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angelstar1007 Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2021 Posts: 4 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:12 am Post subject: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Hello to all. I’m new to this so I apologise if I’m not posting correctly. Many years ago I had a type 2 1972 Westy. Her name was Bella. This was in the U.K.
I moved to the USA about 5 years ago and am a little older now. I want to buy another bus and travel this huge country in a year or so.
I don’t know what to buy. Obviously I have a fondness for the type 2 bus!
I’ve been reading these forums for a few months and I hope that by becoming a member I will be lucky enough to get a wealth of knowledge and advice before I commit to buying my dream.
So far I have seen
*1971 bus not camper with an original flat 4 for $5000
* 1981 westfalia camper with 2l air cooled for $12000
* various buses/campers located in Brazil
* several Craigslist and eBay ads at varying prices.
It’s a rabbit hole. I’ve lost several days already.
Does anyone have any good advice or links to where I can find advice on what to look for and what would be a good buy? I really don’t want to get taken advantage of. I’m very easily led by pretty things and don’t know what I’m looking for. Sweet talkers and bargains are my weakness. Please help. |
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rcroane Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2013 Posts: 2000 Location: Springfield, Virginia
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:23 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Welcome!
First question....what's your budget? _________________ '65 Sunroof Bug |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22639 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:41 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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One adaptation you have to understand.
There is no MOT in the US. Each state has its own program of inspections, some states don’t inspect at all. There is little regulation on reselling cars so you can buy a manifestly unsafe vehicle and have no recourse.
There are people who change ID numbers on cars to hide that they are stolen. These numbers appear in three places on each car, if they don’t match it can be a big problem.
Basically, treat buying as a free for all of unregulated commerce compared to the UK.
Good running T2 Bay Bus will be about 10k
Good running T3 Camper about 20k _________________ .ssS! |
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vwinnovator Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005 Posts: 1555 Location: Still doing it in the back of your VW
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:51 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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If your planning on traveling the country, you might want to start with a decent "core" and have it reconditioned.
As these are now 40,50, 60 yr old vehicles, there are lots of worn, overlooked, "just getting by", components that work ok for 10-15 mile trips, but most likely will fail when put to long tests.
fresh engine, fresh trans, fresh brake(ALL components), suspension, steering, etc...
Focus your budget on the mechanicals as the cosmetics(paint, interior..)won't leave you broken down middle of nowhere |
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angelstar1007 Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2021 Posts: 4 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:20 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Wow you guys are quick!! Thanks.
I have a budget of about $5-10000 depending on what needs doing. I appreciate the advice about the MOT and it’s a new concept to me that people can actually sell the vehicles that might blow up at any moment.
I am not afraid of hard work or learning new skills. I quite like the idea of spending half my waking hours tinkering around with my little dream in the garage. Of course I have no experience of anything other than changing oil and filters but you are never too old to learn right?
I think I’m more worried by rust and holes and “wobbly” vans than I am about the mechanics of it. I feel like rust could cost more to fix.
Please correct me and advise!
Do you think it’s possible to get a driveable van that’s quite nice for under $20,000? Even if I buy it at $5-10,000 and invest in repairs to make it so? |
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rcroane Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2013 Posts: 2000 Location: Springfield, Virginia
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:27 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Disclaimer....I know nothing about vans (I'm a bug guy), but this one caught my eye. I realize it's in CA so you'd have to factor in the cost of shipping. I would trust a Samba seller before CL, Ebay, etc. This seller seems to have good feedback, too.
Good luck!
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2438933 _________________ '65 Sunroof Bug |
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Cusser Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006 Posts: 31360 Location: Hot Arizona
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:34 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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angelstar1007 wrote: |
Hello to all. I’m new to this so I apologise if I’m not posting correctly. Many years ago I had a type 2 1972 Westy. Her name was Bella. This was in the U.K.
I moved to the USA about 5 years ago and am a little older now. I want to buy another bus and travel this huge country in a year or so.
I don’t know what to buy. |
Georgia and SE USA vehicles can have significant rust, maybe not as bad as the north and northeast, so rust is definitely something to avoid. This is why California, Arizona, New Mexico vehicles are in demand, and typically have less rust than those in other parts of USA. _________________ 1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12846 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:24 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Good luck on your search for a $5,000-$10,000 bay worthy of any sort of road trip.
Remember, be REALLY suspicious if it’s got fresh paint. _________________ 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. |
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CanStan Samba Member
Joined: October 16, 2005 Posts: 1037 Location: Calgary, AB
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:42 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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angelstar1007 wrote: |
Do you think it’s possible to get a driveable van that’s quite nice for under $20,000? Even if I buy it at $5-10,000 and invest in repairs to make it so? |
I think you're being reasonable there with your budget. I've always told anyone looking for a VW Van / Bus that they will spend at least $20,000 on it before it's a reliable road trip vehicle. Whether that's $1,000 now and $19,000 later, or vice versa.
That being said, it most often makes more sense to spend the most you possibly can now. Let someone else take the loss on all the parts and labor to get it nice. The person selling a Van for $20k might have put a lot more than that into it.
Spending a lot of cash on a Van is no guarantee of it being perfect, but you will likely be a lot of time and money ahead for doing so.
There are some highly respected people here who (for a fee) can do a pre-purchase inspection on a vehicle you're considering. It will be the best money you can spend if, as you admit, you don't know what you're looking for. Spending $300 on that could save you $10,000 and a lot of headache.
Also, as another thought, having 1 year to prepare for a trip around the USA really isn't a lot of time. Even if you were comfortable working on it yourself, there's a lot of learning to do, and you don't want to get the project finished the day before you leave. You'll need many months of drives close to home, followed by some longer, then even longer trips to work out all the inevitable kinks and make sure things are working properly. There's something to be said for knowing your vehicle inside and out by having done all the work yourself, so when you have an issue 200 miles from civilization, you can (hopefully) overcome it. But since you're in a bit of a learning and time crunch, my vote is to spend the top budget you can right out of the gate. |
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61SNRF Samba Member
Joined: March 29, 2009 Posts: 4657 Location: Whittier 90602
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:43 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Hi and welcome to America!
The VW passion runs rampant in this site but please be aware the VW transporters of all years were/are a foreign car here. That means parts and service can be a specialty not widely available across the country. Parts are one thing but some service centers may simply refuse to work on them.
Not to discourage you at all but in harsh honesty if you just want to get in and drive happily across the country you may be better setting off in an American camper conversion van. _________________ -Bruce
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. |
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CanStan Samba Member
Joined: October 16, 2005 Posts: 1037 Location: Calgary, AB
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 3:42 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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61SNRF wrote: |
Not to discourage you at all but in harsh honesty if you just want to get in and drive happily across the country you may be better setting off in an American camper conversion van. |
If you were planning a 2 week or month long trip, I would agree with this. But if you’re planning on spending a year on the road, and can handle the possibility of being stuck somewhere for an unknown amount of time waiting on parts or service, I still say go VW. I don’t mean that to sound backhanded or anything. It’s the reality of an old car. It could take a week to get a diagnosis on an issue, a week to find and ship parts. Then some time to fix it. If that’s just part of the adventure, and doesn’t make you feel like it destroyed the trip, go for it. I’ve made some really great friends and memories from some of my frustrating break down experiences I would have never had driving a Chevy Astro Van.
The last 2 month long trip we did, we mentally prepared for 3 breakdowns. That way, you can’t get angry or upset when it happens. (By the way, we only broke down once, and I was able to fix it with my spare parts I brought along.)
This isn’t to say you’re necessarily guaranteed breakdowns, but sometimes things happen to even the best maintained 30-50 year old cars.
Bring along lots of tools and spare parts. I kept the underside of my rear seat packed to the brim with extras. Even if you’re not comfortable fixing it yourself, having the parts can mean the difference between being stranded for an hour or a week. Also make sure you budget for catastrophic issues that won’t derail your trip. Last year someone was travelling through my area in a Syncro Vanagon several thousand miles from home. The transmission went, and they couldn’t afford a rebuild or find a reasonably priced used one. They ended up abandoning the Van and got home somehow. Now they are trying to sell a non-running van from across the country.
Again, non of this is meant to scare you off. It’s simply some realities of what I’ve experienced and witnessed others go through.
I hope you have a great adventure. It sounds like a blast to do a trip like that. Keep us posted with what you decide. There’s a lot of knowledge in these forums. |
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FarmerBill Samba Member
Joined: July 25, 2017 Posts: 766 Location: New England
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:59 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Yep, lots of spare parts are needed on board now. Gone are the days of every FLAPS having even the most basic air-cooled VW parts. When I drove my 71 bus cross country in the mid 90s you could still get most of what you needed either off the shelf or in a day or two. I still carried a spare distributor, carb, fuel pump, assortment of seals and gaskets, one good used head, etc. The idea was to swap a failed part as quickly as possible and get back on the road. |
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oprn Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2016 Posts: 12699 Location: Western Canada
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:29 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Not to discourage you but on major freeways these days with the speed most people travel a Bus is going to be a source of frustration for all involved. Of course that would give you licence to take all the scenic routes... _________________ We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age) |
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angelstar1007 Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2021 Posts: 4 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:26 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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I am not discouraged quite yet. I have no plans to make a plan! If i get stuck I will adventure!! So much useful advice though. I am grateful. I’ll keep looking. Perhaps my time plan is a little over hopefully perhaps I should look at a trip in 2 years. I like the idea of testing it out close to home first. |
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vwinnovator Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005 Posts: 1555 Location: Still doing it in the back of your VW
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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oprn wrote: |
Not to discourage you but on major freeways these days with the speed most people travel a Bus is going to be a source of frustration for all involved. Of course that would give you licence to take all the scenic routes... |
maybe for a stock worn out old bus...
But, with a nice engine, proper gearing, good suspension...70mph cruising isn't too difficult. (aside from windy days )
Plan your drivetrain/ suspension for it's use.
will it be flat driving? lots of mountain areas? off road adventures?
will the bus be loaded down with 100's of lbs of gear? or bare minimum essentials? |
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Blue Baron VW Aficionado
Joined: June 16, 2006 Posts: 24037 Location: Southeast USA
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Here's some advice.
When you buy a bus, have some sort of temporary warranty written into the bill of sale, and signed by the seller. All used car sales are normally "as is" unless there is some form of warranty.
I was watching one of the judge shows on TV, and the buyer smartly had written in that the seller would take back the car and refund her money if repair estimates totalled more than $1,000. She took it to court, and the judge enforced it. _________________ We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.
Heinz Nordhoff |
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CanStan Samba Member
Joined: October 16, 2005 Posts: 1037 Location: Calgary, AB
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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Blue Baron wrote: |
Here's some advice.
When you buy a bus, have some sort of temporary warranty written into the bill of sale, and signed by the seller. All used car sales are normally "as is" unless there is some form of warranty.
I was watching one of the judge shows on TV, and the buyer smartly had written in that the seller would take back the car and refund her money if repair estimates totalled more than $1,000. She took it to court, and the judge enforced it. |
Who would sell a vehicle under those terms other than a dealer? I think if you’re concerned about the cost of repairs, you pony up for a pre-purchase inspection and determine those issues before cash and the title change hands. I’m not refunding someone’s purchase price if they lug a Bus up a hill and overheat it a week later.
I would never sell something without disclosing known issues. I don’t need the bad juju. But if you’re buying a 50 year old vehicle, things are bound to happen.
And unless you’re trashy enough to guest star on Judge Judy, you’re going to have to spend a lot of time and money taking someone to court if you’re unhappy with your purchase. |
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Blue Baron VW Aficionado
Joined: June 16, 2006 Posts: 24037 Location: Southeast USA
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:45 pm Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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I agree, the first option is getting it inspected. In this instance, the buyer was prevented from getting the car checked out, so she added the provision to the bill of sale.
I'm looking at it from the perspective of the buyer, not the seller. All I said was it was an idea to consider. It would depend on the circumstances. You'd be surprised what a seller will sign, especially when there is cash being waved around and no other buyer in sight. If someone boasts their bus is good to drive cross country, let them back it up.
And yes, judge shows are full of asshats. _________________ We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.
Heinz Nordhoff |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22639 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:50 am Post subject: Re: New to this. All help appreciated |
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On your timeframe I would seek out a dry west coast camper and have a inspection done out there ( cost $300-500) before finalizing the deal.
From there you can either ship back or make it leg one of your journey around the US
It’s a great time to be getting ready as we are locked down with the Covid for a few more months
Robbie here on Samba ( user airschooled) is west coast based PPI candidate. _________________ .ssS! |
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TrulyVintage Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2008 Posts: 207 Location: Direct Enclosed Transporter
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