1982 VW Vanagon Diesel Westfalia Camper – 13k Original Miles – Auction In Akron, Ohio
After just over a year with it’s new owner, this 1982 Diesel Westy Camper is back up for sale. I originally found it for sale in North Carolina back in May of 2014, where the eBay final bid was only $10k? I think every find’s it hard to believe that it only has 13k miles on it, however the free eBay Auto Check report shows this could be legit, though I’d suggest getting a Car Fax report or similar to back it up. From the details in both listings, here’s an aggregated highlight reel.
- The original owner was driving it sometime over a decade ago and the engine overheated, so he parked it
- In 2013 a college mechanics class got a hold of it and rebuilt the engine as a project.
- Last year the college sold it to the current owner, who cleaned it up nicely and added some nice upgrades.
- Nice electrical upgrades include Renogy 100 watt solar panel, UB12220 batteries, PMW charge controller, LED lights, headlight relay and other odds and ends.
- Recent mechanical work includes rebuilt brake calipers and fresh brake lines, new brake booster and new front heater fan blower.
- Other fresh parts include, Go Westy Hookups, fresh water tank hose, front bra and a wood floor.
- It’s said that the fridge will still run on propane and the solar set up, which is awesome.
- The seller also has a bench seat, though while not matching, will fit into the tracks under the removable wood floor.
- It’s got the proper 6 ply shoes, fresh with lots of tread remaining. Though I can’t determine which brand or model they are.
The current owner claims to have put about 3,000 miles on it since buying it early last year. Here’s the photo set from when they brought it home, here’s it’s current state. It appears to have the original tent canvas, which looks practically new. If you’ve never driven a stock 1.6L naturally aspirate diesel Westy,and you’re thinking about buying one, please drive one or two first. This will be the slowest car you’ve likely ever piloted, but it will net you more than 25 MPGs in most cases, which is much better than the 17 MPG average I get in my stock ’85 1.9L gas wasserboxer.
What do you think it’s worth? Have you seen this Westy yet? Let us know this scoop in the comments below, or head on over to the individual posts about this Westy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+ and share your wisdom there. The current high bid is $8,100, with 44 bids from 13 bidders. The auction ends on Tuesday July 28th at 7:30pm PST. According to craigslist, they’re hoping for $13,500, which seems more than a fair price, at least by west coast standard. eBay Link
After 62 bids from 20 bidders, a new lucky owner gets the drive this home for $14k!
12k, tops. Reason people do not add a lot of miles in a 1.6 diesel is that they cannot confidently motor anywhere. With the updates done, maybe a little m
I agree wholeheartedly with you Kenny, 12k tops. First of all CARFAX is crap, if you don’t believe me, email me and I’ll tell you why. Second, why would a 1.6 vw diesel overheat in a vanagon with under 10k miles, and why would it end up in a student shop to be fixed? Um, it would be in a vw dealership to be fixed with THAT MILEAGE. Lastly, if you’ve ever owned one your know how dangerously slow they are. And yes my family owned a assuan Brown one new and traded it in two years later for an 84 cadillac cimarron (which I own to this day).
Rare is one thing, so is desirability, but the prices for these are high only because all the middle aged men want to re-live something that either did or didn’t happen in their youth. Considering how many of these made it over here in the USA, they are quite common to find and buy, either running or not running.