Papago Vans
Product line concept ยท Internal review only

Prepared for Tim Arias · Papago Vans

Two ways to buy.
One of them starts today.

Every Papago build is 100% custom. That is the promise, and it is also the queue. This is a proposal to keep the custom promise intact for the people who want it, and give everyone else a way to skip the line.

4–5 mo
A signed customer waits this long just to see a floor plan. Design is the constraint, not the shop floor.
1 of 3
Papago Collection replaces the design phase with a decision. Three proven plans, chosen at the table.
100%
Papago Custom stays exactly as it is. Nothing about the flagship experience changes.
Read the numbers as directional. Every figure with a dotted underline is an illustrative estimate built to show the shape of the opportunity, not a quote. Papago supplies the real lead times, costs and margins before anything on this page goes to a customer.

The mechanism

Where the months actually go

Same shop, same crew, same quality standard. The difference is what happens between the deposit and the first cut.

DepositMo 2Mo 4Mo 6Mo 8Mo 10
Papago Custom
~11 months deposit to keys
Design queue — dead time
Design
Sourcing
Build

The customer has paid, the slot is held, and nothing is being built. That stretch is where deposits go cold and cancellations happen.

Papago Collection
~4.5 months deposit to keys
Stock
Build

Plan chosen at signing. Renderings already exist. Parts already on the shelf because the same three cut lists repeat every batch.

Roughly six months of calendar removed per unit — almost none of it from the build itself. It comes out of waiting.
Papago Collection Papago Custom Customer is waiting, nothing is being produced

Side by side

Papago Collection vs Papago Custom

The matrix a buyer sees. It has to make the fast option feel like a real choice, not a downgrade — and it has to protect the premium tier from looking overpriced.

Papago CollectionProven plans. Fixed price. Built in batches.Papago CustomThe original Papago build. Yours from a blank page.
Floor planChoose one of threeLayouts Papago has already built, refined and warrantiedDrawn for youNo constraints beyond the chassis
Time to approved designSame dayYou leave the meeting knowing your van4–5 months in the design queueThen revision rounds on top
3D renderingsAlready existSee the finished van before you pay a depositCreated after depositBespoke to your layout
Deposit to delivery~4–5 months~10–12 months
PricePublished and fixedOne number on the website. No quote required.Quoted per buildScope drives the number
ChassisSprinter 170" high roofEach plan engineered to one wheelbaseSprinter, Transit, ProMasterAny wheelbase, or bring your own van
Finish selectionsThree curated packagesCabinet, counter, upholstery pre-pairedOpenAny material Papago can source
Changes after signingLockedThe lock is what buys back the six monthsOpen through buildChange orders adjust price and date
Parts & materialsBought in batches, stockedVolume pricing on repeat componentsSourced per buildLead times vary by item
Production slotScheduled batchKnown start date at signingQueue positionStart date firms up after design approval
Build quality & RVIAIdenticalSame shop, same crew, same certificationIdenticalSame shop, same crew, same certification
Warranty & serviceIdenticalFull Papago coverageIdenticalFull Papago coverage
Right for you ifYou want to be on the road this season and one of the three plans fits how you travelThe van has to solve something specific — a trade, a disability, a dog, a business — and you will wait to get it right

Papago Collection lineup

Three plans, not thirty

The three should cover the three ways people actually live in a van. Papago's design team names and draws them; this is the shape of the shelf.

Plan 01

The weekender

Shortest build, lowest entry price. Convertible sleeping, compact galley, maximum gear space. The van that converts a first-time buyer.

Layout to be defined
Plan 02

The full-timer

Fixed bed, wet bath, real kitchen, the largest electrical package. For people leaving an address behind.

Layout to be defined
Plan 03

The garage

Rear garage for bikes, boards or tools, with living space forward. Serves adventure sport and mobile-trade buyers from one plan.

Layout to be defined

You cannot advertise a van you cannot price or date. Papago Collection gives marketing both.

Why this is a marketing proposal, not just an ops one

The case

What each side unlocks

For the shop

  • Throughput without hiring designersThe constraint today is a design department, not bay space. Papago Collection routes around it entirely.
  • Repeatable cut listsThree plans built over and over means jigs, templates, batch purchasing and a build time that gets shorter every cycle.
  • Predictable cashKnown build duration means a known deposit-to-final-payment cycle, and a schedule you can actually promise.
  • Fewer cold depositsLong silent waits are where cancellations and chargebacks live. Shortening the wait protects revenue already booked.
  • Papago Custom gets its capacity backWith volume buyers moved to Papago Collection, the design team serves the high-margin custom clients properly.

For marketing

  • A price in the adSearch and Meta campaigns can finally quote a number. Price qualifies the click and cuts wasted spend.
  • A date in the ad"On the road by spring" is a campaign. "Contact us for a quote" is not.
  • A shorter sales cycle to measureAttribution works when the window between click and close is months instead of a year.
  • A real entry pointPapago Collection becomes the top of the funnel; Papago Custom becomes the upsell for buyers who discover their needs are unusual.
  • Content that reuses itselfThree fixed plans means one photo shoot, one video, one set of renderings, used for years instead of one build.

Open questions

What Papago decides