Bus values 'through the roof'? really?

[banjobenji]

Hello, I'm not a newbie technically. Just a new username.

I have read this somehwere. I feel like I keep picking up on snippets that the value of earlybays is about explode.
does anyone else agree with this? any Dub Gordon Gekko's out there?

i'm sure I've read it in a publication and I read on an ad on here somewhere. Values are rising certainly but how do people
actually know this?

I'm only asking because I have had a bad year with my bus. A breakdown with a heavy bill.
I have just come in to an inheritance so I could chuck some some money at it but I would need to see it back as an investment one day.
...or I could sell it. As much as it winds me up when it lets me down, when I told the kids I might sell, the 3 year old cried.

it is a lovely thing.

 

[Skidsurf]

Hi
Seems that way.
There were quite a few 20k plus early bays for sale this year at Busfest and not all Westies.

Suppose it goes hand in hand with splitty prices, as they go up it forces our buses up too.

Wouldn't consider selling mine at this time but its nice to know that if you keep it dry you will be rewarded if you need it someday!
Mike

 

[mike202]

Nice bus. By a breakdown I assume you mean the engine failed on you. The engines are quite simple compared to today's modern ones. There's only so many things that can go wrong. Why not buy a new engine put in by a decent garage and it will last for years.
The recon engines seem to be of variable quality in comparison, and a new one seems like a good investment.

my 2pence

 

[StuF]

Have a read of this fairly recent thread

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=67073" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty much covers all the bases!

 

[banjobenji]

Cheers

It wasn't the engine. Laurie Pettitt did mine. It seems I took on some water when I filled up, I then stored it for the winter and the fuel tank ended up full of rust and other god knows what and this clogged up my carb. We managed to save the carb but I opted for a filter king and new hoses, rather than an engine out new fuel tank scenario. Down to cost more than anything. Someone suggested I should flush the tank with paraffin.

 

[Clem]

Values are rising certainly but how do people
actually know this?

I had to find a van for my brother this summer. He wanted a stock pop top westy. The prices were generally 2 to 3 times what I paid for mine about 8 years ago, on a like for like basis.

 

[RichardAlexander]

Cheers

It wasn't the engine. Laurie Pettitt did mine. It seems I took on some water when I filled up, I then stored it for the winter and the fuel tank ended up full of rust and other god knows what and this clogged up my carb. We managed to save the carb but I opted for a filter king and new hoses, rather than an engine out new fuel tank scenario. Down to cost more than anything. Someone suggested I should flush the tank with paraffin.

frosts do a tank refurbish kit, but is a tank out job im afraid, not a bad job though. the tank restore takes about a week to complete but really works it fixed this

 

[RichardAlexander]

p.s. the prices are going up on earlys as the splits become unaffordable people want the next best thing, so prices go up on everything including the spares. some one linked my topic previously. so invest it will give you years more fun and be worth it eventually

 

[Trikky2]

It's not just bays or vws it's all collector cars across the board. They are all rising in value.

 

[banjobenji]

This is true. Makes you wonder of stock is worth more than custom. Can't be many stocks left.

 

[smokehouse]

not trying to make anyone mad on here but if the overseas buyers stopped paying the crazy prices for the buses they would be cheaper. They keeps sending containers full of parts and buses everyday to Europe we won't have anything left over here to keep for ourselves. You go to a junkyards now and there's no doors on any of the parts buses. there's only so many buses to go around. i know our money is not worth that much so you are basically buying stuff almost half. everybody wants to base the prices on barrett jackson and i think that is just crazy because of a couple guys want to show off how much money they have. lots of people are trying to figure out when it's going to crash. most are trying to say after the babyboomers die off it will all crash. there just isn't enough gen X and specially gen Y that are interested in classic cars as the baby boomers. it will crash and the guy that bought a 23 window for 200k is going to be stuck with it. it's just my opinion not trying to make anyone mad. i still am trying to figure out why you guys turn them all in to campers. you guys want campers and we want passenger buses.

 

[Hodgins]

I thought prices had come down recently, but then I guess historically they always do dip a little at the end of the season?

 

[ozziedog]

not trying to make anyone mad on here but if the overseas buyers stopped paying the crazy prices for the buses they would be cheaper. They keeps sending containers full of parts and buses everyday to Europe we won't have anything left over here to keep for ourselves. You go to a junkyards now and there's no doors on any of the parts buses. there's only so many buses to go around. i know our money is not worth that much so you are basically buying stuff almost half. everybody wants to base the prices on barrett jackson and i think that is just crazy because of a couple guys want to show off how much money they have. lots of people are trying to figure out when it's going to crash. most are trying to say after the babyboomers die off it will all crash. there just isn't enough gen X and specially gen Y that are interested in classic cars as the baby boomers. it will crash and the guy that bought a 23 window for 200k is going to be stuck with it. it's just my opinion not trying to make anyone mad. i still am trying to figure out why you guys turn them all in to campers. you guys want campers and we want passenger buses.

Hiya Smokehouse, I love hearing all the different versions on this forum but especially from outside of the country as it helps put things into perspective. The camper thing has a few different versions over here, but generally speaking, the weather sucks over here so if we get a chance to zoom off somewhere in our little campers we can do so at the drop of a hat if the weather looks like behaving itself for a day or two, plus we are quite gullible and very optimistic so we never believe the weather forecast is gonna be as crap as they say it will :roll: :roll: :roll: But it`s usually wrong because it`s usually much worse than they say it will be :lol: Anyway we`re mostly nuts over here anyhow which is why we got old VW s, ad why we goes camping :mrgreen:

Ozzedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,So where`s you from bud???? :mrgreen:

 

[Irishpete]

I've got to say, in my experience, they really are through the roof. :roll:

 

[StuF]

This debate around the prices of classic Vw/Porsche/Ford vehicles rolls on and on.
Are they too high/low? When will the bubble burst/price crash?
People remember them being £500 on the road - Its been discussed here and there for years
I clearly remember a thread on a different site years ago with a glut of people mocking and denigrating individuals who were "crazy/mad/deluded" to spend £18k on a 23 Window Split Screen Samba!
Doesn't sound too bad a deal now considering what it would cost to purchase one today - if that's your thing

Classic buses are on the whole slow, difficult to drive, hard to stop when they get going, thirsty, impractical as a daily driver, have on the majority crappy repro parts available to repair them - and can be fairly impractical compared to modern forms of transport either in motor-home form or daily driver. But here we all are!

For Clare and I our bus was a luxury purchase, an aspirational goal, bought from the heart - we could have got a higher specc'd, better equipped, faster, more reliable modern camper easily for the money but practicality wasn't the appeal! We bought into the history, the attitude and importantly the people who enjoy this expensive, time consuming and sometimes frustrating pastime. Nobody comes and chats to me in the petrol station about my GTI or Disco!

I cant see these rare (becoming rarer) modes of transport getting cheaper and more affordable. Their will always be the ebb and flow of prices from the start to the end of the summer season - but they are steadily rising year on year.
There are less available every year and if the demand from Europe is affecting the supply of parts in the States prices will only continue to climb - imagine what an OG panel will cost when there are no more to salvage from scrapyards over there! No more dry state imports!

My only regret is not buying a classic porsche when I could have years ago - their prices have gone absolutely mental!
So I cant see our classic (and iconic) buses doing anything other than appreciating in value.

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

I think They are worth the money
Not when a new T5 equivalent costs 45k+ Now
That in mind I personally can't se manyT5s lasting 40
Years
To me it's like trying to compare antique furniture to IKEA
or any other type of stabilised sawdust
When you buy an EB you buy history

 

[Irishpete]

I think They are worth the money
Not when a new T5 equivalent costs 45k+ Now
That in mind I personally can't se manyT5s lasting 40
Years
To me it's like trying to compare antique furniture to IKEA
or any other type of stabilised sawdust
When you buy an EB you buy history

Nailed it.

 

[geordie]

Great thread,

People with loadsssss of money (not ME) are investing in classic cars instead of properties. Theres no capital gains tax on them.

I maybe wrong, Geordie

 

[magoo]

We were having a chat with a couple who bought a T5 camper and I reckoned it would be easier to sell their camper in 25 years time compared to ours. Many buy our model because they remember it from our childhood, but when the kids of today grow up and can afford something, they will remember the T5 of their childhood. Ours will look like a Model T Ford in the future!

 

[monkeyvanwestybike]

A Model T will always be a veteran car
A vw bay will always be a classic
and a T5 will always be a T5 :msn4: