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1986 VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper Auction In Santa Fe, NM

Mike

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1986 VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper Auction in Santa Fe, NM

Updated 11/5/15. The seller left a comment below with the new eBay item ID, along with a few more notes.

As the renewed interest of Vanagon “Westys” continues, the expectations and asking prices followed suit. Recently I feel the market for reasonably priced mid 80s Westys has increased tremendously. Finding anything clean and reliable for under $10k – $12k is becoming a thing of the past, unless you stumble across a locally advertised only kind of deal. At any rate, this van caught my eye today as the seller says they will honor a $9,500 Buy It Now in their questions / comments section. What we’ve got here is a 1986 VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper with 190,000 miles, stock 2.1L engine and manual transmission that up for auction/ sale in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  My thoughts.

Pros.

• It appears to be mostly stock original, the curtains and tables are there, the upholstery looks good,
• Most or all of the seals are visible on the exterior, and the interior looks clean and original.
• Looks like it has some upgraded 15″ wheels.
• The font step wells, the engine deck/lid, the rear flooring all look to be in great shape.
• It looks like it might have the GoWesty rear seat belts with the shoulder harness, or at least did a some point.

  

  

  

  
  

Potential Cons.

• The paint. Not 100% sure, but like it said, it might not be the original coat. I just have a hunch.  Note the brighter white around the license plate when compared to the interior paint color around the engine bay.
• It was stated to have lived in Iowa most of it’s life, if it wasn’t garaged, there’s a high probability of rust underneath.
• No pictures of the pop top tent.  Likely needs to be replaced. $300 – $800 + 6-8 hours of labor from someone who’s done that job before.
• The mileage.  I’d love for this to be accurate, but in 20 years of ownership did it really only go 40k miles?
• The seller does state “To my knowledge, all propane works, and the refrigerator works as well“. I don’t ever get this. Have it filled, test everything, make a video showing it all working, buyers will be stoked.
• Trailer hitch. You never know what previous owners have tried to tow.  Bike racks are great, anything more is often questionable.
• Possibly original engine and transmission. At 190k, you’ll be doing both of these soon.

If the seller openly states they are willing to take $9,500. You might be able to swoop it up for $8,500.  I’d have $4k – $7k backup for repairs when the come around. It will be interesting to see what it goes for.  What do you think it’s worth?  Tell us in the comments below, or share your wisdom on the individual discussions about the Westy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Google +.