Yes, indeed a beauty of a remodel – my guess is to the tune of $50-75,000 range.
I too have been researching this “where & how to live dilemna” – decided to sell my place in the city – just not worth two weeks’ worth of my life energy (as per “Your Money or Your Life” recipe for calculating true net hourly wage. I cycled through the idea of living in van/rv – the Dodge Sprinter looked as if had design possibilities (higher ceilings) – but spending that kind of money for a vehicle not appealing – plus living in a rv park has ZERO appeal – and not quite up for guerrilla street parkining living, though I considered. Have been car-free for almost two years and REALLY do not like everything associated with owning a vehicle. Maybe co-housing? House sitting? Not ready to quit my job & relocating not currently an option. Thanks for all the ideas! Jane

@doubleourmoney – There’s still the matter of getting the electricity. It would be more efficient to move things closer together so people wouldn’t have to travel so far. Decrease speed limits to decrease the weight of the cars, etc. I think the oil driven cars will be around for a while. I mean people were/are willing to turn food into ethanol. They’d rather drive than let other people eat.

@jane – As they keep telling us. It’s not a vehicle – it’s a house on wheels. The thing that’s appealing to me is that it’s easier to move away from annoying neighbors, home owners associations, real estate taxes, etc.

@moneymonk – tough to tell. They might be on the left side behind the kitchen. RV bathrooms and showers are quite small (think closet sized).

These days building a home can be cheap if you have the knowhow…there are even companies that will sell you just a home for less than you’d think and move it wherever you want. The trouble is where to put it. Here in British Columbia an RV park with hookups can cost just as much in rent as a mobile home park…those can go for as much as $350-$400 a month. If the park sells out, where do you go from there? There really isn’t any protection in that sense, and with land becoming so scarce in populated areas there is little likelyhood of many new parks opening soon.

From the looks of it, that is not going to be an economical base vehicle. That looks like one of the mega trucks in the Paris-Dakar rally.
Here’s a good starter:
http://www.trashtrucksonline.com/category/184/Garbage-Trucks-Automated-Side-Loaders/listings/2334/2009-Autocars,-REFURBISHED-Heil-7000s.html

I love the truck. It’s probably more sound-proof and burglar-proof than a regular RV. You could also park it more places because people wouldn’t realize it’s an RV.

It would make a great bug out vehicle. In an emergency, I bet you could get through certain situations more easily because in that vehicle it would look like you were working in some capacity.

I couldn’t help noticing that the windows on the inside, don’t quite match the lack of windows on the outside. Am I missing something, or are we seeing two different trucks mashed together?

And that is no garbage truck, and it never was.