1973 Baywindow Original Price

[rxjackson]

Hello,

I just bought a 1973 VW Bus. I am looking to get insurance on it, and one of the companies I am looking at told me they needed the original price of the vehicle from back in 1973. This bus is not a camper. Does anyone have any idea how much these buses went for back in 1973?

Thanks,

Kim

[rxjackson]

I found the price for a '68. Can anyone do better?

Thanks

http://www.adclassix.com/ads/68vwbusbeans.htm

[ratwell]

http://homepage.mac.com/ratwell/MSRP.html
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'78 Westfalia CDN
'76 Doublecab Sweden
Read the Baywindow FAQ

[ho-dad]

Thanks, Ratwell - I'm surprised my SingleCab (and a PanelVa) costed more than a "station wagon."
_________________
'69 SingleCab
'67 Plymouth Satellite
'62 SuperStock Dodge (I wish...)

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

[Bottomend]

I'm surprised Colin didn't get to this question first. His beast is the dreaded '73 model. He can probably even tell you the combinded weight of the nuts used to hold the thing from ratteling apart.

[orangeeyesore]

seems strange that the insurance company would car about the price when it was new......its not new, its 30 years old......
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HBB

As it says, who have you got as a quote in your signature line and why?

[tds3pete]

I bought a '73 brand new in December '73. It was a Westy which I bought from a VW dealer in Amsterdam. I paid $4100. I think it would have been about $4500 over here. From that I would expect a regular bus would have been about $3500-$3800 over here.. (It was a great ride...I lived in it for a year and kept it for 13 more. Sold it at 130,000 and had NO problems)
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'58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow

[rxjackson]

You said that the '73 model was the "dreaded" model. What did you mean? Is there something I don't know about my new first bus?

Thanks

Kim

[ratwell]

These cars are so old quite often there is no data in the computer systems. If the insurance agent doesn't have an old book of data they are sometime left to asking you the information.
_________________
'78 Westfalia CDN
'76 Doublecab Sweden
Read the Baywindow FAQ

[Amskeptic]

[Bottomend]

touchee'!

[oorwullie]

according to my insurance company my 75 westy 2 litre cost 27,000 swiss francs new.

this would've been about 9 months salary for an average working man then.

[steponmebbbboom]

Kim,

Your insurance agent is an idiot. Get another one.

The MSRP on a thirty year old bus is completely irrelevant from an insurance standpoint. He/she is asking you (a consumer!!!) for the MSRP of your bus because they think your chances of finding that information is impossible, and you will therefore NOT insure your car with them. It is unreasonable for an insurance company to charge you with the responsibility of such a task. If your insurer was actually competent/interested in serving your needs, he/she would have given you two options:

a) Have the vehicle professionally appraised for its current value

b) present a bill of sale with its sale value written on it

You will then be insured for the value of the vehicle based on either of these numbers, it is up to you to decide which is cheaper/safer to insure your car for. Advantages:

appraised value: accounts for any improvements made since the vehicle was sold to you, and the write off value will also rise.
sold value: premiums will be slightly lower as they will not be on the hook for so much money if you are involved in an accident (one-time payout of the sold value, any amount of damage exceeding that amount results in a write-off)

Modern vehicles are insured based on their market value. Any vehicle that is not listed in the red book/blue book/whatever, will be insured based on either of the above methods. Asking you to research the MSRP of a vintage vehicle is in one word, PUNITIVE and is at best a reprehensible gesture. I dont know what insurance companies are like in the States, but up here in Ontario we are at war with insurance companies and their soaring premiums and supercilious attitudes. Canadian insurance companies posted record profits last year, and are attempting to justify rising premiums with claims of shrinking profit margins. They also lobbied the government to raise the set fine for no insurance from $500 to over $5000 (first offence, double for second).

My point is to be informed and know your rights when you negotiate an insurance contract and don't trust your insurance company to take care of any of your interests. As it stands they just BSed you out of coverage. Get the facts and don't leave til they get it right.

[inanda]

When I moved to Manitoba my insurance agent asked me how much insurance I wanted/needed. So thats what my 71 bus is insured for.

He also told me to take before and after pix if I did any repairs/repainting etc

Mind you, think they must be good agents. They are insuring my Straw bale abode during building - which is pretty difficult to get, due to fire risk.
Ginny

[DurocShark]

73 owner here.

Westy sold via tourist program in germany on 4/13/73 for $4893.28