Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:38:18 -0500
Reply-To: Tim Marciniak <tmarcini@MAIL.EXECPC.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tim Marciniak <tmarcini@MAIL.EXECPC.COM>
Subject: Re: cost of vanagon parts??
In-Reply-To: <37C856BA.6C66@slonet.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 5:38 PM -0400 8/28/99, Larry Bssell wrote:
>I looked at an '87 wolfsburg today.
>It had about 178k miles and was priced At $3k.
>This could be a candidate van for a fixup. I really want a nice clean
>vanagon.
>
>I'm trying to find out what to offer based on what I need to spend on
>bringing it up to snuff. I did a title search to see if it had been
>salvaged, and it had not.
>
>On monday I'm going to take it to my mechanic to get everything checked
>out. My visual inspection determined these flaws:
>
>1. It needs a new paint job. It has a small dent above one of
>the headlights, and about a 3 ft. long dent in the sliding door. There
>is a little bit of rust on the metal inside the van
>around the windows on the drivers side.
>
>2. It is missing the single seat that flips behind the passenger side.
>
>3. The inside is extremely dirty...probably a new upholstery
>job would be in order.[the upholstery on the roof was fine...i.e. could
>be cleaned.
>
>4. The interior was missing all sorts of small things like:
> a. no seatbelts
> b. light cover for the light above the table
> c. many other small things that were missing or broken.
>
>5. The fiberglass bumpers on the front and back were cracked and need to
>be replaced.
>
>The interesting thing is that the engine and trany seemed [from my test
>drive] to be in good order. Only my mechanic will know for sure.
>
>I would like to get a general idea of some of the costs so that I can
>estimate if this project is worth it.
>
>1. new paint job
>2. new bumpers
>3. new single seat
>4. new upholstery
>5. new seat belts
>
>regards,
>
>LL Bissell
Larry,
I would make a very low offer on this van, I'm thinking like $500 max.
Just the general appearance of a van like this can tell you a lot about how
the thing was maintained. I bet the guy selling it does not even have any
maintenance records. My feeling is that you would be better off paying
more for a van that has a complete service and maintenance history in
writing. As far as I'm concerned mileage on a 12 year old vehicle doesn't
mean much if the van was maintained and this includes keeping it clean. A
wasserboxer with 178,000 miles on it concerns me--this engine is certainly
capable of running up this kind of mileage but I would want some assurance
that proper wt of oil and oil change interval was at least every 3-5k.
With high mileage 2.1L wassers you have to be very concerned about the
connecting rods large end bearing clearance, this is something that may be
very difficult to judge by even a qualified mechanic just doing a purchase
inspection unless he could easily measure the oil pressure. Check for
coolant leaks, inspect all coolant hoses and connections, check the head
gaskets if possible have you mechanic pressurize the cooling system and
check to see if the cooling system holds pressure, keep in mind that to
make this a really nice dependable van you will probably have to replace
many of the coolant hoses and pipes which themselves are almost 13 years
old now. Some prices to keep in mind are head gasket replacement will cost
you $1000 to $2000 depending on the condition of the heads and if they need
to be replaced. Complete exhaust systems I think are in the neighborhood
of $500 just for parts.
This van probably has A/C--is this still working--if not you can probably
expect to pay big bucks to get it going again minimum $200 for a leak test
and recharge--replacing A/C parts like hoses or compressors or evaporator
etc could put this job over $2000 easily.
I'm probably sounding fairly negative but I don't want you to get stuck
with a nightmare either. These vans are wonderful and the fact that this
one is a Wolfsburg edition makes it even better. I have never had any
problems getting parts and with the vendors on this list and the Limbo list
its quite easy to get parts. Many VW dealers will even give you a 10% on
parts if you belong to one of the local or national VW clubs. Some parts
for the Vanagon seem expensive but many seem reasonable to me to. Finding
used parts may be a little more difficult but if you have a lot of time to
make phone calls you'd be suprised what you can find--used parts are out
there you just have to find the right supplier.
Just as a comparison check out the Limbo newsletter, I'm looking at one now
and there are a number of 85 to 87 Vanagon in the $1000 to $6000 range.
From a sellers point of view I think that if this guy cleaned up this van,
no missing parts and working A/C he might get close to his asking price,
but to just slap a For Sale sign on it and ask $3000 and expect to get
close to $3000 is a farce.
Good Luck and let us know if you buy it.
Tim
79 Toyota L/C
90 VW Vanagon Multivan
95 VW Passat GLX
99 VW Beetle