Pricing my 1980 Vanagon

[Kyg626]

Hello,

I am considering selling my 1980 vanagon and wanted to get an idea of what i should sell it for. I just found out I need to move across the country and can’t afford to bring it with me as I may need to move several times in the next few years. I bought the van over a year ago and swapped the engine, upgraded the tires, added and electric AC, and have gone though the braking system, replacing the master cylinder. The upgrades are as follows.

- Subaru swap 2004 2.5 forester engine. KEP headers, mounting kit and engine mounting bar.
- all brand new water cooled components, radiator, fan, stainless steel pipes.
- 17 inch Mercedes rims
- 100 amp hour lithium auxiliary (Lifepo4) battery with 40 amp DC-DC charger
- 12v DC air conditioner with 120V power supply.
- New brake master cylinder

I have basically gone over most of what the van need to drive around safely and reliably. I have not had the time to go over the aesthetic of the vehicle. The paint is in obvious need of care, there are several spots of full thickness rust under the driver side windshield, rear window and lower side panel on the drivers side but other than that there is not much rust on the rest of the vehicle. The canvas is ripped for the pop top and some of the interior panels have cracks in them.

Let me know what you think I should sell it for.

Here is a video of the van

https://youtu.be/PvSgJtB1tww

https://youtu.be/PvSgJtB1tww

[MarkWard]

Lucky for you Patina is currently in style . I imagine you will take a loss on it or if lucky break even. Figure out what you would feel good with watching the tailights disappear over the horizon and list it here for free.

If you really want it to go, see if Bring a Trailer will list it no reserve project. Let the actual market determine the value on the day the auction ends.

Good luck with the move.

I didn't answer your question. I'd need to see more pictures of the work done. I'd say $800 - $4500. depends on the buyer.
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[PDXWesty]

Wow, there's a lot of metal missing on that body. Have you already looked through the classifieds to get comps? I imagine it's good for someone who might want to swap their tin top into a camper and use the parts. The amount of rust is going to turn away 99% of buyers I feel though. Wish you good luck with the sale and move though.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php...words=1980
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[jimf909]

That's an interesting specimen you have there. I've always loved that interior and yours looks pretty nice. It sounds like you've made some good mechanical improvements but the body rust is a deal breaker for anyone who doesn't love patina. What you haven't shown is the underbody, if it's as rusty as the body then this isn't a good platform meaning the price would be what the parts can be sold for, say $3 - $5K. Westy interiors can sell for $1,500 - $2,000 but folks often look for the grey and the market for the beautiful woodgrain (IMHO) is limited.

I'll suggest pricing it at $5K and see what happens.
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- Jim

[Red Ryder]

Yep — more value there as a partsmobile. Sorry…
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“Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland

“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition
Tornado Red

[Kyg626]

Thanks for the input guys, I have about $9K invested into it and would hate to take a significant loss. I have the ability and experience to cut out and weld in new sheet metal. But don’t have the time or money at the moment to go thought that and then paint the van. Here are some more photos of the undercarriage that is not so rusty. It has been out in the sun for years so the outer body panels have taken the worst.

[mikemtnbike]

Does it run/steer/brake? That't not clear from your post, at least to me.

If it does, you could ask 9k or so and see if you get any bites. If it doesn't run/steer/brake , no way.

Here's what I see when I look at that van.

A 1k poptop.
A 1-2k interior. Maybe more.
If the subaru conversion is running and can be test driven, somebody might pay 3k or so for that if would be almost plug and play. I'm just grabbing a random # out of the air on that.
Another 1k in misc parts.

Unfortunately, the human hours on the body work don't make it worthwhile for most (not all) people.

Just my thoughts.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[Kyg626]

Yes its 100% functional, it was my daily driver for a bit and lived out of it for several months. I’ve gone on several long road trips and it starts up every time with the Subaru engine. It’s much more drivable with the increased power from the engine and much more stable at highway speeds with the bigger tires.

Thanks for the input.

[DanHoug]

there's a few people like me that have bought rusty Fiats, rusty Volvos, rusty Mercedes and had a ball with each car. to do so, one must leave ego by the curbside. but i paid strictly bottom feeder prices for rusty bombs in order to get the cars of my dreams on a tight budget. didn't stop me from having fun but zero resale value so they aren't an 'investment' by any stretch of the imagination.

oddly, i never bought a rusty VW. did that myself to a clean one but raised 2 kids in it, year round in the Rust Belt. no regrets, it was used and loved. and took me on a great trip to AZ and back recently with nary a complaint. it is still giving smiles, rust and all.

while worth far more in parts, if you are selling it whole i would suggest replacing the pop top screen with an insert from Fanchers. despite the rust, that's the only thing keeping it from being a functional camper. at least where there are bugs. but if the price is low enough, someone will buy it to part it out and the screen don't matter.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[?Waldo?]

Thought you might want to know that in your video at 0:31 you state that it was originally water-cooled. I think you know that it was originally air-cooled and just said the wrong thing.

[hdenter]

That's not the body I would have chosen to start with. Your only hope will be to find someone like you who would like to do the rust restoration for fun and can appreciate the mechanical work you've already done. Good Luck!

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[hdenter]

It would be great for bashing around Baja. No one would think you have anything worth stealing

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[jimf909]

The undercarriage doesn't look terrible but you'll still need to find someone just like yourself (appreciates a reliable van and isn't scared of rust) to buy it.

It would be ideal if you could figure out how to keep it so you can enjoy your work this van in the future.

I've always said that no camping trip was ever harmed by seam rust.
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- Jim

[vanis13]

You did some great mechanical work and you are unlucky to get anything close in a sale.

(What do you have for heat? did you put in a front and rear heater?)

If you got the place you store it and don't absolutely need what ever little money you'd get for it, keep it and keep living the dream.
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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace

www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make

[Kyg626]

The heat I never got around to, it’s been nice and warm in Florida. But the under dash unit has a heater core and would have put a diesel heater in the back.

[zerotofifty]

parts car

[DuncanS]

I hear people say every day. "But I have X invested in it." Yes, so did all the stock market investors during the summer of 1929.

Your X is spent and gone. You had a lot of fun with it and your life is changing and so that portion of your X life is gone too.

Settle for whatever Y you can get. That will be money you currently don't have.

I agree, that is the perfect car for Baja or Mexico where rust won't continue and theft or break-ins are unlikely. If guys from the PNW faux painted their T3s like that, they would be a lot safer.

I'm not even going to mention five gallons of body putty and 20 rattle cans. Oops, I guess I just did. "The jury is instructed to disregard the previous statement."

Duncan

[danfromsyr]

nah, rattle cans are tiring.. roll out the rustoleum and as noted above..
seam rust never ruined a vacation.


who'd have known my lack of care is an anti theft measure...
though I do get a higher chance of getting a nuisance/abandoned vehicle tow in resort towns.
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[82westyrabbit]

People here surely would like to know more about that air conditioning system. Did you install it or did you buy it that way. Thanks John

[Mateo83]

I would think the $5k is the high end.
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83 Air-cooled 2.0 Tin Top