Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:32:59 -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: Buying a Van - New Question
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response
Still shopping I see.
if this 85 is a Westy ..and it's not crashed or rusted ..
great idea to get the price reduced due to the shifter/trans issue.
how many miles on the body of the van ?
( which means trans too usually ) .
what I do is figured out what an 85 Westy is worth in full working order ..
and 'average good one' . like decent and taken care of but not 'all new' ..
say that's $ 6,500 .
then you just start taking off what the repair costs are to get it back to
full roadworthiness.
a grand on the trans is a good number to work with for that issue .
I actually consider good used transmissions harder to get and 'almost' more
valuable than whole vans.
If I happen to sell a used one ..
since I don't part out vans ...it will cost me a whole rebuilt price to
replace a used one I sell..
that makes good used 83 and up waterboxer transmissions pretty valuable to
me.
and ......if the miles are high, and someone 'just drove it' with trashed
shift linkage for a long time..
that tends to indicate that as 'long as it fired up and could be conducted
down the road at all' ..
that's what they did........just drive it.
Not fix anything, not adjust things, not service things etc.
if that is the case..
either you don't want that van .
or you don't want to pay a lot of it.
Particularly watch out for vans that have been 'just driven' until one
system broke,
then that one system was repaired.
and meanwhile....nothing else on the van gets any attention, service, or
repair ..as long as it fires up and drives..
until the next system breaks fully, then that system is repaired..
and meanwhile 10 other systems are all 'just driven' .......like driven
until they fail.
You don't want that kind of van unless you get it at a very good price.
I looked at one westy once..
it had about 5,000 miles on a new rebuilt engine ..
but the rest of the van ..that van truly needed yet another $ 6K put into
it, the whole rest of it was so abused and 'just driven.'
Sometimes you can find a van that someone actually loves and took care of.
Either get 'em cheap and expect to spent a lot of time/money/energy getting
them back to full health, or pay more for a really good one. I honestly see
very, very few of these 25+ year old babies that have been actually 'cared
for' .
Most of them have just had repairs done to them , or new parts installed
here and there ..
which is not really, really actually taking care of them.
that shifter thing ..
that is so easy to prevent and take care of it's just silly. No reason for
it to ever happen even ..
other than people are lazy, clumsy, heavy-handed and rough on things and
don't understand the value of lubrication. Driven nicely and cared for
properly...which is not even much effort or work at all....
the shift linkages will last indefinitely.
85 Westy is a good year ..
if body and interior are good ....the rest is pretty fixable. I wouldn't be
surprised if that van didn't need thousands invested in it to get it to full
roadworthy health.
I will say .....they sure can keep running with lots of things wrong with
them !
Gotta love that, 'sort of.'
what fun !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Rotblatt" <d.rotblatt@VERIZON.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: Buying a Van - New Question
> The '85 that I looked at has a pretty good tub, interior, etc. The
> main problem is that the stick shift bushing is deteriorating so it's
> loose at the bottom of the stick shift (under the rubber boot). As a
> result, it's nearly impossible to shift - they guy says that Go Westy
> has a bushing kit for about $100 - which is fine, I can replace the
> bushing. Problem is there is no way to tell if the transmission is
> good...when I drove it, I could get it into 1st and 2nd, but not 3rd
> or 4th (he could though). There was a slight gear grind as it went
> into one of the two each time - I don't thing a loose bushing would
> cause this. I would think that as long as the clutch is in it should
> slip in and out of gear smoothly regardless of the play in the stick
> shift. I want to be able to travel this summer, don't want to be
> switching out a tranny - which I figure would cost about $1000.
>
> In addition, the car is missing the air conditioning compressor - just
> the two disconnected lines sitting on top of the engine.
>
> He has reduced the price to $4000. I could probably get him to sell
> for $3500. Thoughts?
>
> Thanks for the input -
>
> Dan
> L.A.
> Pre-Vanagon owner
>
> P.S. - FYI, the '82 with jetta engine was a real project, lots of
> surface beach rust - didn't want to touch it.
>
>
> On Apr 13, 2011, at 8:55 PM, Daniel Rotblatt wrote:
>
>> Hi all. I'm new here, just now shopping for a vanagon westfalia. I
>> was wondering if I could get some input on some vans available in
>> the area that I'm interested in. I'll be looking at them this coming
>> week and wanted to get some input as to what to look for. I'll
>> modify any info I get with the condition of the car as i see it -
>> especially rust (which I know is a real issue). I've done a lot of
>> reading and I am mechanically inclined - I've just finished
>> rebuilding a 1966 triumph spitfire, and I had a '67 split window van
>> (with the mini-pop top) back in the day. $5k is my top dollar or i
>> would go for an '86-91 model.
>>
>> The first van is a 1982 diesel with a gas jetta engine from the
>> nineties (1.8 or 1.9 liter I believe). I know to look to see if the
>> transaxle (or is it a transmission in these?) is from a later model
>> cause the diesel ones are geared differently and the 1980-83
>> transaxle aren't very good. Second I will check the compression on
>> the engine and look at the plugs to see how worn it is. The
>> advantage of this van is that the engine is more powerful and there
>> is no smog check (I'm in california - smog checks are a b**ch).
>> They want $5k.
>>
>> The second is a '85, some body dents in front and a few dings, 1.9
>> water cooled engine. Also $5K. It's a westy top and weekender
>> inside, which I like (wider bed, dont need the stove - I set up a
>> table with a stove when I camp - fridge might be nice). Advantage
>> to this one is that he has a second 1.9 engine which he says is in
>> running shape. Also, his other car broke down the other day and
>> he's using it as a daily driver - which I think indicates some level
>> of reliability.
>>
>> Anything else specific to look for when I look at them?
>>
>> Thanks all, I appreciate any input. I'm leaning towards the '82 -
>> I like the idea of no smog.
>>
>> Dan
>> Los Angeles, CA
| 
