper and the NV. What a difference it made. Wow. We flew to Atlanta to pick up our 2021 NVP on June 6th and drive it back to Houston, Texas. We are also late on the bandwagon for NVP's but we are glad we managed to get one. The market is crazy right now and it was amazing how we made the switch. We first test drove a NVP in 2019, but could only find them new and could not afford one at the time. I managed to find a loaded 10 seater 2018 Transit 150 with Ecoboost with only 900 miles on it for $36k. First owner's wife did not like it and wanted it sold, so he took a $11k loss in 3 months when he sold it to me. Fast forward to last week, when I sold the same van with 33k miles on it for $38k. Book value was $26k. crazy times. I think we managed to find the last available NVP for sale and have it at our house now. I called 40 dealers and was told the same thing over and over, that the used NVP was sold in 12 hours and I am the 200th person that has called about it in the last 2 days. I managed to find a lead from Nissans website, where they listed some dealers that supposedly had one available, but I had already called all of them except one. This van was still in transit and the mirror had been damaged prior to shipment. this delayed the arrival of the van and I was able to call the dealer and put a deposit down on it. I then had to wait 2 weeks for it to arrive in Atlanta and then we all flew there to pick it up. We had southwest points to burn and family had a blast. Reasons we did NOT like the Transit. 1. Rear seats are so bumpy that my eleven year old was not able to read books. She would complain of getting headaches trying to read. when my wife would sit in the back, she would get launched when we hit bumps on road. 2. Seats are terrible. too thin for adults, or kids in boosters. uncomfortable. 3 person bench in back of the 10 seater was like 200lbs+ and required 2 Hulks to get it out. stupid for preparing for trips. 3. Kids could not hear anything in the back. They could not hear us from the front, and we would have to yell. They also could not hear music from a movie we would watch. we would have to blast it in rear and it would be unbearably loud in the front. 4. No AUX with the upgraded Sync3 system, and Bluetooth had a 2 second delay. made movie watching very annoying, when seeing stuff happen before hearing it over the speakers. 5. Its a Ford, and so everything started to creak and make noise. 6. Detuned Ecoboost engine felt fast, but no transmission cooler or oil cooler. Engine and transmission temperatures were too high with around town driving. once we started to tow, I know that I would be looking at major issues just past 60k warranty mark. 7. Biggest Reason!!!!! Abysmal tow rating. My camper was 4600lbs dry and loaded probably 5600 lbs. I could not drive more than 60mph and was getting passed by everyone going 80mph. This meant I was getting pushed around and every time a single small suv would pass, me, the draft would push me toward the passing car. This was even less fun when it was a Semi Truck. I had Air bags installed to make the ride a little better when towing, but it only helped slightly. This was the point when I fully realized that I am applying makeup to a Pig. Still ugly. It was draining both physically and mentally to drive just 6 hours with camper. I would avoid interstates at all cost and take back roads, but this mean that we would need even more time to make longer distance trips. I am planning all my modifications, many of which were also done in the Transit. Already done: 1. Installed Elbow Friend for comfort. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W0QISM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 2. Installed 6" flexible antenna so we can do car washes. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QSTR8J2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 3. Installed Air Horns to make my presence known. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087FBQTY1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 4. Got extra keys with remotes (cheap on amazon) 5. Installed APS iBoard Running boards. 54" on driver and full length (97") on passenger side. I also installed these on my transit and I liked them. Not difficult to install (except for the last bracket on passenger side where holes needed to be drilled) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BL69FX7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 6. Installed Reese Trailer Brake controller https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073WX65YL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with correct cable to match already existing connector. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NZMBVC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 7. Hood Bug deflector. https://www.ebay.com/itm/202776689394?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 8. purchased $4 air filter for house at Home Depot and cut the shape out to make a rear AC filter. Used Duct tape to install material. I want to keep the Evaporator as clean as possible. and will probably just continue to use duct tape. you cant see the filter since it is mostly hidden by the seat, so no complaints from my wife. Soon to complete: 8. Fleece cover for center console lid. Hard plastic is a little too hard for comfort. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C6K4DGV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 9. Front and rear cameras Front camera https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H852D49/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Rear camera in 3rd brake light https://www.ebay.com/itm/224369242001?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 connected to rear view mirror with dual lcd's in them. https://www.ebay.com/itm/114293202363?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648. I used this same style 3rd brake light camera for my transit and it made it super easy to hitch up. plus i could watch the contents of my utility trailer while driving. The front camera will probably be installed in the grill, just above the center Nissan log. will depend on visibility. 10. Dash camera https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X528FNE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 11. Hinges https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M8HLJV3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that will secure plastic lid over the rear heat vents coming from under the driver and passenger seats. I will cut black plastic to cover the vents, but when hot air comes out of them, the hinges will open up and allow airflow. the way they are positioned, it is just too inviting for my kids to stuff and drop all kinds of things in there. I will probably use rivets to secure hinges. 12. Pull carpet off and install Vinyl flooring. 12ft x 6ft is less than $50, and i will use carpet to make seat hole cutouts. https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficMASTER-Grayson-Wood-Residential-Vinyl-Sheet-Flooring-12ft-Wide-x-Cut-to-Length-U5250405K792G14/311349209 13. Rear AC Vent upgrade. As soon as I am able to place an order for the kit (Flash Auto Detail out of Florida) I will get it. As part of the planned installation of the Vents, I will also put Kilmat sound mats on the roof and walls. 14. If it is not too difficult to remove the floor, i will also sound insulate the floor. I don't think it needs, when compared to the Transit we came from, but I love projects and would love to see how quiet i can make the ride. We are planning on keeping this NV until the wheels fall off. Again, hello to everyone.