I purchased the folding seat they sell second hand and contacted them for a bid to install it. They sent a bid via email for almost $2k, the seat installed is currently listed for $2700 on their site. I asked a few questions and their rep Greg told me the seat could be installed for $850 which seemed reasonable. Once I got to the point I was ready to schedule the install, they reneged on this price and blamed me for not understanding their process and believing what Greg said, not what was listed on their bid sheet. Generally zero accountability for misleading and misrepresenting the costs even when I gave them the opportunity to explain. They also gave a couple dates as options and decided to book over those dates without confirming with me first. Ultimately their shady practices and lack of accountability make me feel fortunate that I'm not working with them for the install. read more

Van Specialties - Screenshot of email confirming price. - Body Shops Near Me - Tualatin, Oregon

We had a really positive experience with this crew. Our awning was installed way ahead of time and they patiently took time to do a tutorial for us. Best price we'd found in the area for adding a Fiamma awning to our van! read more

Van Specialties installed the following components on our '23 Winnebago Travato: 1.5" lift kit, driver-side rear door ladder and tire carrier, passenger-side rear door rack, rear door box, driver-side ladder, and rooftop box. They had to custom make parts to lengthen the rear sway bars and fabricate cross bars for the rooftop box. They completed all this work in a reasonable amount of time and for a fair price considering the custom work. The end results were clean, professional installs. I worked primarily with Greg in the office and other gentlemen who performed the technical work. These individuals were cordial and a pleasure to work with. I have no hesitation recommending Van Specialties for work of this nature. read more

The professionals at Van Specialties are simply amazing. They were able to translate a complex mix of needs into workable designs, backed by their years of practical experience in what works best. Kudos to Rob and Jensen for their judgment, advocacy and patience, and their followthrough to make our Van perfect. And a huge thank you to the craftspeople their who produced this high quality build for us. Our van conversion is beautiful, comfortable, and simply awesome and we cannot say enough great things about this talented crew! read more

I am so happy to confirm that services and support from Van specialties is top notch. My air conditioner was not working in California during a trip. I called Van specialties to find out if they could do the job and they confirmed yes. I booked a date and they ordered the parts. They were ready for me at the appointment and were able to complete the job before lunch. In the meantime they answered many questions and were so informative and thoughtful. I will now rely on this spot for my van projects. read more

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we purchased a 2014 Sprinter that had been customized in 2014 by Van Specialties in 2014. We looked for a number of years and was very impressed with the build out. The heating and stove both run off of diesel so no need for other fuels. They fixed some things for us and took the time to answer all of our questions in detail. Felt they are very honest and did not try to upsell. We will bring our van back for any future work. In summary, great people providing great service at a fair price. read more

Choosing Van Specialties (VS) was the BIGGEST mistake I could have ever made with my new MB 4x4 Sprinter. I worked with VS for over a year on an $85,000 conversion so I'm speaking from vast (nightmarish) experience here. Due to a 5,000 character review limit I'm going to attempt to distill it down to the highlights (leaving out DOZENS of other minor/intermediate issues). Initially I was planning to leave a 2-star review...but given recent developments there is no possible way I could rationalize such generosity (there's your cliffhanger motivation to read on till the end). Also: you can read my FULL review over on VS's Facebook page.  VS scratched and dented the rear doors of my BRAND NEW van when installing the Aluminess spare tire holder and storage box. They never informed me about the damage, I discovered it on my own a few days after delivery. I paid $1400 for a custom pull out tray for the garage area of my van. VS was clearly informed of what would be stored on the tray as well as an OVERestimation of the weight it would need to bear. Despite that (and due to one of the worst instal jobs I've ever seen) the tray failed in about two weeks time. They used cheap/flimsy slide tracks and couldn't even manage to instal them straight. This combo led to the failure. VS informed me that it would be an easy fix and that they'd "expedite" the repair on my next stop through the Portland, OR area. In reality though they ended up wasting another 3 days of my time (meaning: they had my van for 3 ENTIRE days) and STILL didn't completely fix it. It can now bear the originally specified weight but the bolts they used to attach the supports dig into the bottom of the tray and are actively pulling the wooden tray apart each time it is used. VS installed my $2000 Isotherm fridge in the galley cabinet with inadequate ventilation. This became clear after the unit struggled to keep food cold even in moderate 80F temps. After they reinstalled the unit with ventilation closer to specifications the door hinge failed (due to how the unit was remounted). I received a new fridge from Isotherm on warrantee, reinstalled it myself, and had to custom design/instal support brackets for both the door hinge and guide to keep them from failing again. After just 10 months my water pump failed. I investigated (with generous assistance from the folks at Pentair/Shurflo) and discovered that the issue was caused by a shoddy wiring job (one of the wires was loose). It took me over an hour just to ACCESS the pump. VS decided it was a good idea to completely bury the pump...requiring full removal of the 3 panel bed, storage tray contents, and the 5' long water box in order to perform even the most basic pump maintenance. In other words: there is no access door to reach the pump. After the water pump ordeal I took a closer look at my battery box. The situation is similar but far worse. My batteries, solar charger, and much of the wiring are completely ENTOMBED in a box with no access door or cover. Meaning: in order to access the battery system (even for the most basic maintenance) I'm literally going to have to remove the bed, remove the bench seat/couch, uninstall my inverter and other equipment, remove various garage wall mounts, and then remove the entire 5' battery box (which is siliconed to the wall in an apparently lazy effort to keep water from leaking onto the batteries). After just 13 months I discovered a major problem with my $6500 Espar system: antifreeze had been slowly leaking from the unit for weeks/months while soaking into the wood of my galley cabinet. After hours of research I discovered the source of the problem: VS (against Rixens Enterprises Inc. specifications) had elected to use cheap crimp clamps on the hoses rather than adjustable worm clamps. The leak was coming from a crimp clamp connection and immediately stopped once I replaced it with the recommended worm clamp (much easier said than done). Saving the best for last though: After just 1.5 years one of my 10 X 36 slider windows began leaking (more like GUSHING) water into my van. The windows were bought from RB Components but were shipped to VS for instal. Not wanting to have anything to do with the folks at VS (ever again) I franticly called the folks at RB Components to see if they could help me diagnose and (at least temporarily) fix this urgent problem. They graciously did so while spending over an hour on the phone with me. Turned out to be more of the same. VS cut corners once again...failing to use any silicone sealant (and who knows what else) and therefore directly contributed to the early demise of the window instal integrity.  Do yourself a gigantic favor and take a hard pass on this utterly reprehensible business... read more

I had my 2022 MB 2500 4x4 outfitted with the team at VS. They were professional all the way through the build process. This was a full build-out. Quality workmanship throughout. Having a custom van vs. a high-volume RV manufacturer build-out worked great for us. If you read the negative reviews below, it's typically some guy with a high-volume van, or someone asking them to repair something someone else F-d up. Get it done right the first time, and you're probably going to be happy. read more

What an odd company. Told me they were busy enough they don't need any extra customers right now. They don't ship. You want to buy something, you gotta divert to oregon to get it. Some poorly about their competition. Not someone id in trust my $70,000 sprinter too. Wow. read more

Paid to get 3 windows installed in my brand new van. They've scratched and dented window frames, few windows screws literally fell out into my bed. All windows are crooked. I'd never go there again. Unprofessional hack shop. Had to go there multiple times to get things fixed. This place sucks pick another shop. read more

I had them do the electrical and roof fans on my Dodge Promaster 3 years ago. They installed batteries, fuse box, Blue Sky controller, 3-100 W Solar panels, and a drain. # years and I'm still going strong, with only normal wear and tear, like a corroded external electric fitting. The work was done as scheduled and accurately prices from the start. I hope they are a growing business, and wish them all the best. read more

Horrible! Just horrible work ethics. Had a vent, with fan installed on my van, along with another accessory. Came to pay after being told the work was done, only to discover that the vent was installed WITHOUT the fan. The manager looked and laughed and said "OH THE TECHNICIAN FORGOT THE WORKS, HE WILL GET TO IT WHEN HE GETS BACK FROM LUNCH" That's no bull! he actually said they would finish the work after lunch. Mind you he had already assured me over the phone that the 1300.00$ job was completed. Not even a apology from the low IQ person behind the counter. Now I took a cab to pick up my van, so I am stuck waiting two more hours at their shop waiting for the work to be completed. They all had lunch, I had NOT.Terrible attitude, rude, condescending business is what I think. If possible go elsewhere. Horrible work ethics at this place. No pride or conscience in work preformed. read more

Review sites like this are critical, but only if the playing field is level. Unbiased is a beautiful thing. We visited the Van Specialties and Outside Vans in May of 2013 to choose an upfitter for our ordered 2014 Sprinter 170. We spent a lot of time on site with both companies and had phone conversation follow ups. It is a big decision to invest in the Sprinter, then add on the cost of the upfit. You want to get it right in the features you put in, their usefulness to you and their ability to endure the road, camping and all of the beating life will bring the Sprinter. We went with intuition and chose Van Specialties. What a break for us. Spot on advice, top-notch construction and timely delivery. Pricing was fair with no pressure to up-sell and no unnecessary add-ons. We highly recommend Rob (seems like an owner but isn't...but should be!) and his crew at Van Specialties. read more

AN UTTERLY DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE WITH VAN SPECIALTIES, PLUS THEY LIE We will never do business with Van Specialties again, and are writing this to let others know who are considering them that whatever you agree to with them will turn into whatever they want to do and when you show up they will act as if it is fait accompli, the customer is not always right with them. Plus, they LIE and charge for work they do not do. We went to Van Specialties about adding a solar panel to the roof of our Sprinter van. The van has a full size mesh bottom roof rack that has 2 fans, an AC unit, and a solar shower tank so space was limited. "L" spoke with us, and we went out and measured the space we had at the front of the van roof rack for a solar panel. Back inside "L" looked up in a catalog what could fit and said that a 145 Watt panel would work. He gave us an estimate of $1550 for doing all the install work plus the panel and controller. Two weeks later we went back and said we wanted to discuss scheduling the work but we also had a couple other things we wanted done. The bed rails had a single broken screw so we wanted to get the whole bed rail reinforced with RIVNUTS, capitalized due to what happened later. We also wanted some new L-Trak installed to connect some soft sided luggage cabinets on the walls, also reinforced with RIVNUTS. "L" and "R" both looked over the van and we discussed all the work in detail to be done. "R" went up on the roof and measured the space again. "R" told us that the roof rack rails could shade the panel so they would use risers of some kind for the attachment so that the panel would be at the same height as the rails- great idea. "R" provided us a quote for $3550 for all the work and gave us a paper copy. The solar panel work went from the original verbal estimate of $1550 to now $2390, but we agreed to the new price for everything. We scheduled the work to be done at their earliest opening, two weeks later. We returned at the scheduled date and "L" told us that he did not think the 145 Watt panel had been ordered (even though we had scheduled this 2 weeks ago) so could he have the van for a week instead of the original estimated 2 days. In hindsight this should have been a warning sign, but we said OK. When we returned my husband went up on the roof and the solar panel was smaller than what we had ordered- it was a 100 Watt panel, not 145 Watt. AND it was mounted flush with the roof rack and was getting some shade on one side of the panel, visible even though it was a partially cloudy day. OK- that was an unhappy moment. "L" told us that the 145 Watt panel ended up not fitting after all. I asked him why they did not call us to let us know about this change and he said "I made the executive decision, What do you want me to do?" I told him I thought that was bad business practice, and he just kept saying they were busy and he just made the decision without any input from us the clients. I also asked why it was not on the risers we had discussed to prevent the panel being shaded and he said "We have been doing this for decades and it will be fine." I said that was not the point and he repeated "What do you want me to do?" Next, we went to look inside the van at the new L-Trak and reinforced bed rails. My husband said to "L" "You installed RIVNUTS, right? "L" said "Yes we installed the RIVNUTS". My husband then said but it does not look like RIVNUTS were used for the new L-Trak and "L" said "You wanted us to put RIVNUTs on those too?" I must say, we made it POSTIVELY CLEAR in our discussion before the work was done that we wanted RIVNUTS used for everything, but on the Quote only the bed rail had the description verbatim " R&R interior paneling to make sure reinforcements are there, pull bed rails and install rivnuts." The line item for the new L-Trak did not say RIVNUTS so I guess we have to blame ourselves for this, even though we discussed it at length with them beforehand. My husband then asked about what the reinforcements were behind the bedrails and "L" said Why do you want to know that?" My husband answered "Well I don't know "L" maybe someday I will want to get back there for something else and it would be nice to know what is back there." "L" then said "Why would you want to do that? OK, you want to know what we did exactly I will go find out." And he left to go into the work garage. When he came back he told us "Well, we DID NOT put RIVNUTS in for the bed rails either." This though they charged us $480 for the bed rail work. Instead all they did was remove the screws and replace them with upgraded screws! That must have taken all of 10 minutes and we could have done that ourselves. They did not remove (R&R on the quote) the paneling at all. "L" also then said "Why do you want to use RIVNUTS, they are just a headache" and kept repeating that they have been doing this for a long time and what they did was just fine. It just kept getting worse the mo read more

Set-up new Honda for towing behind a motorhome. As usual everything went extremely well. Some equipment was moved from a Subaru Forester and some was new in order to get all to fit the Honda. Have had previous dealings with this business and have always been treated well and work done professionally and with a friendly attitude. After everything was done I had another issue and called to discuss. Bugged them with at least 4 phone calls in one day and they were always nothing but friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Going back next week and expect everything will be handled in their usual outstanding way. read more

It is refreshing to do business with people that care, are extremely skilled and treat a customer like gold. My van job was intense and highly detailed. Rob, Tyboda, Sean, Justin, Litch, Karen and the all staff are top-shelf. My wife and I were super-impressed with the quality, attention to detail, and pride in workmanship with all aspects of our conversion. If you are like me, and want things YOUR way, and don't want a cookie cutter experience, call the crew in Tualatin now. You will regret letting anyone else do your van conversion. read more

good job. One of the steps of my van conversion before going into graphics was quite excellent. this part was the physical installing of service windows in my then to be ice cream van. I was quite satisfied; read more

Called them to get help on my van and was told they were to busy doing other jobs and it wasn't something they would want to do. I think at 125.00 hr for labor anything should be worth doing. Must be nice to tell the little guy to go anyplace but here read more

I am the totally happy owner of the "Deschutes" Van created in a Sprinter Chassis. I have over 2 1/2 years experience with this van and with additional modifications done by Van Specialties as well as myself. Greg, Rob, and "Litch" have all been totally helpful as I have fine tuned this van to meet my needs. It is really great working with such caring, helpful, and EXPERT people. Note, you can view the "Deschutes" van as delivered on the Van Specialties website. McCoy Freightliner collaborated with Van Specialties to create this great demo for them. Buying this demo sped up my access to the fantastic quality that Van Specialties produces. Given my experience with Van Specialties, the wait to get a van fabricated by them would have been well worth it. I had Van Specialties add more solar panels and battery capacity, so the van is solidly energy self sufficient - even on cloudy, short sunlight days. I built additional storage shelving for the storage area, and the help as well as matching material access for this project were superb. We had Van Specialties add an extra seat, so there is now seating for an extra passenger. There was a manufacturing issue with my stove, and they promptly solved the problem. The quality of construction and elegance of design in this van are outstanding and make the van really easy to live in. Some final notes about the Sprinter van itself: 1) The relatively narrower size of the Sprinter is a huge safety advantage when on a narrow road & meeting a wide RV that is taking part of your lane. 2) The 4 cylinder turbo diesel engine has adequate power for my needs and gets nearly 23 MPG as a long term average (I have seen a peak of over 25 MPG on a long, level, slower speed -55 mph- run). 3) The "cross-wind assist" capability on this van is fantastic and makes the van remarkably stable in cross wind situations (a huge improvement over three other kinds of vans I have driven). When all is said and done, Sprinter and Van Specialties are a fantastic combination to be the source of your RV. My van has been a joy to drive and a huge pleasure to live in with my partner. It is a great van for a couple. I love it. read more

We had an interior put into our 2005 Sprinter van about 4 years ago, and have been happy with the work that was done then. We decided that we needed to have a heavy duty sway bar installed in the rear to quell the rocking induced by pulling out of a driveway onto the street. We contacted Van Specialties to order the sway bar. When it came in, we drove from Spokane to Portland for the install. Mid way through the day, they called to say the van was ready to go. Upon arriving at Van Specialties, the van was blocked in the shop by a number of other jobs in progress. We paid and left, only to return after exiting the parking lot - there was a huge clunking sound coming from under the van. Turns out they never test drove the van after installation, and it needed to be tightened again. After the second tightening, we left. We drove 50 miles to our friends house - I couldn't put my finger on what was not right, but something was not working right. We pulled off the freeway, and immediately our brakes began to howl. After crawling under the van, I could see that the parking brake cables has been stretched so tight over the new sway bar that the parking brake had been dragging for 40 miles. A quick adjustment loosened the tension on the brake cables so that we were able to drive home. At home, after further inspection, it was obvious that the brackets which routed the brake cables over the sway bar were significantly out of alignment, which was putting way too much strain on the cables. Readjusting the brackets to the proper orientation allowed me to put the parking brake adjuster back into its original configuration. The fact that Van Specialties did not actually verify that the technician had correctly installed the sway bar is very poor. When I contacted them about this, they said they were sorry. I would be very cautious about using these folks for a small job. read more