| Author |
Message |
DubStyle
SBS Hit Squad
Joined: July 26, 2003
Posts: 6250
Location: SBS headquarters: Missery
|
 Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:38 pm Post subject: It's good to be a bus owner! |
 |
|
I know a lot of us have been doing this for many years and some of you for many, many more than some of the new people have been alive. As I surfed the classified and saw the amount of ridiculous cash they are asking for what we paid $500 - $1K for just 20 years ago. Not to mention these Brazilian buses with $20K - $75K price tags. WTF??? 5 years from now I plan to be retired and driving my 62 with the rag top back, safaris open and grinning ear to ear knowing it will put smiles on my face for miles to come. Hopefully, I can buy a 2nd one and restore it, so I can give one to each of my sons when I kick the bucket. Of course the rusted out swamp saves will be worth $20K when I get to that point.  Raise your hand if you are HAPPY BUS OWNER! 
_________________
Anthony
SBS #1
SBS #1 on FB
"The original & best lowered Split Bus website/club" |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
rking6
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2010
Posts: 140
Location: Long Beach Ca.
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| I am with you on this one !! I bought my 63 EZ camper in 1969 for $1100........I will be 71 in July.. Love it !! Bob King |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
flemcadiddlehopper
Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2011
Posts: 2332
Location: Kelowna, BC. Canada.
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:25 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
You are preaching to the choir, but you can still get an Amen on that one.
I bought my running, driving and looking good at the time '67 11 window in '92 for $3500 can. Which seemed like huge money at the time. Actually it was all I had at the time.
And all I think of for my retirement is where to go in the bus...hopefully retirement will come soon.
Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.
Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Major Woody
Samba Enigma
Joined: December 04, 2002
Posts: 9010
Location: Portland, OR
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
Word. In 2004 I bought my 67 Westfalia with like-new big-top tent and rack from the original owner for $5900. It came with the original window sticker, all the service records, and a factory first aid kit that had never been opened. I felt like it was a good deal, but not a "you suck" deal.
I would never be able to afford that bus now, even if I could buy it for half its value.
Just sitting in it makes me grin like a little kid on Christmas morning. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
karl h
Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2005
Posts: 578
Location: austria
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
zozo
Samba Member
Joined: October 15, 2005
Posts: 5217
Location: South of Ol' San Antonio
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 5:18 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
In 2006 I paid $2000 for my '65 Standard, and drove it home. I still regard it as my therapy on wheels. Whether driving it, working on it, or just looking at it, I always feel that the day to day bullshit that life provides is of far less importance.
Last edited by zozo on Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vwuberalles
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2003
Posts: 1357
Location: Richmond, VA
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:06 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
I'm glad to still own my 67 kombi. Picked it up back in 1996 for $450 and drove it home! Many awesome memories with it, I can't wait til it's back on the road. My dad took on the bodywork as his retirement project. I'm really glad selling it had never even crossed my mind in all these years, there's no way I could afford one at today's prices.
_________________
1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
crofty
Judas of the North
Joined: August 09, 2000
Posts: 19672
Location: Land of Whine and Phonies
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:29 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
I bought my ’65 SO42 in May of ’94 for $2500. Back then that was a lot of money for a bus, especially a camper.
In ’98 I had it painted (exterior only) and have put well over 100k on it since. This pic is from a few years ago.
Its been on SST too!
_________________
Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.
| HamburgerBrad wrote: |
I slept on crofty's tent once. I passed out drunk from two bottles of Everett's brother's wine. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jeremy57ride
Samba Member
Joined: May 23, 2005
Posts: 1318
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:10 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
YES. The whole value jump is a bitter sweet deal. These old busses bring a smile to almost all and now they're all but too priceless to drive.
For those in the know, the smiles are in the miles...
_________________
"If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." -Warren Miller |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ozark23
Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2002
Posts: 156
Location: Oklahoma
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:20 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
Got my first split in '06 for 3000 cash....could not imagine life without oil changes, fixing drum brakes, camping with my family. Bus life is the good life.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
turbo_g
Father of Samba Cookie Lover
Joined: October 30, 2002
Posts: 717
Location: Laguna Hills, Ca
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 2:34 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
The bus I drive today was FREE. I even put it on this site back in the day saying someone should rescue it from the crusher...I eventually did. (Look for the post called "Is This Bus Worth Saving")
I even bought my son his own bus, to entice him to come home from college...owning a bus is a right of passage in our family. My bus on the left, his on the right.
Two Hands Raised!
_________________
Turbo_g
66 TinTop Westy SO42
63 Sub-hatch Westy SO33
SV2s Member #425
_________________
"Three out of four voices in my head say 'Go for it'." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VWAdam
Samba Member
Joined: February 14, 2002
Posts: 3331
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:10 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
Yes. Me too! I hate all the people whining about prices these days. If you just liked them because they were cheap then maybe you didn't really like them in the first place. Not that I don't miss them being cheap, haha.
However, there's nothing that makes me more content and feel more like myself than when I'm behind that big old steering wheel watching the road pass underneath. I definitely have full coverage so I can get another if something catastrophic happens.
A couple of pics from my last Bus roadtrip, New Orleans in November.
_________________
All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.
'59 Euro Beetle ragtop
'63 Standard Microbus
Come to my show! www.volksjam.com
Looking for badge/sticker/frame from Western Motors in Great Falls, Montana |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
WildIdea
Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016
Posts: 928
Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
I can’t say I got a screaming deal when I bought my first Split bus in 2017. Maybe it’ll look like one years from now and inflation will make me look like a genius! Still, I’m not that hung up on the price of admission to ownership, just flat out amazed I even have one at all and feel it’s a huge honor to own, care and feed one. It’s an incredible experience any way I look it.
There simply isn’t enough splits to meet the interest today. From what I’m seeing, the interest that’s driving the prices is getting a lot of buses (not just splits) pulled out if the bushes to be saved and enjoyed.
_________________
1977 Sage Green Westy
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691987
1965 SWR Walk-Through Standard
1960 211 Panel American Camper Conversion |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mcarls
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2009
Posts: 49
Location: Southeastern Washington
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 9:45 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| Not sure what it is about driving a split that makes it such a meaningful experience, but I appreciate it. Bought mine for $500 about 12 years ago and the feeling I get while driving it is just good. There’s nothing safe or reassuring about it, but it puts me in touch with a rudimentary mechanical piece of equipment that speaks to me. I may be insane. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BulliBill
Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004
Posts: 4572
Location: St Charles, MO
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:51 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| mcarls wrote: |
| Not sure what it is about driving a split that makes it such a meaningful experience, but I appreciate it. Bought mine for $500 about 12 years ago and the feeling I get while driving it is just good. There’s nothing safe or reassuring about it, but it puts me in touch with a rudimentary mechanical piece of equipment that speaks to me. I may be insane. |
Welcome to the "looney bin"! I'll make room for ya!
I've always had a VW of some sort since I was 15, but I was enticed over to the dark side of Bus ownership back in 1984 when I purchased a S.F. Bay area Kombi Sundial for $850 in travelers checks. I hopped in and drove it south to L.A. to attend the '84 L.A. Olympics for a week and then drove it home to St. Louis. That Camper started the madness for me. I've had a HUGE shit-eating grin on my face ever since!
Now, four Transporters are tucked away with another four VWs in my man-cave garage. Whenever I need a break from reality I simply stroll downstairs, fire up the stereo and grab a cold brew from my vintage Coca-Cola vending machine and start touching old German metal. As said before, this hobby is the best therapy for me! I don't have children, but all of these VWs downstairs are beloved kids to me! I don't have college tuition's to sweat out, just brake parts, an occasional engine or special trinket and quarts and quarts and more quarts of oil to provide for them. I guess I can't really call 'em "kids" as most of them are almost as old as I am.
I'm just so grateful that I had the foresight to buy all of them back in the very reasonably priced days. Now my Buses are like nice IRA's fermenting as I enjoy using them. There is nothing sweeter than a nice evening drive to nowhere in particular with me hunched over and my elbows and hands planted on that lovely horizontal steering wheel.
That first $850 '67 Sundial Camper, later converted into the pop-top Westy SO-42 Campmobile seen here while on vacation last Sept out in Phoenix:
my original paint SWR '59 Double-Door Panel:
my recently restored '59 Double-Cab Pick-up:
my '87 Vanagon Westfalia Camper GL:
me (with two of my favorite food groups) in H-O, Germany:
Bill Bowman
www.bnnta.com
_________________
I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VWAdam
Samba Member
Joined: February 14, 2002
Posts: 3331
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 7:58 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| mcarls wrote: |
| Not sure what it is about driving a split that makes it such a meaningful experience, but I appreciate it. Bought mine for $500 about 12 years ago and the feeling I get while driving it is just good. There’s nothing safe or reassuring about it, but it puts me in touch with a rudimentary mechanical piece of equipment that speaks to me. I may be insane. |
I was already a VW guy but when I first drove a split in 2004 when I was 18 years old, it was like a voice in my head said "This is what you should be driving." A few months later I'd sold my baywindow and bought a '67 13-window. I've never looked back. Since then I've had a split Bus aside from about a month in 2011 when I sold my '67 Deluxe and '64 Panel before I bought my '63 I posted above. When I drove it home and parked it next to my Beetle, I felt like me again.
_________________
All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.
'59 Euro Beetle ragtop
'63 Standard Microbus
Come to my show! www.volksjam.com
Looking for badge/sticker/frame from Western Motors in Great Falls, Montana |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mcarls
Samba Member
Joined: December 13, 2009
Posts: 49
Location: Southeastern Washington
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:33 pm Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| I’m glad others share the same feeling. And there’s something about the driving position that makes my bus the most comfortable vehicle I have. I can drive all day without any aches or pains. When you combine that with the personality that German cars have, it’s kind of magic. I just love my bus. Don’t care how much it’s “worth”. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nineteensixtyfiveVG
Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2009
Posts: 456
Location: San Diego
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 12:15 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| mcarls wrote: |
| And there’s something about the driving position that makes my bus the most comfortable vehicle I have. I can drive all day without any aches or pains. |
huh..that is not something I can say Im familiar with. I mean ill drive my bus all day but I feel it when i do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mtnbus
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2007
Posts: 733
Location: Colorado
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 6:56 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
| wow ! Nice collection Bullibill ! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Manfred58sc
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2009
Posts: 3382
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:27 am Post subject: Re: It's good to be a bus owner! |
|
|
Anything worthwhile is worth working for. Stop whining, start saving. The vast majority blow more money at the convenience store engaging in the "triple loser trio" ( scratch tickets,tobacco, caffeinated,sugary drinks ) than they ever put into a car of their dreams. None of my Bus's have ever been "nice" but I've driven well over a million miles in them and had a blast of a good time.
Happy Bus owner indeed!
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
