Pop Top Heaven

[70coupyel]

What do you guys know about Pop Top Heaven?
I did a search and this is all I got:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=129284&highlight=pop+heaven

Not very much. I friend asked me about them. I have not heard one peep about here in our forum. Thanks


Glenn
_________________

[CF]

here is thier link
http://www.poptopheaven.com/

[aswah]

Me and my wife bought our Westy from them a few years ago. They were ok and fair to deal with. We got a good solid VDUB off them at a decent price. I won't go too far in recommending or not recommending them... in hindsight, if I were to buy another WESTY in my life... I would buy from an individual and not a company.

ASWAH

[DINK]

I bought my syncro Westy from them. It was priced fairly and accurately described in our pre sale correspondence. I have no buyer's remorse at all from that perspective.

However, Lou is difficult to get in touch with and not a particularly detail oriented person. Make sure you have all of your questions prepared in the initial stages of your sales process. Once it is done, he is not much on follow up.

GoWesty, on the other hand, is very customer focused and has earned my follow up business. You pay for it though.
_________________
66 Panel < 40,000 mi.
73 Std. Sedan
GBNF: 64 21 Window, 64 Deluxe, 73 Westy, 79 Bay, 84 GLI, 91 GL, 04 GLI, 87 Syncro Westy

[otiswesty]

Before I bought my van in 2005, I looked at Poptopheaven's stock. The vans were generally dirty and the guy who showed them to me was not especially knowledgable. The one I came to look at in July had mismatched studded snow tires on it (a syncro) and painted over rust bubbles. I was not impressed.

I ended up buying from Gowesty, a van I had looked at a week before. Prices was similar for better condition. Gowesty has an advantage in a good service shop as well and great customer support. Not particularly unreasonable if you forgo the $50K upgrade package.
_________________
1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[deprivation]

I almost bought my van from them. They really don't do too much to the vehicles in terms of rehab so from a dollar standpoint you're better off buying a workable fixer-upper and then start fixin' her up unless by some miracle you get a 20 year old van that needs nothing.

The one I was looking at had only 90k on it but PopTop made a huge deal out of the few minor things they had done to the vehicle which supposedly justified the 16k or so they were asking. Was it a good van? I don't know. I would rather work on the vehicle myself and have a clear idea as to the status of each system.
_________________
1986 Westy 2WD auto a.k.a. "The Old Girl"
www.kittenfart.com

[dhc2124]

Just bought a Eurovan from Pop Top Heaven in Yucaipa, Ca last week. They advertised that everything was gone through( 27 point check) and "all the camping gear worked great". We had done some research on the internet and found no bad feedback about the company, so we felt like they should be OK to deal with. They are several hours away so by the time we got there, checked out their stock and made an offer on a van it was pretty late in the afternoon, getting dark. and raining. We brought up some concerns about not having time to check out all the equipment and were assured that everything worked, and if we had any troubles they would do everything they could to make it right. The next day while checking things out the heater did not get very warm, the fridge would not get cold using LPG and the safety LPG alarm had no power. When we called them uo to get things straitened out. they said no problem, but she would have to talk to the owner to see how he wanted to handle this, as we were several hours away. Well, from that point on I had to call from several different phones, shut of my caller ID just to get her to answer. Backed into a corner she said to take it to a local RV shop and they would pay to have it checked out. Well, The shop said there were wasp nests in the vent lines, the deep cell battery in the back was bone dry and we are looking at about $800 to get it all corrected. He said there was no way this thing had been checked out. This has been going on for the second complete week and looking like a court battle in the making. Lucky for me the van has very low miles and checks out via car FAX.
I still think the van is great, but I did pay to much for a vehicle that was misrepresented by Pop Top Heaven, and now I am going through the exact troubles I was trying to avoid by going to a dealer who appeared to be reputable. The word on this guy really needs to get out. If you have had the same issues with this guy, please post, or if you have any ideas of other locations I should put the word out, let know.

[dhc2124]

I got a call from one of the Pop Top Heaven owners just after the holidays. He was very concerned about our purchase experience. He explained that they had some phone problems over the past few months which did not help the situation, along with them being gone for the holidays it made for poor service. As they did pay for the repairs and once they got back, made an effort to address our issues by phone and via email, I am satisfied that it was not their intention to misrepresent the van. Once the few bugs were worked out and all is said and done, I know I got a great camper van, in great shape, with low miles that I will enjoy with little or no trouble. I got it at a good price and know that I might have paid $10k+ or more at one of the other big Eurovan dealers in California, for the same Eurovan

[deprivation]

Glad to hear your van is sorted out but I'd never recommend a company that claims to have "phone problems". We both know that is bullshit. It's obvious your van was not inspected before they sold it to you. 27 points isn't nearly enough to thoroughly inspect a vehicle. Even though things more or less worked out for you, I think your story kinda closes the book on PopTop. Bad ju-ju.
_________________
1986 Westy 2WD auto a.k.a. "The Old Girl"
www.kittenfart.com

[dhc2124]

Just another note to clear the air about Pop Top Heaven. Now that the Holidays are over, I have had some regular contact with Pop Top Heaven. They have been very helpful in correcting some of the minor issues we have had with the van, and willing to do what ever it takes to get things corrected.
I have learned a lot about the Eurovan Campers over the last three weeks, and had I knew then more about the individual components and some of the "common issues" I would have had a better handle on what to look for and what to worry about.
Learn from my mistake. Do learn about the individual components, do look at more than 3-4 vans, and do spend the time to check things on a van you are buying... Maybe 3-4 hours just checking out the camping gear.

[BG39]

Just a note about our experience with Pop Top Heaven:

We were new to Volkswagen and Camper-Vans when we bought our van from PopTop Heaven, Yucaipa, CA, Thanksgiving 2010. We "camped" a week in Southern California to get comfortable with the Camper. We stopped back at PopTop to get the furnace serviced before heading toward the Midwest and home. However, the furnace was still intermittent. PopTop folks were available by phone, thinking we had a thermostat problem and then arranged for service at a Flagstaff, AZ RV place. The Flagstaff folks fixed a minor problem.

It is now 13 months and 11,000 miles later. As newbies, we were vulnerable buyers. But PopTop Heaven folks treated us like good family. Our Camper Van has been fun and reliable. There would be no question about where we would go to buy another -- or where we would sell our van if we ever decide to do so. Our experience with PopTop Heaven was Five-Star.

[Pop Top Heaven]

I just stumbled across this thread. To clarify, our average reconditioning cost is $5,300.00. This thread was started a long time ago, and our operation has definitely improved with time. Lou is no longer with the company, and David (his replacement) is very knowledgeable about the vehicles we sell. As for "dirty" vehicles, we are a working lot located 40 feet from the I-10. Yes, many of our vehicles are dirty, but that's simply because of our location, and the fact that we are a working lot...not a showroom. Most of the vehicles are at some point in the reconditioning process, so yes, you will see some beautiful campers, and some that still need repair. I want to make it clear that I never let a vehicle leave here unless I feel comfortable driving it on a trip myself. I’m the president of the company, and anyone is welcome to call or stop by any time to see our shop, and watch the reconditioning process. I’m in the office M-F, and will gladly take the time to talk to anyone who has any questions or concerns about our operation. Just call or email and ask for Chris.

[rickiellen]

I want to give a heart-felt Thanks! to Pop Top Heaven! They gave us their time and expertise to fix a problem with our pop-top locking latch, when we showed up at their shop, unannounced, during a drive across California. We couldn't get the pop-top to lock closed properly, and driving in the high winds on Hwy 10 scared us to death!... luckily, we were close to Yucaipa, and found their shop. We expected to get, at best, some quick advice; but the guys at Pop Top Heaven had us bring our van in, raise the top, and after diagnosing the problem, they fixed it, expertly! They wouldn't even take any money from us. They never asked if we had bought the van from them (we hadn't), and never hesitated to offer their help. If this is any reflection on their honesty and integrity -- and I think it is -- I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a camper from a reliable company.
Many many thanks to the good guys at Pop Top Heaven!

[boinzy]

I am looking at buying a VW camper van right now, and while I'd be interested in considering these guys, they make it a bit of a challenge to do business with them.

There are no prices on the site. They ask you to sign up for a weekly email to get prices. I've signed up a few times, but an email has never been sent to me. I can't seem to find pictures of the actual vans listed on the site. Click a link and I am taken to a generic page with pics for multiple vans listed.

There's a link to a picasa gallery, but that doesn't work for me either.

It just became frustrating, too much trouble to deal with, so I don't even consider them anymore. Oh well.

[Jeff's Old Volks Home]

[Ahwahnee]

No doubt about it, the Vanagon buying experience is a bit more challenging than going down to your Toyota dealer and picking out a Prius.

I thought their website seemed pretty good considering the nature of their business -- if it is correct it shows their inventory and one click gets you details for any van.

Pop Top Heaven Vans

I had no problem getting lots of photos from their Picasa site, though they warn Google Chrome users there is a reader they will need to install.

Typical photos

They do explain why there is no pricing on the website:

I have no connection with PTH, indeed have never dealt with them or ever been there -- but know from years of working with collector cars that the best sources are often not the best marketed slickest operations. Some require patience and persistence to deal with them successfully.

If a snappy website with photos, prices and salesmanship is what you want there are plenty of those out there, this one for example.

[kennyw]

I still get the weekly price list from them, but I think I deleted the latest one or would forward it. In my opinion, they act like they do restoration like GoWesty but they are closer to a wash and flip. From what I have seen from them, they do a good job at getting quality vans but don't seem to really do any work to them.
_________________
'15 Tiguan - Victor
'88 Westy - Maggy

[insyncro]

Judging by the cobwebs under the Syncro Westy on thier site, the vans just sit.

From personal experience, just sitting is not great for a Vanagon.

Quite a bit of surface rust on the undercarriage for a clean Left Coast van.

[boinzy]

I don't use Chrome, so maybe that's why Picasa doesn't work for me?

Doesn't have to be slick or fancy. Click the link for an available van and I want to be taken to a page (just like what they have is fine), but with detailed info on that particular van for sale, and instead of the pictures of various vans, pics for that particular van. They can post pictures on the page, why not pics of that van? Price should be on that page as well.

Or not. If they really don't want to do that, or can't do that, that's fine with me too. But there are plenty of places to buy vans, I don't need to jump through hoops. And perhaps I'm not the customer they want? It's their business, they can run it how they want. If this is what works for them, hey alright. But I bet I'm not the only one thwarted by this shitty experience.

[kamzcab86]