1987 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia w/ New 2.1L GoWesty Engine – $40k in Glenwood Springs, CO
Happy Monday everyone! Here’s a seller submission that I received over the weekend I thought I’d share. This van is a 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia camper with 200k miles on the body and a fresh GoWesty 2.1L engine. This van is mostly original and stock with the exception of the tent canvas, engine, bed liner and wheels. The van currently resides in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and comes with an asking price of $40k. It was posted for sale on The Samba (link). Here are my thoughts.
“It’s a pretty nice looking syncro Jeff. Here are my suggestions, especially since you live in a sparsely populated region, where even folks on the front range have to plan a whole day to come see your rig. 1. Provide a car fax or auto check report with the VIN. If you’re trying to sell a niche vehicle for $40k, a $10 – $40 investment to show potential buyers it’s got a clean recorded history with verifiable mileage will go a long ways. 2. Provide videos of it running, driving, the syncro working, etc. 3. Provide a line item detail of all the $$ you spend on it, and also if the engine is under the GoWesty warranty. Personally, I think $40k might be a little high mainly because it doesn’t have any lockers or decouplers, has a dead fridge and is an ’87. With that being said, there is likely someone somewhere that is willing to pay $40k for this, however being way out in Glenwood Springs (nice place by the way), you’re far from even major airports. If this van were in, say SF, LA or Seattle, you might sell it quicker and with that price tag. If you’re talking say low to mid $30s, then I think you’ll get more bites. So, I think the main theme is here that you’re way out in Glenwood Springs, so unless you find a local buyer, you’re going to have to entice folks with a lower price to come out of their way. Just my suggestions. It’s hard to put a price on these without actually seeing it in person and driving it. If it were me, I’d put a truck fridge in it and get new deep cycle batteries, detail it up really nice, take a couple of videos, get a VIN check to share, then try to set up a showing for interested parties in Denver over a weekend. Good luck!”
