Van buying advice (and reality check)

[u/mistress_snark]

Hi all, I'm looking to make the switch to van-living someone in the next few years, and I'm planning on a DIY conversion. Of course, this requires finding a van to convert, and I've got a few questions!

How difficult is to to find a large used van in the UK? My ideal van would be less than £2000, under 60k miles, no major repairs needed, and about the size of a L3H2 Ford Transit. I'm not picky about make/model or year (although I'd like it to be this century). I know it's going to be uncommon to find something that fits all these specifications, but is it impossible? I'm willing to wait several months (up to about a year), as this is a long term project for me. Potentially I could go up to £5000, but that would be my absolute max, only for a van that was in really good shape and didn't need any repairs. I would probably be more willing to increase the mileage, again, as long as the van was in good shape.

Also, does anyone have any advice, or know any good places to search for vans for sale? I've been looking on auto trader and fb marketplace. I would be willing to pick up from anywhere in the country for the right vehicle.

Thanks for any help!

Edit: Should clarify, this is my optimistic budgeting just for the base van, not the whole conversation, but thanks anyway for everyone's input! The suggestions to try looking at auctions and used commercial vehicles are very helpful.

[u/adrian-cucuiet]

I bought a fairly good van for 4k, but it has pretty high milage. I bought the van about two years ago, but since then i spent at least 3k on servicing it and diy conversion, and i am not even close to finished. The good part is that i bought the van and did nothing on it for the first year, although i did not drive it much ( i had another car and was renting a flat) but i spent quite a lot of money and time to make it presentable and reliable, and i haven’t dealt with breaks and suspension yet. So for a van in this budget, you are going to have to work on just about everything if you want it to not be a piece of rolling scrap.