Split window bus pricing

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sean
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by sean »

How long are you prepared to wait? 10 years? 20 yeas?

Looking at what's for sale over the last 6 months on the internet isn't a actual reflection of the market.

You also need to define restoration. Some will consider a 20k respray and some cheap vinyl upholstery work restored, others will classify it as every nut and bolt to be polished; every item to be new old stock and every corner of the bus to be painted to the utmost perfection. The costs will differ astronomically.

I know the amount of work it takes to rebuild a kombi; it is enormous. You should try do it yourself some day.

As I have mentioned before, I don't want to pay R600k for a bus, but just look at all the road users driving cars that cost more, Ford Rangers, Mercedes C Class, Land Rover Discoveries, BMW's, just to name a few are everywhere. These all cost more and lose easily 30% in 1 year. So is a kombi at R600k that will increase in value not a good deal?


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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by brucet »

Sean Im not sure if you reply is aimed at me or a general statement but like i said in a previous post, i would prefer a non restored split window than a restored one (like Figs Hildred or Oxford radio buses are to me the ultimate but I probably would not pay what they are probably worth - which is probably more than any restored bus i have seen for sale locally). I also think half the excitement is about finding it, then getting into a safe running state so that I can enjoy it although i still dont know if i will fit into one as the last time i was in one was in the 80s when i was a teenager :D .

I am also not disagreeing that the costs are huge to restore them or to get them running. I know what I have spent on my late baywindow and would imagine a splitty to be far more. I have probably already over capitalised on my late baywindow bus that is not sort after at all but i didnt buy it and clean it up (not restore) worrying about the resale value either. I am also just asking if it is getting to the stage in SA where it is almost worth importing them rather than buying locally. You can get a lot for US$40k (R550k more or less) delivered to your door in SA.

Off topic but for explanation purposes, I have the same problem with my racing car which i found in a scrap yard, that I am currently building (from scratch) which is costing what I consider a fortune. I will never get my money back because generally people will just not pay that price and it is getting to the stage where it would have been cheaper to import one complete, but then you get a few other people locally that i consider mad, that will just spend double what its costing me and have a professional build it for them from scratch. Its all relative.

This is what I started with on the race car:
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This is where i am now after almost a year of work:
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sean
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by sean »

brucet wrote: Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:34 am Sean Im not sure if you reply is aimed at me or a general statement but like i said in a previous post, i would prefer a non restored split window than a restored one (like Figs Hildred or Oxford radio buses are to me the ultimate but I probably would not pay what they are probably worth - which is probably more than any restored bus i have seen for sale locally). I also think half the excitement is about finding it, then getting into a safe running state so that I can enjoy it although i still dont know if i will fit into one as the last time i was in one was in the 80s when i was a teenager :D .

I am also not disagreeing that the costs are huge to restore them or to get them running. I know what I have spent on my late baywindow and would imagine a splitty to be far more. I have probably already over capitalised on my late baywindow bus that is not sort after at all but i didnt buy it and clean it up (not restore) worrying about the resale value either. I am also just asking if it is getting to the stage in SA where it is almost worth importing them rather than buying locally. You can get a lot for US$40k (R550k more or less) delivered to your door in SA.
Hi Bruce

My reply is to you and others. Yes, many of us like to find un-restored original busses, barn finds, forgotten gems, you name it, oh and don't forget at a bargain price, but these are incredibly scarce. Hence i ask, how long are you prepared to wait? 30 years? or either cough up the money and you will get one pretty quick. There is a choice.

When it comes to comparing things to America, well its not limited to kombis. It is most unfair when they can drive new big V8 pick-up trucks for cheaper than what we have to live with here driving 4 cylinder diesel bakkies that cost more. But why cant we get them here?

Dont forget that often the prices listed have to incorporate a re builders time and efforts spent getting a bus running. If you do everything yourself, you will be able to do it a substantial amount cheaper.

Here for example is a wreck I purchased for a couple of grand, but it took me 4 years of hard work to get it done. This probably didn't even cost me a 6th of the prices mentioned above, but man, I can't begin to tell you how much hard work this is....


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brucet
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by brucet »

Wow good job well done.
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by Piet »

Have a look at this one:

http://www.vwvortex.com/news/samba-numb ... ear-resto/

Apparently the second Kombi ever sold. Someone is planning to restore it!
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by brucet »

that is insane.

If they manage to rebuild that will it still be considered to be the original "2nd Kombi" ever built considering 95% of the panels will have to be replaced for new ones?
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Tony Z
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by Tony Z »

my guess would that it would depend on how they rebuild. Moving the vin number onto a different body wont work.
But if you take the nose off one bus and graft it onto your bus, isnt it still your bus or is it now the other bus? Then remove some more vrot material and add some more new - is it still your bus or someone elses? Following this method, it remains the same bus surely.
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Re: Split window bus pricing

Post by Jdt1976 »

These two "busses" were for sale at HO17:

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I can not confirm but heard this one sold for 17000 Euro:
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