Help pricing my Westfalia

[vanagontravel]

New user here. I am trying to sell my 86 westy and am not sure how to price it. I have had it up for a few weeks and am not getting a response. I am wondering if I need to put more info in the ad, more photos, or if the pricing is unrealistic. I'm not a car person, so any help would be appreciated. What is the price range on a clean 86? I see a hugh price range for these vans. Mine has a rebuilt engine $5000 miles ago, 205,000 on the body. I got the car 15 years ago to take the grandkids camping, now need the money to help with college. Thanks for any help.

[visibleink]

Try 19999.99 instead of 20000.00.

Seriously, there's a big mental jump from 18-19K to 20K+.

And remove all stickers.
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Been on the samba so long I remember petting that dog to see VWs, WYHI, and green bug girl.

<-- Helga, she slammed her dub in '53 and adjusted valves with her teeth

[djkeev]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2208159


A torn canvas is a minus
A non operating refrigerator is a minus
Not having A/C is a minus

The Van looks in good shape but at 200,000 what has been done besides an engine rebuild?

Suspension?
Shocks?
Transaxle?
Wheel bearings?
CV joints?
Radiator and various plastic Cooling system bits upgraded and renewed?
Fuel system renewed?
Fuel tank resealed?
Power steering lines replaced?

At 200,000 miles just about everything is about to need replacement or service.

Why was it repainted?
Repaint screams body damage or rust was covered up.


Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[visibleink]

That top is nasty, detail it and make it white with new westy stickers. I'm also not a fan of non factory or mismatched window tint.

Seriously, if you truly detail a car and make it new it causes people to want it more.
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Been on the samba so long I remember petting that dog to see VWs, WYHI, and green bug girl.

<-- Helga, she slammed her dub in '53 and adjusted valves with her teeth

[davevickery]

Certainly it is an issue of price if no one is calling, but you do have to list it on craigslist or elsewhere. There is nothing you can do about not having A/C but I would think that would be a big deterrent in the California market. If you want to expand our market to a more northern state like Washington or Oregon it has to be priced low enough to make it worth the trouble. Or just price it so it is the nicest van w/o AC in your area.

And the market is down right now. I would compare the other listings within 5 hour drive and price it aggressively if you want to sell it and if there are other pluses not mentioned list them.

[Ahwahnee]

If the engine looks good then add photos of it - a nice clean engine bay says a lot about how a van was maintained (okay proves nothing but still 'says a lot' to buyers).

[davevickery]

[mikemtnbike]

It's probably just lighting, but the 3rd picture looks like a dent on the front below the passenger side front window. I'd either remove that picture or explain that's not a dent- if it is, that's a big drawback to me.

I'm also with davevickery on the door handles, that's odd to me.

All that said, no rust is fantastic of course, the interior looks great, and it might run like a top. If it does, maybe take some video of it driving, idling and post links in your ad?
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[visibleink]

Good catch on painting over the door handles.
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Been on the samba so long I remember petting that dog to see VWs, WYHI, and green bug girl.

<-- Helga, she slammed her dub in '53 and adjusted valves with her teeth

[Pinetops]

I'd take better pictures with a nice green field and/or trees in the background. The van is almost the same color as the buildings around it and it looks like you just pulled it out of hibernation and are working on it whilte taking the photos. Pictures are very important. I'd also lower the price to $19,500 obo.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[owokie]

Agree with the sticker removal, detail, and better pictures, outdoors. Put the rear cabinet door back on and re-install the table. Delete the yoga picture that has different hubcaps on the van. Unless the door handles were intentional and it was a windows-out paint job, that's a 15k van in our maket, and that assuming there isn't any deferred maintenance.

[AZ Landshaper]

shoot some videos with either tunes in the background or people having a good time. Van rolling down some scenic highway w Hot Tuna playing in the background. Shots of the speedo or a tach in action. My last video showed me accelerating from 65 to 80 while passing a trailer full of cattle. It was sweet.
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Support Small Business.

-------------------------------------------------------
85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[jimf909]

Agreed that that's a $15K max van. Too much oddball stuff already mentioned to ask $20K for it. Alternatively, leave it posted for 6 mos. to see if anyone has the exact same taste in stickers, window tint, #vanlifeyoga, etc. as you.
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- Jim

[16CVs]

Price is rich, The market is soft and people are educated. They are spending top dollar for the right van. 88 and newer and super nice.
Like others I would remove the stickers, the trailer hitch and all non factory items screwed to the dash. When I see a hitch like that I wonder what they towed with it.
Spend the money and replace the rear bumper and have the door handles painted black again. MAybe a local Van guy wil trade you the hitch for painting the handles. Do you havo the rear cabinet door?
Price it to make the phone ring. People are looking, my number on that van is $13.5 -- $16.K
Do you have a smog in hand? Rust free is a great feature but you have to have the whole package.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[JudoJeff]

As-is 14k range. Take the advice offered here.

I have the missing door, pm me if you want to buy it.
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________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout)

[jimf909]

In some ways, this $8,500 van looks as nice or nicer than the OP's $20K van. $11,500 buys a lot of maintenance and upgrades.

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/d/volkswagen-campmobile/6693824246.html

Overall, I believe that this shows it's a much better time to be a buyer than a seller.
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- Jim

[AZ Landshaper]

wow OP is taking a beating here. But so many see 25k and say wow honey sell the gold bar, I mean the gold van.
Getting 20k for a van takes $ input and time. There are only so many people willing to shell out 20k for a VW van. There are a LOT more looking to spend 10-15k.
_________________
Support Small Business.

-------------------------------------------------------
85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[?Waldo?]

I tend to think these threads are basically just a for sale ad in disguise. I find a certain type of justice in that all the issues promptly get pointed out and the asking price debunked.

[davevickery]

You might be right waldo; a For Sale Ad gone wrong. What bothers me is someone posts and then gets a lot of feedback and never replies back. Not even a thank you for the useful posts. And they only just joined thesamba to sell their van.

It doesn't appear that they took any of the advice offered either. Although I see the van is listed on CL in LosAngeles at 19K but it is a month old.

If the thread was asking how do I accentuate the postives of my van so I can get the most money for it, there could be lots of good suggestions and digging into the details around some of the things not mentioned to see if there are positives not pointed out.

Price wise he doesn't seem too far out of the ballpark to me compared to other ones listed. But these are discretionary purchases so it doesn't matter what the competiton is if there are no buyers. I'd say drop the price a couple grand and see if anything happens. If not, another couple grand. I would think at 16K there would be some interest.

And why not spruce up a couple of the small things. Unbend the bumper and buy a $15 end cap. Add some new floor mats. Put some new Westfalia decals on it. Take better pictures. Detail the engine bay and include that and details on the rebuild and any work on the transmission. Seems to be no motivation to do anything more to sell it, not even changing the ad. So why post looking for feedback?

[kamzcab86]