There’s something wild about abandoned ‘Pimp My Ride’ minivan bought for $850

  • This minivan appeared on MTV’s Pimp My Ride back in 2004
  • Twenty years on, it needs another makeover
  • The pink and purple exterior is far nicer than what’s on the inside

Published on Jul 09, 2024 at 5:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson

Last updated on Jul 09, 2024 at 9:19 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

If you’re able to pick up an abandoned ‘Pimp My Ride’ minivan for $850, you know you’re in for something special.

Maybe special isn’t the right word…perhaps memorable is more fitting.

YouTuber Tavarish gave his two million subscribers a closer look at the minivan, which he declared was ‘worse than you think’.

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Abandoned for four years after getting a TV makeover

This purple-pink minivan had been abandoned for four years by the time Tavarish got to buy it.

It’d been featured on MTV’s iconic show Pimp My Ride, which ran from 2004 to 2007.

For those not familiar, the show saw poor quality cars being restored and customized.

And this 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan was one of the vehicles put through its paces on the show.

Well…kind of.

The thing is, MTV often played a little fast and loose with reality on the show.

The cars that got modified weren’t always the same ones that they started off with.

In this case, the original minivan got swapped out – going from a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager Expresso to the Dodge Caravan it is now.

In the years since the vehicle was featured on the show in 2004, it had traded owners a few times before ending up in a Boston mechanic’s yard.

It sat there for four years until Tavarish picked it up.

So, why did nobody else want it?

Why this minivan was going for $850

The issues became quickly apparent once Tavarish took a closer look at the vehicle.

One of the windshield wipers is missing, the back seat is rammed full of junk, and a fiberglass installation in the trunk is fitted with monitors.

That third one sounds pretty cool – garish pink colors aside – until you realize that none of the screens appear to work.

So there’s a lot to work on.

With one or two screws holding on the side skirt, this minivan is falling apart.

The interior isn’t looking much better, with stained denim seats and a old phone book lying among the trash on the floor.

Let’s say that the exterior is more Daphne from Scooby Doo while the interior is more like Pig Pen from Peanuts.

It’ll be a hell of a job turning this from drab to fab.

If you want to see how Tavarish got on, you can head over to his YouTube channel to find out.

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Ben got his start in journalism at Kennedy News and Media, writing stories for national newspapers, websites and magazines. Now working as a freelancer, he divides his time between teaching at News Associates and writing for news sites on all subjects.