How to Value Bus

[Daddy68]

Getting divorced and wife wants me to list my 1969 Westy as an assett. Have no idea of how to put a value on it. Have looked at comps and they run anywhere from $3500-53,000 depending on condition. How do I go about coming up with a value, particularly when I don't want to sell. All stock interior, no rust but the body, particularly the nose, is banged up pretty good. Stock 1600 but with external oil flow/filter setup. All the seals need to be replaced, canvas needs replace, seats need replace, drivers side window came off carrier, cant figure out how to fix that. Also is finicky about starting with the key, sometimes nothing and you have to wiggle the steering wheel around, shift, then it will work. Was told I might need to install an ignition switch back by the engine? I guess this is fairly common. Front breaks need work. Does have original paint. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

from your photos, that is a 6500-8500 bus. looks stupid clean, mostly original paint but that nose is a killer.

interior looks rough but complete. would need about 100 detailed photos but that is about where I would put it. tires are wrong, needs electrical work/brake work etc....if it were turn key and ready to roll mechanically and the nose wasn't a mess I would say 11-13K
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[KentABQ]

A guy I worked with at SFO was going thru a messy divorce from his wife. She was taking him to the cleaners for the house, savings, his pension.... everything... even though she was the one partying and cheating on him.

But on New Years Eve, a week before the divorce was finalized, she was killed when leaving a party. He was, of course, considered a suspect but was working at LAX at the time. End result... he got everything, and just had to pay to bury her. We had a party to celebrate his luck.

As for the value of your VW, I'd put my faith in Skills' estimate. He has the experience to know its worth.
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-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[Spike0180]

Being that you're in Washington, I'd say skills appraisal isnt bad (with the fiven info). If it were michigan where rust is the killer maybe a bit on the 8500 side, but washington, id say closer to 7-8. Sorry about the divorce, maybe you can take what's left and get that van goi mg and take off on the adventure of a lifetime.
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Brutis Patches Izabich: 1970 VW Transporter - 1776cc DP
Current State: Projects never truly end...
Location: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
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Sambastic: adj; the quality of being nit picky, elitist, expecting everyone to do things the way they believe is best with no regard to situation, "sambastic"

[TDCTDI]

Keep the bus, give her half the agreed upon value, sounds like you’re going to need a place to stay. Good luck.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[andk5591]

The problem you are going to have is having a written value. And a lot of this depends on how ugly things get. My suggestion would be to call around to local car dealers....Particularly if any of them deal with vintage cars and get a quote based on what they would pay for it. I would suggest getting 2 or three if you can. If she or her attorney claim these are way too low, then get them to get a higher quote from someone who will actually pay it....and if they find someone to give $20K for it, then sell it.....

I also agree with the values stated....I just looked at a really solid bay the other day - crappy paint, ran fine, good tires, brakes, etc. needed headliner, interior work etc. Could have got it for about $8K and passed..
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Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[wcfvw69]

While divorces suck (I've had one), there's a reason for the high cost of them. THEY ARE WORTH IT! I paid dearly when I divorced my wife. Best money I ever spent.

Back to your bus. I'd need to see many more pictures as well. What I can see is Skill's price range is on point. I'd price it at $5k and make her attorney require you to have written estimates before you go through the trouble. I undervalued my VW's when I went through my divorce and got away with it. F-her, she got more than enough as it was.
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[Wildthings]

To me for the Pacific North West, I think it would be half of Skill estimate. Vans in much better condition can be had for the price he mentions. There is one or more old buses sitting per block in many neighborhoods, many many being pretty straight.

[Globespotter]

I would get a proper appraisal on it. Let them know why you need it. It should be a fair value. There are auto appraisers that do this for a living.
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1977 Westfalia - October 2015 - Current
1971 Super Beetle - May 2012 - Current
1979 Westfalia - 1986-1991
1971 Super Beetle - 1977-1980

1971 SB Survivor Story: https://globespotter.com/
Road Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=511800&highlight=
My 77 Westy Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647114&highlight=

http://vw-mplate.com/mcode.php?lang=EN&id=30990
https://vw-type2-id.xyz/mplate/72067382

[timvw7476]

she's a biatch. your soon to be ex, that is.
it's got body issues, just about a total. tell her & her lawyer that.
+ you might need to keep it to live in......when she's done with you.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Mal evolent]

My bus is not for sale, but an endless stream of people stop by to ask about it.

if you add up what you paid for it and what you put into it and what you have on the shelf waiting to go into it...

the buyer walks away. what he does not see is, he will end up spending the same amount on any other unrunner he finds, and you have the parts right there in the truck.
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73 Beetle Baja, Ghia front brakes, Type 3 rear brakes, 2220 ( 94 X 80 ), Weber Progressive, Bosch SVDA, '97 Mustang seats

Baja Bugs for Volkswagen Virgins: Index

[scubaseas]

[aerosurfer]

Do you need to it to appraise high or low? Not to give divorce advice, but what’s the total package of assets to be divided?

I would think you would want to find as many shitty, beat up buses to lower your value on it to compare to. Or reasonably good condition buses that are selling for lower prices to show yours isn’t worth as much. Get a non-vw, non-historic car insurance adjuster to tell you value of the thing on their books. The fact you have a nose full of peeling bondo likely helps your situation if it’s to show a lower overall amount.

If she is the higher half of the financial breakup, then just treat it like a rusted out 21 window splitting, and start about $40k for your ‘one of a kind, custom nose but very original, 69 Westy.’
_________________
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77 Westy 2.0L Rockin and Rolling Resto!

72 Sportsmobile (sold)
79 Tran$porter... Parts car money machine (gone)

[Abscate]

You need to appraise it fairly. When a judge finds you play games, they come down hard on you, and then your legal bill will get jacked.

The more games you play, the more you will lose.

This has played out millions of millions of times. Don’t think you can get cute and trick the system.
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.ssS!

[aerosurfer]

[Bulli Klinik]

I think that would be a very nice project on a very worthy Bus.

I can empathize with your situation. Did you own the Bus prior to getting married? If so, it may be yours outright. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm in a similar situation to yours and that is how the law operates in Colorado. Your state may be different.

Another thing to consider is that if your wife lawyers up, you can be rest assured that they will search online for any information they can with regards to your financial situation. Something to keep in mind with regards to this forum.

Finally, you should consider getting appraisals of the vehicle in writing from a licensed dealer. I doubt that anything else will satisfy the judge.

Best of luck!
_________________
I've never met a Bus I didn't like.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[Daddy68]

Wow!! So value everyones advice on both the bus, and the situation I am going through. Luckily I have till middle of summer before the tough negotiating comes into play, so have time to play out what you are saying. I did take pictures of the underside of the bus and such yesterday if anyone thinks I should post those as well I will Thanks again Samba community.
Daddy in Wa

[dualbay]

[RONIN10]

Just a few inputs from a guy in the general area you're looking to value the bus in...

First the story of selling a bus recently. I'm in Seattle and had to list my 1979 Transporter bus for maybe four or five months to find a buyer. The bus had a couple of significant, but easily repairable rust spots, a banged up nose, and needed a transmission rebuild. Otherwise it was a truly sweet bus. The transmission issue was the biggest concern for interested buyers as you would imagine and scared many people away. Still very few people in the VW community were interested in it other than admiring it, it was mostly people looking to get into the hobby/lifestyle. They wanted a cheap, but fully functional vehicle. Few in or out of the VW community really want to make the daily or weekly effort to bring back a bus. I originally listed for $4000 and after several months with only tire kickers and one serious buyer who backed out at the last minute, I reduce the price eventually letting it go for $2500 as it was still profitable to me and made my wife and neighbors happy to have it gone.

So all this to say that while you're not looking to sell, to get the valuation Skills quoted above in Western WA, in my opinion, would likely require sitting on the bus for a long time waiting for the right buyer to come along. Most buses I've seen in the condition yours is in are going to sell for around the $5-6k mark if you want to move it in a reasonable time frame.

Relative to my old '79, your valuation will go up since it runs and drives, it's a campmobile not a transporter, has no obvious rust issues, etc.

Another way to compare would be the NADA valuation for your bus:
http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1968/Volkswagen/Transporter/Campmobile/Values

The DOL made me use this value when I bought the bus for determining the correct sales tax, since I paid so little for it. I was able to fight that a bit, but that's a different story. Given the your vehicle's condition and the value descriptions used by NADA, you would be comfortably below the Low Retail Value number. It's valuation would then be the Low Retail Value number less the costs (body, mechanical, etc.) needed to bring it up to the description for Low Retail. I can tell you from recent personal experience that a nose replacement will set you back about $4k in and off itself. See WBL Automotive in Arlington if you want a quote to use in your defense.

Food for thought. Good luck.
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Andrew

Oscar: 1976 Westfalia Deluxe Camper, 2.0L FI, Manual Transaxle