1988 Dodge Ram Van

5.9L

Automatic

2B7HB23W5JK165213

Clear

Gasoline

This is a very unusual find. This is a 1988 Dodge Ram B250 Cargo Van that was purchased new by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and was used until the 2008 for surveillance in drug cases here in southern Arizona. It was retired due to the newer technology coming in to play making this van obsolete by government standards. It was sold at auction to a retired gentleman who sold the van to me. I needed a van to move exercise equipment from one location to another as I have two physical therapy clinics in the area. I needed the van for the move and after that I have kept it just in case I would need to haul any other equipment but it has just been sitting at my office and I worry that someone may vandalize it during a weekend or something so I have decided to sell it. This is a really cool find with most of the original surveillance equipment still in place. The van is in remarkable shape for it's age and due to the fact that it was usually only driven to local locations and parked to do it's job, the mileage is extremely low and is shows on the van. All of the paint is the original paint on the van. There are a few scratches and small dents, but the body is in extremely good condition with zero rust anywhere on the van. The chrome on the van is in perfect condition (mirrors, door handles) with no pitting. All doors open and close like new. All lenses and light markers look new. Front and rear bumpers were painted white from the factory and are in great shape. All four factory hub caps are mint condition. There is one tiny chip in the windshield but other than that the glass is all in great shape. The interior is also in great shape with no rips or tears and very little wear inside. The grain on the stearing wheel is still very prominant and the pedals show little to no wear, both consistent with a very low mile vehicle. All guages work perfectly and are clear and bright. Original radio still works fine. The speakers on the ceiling that you see in the pictures are dummy speakers and were tied to a intercom system that allowed the people in the back to communicate with the driver. Front door and rear cargo speakers are in the original locations and are used for the stereo. The van is equipped with power door locks and power windows which work flawlessly. There is a very nice Viper alarm system installed in the van that locks/unlocks ALL doors including the cargo door with the touch of a button. The van is equipped with AC but will need a new compressor. I had my AC guys look at it when I first got it and the said the compressor seals were leaking. I did not have it fixed because I just didn't drive it enough to make it a big deal. But the system works very well as they were able to check it when they had it in the shop. The fan for both the heat and AC blows hard. The heater will cook you in just a few minutes. All lights and blinkers work perfectly although there is a switch on the dash that will disable the blinkers and horn for some reason. I hit the switch once on accident and realized I didn't have blinkers so that's the way I found out about it. The van has a very heavy duty dividing wall with a sliding and locking door with a sliding "peep hole and peep door" so you can see in the back or from the back to the front. The cargo area on the van is just incredible and I really don't know how to describe it other than say look at the pictures. There is so much intricate wiring and surveillance equipment with track lighting overhead and many plug outlets throughout the van. There is even an ignition switch where they could start or shut off the van from inside the cargo area. The wood paneling is in great shape and everything that was done on this van was done professionally and it shows. Let me just say right up front that I don't pretend to know what works and what doesn't as far as all the surveillance equipment. A lot of the wiring has been cut when the government sold the van but it looks like most everything is in very good condition so I think they just wanted it disabled when they sold it but I think it could be enabled again with someone who has some knowledge of electrical systems (which is not me!). Under the bench seat there is a compressor and gauges for an airbag system to lower or raise the rear of the van probably to make the van look like it was empty when there were people working in there. Again, all the wiring for all this equipment was done very nicely and you can tell it was all professionally installed. I could spend all day describing all of the little interesting things on this van. It's just a neat find and would make an excellent work van. The cargo door has a dead bolt system that locks from the inside. The drivers door has a dead bolt system that locks with the same key as the door/ignition key. The passenger's door did have a dead bolt system but it was removed by the previous owner as was the rear cargo door dead bolt system. The rear cargo glass has custom made shutters so no one can see in the van but from inside the van you can lift them up and see outside. I even left one surveillance camera in the left rear door. There are some cut outs on the floor on the drivers side in the cargo area. Not sure if this was for a toilet/sink or what but I just left it because I didn't know what the new owner would want to do with it. It could easily be covered or used as you see fit. The surveillance chair in the cargo area is in great shape and swivels and slides. As far as mechanical condition, this thing runs great!. It has the big V8 5.9 L with a smooth shifting auto trans. It has the quadrajet four barrel carb. No hesitation (except if it is cold first few minutes) and drives beautifully with no shimmies or shakes and tracks straight. Stops perfectly. It is very comfortable to drive and I would be confident that you could fly in and drive this van anywhere in the country. The only bad things I can think of on the van are: the transmission will leak a little out of the rear seal. The seat in the back of the van seems to make a lot of rattling and squeeking noise when you drive the van as you go over bumps or make turns. It only takes four allen screws to remove the seat. I have just put in new plugs, cap, air filter, oil change with filter. I kept all the original parts as they were genuine Mopar and the originals I believe. I will give them to you if you want them. Tires are in excellent condition. Comes with the original spare tire holder that mounted on the rear cargo door but I removed it as it restricted the opening of the rear door by about one half. The original spare tire has never been used and the original jack looks brand new. The original spare tire holder can be remounted in about 5 minutes, very easy. In summary: This is basically a new van that could be used for work right now or turned into a custom rig with a little work. It is in fantastic condition and with the security features on the van it would give peace of mind if you were hauling high dollar items or if you had a lot of tools or other valuables inside the cargo area. I have priced this van knowing the AC will need to be fixed. Even so, this is an exceptional value when you look at what you are getting for the money. I know I have probably forgot some things, so please ask questions. Check out the pictures and my feedback and bid with confidence. There is a $500 deposit due via paypal within 48 hours of the end of the auction. As always, I will be more than happy to pick anyone up at the airport in the van if you wish to fly in and drive it home. I do reserve the right to end the auction early as this vehicle may be advertised in other local media as well and could sell at any time. On May-02-13 at 05:47:37 PDT, seller added the following information: I got a question from someone who has had experience with these vans in the past. He asked about the windshield wiper linkage arms. The arms under the cowl that attach to the wiper motor itself are linked together using 5 hard rubber/plastic fittings. I had to laugh when I got this question because the first time I used the wipers on the van they worked great for about 10 minutes and then they started getting out of sinc with one another which I thought was odd and then they stopped working all together and just flopped off to the side of the van. As I looked in through the cowl I could see all the linkage arms just laying there detached from each other. Those little rubber/plastic fittings had basically disintegrated likely from lack of use. I had to order the parts and rebuild the whole system and so now the wipers work beautifully again at all speeds including intermittent. The new owner shouldn't ever have to worry about this happening again for another 25 years! Thanks for the question.