Bay Window Blues... and crack prices

[63 vwnotch]

Yeah, if you've been around cars long enough we have that story, unfortunately I have several more than I want to tell..

What is the madness all about, we inflate gas, milk, even dirt and yet we yield to the pricing, instead of slowing down demand... Here I sit about 16yrs later wanting another bay, and see people smoked outta their minds..

16yrs ago I had a 70 deluxe WITH middle seat, ZERO rust, new paint and tires I sold it for $3900.. That was the going price then $1k -4k for a nice driver.. I guess i need to get outta the house more, wife comes home from grocery shopping, i asked what was the damage? she said 120 worth, she had two bags in her hand so i got up expecting more bags in the car, surprise!! that was it, 2 small bags..

I WANT MY OLE BUS BACK BUT NOT EXPECTING TO PAY 15K-20K EITHER
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BUS WANTED: 13 window BUS any year considered..

[63 vwnotch]

grant it, the bus was pretty much a bondo buggy and I used cheap Omni single stage for like $200 in materials, but still... was a decent bus all it needed was new interior and it was done..

probably still cruising the streets in Japan

*edit to add.... the wink mirror alone is probably worth $1K in todays world, lol
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BUS WANTED: 13 window BUS any year considered..

[ImAddicted]

It looks good in the pic
I was looking at camping toilets over the winter, $40-60 all day long from 100 different sellers. Now?
$130-160 for the same damn thing.
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1979 Transporter (sold)
KC1MUR

[63 vwnotch]

[Tram]

[busdaddy]

Everything goes up, it's part of life. Sounds like you got a pretty good price for it when you sold, there's a whole new generation that has the bucks and you have to compete with them now, suck it up, it is what it is, your whine isn't going to magically change anything.
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Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

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[RalphWiggam]

Probably because 1000s of people just like you slapped a shitload of bondo on their buses and sold them off to rot and become worthless in 10 years. Discarded and crushed.

Repeat the cycle over a few decades and what do you have left?

You can easily go out and find a cheap bus and slap a 50 gal drum of bondo on it and make it look good if that's what you care about. That's still an option.

[jtauxe]

Have you priced new cars? Buses are still a good deal.
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John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[jtauxe]

[earlybayjim]

I don't mind, the rising prices makes the hunt that much more exciting! And it's easier to justify speding money to keep them presentable and roadworthy when they are worth more. But I guess that's easy for me to say because I already have more buses than I need!

If you are really determined, you'll find a good bus at a fair price!
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1971 Chianti Red Westfalia x2
1985 Westfalia
1984 tintop

[alaskadan]

The best deals to be had are the ones that aren't for sale parked in the back 40. From an old person who isnt on the web. Oh that old thing ? I'll take 500 for it. New truck? Nay. I'll keep my 85 one ton flat bed with dump hoist thank you very much.

[earlybayjim]

[JackJack65]

Back in '95, I was searching for a Bus for my then-girlfriend. We went to look at about 6 of them in our local area over the course of a day. This was before the Interwebs, so it was all about the Little Nickel and calling people on the phone. The landline phone.

Anyway, we saw 6 buses. Within 10 miles of where we lived in Seattle. In one day. Try doing that now. Yeah, one of the reason prices are high is because there are so few of them left. And people who have them aren't interested in selling and if they are, they're asking top dollar. Because where else are you going to get one?

I pulled up in front of my house the other day and was idling down when someone pulled alongside in a Ghia, and we started chatting. After about 5 minutes, he offered me 18k on the spot. And I don't think my Bus is that nice, even.

[63 vwnotch]

[ccowx]

I am with Alaska Dan on this one. I live in the Yukon, not far from him.

I recently have converted a car buddy of mine to a genuine bus fanatic. Long time car buff with a VW family history, but never owned one. I am proud to say he is likely ruined for life!

Anyway, he is an inveterate back roads cruiser and in the space of the last couple of months, he has collected the following, for less than 4 grand:

-75 Westy, complete except the engine accessories like carbs, generator, etc. Solid but ugly body, complete interior, give or take a few minor rips and tears.
-71 Westy, solid body, missing much of the interior, no engine.
-69 parts Westy, rusty body, included most of what the 71 is missing
-63 Split window, total resto and missing EVERYTHING, rescued from being a chicken coop(no, I am not joking). Solid frame and structural but needs lots of exterior sheet metal.
-59 parts bus. Cut in half for some stupid "art project" but lots of parts like wheels, suspension, body panels, etc. Some might even call it a resto candidate.
-Misc bits like new windshields, engine bits, etc.

So, if you are willing to look hard enough, you might be surprised!

Chris

[wagohn]

[SGKent]

this thread is kind of like going back to a home you lived in as a child, and now you are 40+. The sidewalk is broken up, the tree you loved to swing on is a stump, the shed/playhouse in the back yard you played in is falling over and termite ridden. The neighborhood is run down with tall weeds. Fields are gone that you played in. Then you walk thru the door and it seems so much shorter than it was. Rooms are smaller than you remember them.

Remembering a bus owned is nostalgic but it doesn't get you a running one. One is better to buy a wall poster and enjoy that than spend $4k for a shell, then put $30K into it. Right now I am building a new engine. After 3 days of searching, I cannot find cam bearings for it of reasonable quality. CAM BEARINGS. That is what you will be up against. You will have to buy substandard parts and spend hours trying to make them fit. Ask anyone here who has restored one of these. It takes a lot of work these days. Thinking of it like the good old days doesn't work.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ccowx]

Wagohn,

I agree, but are we not all car hobbyists here? Most here would like to have a project, including the OP I believe, judging by his posts. How extensive a project is up to the individual, but those that want a pristine turn key vehicle, at least off the bat, are in the small minority here. They are over on other sites, dealing with modern campers.

That collection up here is worth more than he paid, but definitely it would be 2-3 times as much in Seattle. What is going to happen is that the 71 is going to be finished off, largely using the bits from the 69, plus a nice DP I have sold him. It will need paint and some interior work, but nothing major and it is all there. I would not really call that a Frankenstein vehicle, unless you are trying to create a "number matching" restoration. All parts are basically correct and attach how and where intended by Mother VW. Other than date codes etc, which are not apparent to most, it will be completely correct.

The good news is that most of the cost will be taken care of by the sale of the surplus vehicles. The 75 has an offer of $4000-5000 already. The split windows of course will go for a few $K as a project, because while extremely rough, they have surprisingly solid structural metal.

So, for the cost of a canvas pop top, wiring harness, some interior miscellaneous bits and a paint job, he will have a nice 71 Westy that will be a fantastic camper and have a resale value in the $20K+ range when he is done. Best part is that it will basically cost him nothing but some time, by the time the surplus is sold. He might even make a few bucks.

It's all in how hard you look and how much work you want to do. Wishing for a return to the prices of 2004 is not going to happen, but the OP looks like he does a bit of work himself, so perhaps he can find a deal.

Chris

PS: I do understand the concept of a "restoration". I have an old musclecar as well and it is the quintessential "numbers" car with all major components original and correct parts down to hose clamps, stamped belts and hoses, NOS bits all over, etc. My buddy wants it to look basically stock, without going down that route. A fully correct resto can easily triple your parts cost and make a months long search for the parts into years. Ask me why I know!

PPS: SGKent, I hear you on the "shell to completed camper" projects! I am currently taking a Texas body shell and our rusty old family camper, both 70 Westy's, and making one good one. It will not be perfectly correct, though they are basically near identical vehicles. If I did not have an extremely complete running vehicle as a donor I would not even attempt it. Can you imagine chasing down several thousand parts individually and either paying full retail for potentially non-existent repro parts, or hunting them all down and paying postage individually on each one?! Lord help you!

[wagohn]