Old VW's not worth much

Why is everyone so interested in beer, but wouldn't be happy to buy it 10$ per bottle?

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:06:04 -0700, 67 bus scribbled this interesting note:

Take a look at other antique car prices. Then look at new car prices.

For example, how about a 1957 Chevy Convertible? Here's one on eBay that is in rather sad shape:

It only got up to $2,000.00!

Here's another :

the bidding got to over $45,000.00 and still the reserve wasn'tmet.

Here's the thing, they aren't making Pintos or Pacers any more yet you don't see their prices going through the roof. The people who are leaving you notes and accosting you on the street are looking for some memories, they are tire kickers, they aren't serious buyers. What do you care anyway? You obviously are not selling your car, probably at any reasonable price you might be offered.

If you bought your car to make some money, you already would have done so. You probably bought your car because you wanted one of those. Now you have it. Be happy.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:55:27 -0700, 67 bus scribbled this interesting note:

This is often the case. The choice is yours!

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

So what you're saying is these old buses are really pretty worthless?

I thought about cutting off the front of the body and making a wall hanging out of it. I could get $1500 for that easy. Then I could maybe get a couple hun for the transaxle, maybe a hun for the engine. The glass could be worth a couple of bucks.

I think it may be worth more as a pile of parts than it is as a working vehicle.

=-=-=-=-=

I bought it from two retired couple who bought it in Germany and then kept it in Europe for vacations. Then they imported it as a used car. A couple of years later, I bought it and put over 300,000 miles on it.

My idea is to put itnto the hands of someone who'll spruce it up and maybe get another 30+ years use out of it. I'd like to keep it and let it own me, but I can no longer give it the foreplay it needs before I jump it. I'm getting older now and the idea of having a trouble free car like the Camry suits me better.

So, I'm not trying to make money on it. It's just that I think $1500 is a give away. I see an old-style bus maybe once a month, so there ain't all that many around. Why aren't they worth more?

I have a bay window bus, 1971 transporter. At this moment i am in South Africa. Often tourists give me a look when i drive through town, and i get quite a lot of comments from people remembering the 60´s and 70´s and associated events such as woodstock. I would not trade my bus in for a classic mercedes or volvo, even while those here are surplus and sell for low prices. People remember, and i think that is what it´s all about, memories. Give someone a smile now and then, but don´t sell your bus. Memories fade, but we can make the fading slower. Just my opinion :)

Bart Bervoets

"67 bus" schreef in bericht news:100620041210199886% snipped-for-privacy@eltuot.com...

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 12:10:19 -0700, 67 bus scribbled this interesting note:

Sounds like a reliable vehicle to me!

Nothing wrong with that.

$1,500 sounds like it is probably about right for that car. Put the original parts back on it and it would bring more. I just looked on theSamba and it looks like these kinds of vehicles have asking prices of around $200 to around $20,000. It all depends on the condition of the car and the condition of the market.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

I would argue that the reason you are often asked about your bus and not your camry/accord is exactly that. It is a vehicle not seen every day. I can't count the # of times people have said something about my oval, or asked if I would sell it. For whatever reason, when people see an old car, it brings out curiousity and desire. Only you can judge how much the bus is worth based upon its condition. As others have mentioned, look at similar buses on thesamba.com(.) However, let me offer you this suggestion. Why not keep the bus? You do still enjoy driving it don't you? Go ahead and buy the accord/camry as your daily driver and hang onto the bus. Insure it as a classic and it costs only about $100/year. That way you still get to enjoy the occassional drive in it. Heck, you may even enjoy working on it, when you no longer have to depend on it daily. My guess is if you sell it, you will regret it - after all at 325,000 miles its been a part of your life for a long time and if you subsequently decided to replace it, it would end up costing you more. I know I could not afford an oval window right now, if I had to buy one today. - DB

You're right. Memories. Plus the fact that the old style bus gives me a neat feeling when I drive around in it. Nowadays I can only LOOK like I just smoked a doobie, but I can tell that people driving past would much rather be in my bus with me.

I'm in the same boat with a friend of mine who is also getting older. He and I have too much STUFF. So we talked about how to start getting rid of all of itp. H said, "Get rid of the bus. If you can get rid of that, then the rest of it will go a lot more easily."

Getting older is a bummer. Aches and pains. Giving up hang gliding. Forgetting the things I don't think about anymore. Now I have this old bus that was my identity for many years and I just can't do the things that it needs to have done. To sell it for $1500 seems like an insult. In terms of the value of the dollar now versus when I bought it, it would be like selling it for $150. When I went looking for a bus in

1970, the junkiest one I saw was going for about $650. That's like $6500 today.

This is all very disappointing to me.

Nobody ever touched it except to rebuild the transaxle once. I did all the engine o'hauls and head changes, lubes, oils, valves. And recently I had a shop do a complete brake job. It's a nice old bus and until recently was a daily runner.

Must be. When I counter with an asking price of $4/5 grand, they don't even want to try to compromise. If I asked for $2 grand, I might get $1750 what with all of the extra parts I have for it. It's disheartening.

Cutting the front of it off and making a wall hanging out of it seems super/gotcha artsy/fartsy neato/jet. Then stand the rest of it on the open end like those caddys some guy has buried out in the desert. That'll fix those people who want to take my memories for a pittance.

I'd feel a lot better about it if I had a garage. At least I could pile stuff in it and use it for storage until I could make plans to fix it up.

My dream has always been to turn it over to a custom shop and have it tricked out as a 3-vessel hobby brewery, then take it out on the show-car circuit. But I was not a millionaire at age 30, or 40, or 50, or 60 -- my ship never came in, so to speak. I don't even have a garage. Travel trailers don't have garages.

You are absolutely right when you say: "My guess is if you sell it, you will regret it." Heck, I lived in it when I went to college, when I crewed unlimited hydros, when I flew hang gliders, when I was on the run from the law, when I was an angry and confused 'Nam vet living in the woods. Geezo peezo, how does one get rid of something like that?

Hmmm. Maybe it's not the $1500 offer for the van that has me so upset. Maybe it's the value of the memories that go with it. Priceless.

67 bus wrote: =20

Why is everyone so interested in beer, but wouldn't be happy to buy it 10$ per bottle?

You just made a very clear statement as to why it upsets you to be offered such a low price for your bus : "Now I have this old bus that was my identity for many years and I just can't do the things that it needs to have done. To sell it for $1500 seems like an insult."

It sounds like there is alot of emotions tied into your bus ( as it is with many of us who love the classics). $1500 for something that you associate with your identity and for something you truly love deep down is a low price. But, then again, as the old saying goes, you just can't put a price on love.

I bought "Betty" for $800......right now she's stripped down to nothing and sitting in my back yard getting ready for a paint job. Would I take 800 for her today ? Not a chance. I love her and she's mine. !!! Just keep in mind, they don't mean to insult with their low bids......they just have perspective of " car love" than we do.

Sincerely, Susan

74 Std Betty

Put on the Samba and ask you price, or on Ebay with a reserve. That way you will really know what it is worth. Ihave sold VWs here in So Cal for $3500 knowing that the guy who bought it has abuyer in Japan who will pay $10 0r $15k for it. Everyone says, why don't you sell it for more? And my retort is $3500 is what hte market will bear here in the West Coast. If I knew a buyer in Japan who would pay more I would charge more. Sounds like you need to expand your market.

--Dan E

Your remind me of myself for 30 years.

I sincerely hope that you continue feeling this way. It's a good thing.

Thanks.

Yaaaaaaah.

Would someone in Japan want one of these old buses?

I'll bet there's a club or something over there where they fancy thamselves as neo-hipsters or something like that. I wouldn't mind sending it to Japan for $15000 (okay, $10000, but they pay the shipping).

I'd even throw in a couple of Jefferson Airplanes... ;-) (nah, nobody knows what a Jefferson Airplane is anymore).

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:17:05 -0700, 67 bus scribbled this interesting note:

VW Wall Art. Perhaps it will be the next Big Thing in the Art World!:~) You would be a trendsetter!

The Caddies are in the Texas panhandle outside Amarillo. Been there, seen that. It ain't no big thing.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

FWIW, I have a guy about 2 blocks away from me that has a ragtop oval, a bullet style panel & standard bus that he has parked in front of his house, no garage and he keeps parts right in the standard. Snow, rain - doesn't matter he keeps the vehicles right out front. - DB

Poor comparison. Beer is plentiful. Busses not so much.

Mathew

Olli Lammi wrote: