Downeast Custom Vans LLC - Somersworth, New Hampshire

Anna-Marie M.

I cold called this company after my original builder fell through on a Friday after only reading some reviews. The following Monday I was meeting Doug MacNair, the owner of Downeast Custom Vans, and we were talking about what I wanted in my build. I had three other builder’s names I was going to call and visit but I tossed them out after this meeting with Doug. He won me over in a phone call and one meeting.

A kind, friendly man, he laughs easily and smiles broadly and I felt at ease immediately with Doug. More so as we talked about the so-called vision I had for my build. What becomes apparent instantly, is Doug's honesty. I, like most of us who dream of such a camper van, had sketches of what I wanted and how I wanted my build to go. No measurements, just boxes and words like, “shower” or “bed” written in them. Doug’s job, or so I thought, was to make my vision come to life. As we worked together on the build, Doug would absolutely try to do what I wanted but he never once hesitated to tell me if he thought it wouldn't work and most importantly, why he felt it wouldn't work. His expertise, experience, and the fact that he has a van himself, all came into play as he explained why he thought something should be done in a certain way. I was humbled by how much he knew, and how hard he worked for me and my vision for my van.

My 2024 Mercedes Sprinter Cargo Van came out stunning. I wanted a little beach house on wheels, with lots of windows and air, and Doug and his employees at Downeast Custom Vans gave me exactly that. AND he did it on time and slightly under budget. That alone would be enough for me to give a glowing review. But there’s more to the story.

I haven’t told you about the time crunch I asked them to meet. I got my van on January 20, 2024 and gave it to Downeast Custom Vans at the beginning of May, which was the first slot they had open. I had a planned two month sabbatical which started August 14th and I was going to drive to Alaska. So I needed it by mid July at the latest because I needed to take it on a shakedown cruise. Downeast Custom Vans came through with planning and professionalism.

While on my trip to Alaska, I had a couple of issues arise - mostly because the systems were still new to me. The first time I texted Doug he responded very quickly. The second time, he was in Europe on vacation. I knew this because he told me would be away these two weeks and I could still text him but his replies might be delayed. He responded within a day FROM Europe to me in Alaska.

I tell you all this to simply show what a professional, kind and caring man, Doug MacNair of Downeast Custom Vans is. If you need a van done quickly, correctly and stunningly beautifully, give him a call and meet him. I can't recommend this business highly enough.

Deke A.

I have lived in my van full-time for 5 years. One of the challenges has been finding the right people to repair & update the van's build and various systems. More specifically, people who know what they are doing vs say they know what they are doing.

I initially contacted Doug to clean and service my Webasto EVO 40 gas heater. I was immediately impressed with his communication, knowledge, and professionalism.

When I arrived at his shop, I was struck by how clean and organized it was. Additionally, Doug had 2 to 3 employees actively working on other projects.

After a brief introduction, I knew I had found my guy. Doug is extremely personable, knowledgeable, and confident.

Doug has extensive experience building vans and working on their systems. He is also detail-oriented and mechanically inclined.

Doug's pragmatic approach to problem-solving is a breath of fresh air. He steered me away from costly options with little gain, and his teaching style left me with a deeper understanding of my van's systems.

I cannot recommend Doug and his crew strongly enough. If I could do it again, I would have Doug and his crew build my van from scratch.

If you need help along the way or a full van built, Doug and his crew are your people—the best of the best.

Ayla Q.

Doug is extremely professional and easy to work with. We unfortunately had a builder before him that didn’t hold up to any parts of our agreement and Doug helped us get our complete. He was extremely patient with us, helped explain what needed to be fixed and finished and had great communication. We’re so thankful for him and already told him to expect to see us for all of our van needs!

Nicole F.

When designing a small space with lots of functional requirements, you want someone who is fun to work with, knows their stuff, and is confident but not pushy. We didn’t realize how lucky we were to find Downeast Custom Vans, which checks all of these boxes.

We got a full custom buildout of our Sprinter 144 with Downeast. We kicked off the project in January 2021 with a brand new van and several ideas accumulated across Instagram and van articles. Doug and Karen were great to work with from the beginning, guiding us through our decisions across electrical, water, kitchen, storage, etc without any pressure and all the information we could possibly need. We were very relieved to work with someone who wasn’t shy about offering ways to save money or DIY post-buildout (like screens and shades, for example!) without sacrificing value.

I was very impressed with the design software that Doug used to render mockups with a 3D view that made it easy for us to see potential layouts, which saved time, made use of every inch of space, and prevented mistakes. We opted to visit the project in real life about once a month to see the progress and do a few key garage measurements with our bikes (of which we needed to fit 4 in the van!), though Doug had sent us a few photos via email along the way. The buildout we received was of exceptional quality. Downeast takes no shortcuts. Everything from fitting 425W of solar to the perfectly measured cedar ceiling to the metal trim on the flooring to the low profile steel bed frame mounted directly into the van “studs” is constructed so perfectly. We get tons of compliments, and having seen many buildouts in our travels, ours is easily the most well done.

The day after our van was finished, we drove from NH to Colorado. That shows you how much confidence we had in Downeast Custom Vans! Doug and his assistants worked their tails off to have our van ready in time for our trip. Once we were on the road and had questions - and note that Doug was very thorough in telling us how things worked before the trip - Doug responded in a timely manner. When one of the latches got worn out (a manufacturer defect, not user/installer error!), Doug found a spare one and replaced it in minutes when we showed up at his shop. We could see ourselves making some enhancements in the future, or if anything breaks, we know we can visit Downeast Custom Vans for those things. We cannot recommend Downeast enough!

Robert P.

Doug was awesome. We had two windows, a heater and an awning installed. We experienced great communication and high workmanship quality. We can’t thank the team enough. Off biking the west for 4 months.

Adam R.

Doug at Downeast got our van set up with electrical and heat. Great experience. We're doing a campervan conversion so we had a bunch of ideas of what we needed, we brought our plan to Doug and got the ball rolling. Doug provided some really valuable insight for our build and got all our systems up and running with a quick turnaround. Communication going into the project was great, once work was underway Doug checked in regularly. I highly recommend Downeast Custom Vans to my friends - their work is top notch and the service is on point.

Denise H.

Excellent experience working with Doug at DCV to customize and upgrade our 2003 VW Eurovan. I believe this is the first time they've modified an older VW van and they did an outstanding job. Installed new battery, lights, inverter, and refrigerator, as well as building and installing a very functional and lovely pullout kitchen with storage drawers behind. Doug was helpful and patient while developing the layout and finalizing the details. Cheers to his goodwill! As an added bonus, they managed to finish up the project early so we could head out on our inaugural camping trip. Would absolutely work with this shop again, and recommend them highly. Thanks again!

Karl A.

We visited a few different van builders before selected Doug and Downeast Custom vans to build our Promaster 136 van. After talking to Doug during our first visit we found Doug to be wealth of knowledge and full of enthusiasm in his work and we realized we had found our builder. We are very glad he went with his company. He took our requirements and design specs and translated them into a fantastic layout for our camper van. The communication was great from the start to the finish. Even with our small footprint we packed a lot into our van. It has a queen size bed, fridge, sink, hot water, outside shower, stovetop, heater, table, toilet, AC and an amazing amount of storage. The quality of the materials he uses and the craftsmanship he delivered is top notch. It is beautiful inside and out. We have taken our first adventure in the van travelling to Arkansas to see the solar eclipse. The van is everything we hoped for and more. We can’t wait for the next adventure. I highly recommend talking to Doug if you’re in the market for van customization.