Shopping for a Westy is tough

[vwtrey]

The family and I have decided that we NEED a Westy. I decided that we want a 74-79. There are four of us. The wife, two 3yr olds, and me. I have set aside about 5k of our tax returns for purchasing. Its been hard to find anything around that price. I am by no means new to VW's. I don't mind getting a project, but I want something that we can jump in a start camping. Anyone else have a hell of a time finding the Westy for them? It's freaking stressful!

[SGKent]

$5K is low for a driver that just goes and is in good shape. There is one in the Sacramento CL for $6500 that looks clean but I've never seen it. It could be a rusted out hulk that someone slapped bondo and paint on. Hope you find one that you are looking for. We found a 7 passenger bus for about $1000 but I can tell you that 5K didn't even cover the bodywork on it - and it wasn't all that bad to begin with.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[moonsong]

Bought my '76 Westy a year ago for under $3000. Daily driver, has tons of problems and I've been working on it for a long time but it still gets the job done. Be patient and don't jump for something just because you're sick of looking. Good luck!

[VWMIKE76]

also depends on how far and what area you'll travel to!
_________________
Mike
77 westy Mac n cheese aka "Mac"
71 crew cab "Damien" sold and missed lots!
78 westy "Doc". in very good hands of a fellow samba member!
79 hardtop landmark "Shaggy II"

[wgargan]

[jusphotos]

Hi Trey!

I recently ended my search and found a non-running ok body, xlnt interior '74 westy here in fl. 3400 was what I paid.... a little high, but I didn't care because it was what I wanted. I ended up finding it nice and local, but I was prepared to drive about 600 miles with a trailer if I needed to make a deal happen.

OK, number 2 thing... vanagons are a little more reasonable, esp with your budget. Don't be afraid of the vans! You may want to check out the safety stickey, especially being that you have little ones riding along. This is def a good, safe option, and up 'til '83 they were aircooled...

I recommend checking ebay often, and checking serch tempest (craigslist crawler) every few hours and be ready to drive far to make a good deal.

Looks like you are in an air force town, are you active duty? You can always do countrywide searches, drop a small deposit, and space-A yourself to it's location to check it out and drive it back. (if you have that kind of time and flexibility with leave/libo).

Go to searchtempest.com and paste the below text into the "advanced" keyword search. Type your ZIP code, and choose the "advanced" option. There should be a single space between each parenthesis. I recommend the craigslist search, NOT the carandtruck helper.

This also lists matching *edit* ebay ads at the bottom. Your welcome:

(vw|volkswagen) (micro|microbus|bus|camper|campmobile|westy|westfalia|westphalia|weekender|week|ender|pop|pop-top|stove)

[RocketRod]

You have time to sit down and write yourself a checklist of what you want, what to inspect, and what you might compromise on. But at the top of that list is all the safety items. It has to stop before you go. Get damn picky, your family depends on it. Best of luck on your search. It's out there, you will find it.
_________________
Why Yes it is a Magic bus!
Common Sense isn't so common.

[jusphotos]

From what I'm seeing, you need to be prepared to drive to Boulder, Ft. Collins, possibly Denver to get your Westy.

[vwtrey]

I'm willing to travel pretty far. But the more I travel, the more it comes out of my budget. I'll keep looking though. I'm sure there is one out there for us. I'm sure not looking for something fancy, just decent.

Hops are pretty rare out of here. We only have a guard flight line, and they dont do hops very often. I'll look into it though, thanks for the advice!

[busmania]

Dude, your looking in all the wrong places. They are out there. I am in Colorado and have looked at 4-5 westys in the past week. none were what I was looking for, nor probably what you are looking for. Buses seem to seek me out. PM me if I can be of any help.

[busmania]

O, and your title should read "shopping for a westy is FUN". Although, I know there are not many in wyoming.

[Chazbot]

Look for something on the west coast and be prepared to travel to see it and perhaps ship it home. It may not cost as much as you think to get it there. Some shippers will give you a good price if you can wait to ship it on a back load. You might be able to pick it up yourself if you have something worthy of towing it on a dolly.

I waited two years to find my bay and found exactly what I was looking for. Well within your 5K budget and very road worthy after the work we did. But it was all withing 5K and actually a bit less. Just be patient, or you will pay for the lack of it.

[Stuartzickefoose]

there is a riviera here in washington for 1800 only prob is the driver window and slider next to it are busted. great shape. also on in portland for about 1500 i think. goood shape (portlands is a 74 ish westy) rear faced tent.
seach seattle craigslist they are both there

Stuart
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[elstrom]

[vwtrey]

Looks like we might go look at this 76 this weekend. They want 3500 for it

[theizzardking]

[quote="vwtrey"]Looks like we might go look at this 76 this weekend. They want 3500 for it



looks good but i'd be concerned about the rust on the under carriage, look at the hole in the front left wheel arch, rusted right through, and to be honest from what i've seen i've never seen that happen without the rest of it being rusty as well.

the interior is a nice home made job based off the original stock set up,
make sure you check the usual spots, floor boards battery tray ect.

good luck on the hunt man!
_________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin
'71 westie "the wanderer"

[pb24ss]

[Chazbot]

Not bad but I think you can do better with cash in hand....gotta be patient. I don't like the look of the rust on the dog leg or the side. I'm imagining what is underneath and I don't like that either. Looks more like a Vermont bus.

[theizzardking]

lol you should buy this one,

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/1567086362.html

j/k though....


personally though check this one out, this is what you should be looking for and it's the right price as well. they're out there you just have to keep your eyes open.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/1573322713.html
_________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin
'71 westie "the wanderer"

[vwtrey]

I'm trying to keep it as local as possible right now. I would think I could find something decent in Colorado, but havent had much luck yet. We are going to look at one tomorrow that is 2000. The lady doesnt have any way to send me pictures, so all we can do is go look.