Then you don’t know cars as well as you say you do, because you can check for a whole lot more than that without pulling the engine lmao. Maybe stick to the dealership if you don’t feel like you can effectively evaluate it’s condition.
Look into trailers, campers, shed, tiny home, and military surplus tents. Be careful not to get too into the Instagram version of the “vanlife” lifestyle, it is trickier that it seems in the photos and IMO vans suck cos you don’t need engine problems on your home.
I lived in a camper trailer because I got it for the equivalent of 6 months rent and I knew if I lived in it any longer it would technically a net gain, and I was able to still sell it after. Two years in that thing with Midwest winters lmao.
If you are lucky, you can find a rural property sold as undeveloped with a very old or abandoned building that you’d be able to fix up. I would avoid the West, unless you have a foolproof water source.
We have the entire knowledge of the collective human history at our fingertips. People built shit by winging it for the majority of human history. You’d have been a god among men 200 years ago. Fuck some shit up. Fail fast and fail forward
No, it’s like saying garbage trucks haul more garbage than normal vehicles. Because while people may transport trash in their vehicles, dump trucks were created for the specific purpose of hauling trash.