Has anyone travelled to buy their bus?

[seabreeze2]

The reason I ask is because I am thinking of flying out to So Cal/ Arizona to buy a bus directly from the seller. This will ensure that I know ex what I am buying and to get better value than paying an English importer. The plan is then to drive it to probably Longbeach docks and straight into a container for shipping home. I could also bring home some spares from so-cal vw suppliers.
Has anyone on here done anything similar?

 

[Supertramp]

Wouldn't that work out rather expensive plus your time to do it?
I've seen a bus in Europe that I am going to view but it's only a cheap hour flight so no major trip. I'd be driving it back through Europe which will be epic :lol:

 

[seabreeze2]

Yes, I figure on around £1000 for flights and fuel plus 2k for shipping and import duty etc. I should still end up with a top notch bus for 8k all in with no significant tin worm yo worry about.

 

[Trikky2]

Taken as a pure costing exercise it may seem expensive but taken as a holiday adventure it could be excellent. 8)

 

[seabreeze2]

That was kind of what I was thinking, most routes to the port seem to be around 500miles or so, so I could probably hang it out for a weekish and take in some sights having never been to the states. Its on my bucket list anyways!

 

[jonboylaw]

I travelled from edinburgh to Cornwall to buy a van, planes, trains and automobiles. One way ticket. Drove it most of the way home in terrible weather 2 years ago.
Nothing as epic as your plans. Go for it! If Mike "the ****" Brewer can do it, then I am sure it will be a breeze! See if you can get breakdown cover though and look at the license and reg transfer requirements.


Sent from my GX64 SatCom phone using Tapatalk

 

[Retroman]

I'll give the smart ass answer. I drove to Lake Tahoe to get my 1 owner rust free deluxe.

 

[weeboll]

flew to new zealand to start a new job having sold house and with the absolute intention of buying a van. bought a beetle (1302s) to drive to next town to view my bay, then drove it home once it was wof'd (mot) to discover it had a shot engine - pressure light coming on with every tight corner and i had to do a couple of hundred km in the dark driving through a gorge, round a volcano and over some very big hills!

this was ten years ago this year and still have the van

 

[vaughan]

I flew to Vancouver to buy mine then drove to LA to get it shipped ! Just check out your insurance though !

 

[aspro]

Great idea. Makes for a brillaint adventure. If you want to recover some of your costs, load it up with parts to bring back with you.

 

[martin.sim]

Went from midlands to Bournemouth lol round the corner really compared to your trip lol


--------------------------------------
Why didn't I buy my bus years ago !?

 

[Clem]

Sounds like an awesome thing to do. Id love to do it 8)

The only thing you might have issues with is insuring the van when you buy it, I think you need a permanent address out there? Worth checking out.

Good luck

 

[Tofufi]

I love that part of the world, so I'd recommend it if only for the travel/holiday aspect.

You still find plenty of Aircooled VWs etc in scrapyards over there...

That was just one yard in Arizona.

 

[trebor]

That's my kind of holiday hotel but the other half won't like it !

 

[ib-bus]

Go for it mate , plan it right and attend a show while in California , The Samba has a schedule of events.
I go to most events in southern California to sell VW parts so make sure you stop by and say hi

 

[*Sam*]

Defo do it, think of the story and history you will be adding to your bus let alone the fact you get to have a great trip

 

[Gütterßnipe]

It's a no-brainer!
Go for it!!!

 

[Supertramp]

To add to my first post, as a holiday and buying trip I'm all for it, so much so I've created my travel to buy thread.

 

[geordie]

Yes I would
Spent more then any air fair on mine!
Do it
Please send lot of update

Geordie

 

[Graham L]

A few things to bear in mind, flight costs vary drastically and the closer you get to travel dates the more it costs so if you are going for a specific bus you you've seen advertised. if 2 people are going I think you'll be in for more than £1000. Last couple of times I've gone flights have been £600 plus.

Remember that not all US buses are drivable or what you may be used to as driveable ( no mots) or annual tests for classics in the US.

This means you really need to be handy with the spanners depending on how much you want to spend on a bus, if you are only spending $5-6k on the bus then it's unlikely to be a driver, remember the guys in the states know what buses are worth so there are not that many bargains out there anymore and I'm sure other importers would agree. If you think we make massive margins on imported buses think again.

Best of luck finding what you are looking for but make sure you do plenty of research and remember California is the best part of 1000 miles north to south so if you are looking whilst out there it's a lot of miles.

Don't forget to budget for the work once it gets to the uk and cost for being collected from the port as it's illegal to drive it away from the docks. Also these days depending where in Cali and the shipping line you use lots of containers now end up in Southampton.