Fry didn't sell!!!!

[Justin & Muttley]

As title:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250162040926&ssPageName=ADME:B:TB6:UK:2

I'm surprised really - I thought it would end up in a museum/collection!

 

[kempy]

Ant idea what the reserve was ?????

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Ant idea what the reserve was ?????

It was a secret!

 

[Araon]

expected bids to get higher than they did

 

[jabbo]

I would have expected bidding to hit the £15K mark TBH. I guess seeing as the vehicle is in Sweden though and it's advertised on ebay.co.uk it's not really feasible to view the van before buying it. As honest as the bus appears, if I was spending that sort of money I'd want to see it in the metal first.

 

[devonbay70]

Continuing this thread on values of low mileage original early bays, earlier this year I sold a completely original museum quality 1971 Westfalia Bay that had covered just 30k miles from new. It was as close to new as you could ever find - had been kept in a heated garage in the South of France for most of its life - full history - it was the nicest original bay anyone who saw it had ever seen ( including the ubiquitous MOT tester :lol: ).

When i bought it, my brief was to find the best bay i could within the given budget but it was just too nice to use as an everyday camper - I was too precious and stressy about it when the kids were in and around it so reluctantly sold it on.

I thought it must have been worth at least £ 15k, maybe even more, after all a car is only original once and no matter how nice the restoration, a restored vehicle will be always just that - any bus could be the same with enough money thrown at it, but what value originality - irreplacable ?

I advertised it on forums and usual vw sale sites for a couple of weeks - a lot of picture hunters ( 40+ ) but still no-one came to view. Put it on e.bay with a buy it now price of £ 14k and still no takers over the couple of days it was on... during which time I eventually sold it to the first people who viewed - a lovely older couple who had been saving for over ten years to buy the best bay they could find. With no messy kids to worry about they could enjoy the bus to its full potential and we agreed a price at £ 13.5k.

I still think that was incredible value that they got - compare to the new Danburys that would sell at over £ 30k for the same spec ????? and it seems very cheap ?

What conclusions do we draw from my experience - £ 13.5k is ( or was in April ) the benchmark for the best low mileage Wesfalia Bays ? I never actually took it to any shows so maybe if word had got around I may have achieved nearer the £ 15k figure I originally thought it was worth.

 

[Justin & Muttley]

There are a couple of points to note here:

I do agree with the old adage that an item is only worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it - although in this case I dare say you would have got the full price if you'd held on for longer

I also think that the scene is moving so fast (just look at T25's for example) that any valuation needs to be done by an industry insider/VW specialist - but caution needs to be exercised as many classic/collectable enthusiasts have an inflated idea of their vehicles' worth!

I bought my bus 2 1/2 years ago for £1,000, it still needs welding for the MOT, it hasn't moved for 2 years - but it has great OG paint (for the most part) and the engine and gearbox are fine; I've recently seen VW's like this go for more than double what I paid for it, but in my eyes it's still only worth £1,000 - however, I'd never replace it for £1,000 now

Insurance companies will always do what they can to avoid paying out the big bucks... :evil:

 

[baron]

it's not really for me to comment, but you'd be amazed at what tim b paid for his showroom condition devon sunlander

and i think he said he'd been offered 25k

the guy in the vanfest line up with the late bay ( :shock: ) was offered 18k for his

as J&M says, it's what someone will pay for it that counts

 

[Clem]

it's not really for me to comment, but you'd be amazed at what tim b paid for his showroom condition devon sunlander

Right place, right time. Lucky sod :wink:

 

[easy]

I have been offered a ton of money for my van before, although i would never sell it. (unless someone offered silly money :wink: )

Having been with a van for some 12 or so years, i have seen em super change in price and got my first completey original Devon for just over a grand :shock:

If you add up what you have spent on it (every detail) it will shock you how much has been poured in, at the end of the day i look at van prices with the view that it would cost X amount to build another and including time and money etc.

Difficulty comes with the custom vans as there has been a great deal more time spent on the creation of the van and the hopeful improvement on the original spec.

Prices are very difficult to judge, so as long as you think you have got a good deal when buying one then thats cool. There is always someone else who gets the bargains and always other people who pay top wack 8)