1985 VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper Auction In Portland Oregon Ends Nov 7th at 6am PST
Here’s an interesting find for the PNW that’s found it’s way over to a 10 day eBay Auction after being listed for $12k on the Portland craigslist 6 days ago.. This van is a 1985 VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper with 149k miles, stock 1.9L engine and recently rebuilt manual transmission. Overall, it appears to be in good cosmetic shape and is still holding onto the original interior and UPS brown paint. I have a special place in my heart for this particular varietal, as it’s exactly the model I have, color and all.
The VIN is WV2zb025xfh014378 and the eBay Auto Check report shows that this rig received a junk/scrap title in 2008, but no details are provided by the owner as to why. Either the odometer has been replaced again, or it’s recently seen 50k miles of adventures in the past year, as the most recent mileage record on the title shows 100k miles December 2014. Where oh where have you been? For comparison, that’s 8 round trips from SF to NYC.
Some things I like about this rig.
- Rebuilt Transmission. Get the full details here. Who did it, warranty? etc. Vanagon manual transmissions nortoiusly fail at 150k, so this is a major plus if it’s been rebuilt properly and has a warranty.
- Kitchen Appliances. While not stated in the eBay ad, the craigslist ad does state the sink, stove and fridge all work.
- All original. For the most part, this van appears unmolested and likely has original paint, upholstery, curtains, both tables, etc, with no obvious interior or exterior modifications, aside from a stereo.
- Engine. “new heads” likely mean the engine was at least partially rebuilt, with new gaskets, etc.
Some things I’d question.
- The title. It’s likely rebuilt or salvage according to the eBay Auto Check report. At the very least, run a CarFax report if the seller doesn’t have one already. Get the scoop on mileage, why it was salvage, etc.
- Upstairs / Tent Canvas. There’s no pictures of the pop top canvas or upstairs. While not a huge deal, canvases are $300 – $900 and a good 6+ hours of work to install. There could also be mold issues. I assume the worst if there are no pictures. The criagslist ad states “needs canvas”
- Rust. While the seller states it’s just surface rust, be careful. There’s really no way to know unless you pull it all apart. However, all in all, it doesn’t look too bad.
My open honest option. So, nice Westys are reasonable prices are hard to come by in the PNW. Yes it has a salvage title, yes it has some rust and needs work upstairs. However, if the seller is looking to just “get out”, you might be able to pick this up for $8k-$9k, which in my book, would be a deal with today’s asking prices. What do you think it’s worth? Are you going to see it? Have you seen it? Tell us in the comments below, or head on over the individual discussions about this van on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+ and share your words there. The eBay auction ends Saturday Nov 7th at 6am. eBay Link – Craigslist Link
I love it when people expect top dollar for these when, it has a salvage title, rust, non working a/c, a needs a new pop top canvas. Don’t sugar coat it! It’s $900 for the pars. and another $750 to have someone install it (properly). They are about as easy as doing a VW beetle cabriolet top. I’ve done it, not that easy! First of all, its fairly original, but its really not that clean of a specimen and that brown hides the rust very easily. Why bother listing it on Craigslist list and eBay when you put a reserve on it, and your asking price is clear on Craigslist. Save the $65 or so dollars of putting it on eBay! One thing I do agree with you, is the reasonable amount to pay for this at $8-9k. That’s generous but fair.
This is the owner of 1985 westy in Port Or. I ran a car fax on
it, And it said salvage,but did not say why. Is ther a way I can find out why it was salvaged? Please let me know. Don
You’ll have to try and track down the previous owners and see if they know, that’s about all I can think of.