Itinerant Air-Cooled

I've enjoyed living vicariously through you in your search process omacdon2. You will have to post an update, and pics if you pull the trigger! :)

Aww thanks. Unfortunate update though: I bought train tickets down to Virginia for Tuesday with the intention of driving it back home but the guy just wrote that a guy came today and bought it :( The train tickets are non-refundable but I can exchange them to go to a different location. If you know of any VW's for sale, preferably a camper, please tell me. This search is never-ending!

Sounds like the seller was uncommunicative and owes you a refund…
Robbie

Any opinions on this one? https://maine.craigslist.org/cto/d/cali ... 21771.html
It has a 4 cyl, 1970cc, 2.0L engine and the only rust is on the bottom of the sliding doors (what you said could be taken care of in two weekends).

The fuel injection is a GREAT starting point for a new bus owner, in my opinion. Got photos of the rust? The interior? The rest of the bus? That's a lot of money for one photograph, even if you can see the tire rot from here.

Robbie

Ok just talked to the owner. They said they would take $10,000 for it. They bought it in 2012, drove it home about 4.5 hours, but then just had it stored the whole time in the garage because the mother bought it for her daughter but she didn’t have her license at the time and couldn’t drive it. They boosted it up last year and it ran.

Some thoughts:

- Have him take a pic with the slidng door open so you can see how much rust is on the lower channel - these are prone to rusting out, and can require welding if too far gone.

- Have him take a pic of either side of the engine bay ....difficult to tell if the trays are rotted
-Have him take a frontal pic of the cabinets to see the condition of the laminate ... not a big deal, but a lot of times it is peeling.

- Have him take a pic of the two dog legs and underneath the floor of the driver's side.
- have him take a pic of underneath the transmission and engine so you can see if there's leaks, and the condition of the CV joints.

-See if he can take a vid of it running and driving and post it here.
I wouldn't plan on driving it home if it's been sitting for five years without a thorough going through. If Collin is in the NY area (he mentioned something in a post about heading north) I would strongly recommend hiring him to check it out if he's available.

Not impressed with the paint job, but understand you aren't too concerned with cosmetics, and mostly concerned with mechanicals. It does look like it has the original canvass top... who knows - mileage maybe correct

Thanks for your response! I asked for more pictures, but they didn't send them. So the bus was never registered for 7 years and my state laws say I need the previous owner's registration. Another problem was that her name didn't transfer to the title of the bus. She says she can write a notarized bill of sale, but after calling my DMV multiple times, they said they wouldn't accept that. Plus she says she would have to pay back taxes if she registered it herself. Another thing is that Maine is freezing cold at the moment with blizzards so I don't think this bus is meant to be either...

Car ain't worth diddly if the title isn't in her name, and her state requires a title (some don't for very old vehicles) and she never bothered to register it...and she has already signed the title. If she hasn't signed it, that could be a grey area.

I got very, very, very lucky about 20 years ago when I bought a 1963 Caddy convertible in Salem, NH. Guy had title the original Massachusetts title (he had signed) I took it to the IL DMV, they basically told me to go jump in the lake; said I needed the registration if the state did not supply titles for older vehicles. Called the guy and he actually mailed it to me.... I got very lucky.

Bus buying 101, you want a clean title.

TrollFromDownBelow wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:06 pm

Bus buying 101, you want a clean title.

Louder, for the people in the back!! (I spent five months fighting an auto loan company, the DMV, and the previous owner, about a bus I paid my life savings for. I even spent $3k on parts, tires, and had a few road trips by the time the PO's paperwork handiwork surfaced… NEVER buy a car that isn't a clean, clear, and straight away title transfer.)

Robbie

Keep looking and keep saving. I hear that Bus prices are declining slightly? Might be time to start watching the west coast and the dry states for affordable Busses?

Thanks guys! Those are some crazy bus buying stories...definitely don't want any kind of nightmare trying to register the car. I will keep on searching :)

I posted a bus in the Craigslist thread. If it's something you are interested in, request some pics from the buyer and post them here (esp of the engine setup). It's about a 45 min drive from my house, so would be willing to go look at it for you some weekend.

Thanks so much for looking out for buses and thinking of me! I think this is the same situation as the Maine bus I posted about because the plates are from Texas, so he never registered it in his name in Michigan. My state (Massachusetts) said they won't let me register a bus that isn't in the previous owners name.

if you are serious, I am serious. If you are willing to contact them and find out relevant info needed to determine if this is a viable bus, I am willing to check it out for you. FWIW, in Michigan you don't pay property taxes on a vehicle, so if they have not registured or put plates on it, they will only pay a $15 late charge. They can go to the SOS and get an on the spot title for an additional $10 IIRC. Therefore, their total out of pocket costs for not registering it would be $25.