How Much Should I Pay?

[Merlydog]

Hi all,

I wondered if people would mind passing on some advice regarding a van I may well be purchasing soon.

She's a 69 california import with only two owners from new. The van has been professionally and recently restored by vw2go, to be honest it was in such good condition that all it needed was a decent respray, engine recon/'re-seal', the westfalia interior touching up and very little else but a service and good clean.

The interior is completely original, all westfalia, the best i've ever seen, to be honest i'm not all that keen myself on the original interior's but this van is virtually mint!

It hasn't been lowered, new white wall tyres, MOT and obviously tax free. The body work is pretty faultless, totally straight & rust free, along with the underside as you'd expect. It's lived in Covina all its like!

To be honest I can't believe i've found it, i'm not against paying the right price for it but just don't want to go completely rose tinted glasses is all!

Thanks for taking the time to give my thread a read and look forward to hearing from you all.

Sarah x (so excited)

 

[uber cool]

it's quite hard to value a bus online, however might help if you post some photos and the price it's for sale at.

At the end of the day it's worthing paying for a good one and if it's in your budget then go for it. Can they show you photos prior to the respray, that would be helpful.

good luck with the purchase and welcome to the forum

 

[Graham L]

Sarah

If its the blue and white one thats reserved on their site heres a few comments in line with what you've asked.

Its not a 69, wrong stud pattern and rear arches, its a 71.
They've obviously replaced the tops on the westy cabinets as they are not original
The Westy fabric isn't original either, its been recovered.

The original pictures of the bus show the original interior etc, it looks like a nice bus but as to what its worth its hard to say, LHD Tin Top westies struggle to sell at £10-12K in pristine condition as most buyers would go for a pop top for the space so not sure how much this one is, don't get me wrong its nice but there is a limit to what its worth.

Drop me a PM or email if you want to chat,

 

[faux]

Hi

This is a bit of a "How long is a piece of string?" question.

Well.......restored Earlybay vans go for between £6000 and £28000 depending on the level of detail, quality of parts, time spent and additional parts added and of course, conversion type. In my opinion FBI in Swansea set a sort of standard for pricing, which I often judge against. A fully restored Westfalia Pop Top that has had fresh paint, new seals etc and is mechanically overhauled with new MOT and registered would be about £16000 from them. Buying from a reputable dealer may give some piece of mind and should mean a certain level of quality but you will pay more than a private sale. A similar bus from a private seller would go for about £12000.

These figures are just my opinion and without physically seeing a vehicle pre and post restoration it is hard to make a judgement. It is often a good idea to look at work the company has done recently and work that is, say, 5 years old.

Good luck and welcome to the site.

Jon

 

[faux]

I have had a look on their site at the 69.....??? 71 bus that Graham has mentioned.

It seems to be a 71 bus with a 69 interior? It is a shame that the cupboard tops have had to be replaced as this does IMO devalue the bus but it seems to have been done well. For over £20000 for a tintop I would say it is over priced but if you like it and the work is of a good standard then it is up to you.

Again I would signpost you to FBI (sorry Graham, just because they have a restored bus forsale there).

Jon

 

[Pickles]

my two pennies worth ... pay as much as you like! in all seriousness I'd say dont jump in and buy the first bus you see, if you like this one make an effort to go and see some others just as a reference point, there's lots of dealers out there. We bought a sound body (at least In hope it is) Cali import earlier this year and we will slowly have the work done ourselves, paint, new bits and engine rebuilt at least that way I know what has been done, to what standard and when.

For £20k I'd want a pretty good guarantee and it would have to be mint.

the question is if you dont like it, will you get that back in a private sale, probably not I'd have thought.

Baz

 

[Merlydog]

Wow thank you for your reply guys!

I have just returned from viewing the bus and have found the following.

Graham mentioned looking at various plates, which I did, and not surprisingly it read 'manufactured by Vw in 07/71, so that's tidied that up!

I don't think I mentioned that the guy that's selling it was a 'prize winner' from a competition in the Daily Star. vw2go are the suppliers of the van to the Daily Star for the competition. I have checked this and internet sites with direct contact with the company suggests it is the case. vw2go suggested the van is actually worth 16k, i'm not so sure of that having viewed it mind.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but if your a competition winner of a van advertised as 16k then you expect things like winder handles, door handles and simple aesthetics to be in place, however this wasn't the case. The passenger ones were in the glove box!

The interior was good, but not fantastic, then it is an original westfalia from 69 as the stamp is on the vehicle, again a 16k show stopper wouldn't have things like lining hanging down and missing would it, or am I being too picky?

The engine, when under load misses, could be simple I guess but then could be valves too?? Tick overs fine but when your driving it there's something not right. I was told by vw2go that a service, rebuild & tune had been carried out so maybe again i'm just being to picky and have to expect these things?

The thing that worried me the most was he had no paperwork at all, having had the van dropped wednesday by the company I would expect all documents to be present wouldn't you? To be fair he did say they were on route with history.

The body work is very good, underside faultless with new braking system, everything looked good as to be expected I guess.

Maybe i'm just being & suspisious but if you want to see the write up he's got it on ebay for 12995 with best offer, he agreed tonight he would take 10k cash. It's blue and white with a link to the vw2go website with resto pics.

Am I just expecting too much for my money guys? :?

Thanks for your time

Sarah

 

[ianscooby]

looks all a bit sus to me firstly 20k and the 13k whats with him, as faux (jon) said FBI are a reasonable bench mark and a poptop westy may fetch these sort of figures for a restored one but not a tin top I wouldn't suggets to be near this sort of price, Graham at FBI does have a montana red poptop westy up at 15/16k at the mo which looks nice

 

[Clem]

I just looked at the 71 on the website. Its not finished on there (refelectors missing, seat mats missing etc), the interior has been customised, its been repainted a non original scheme (look at the colour change line below the bulge) and is presented falsely (as a 69 not a 71).
For all that Id walk away.

The seller is a competition winner, so got lucky on the 0870 phone lines and is now turning a fast buck or, he is a middle man selling promo vans that never actually get won .... either way its an odd way to do business.
For all that Id walk away.

Its priced at £20k, valued at £16k, repriced at £13k and the seller will accept £10k. I actually reckon is worth £8k - tops.
For all that Id walk away.

From your description it needs a lot of remedial work. Some easy to do, some not so.
For all that Id walk away.

Hope this helps.

 

[Merlydog]

Certainly does Clem Thank you, my search continues x

 

[froggy]

As Jon (faux) says FBI sell good buses, Graham L also sells imported buses and Scott Wilson sells South African buses (so RHD) and can customise to your budget.
Theres also a lot of buses in the for sale section, personally i would decide on your budget and then buy the one with the best rust free body, the engines and other parts are easy enough to sort out but rust will always be the biggest killer.

 

[Grey]

Sounds like you made the right choice to walk away !

Interestingly enough, look at the previous items he sold on his Ebay account, lots & lots of car parts, all seems a little strange.

 

[cotswoldiver]

Sarah
That's some pretty good advice from some trusted people on the forum and walking away from a heart based decision not a head based one is a pretty smart move.

Several buses on the forum for sale, and Jon's comments comments about FBI are spot on, but if you are after a camper then take a look at this thread and contact Juan. This bus is on the water and will soon be arriving

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21858

 

[Danbury Doug]

I remember seeing the picture of that bus on the front of whichever newspaper was offering it in the prize draw. It was only a couple of weeks or so ago.

Shame. With some attention to detail those buses on that site could be really nice.

Plenty more choices out there Sarah. There are some really cracking buses about, and you'll eventually find the right one for you.

 

[Guest]

but if you are after a camper then take a look at this thread and contact Juan. This bus is on the water and will soon be arriving

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21858

its already gone

but i get the feeling well be seeing it soon.

 

[Wensbry]

I was in Swansea today and popped into FBI. The Montana Red Westy looked a really clean bus, but it is sold.
There are others there though so give Graham a call.
Good luck with the search.

Steve

 

[cotswoldiver]

but if you are after a camper then take a look at this thread and contact Juan. This bus is on the water and will soon be arriving

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21858

its already gone

but i get the feeling well be seeing it soon.

Didn't think that would hang around long and a very good chance it would be sold before it got here
Someone is going to be very happy methinks

 

[Merlydog]

Hi all, thanks so much for all your help. I found a cracker today. It's a 69 Californian import. It's a bit ratty in the paintwork but all original. Nice quirky interior which is what i've been looking for and completely solid with no welding whatsoever. I love it, will post some pics in the gallery, let me know what you all think