Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:27:19 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Must sell my Vanagon - Comments appreciated
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was hoping to see people's ideas of what it's worth ..
like the guy asked.
so ...seller, what would You pay for it ?
5 grand ?
likely not I suspect.
here's one way to get a price .
Figure out what it's worth fully sorted out and roadworthy and working ..
like not a lot t apologize for ...
say that's ........whatever , say that's 5,500 .
then subtract what it needs to be made pretty right over all.
No fuel injection hiccups ..
runs right, goes well, is reliable and gets decent fuel mileage. ..
so from the sound of it I'd say you could take off even 1,500 for fuel
injection work..
and most people are going to figure 'oh man, he spent a ton of bread on it
and didn't get it really fixed ..
what's going to happen if I take on this project ? " ..
if you find someone who's real clever and can fix it easily ..
or course, they'll want to pick it up fairly cheaply.
get out the dart board, with prices all over it and toss a dart .
but I'm thinkin' perhaps ask $ 2,995 .
see what happens.
Haven't seen any pictures yet ..
a lot depends on how sharp it looks ..
if it 'looks' pretty nice ....good color, no dents or damage ..
that goes a long way.
It's easier to sell a good looking car that isn't very good, than it is to
sell a car that runs perfectly and is fully dialed in from one end to the
other, but doesn't look so hot.
A lot of people don't know what else to go by other than how much bling
they see.
I have seen people turn around and walk away from fine cars for the price..
due to one small dent - they figure it must be a piece of junk, just from
seeing one dent.
as always, the trick is finding The Right Buyer..
right now, assuming it's pretty decent looking and working and has good
features ..camping equip etc...
being an 82 ..
musta been a diesel Westy most likely.
Those are always desirable.
Someone may even just want to change it back to diesel ...put in a 1.9 TD ..
what I am getting from my quigie ( sp ? ) board is ...
around 2,500 to under 3K..
and a lot depends on how it looks.
that color is a great color btw ..
I had a great 83 westy in that color that sold easily all sorted out .
but it ain't any form of brown, not to my artist's eye.
I call that color Southwest Terracotta Red , and for any red-brownish shade,
it's great actually.
So if it *looks* pretty sharp ..if it presents well, that will go a long
way.
Popping a diesel back in ( assuming that's what it was and not an air-cooled
82 Westy ) ......
is very easy.
here's a reference point - 82 Diesel Westy ..
gorgeous 'light green mist metallic' paint ....some modern color. No dents,
looked just super with black trim . It had a poorly running hack Subaru
conversion. Camper stuff was removed and not fully put back in, and trans
slightly noisy ...paid 3,300 for it. Kinda fair to both parties I think.
and .......don't get me started ..
I found an invoice it the van for a new TPS for some 700-plus dollars, and a
new TPS on it.
And it stumbled badly ..
and it took an hour or so to find the pulled apart splice on one TPS wire ..
so it likely never needed that part ..
so someone wasted, likely, $ 700 plus trying to get it fixed ..
part of what I am getting at is your 'normal person' is at the mercy of
shops that may not do good thorough complete work .....like they'll waste
your $ ....can't let that happen of course..
so I might try marketing it as a runner that could use either a common 1.8
Digifant inline four ..
or a diesel. ( thinking about how prospective buyers will think about fuel
injection hiccups on it and money already thrown at it ..how that is going
affect their interest in getting involved with this van )
and if it's pretty decent looking ..
that sure helps. Mechanical things are relatively easy to deal with
compared to paint and bodywork, or wasted interior.
I don't think I caught where it is yet ....?
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Potts" <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:38 PM
Subject: Re: Must sell my Vanagon - Comments appreciated
> Hi Pat,
>
> What fuel system is on it? IIRC 1.7s came with carbs or CIS. I owned a
> 1985 CIS cabriolet; and found that CIS was great when it worked but a
> pricey PITA when it didn't.
>
> Vanagon syndrome is a character of Digifant 1986-1991 fuel injection. But
> it's certainly possible to put Digifant on a 1.7.
>
>
> Have you heard of Neil's google group for Vanagons with inline4 engines?
> Perhaps we could help you on that list...
>
> Apologies if you've mentioned this previously and it's slipped my mind.
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
> www.pottsfamily.ca
> WWW.BUSESOFTHECORN.CA <--- NEW .CA DOMAIN!!!
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
> 1988 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
> 1973 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
>
>
>
>> Lovely 1982 fully camperized Van with clean interior and minimal rust (a
>> west coast van all her life). Assuan brown with a white Westfalia roof.
>> Good
>> exterior and a sweet 60,000-mile Jetta 1.7 litre engine. Lots of recent
>> fuel
>> line work and rewiring. Needs more. Located in Vancouver, BC.
>>
>>
>>
>> What do you guys think would be a reasonable asking price for the above?
>> I've posted occasionally about my difficulties getting my van to run
>> reliably. She runs sweet and fast on the highway, but suffers from the
>> Vanagon Syndrome surging phenomenon when I'm in the city. I made a poor
>> choice when I bought it and have spent several thousand $ on a completely
>> new fuel delivery system and lots of rewiring. More rewiring needed and I
>> have just decided that I can't afford to put any more money into her. So
>> sad. I just don't have the skills and resources to keep going.
>>
>> All my personal regrets aside, I'd appreciate any comments that would
>> help
>> me sell her to a good home. I realize that I'm not going to come close to
>> recovering what I've put into her. Sobeit.
>>
>> Many thanks, Pat
>>
