At 09:13 PM 11/24/2009, Roger Whittaker wrote: >it amazes me when someone wants to sell a vanagon everyone is shocked at the >price ... yet when someone smashes a vehicle ... damn the insurance >co and their paltry offer of 4K$ dont they know i have at least 25K$ >into this rig !!!!

I agree. I paid $2,000 for my '84 Westy and then put close to $20K into it since, to make it reliable, useful, and comfortable. And I haven't even done any cosmetic work yet!

Now, I would never consider paying that much to purchase a vehicle, because:

- The seller will always have different priorities from mine.

- There's no way to verify the quality of the work the seller claims has been done.

We see the same thing in the personal aircraft market. New aircraft owners buy a shiny used aircraft, paying what they think it's "worth," and quickly find just as many problems as if they had bought a project and paid to have the work done themselves. After seeing many people get burned, I was motivated to publish my advice more than ten years ago:

http://www.sbw.org/buyaircraft/

I think there are two kinds of happy Westy owners: Those like me, who can take the time to learn and plan the work needed, and maybe do it themselves. And those who need a restored and upgraded Westy delivered to their door.

Each will spend a similar amount of money. I would argue that owners like me are less likely to be disappointed, because we get exactly what we want, not what somebody else thought would sell.

There is an exception to that rule, however: There are a few people and companies around that will consult with the buyer, deliver exactly the desired van, and take a fair profit. Who are those sellers? I can't say, because I didn't go that route. GoWesty claims to be such a seller. No doubt there are others. (Sportsmobile does Sprinters.)

But buying a Westy from a private party at full price? Not me, thanks.

So what to do, when you want to sell your Westy after you have $20-30K into it? Well, GoWesty sometimes buys campers, I'm told. And they're more likely to recognize the value of the upgrades, especially if they did the work. I wouldn't expect to get back what I paid, of course, but neither would I be asking a stranger to believe my claims and share my priorities. GoWesty sticks such vans on their web site with a price based on the standard work they plan to do, and they invite buyers to pay for the other work and upgrades they desire.

Since I never expect to sell my Westy, I hope never to face this question. (I'm the guy who still owns the '67 Beetle I drove in high school over 30 years ago.)