1987 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia Camper – Auction or $37k in Tacoma, WA
This Westy was up for sale in Los Angeles back in December (link), however it got some very negative reviewed from those that went to see it. Bad paint job, lots of rust, not as described really. However, it appears it was swooped up by the folks at Small Car in Tacoma, WA and now they’ve put it up for auction on eBay(link) with a Buy It Now of $36,900. I wonder what was done to it in the mean time? New exhaust, new pop top canvas, no Nokian tires and passed a full inspection check as far as what is described. This 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia Camper has lived in Oregon, South Dakota and California and comes with a clean title and a very high Auto Check score of 46. It looks like it has one knob, which I’m guessing is a rear locker, but no details are provided in the listing.
I’m not sure if Small Car is selling this for a customer, or if it’s actually theirs, but for a reputable business in this space, I wish they would take more/better pictures (undercarriage, seams, etc)and provide a longer description with service records, owner history, etc. You’re selling a highly coveted syncro camper and expecting close to $40k, in my opinion you could be doing a much better job at “selling” this Westy. SeaTac is a relatively cheap airport to fly into from other areas of the US, and I’m sure this rig is catching eyeballs from all over.
Got any thoughts on this Westy? Have you gone to see it before? Leave your rants in the comments below, or head on over to the individual discussions on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+ and rant there!
Dear Sir Or Madam.I would like to purchase your 1987 VW Vanagon Synchro 4×4 Westfalia camper.Please let me know your final price for your VW.Thank You Very Much.Frank
We saw this one in person yesterday. Not sure how it got such a bad rap in your first right up, but it has a pretty nice paint job(8 on 10 scale IMHO) and could not find any real corrosion or evidence of heavy previous corrosion. It has the locker and appears serviced and super nice. We drove it and drives well and has some extras on it and the wheels are now BFG’s with Go-Westy wheels I believe. It is for sale locally in Ohio. My wife and I have looked at several Westy’s over the past few weeks and this one is on the short list for sure.
This one is for sale again in Ohio? Do you have a link? I had more than one fan contact me to say they saw it and paint job wasn’t up to par and was likely hiding rust issues. I haven’t seen it myself.
The guys who have it are known for chasing/custom building nice Vanagon’s from what we were told and it seems that description was spot on. They added Sliders, bumpers, GW wheels and BFG’s and some other things and fully serviced it. It drives really well. I used to be a body shop foreman and can tell you there is no hidden rust(I crawled around/under it for a bit) Maybe that person just could not get the deal they wanted from that owner and bad mouthed it? The paint is nice. Not concours, but it’s a Vanagon and my wife and I want to use it, not show it. The link is below. Nice group of guys that definitely know their Vanagons (and they had some nice Audi S cars too)
http://www.ccmotorsportsohio.com/1987-Volkswagen-Vanagon/Used-Wagon/PlainCity-OH/5617079/Details.aspx
After 17 bids from 10 bidders, it sold for $32,500. If it’s legit, this is a pretty on par price for the region, maybe even a bit low. Hope it works out well for the new owner!