VW rust decisions

One of the things I learned when it comes buying vintage VW bus and buses is to control my emotions before jumping into a project. With the prices of pre-1967 VW buses reaching astronomical levels, good deals are beginning to be scarce. Whenever an early bus or bug comes into the market, a huge flock of buyers seemed to descend on this deal and it is plucked out of the market in a matter of hours or even minutes.

One of the mistakes that people commit is buying old bugs and buses that are cheap without really realizing the cost to restore them to a level where the value of the vehicle is more than the amount they invested in it.

Recently, a pre-1967 VW bus was put in the market. The bus came somewhere in Mexico and brought to the U.S.. I don’t know exactly how it passed through the US-Mexico border. The owner put it up for sale for $2,200. I called the guy and he described to me the condition of the bus. When I saw that the bus had rust holes on the roof, I immediately backed out because I know that is an expensive repair. Collectors normally want a roof that is in good condition. The middle and high end buyers of vintage VWs are very picky but they make the highest bid on good conditioned buses and bugs.

I backed out on the deal and another guy came in and paid the full price. I found out that he paid about $300 at the Department of Motor vehicles for registration and other fees. The new owner is a VW flipper and so he immediately put up the bus for sale for $5000.

With the picky market, there seemed to be no takers for the bus. After a few weeks, I saw the asking price go down from $5000 to $3500. As of today, the bus is still for sale.

When buying a bug, specially a bus, always use caution in your purchase decision because a vintage vehicle can be a money maker or a money pit. Quickly identify the areas in the body that has rust because rust always equals restoration cost. Some parts of the VW is a common rust areas and can easily be repaired. But when rust reaches certain areas like the roof, nose, areas around the windshield, main body frame, the restoration cost becomes quite pricey.

The VW 21-window bus 1965 bus or bust.

Last week, I went to a beach city in Southern California to visit a guy who was selling a 1965 21-window bus. The 21 & 23 window pre-1967 buses are rare and highly sought after by collectors. It is my dream to own one of those but I don’t think I would like to spend tens of thousands of dollars restoring one.

When I finally met the guy, he took me to an auto shop a few miles away from his office and showed me a bus parked inside a restoration shop yard. I had to admit that I was a bit disappointed because the bus had rust issues all over its body requiring expensive restoration. The dashboard looked nice but

the floors had rust, the passenger door on the front has a broken hinge, it does not have a middle and rear sets. It needs to be totally stripped and restored. I estimated the cost of restoration to be around $15,000.

When I asked the owner how much is he selling the bus, he said, “twenty thousand”. I was tempted to asked him the question, “Is that in dollars or pesos?”. But of course I did not asked because the question would come across as an insult.

To find out how much he paid for it, I threw a probing question of, “Would you let it go for $10,000?”. He responded saying that he would rather keep it if my offer is only $10,000. His response tells me that he probably has more than $10,000 already invested on the bus.

The seemingly bloated prices of the 21 & 23-window VW buses is rooted to one event that happened in June 2011 at a Barrett Jackson auto auction in Costa Mesa, California. A 1963 23-window VW bus colored mouse-gray-and-pearl-white as one of the vehicles being auctioned that day. It was in a condition way better than when it rolled off the assembly line 48 years ago. Everybody was surprised when the bids just kept on coming pushing the price of the bus up above the prices of the other vehicles. When the bidding finally ended, the total price of the bus was $219,000 (this included the auction fees and other fees).

The day after that auction, every vintage VW enthusiast wanted to cash in on their bus and started searching

for 21 & 23 VW buses. The owners jacked up prices and buyers went on a buying frenzy for 21 & 23 windows. Many buyers, especially the amateur restorers, paid hefty amounts just to own these buses without realizing that the restoration cost of these buses are very expensive.

I met a guy who bought a 1966 21-window in Sacramento that had been primered but the engine is out. The panels are not attached and the seats are all skeletal. He paid $20,000. I felt bad for him because he over paid for that bus. This is what normally happens to people who become greedy and would buy things because of a buying frenzy that was swirling around during that time. These buyers has to now have the bus restored at an estimated cost of $5,000 for painting, $1700 for a single port 1600cc engine restoration, plus thousands in interior parts, etc.

It only took a few months for the buying frenzy to die down and now people are stuck with their 21 & 23 VW buses and these people are desperate to sell them to get their money back. I believe one of the people who jumped into the frenzy is the owner of this 1965 21-window bus that I was checking out.

I politely declined to buy the bus telling him it is just going to be too much to restore.

The simple lesson in car restoration is to analyze closely the realistic cost of restoration and the range

of value that the car will sell during a season. If you are not too sure about this then do not buy a project that can overwhelm you with the restoration cost.

Restoring a vintage vehicle can be a joy or a horror, depending on how you handle it.

Help the victims of typhoon Sendong

Sometimes a picture will say more words than an article. Please find ways to help the victims of typhoon Sendong.

A lot of people are hurting from the loss of their love ones and personal belongings. Please help those who are currently helpless and are in great despair.

1969 VW beetle. How we bought it.

I was cruising the internet when I spotted an advertisement in craigslist.com that was just posted 45 minutes earlier for a 1969 VW bug being sold for a cheap price. I immediately called my buddy Ramiro and we drove to the city of Stanton.

The bug had been sitting inside a storage for 12 years. The owner said the bug ran before he stored it 12 years ago.

While I was contemplating for the right strategy to negotiate the price, the owner offered a good price and also told us he will deliver the bug to my house. I almost choked when Ramiro excitedly said, "We'll buy it!" I told Ramiro, "Man, you're suppose to coordinate with me before blurting out something". He just said, "The price is right, bro. Let's go for it". After shaking the hands of the owner, I wanted to strangle Ramiro.

Thanks to Ramiro, we are now the proud owners of a 69 bug. We will quickly restore and resell it.

God Help Us!

Saving A Tired Clothes Drier

For the past few months, I have noticed that our laundry drier has not been able to dry our clothes. The clothes are still a bit damped even after 60 minutes of drying. We bought that drier about 13 years ago and it has served us well. But when it started to malfunction, I began to think if it is time for it to retire.

I went to the appliance store and checked out the prices of gas laundry driers. The good ones cost about $300 to $400. Though a clothes drier is important, I felt that our old one still has life left in it. I decided to go back home and open up our drier to find out what could be wrong.

The problem I notice is the flame in the drier does not heat up that much and it keeps on shutting down after a few minutes. The pathway for the exhaust does not seem to be clogged. I concluded that the problem is probably on the burner.

After taking out the front panel of the drier, I removed the burner assembly and other sensors. I am not sure which is malfunctioning but I did not want to pay an appliance technician to repair it because I felt I could do it myself.

Whenever I have a problem on repairing a machine, I would always trace the area of the machine where the problem could be at and I would remove the mechanism in that area and take it to the parts store. From there, a parts technician who sells parts would diagnose the problem and sell me the part I needed. This way, I am able to get free advice and buy the part that I needed.

The parts technician I spoke to is a lady that seems to be knowledgeable on appliance repair. She told me that the igniter of the burner seemed working. The temperature sensor is working. The problem is in the coil. She said that it is common for the coils of driers to break down after years of use. She sold me two coils for $26.

When I got home, I installed both of them and tested the drier again. I placed a load of wet towels. After 65 minutes, they were all dried. I was happy that I was able to give the drier a new lease in life. Needless to say, I saved a bundle of money by just fixing our broken drier.

Scammer's late call

I woke up this morning with a headache. I was already sleeping at 11pm last night when my cell phone rang. When I answered it, a street-wise talking guy was on the other end selling his 1969 VW bus. I was annoyed because this Bozo can't seem to wait until the following day to call me.

With sleepy eyes & 1/4 functioning brain, I asked the guy to give me details about his bus. After 1 1/2 minutes of talking to him, I immediately detected that this guy is a scammer. One indicator that you are dealing with an amateur scammer is they tend to repeat some of your questions after you asked them. When I told him his price is too high, he asked me, "How much money do you have, man?" Legitimate VW sellers don't ask that kind of question.

There had been cases in the past where VW buyers went to meet up with sellers and ended up being robbed. This I definitely want to avoid.

What alarmed me more is while we were talking about his bus, he suddenly asked me, "Do you know a nearby Sushi place?". I had to end the conversation because that question raises red flags telling me that this Bozo is trying to locate me so that he can rob me.

These scammers love to rob vintage vw buyers because they believe that we are always carrying cash just in case a good deal comes out of the VW market. (I don't carry cash for this reason). Once they find out what city you live at, they will ask if you live nearby a certain business establishment. The moment they get this info, they will drive around that area looking for a house with vintage VWs parked on it. Once they find you, they will either steal your high-end VWs & your rare expensive parts or rob you of cash.

Pre-1967 VW middle seat bus purchase

A while back, I was able to buy a rare middle seat that fits a pre-1967 VW bus. It was priced at a very affordable amount and so when I saw the advertisement on the internet, I immediately called the seller. I drove to the bank and withdrew some money. When I met the seller at his house, he told me that he has gotten several calls from people wanting to buy his middle seat. People hundreds of miles away are willing to drive to his house to buy the middle seat. I told the owner that those other people who called him might flake on him and I am already offering to buy the seat. He thought for a moment and decided to take my down payment.

The following day, I returned to pay the balance. I left feeling that I now own a vintage pre-1967 Volkswagen bus middle seat that a lot of people are looking for.

I have learned in the past that I should avoid flipping highly sought after VW parts right after buying them because people will immediately know how much I bought the part originally. After waiting for two months, I quietly place the middle seat for sale in the internet. I put a very high price on it because of two reasons: (1) I wanted to maximize my profit. (2) I did not want to easily sell it because it is worth more keeping.

The reason why I am hesitating to sell the middle seat is because I am planning to buy a pre-1967 VW bus so that I could flip it. The probability of me finding a bus to buy that does not have a middle seat is very high. Since I have a middle seat, I could easily complete a VW bus project and bring up the price of the bus substantially. Collectors prefer buses that are complete.

Yesterday, I got a call from a guy who sounded quite upset at me. He is claiming that he saw the middle seat I own being sold before at an affordable price and now I am selling it double the price. He was angry that I am flipping it twice the price I bought it. I think the caller is one of the people who desperately tried to buy the middle seat but was not successful because I got there first. I am sure he had been searching for an affordable middle seat for a long time now and the rare chance of owning one at an affordable price was snatched away from him before he could do anything. I simply told the guy not to call me if he would just like to vent his frustration. I just hang up because I did not want to be stuck on a senseless conversation with a frustrated stranger.

Reflecting on my fortune, I have to say that it is not a simple stroke of luck. It was a blessing and this blessing came from God. Everything that I have came from God. Because of this reason, I should not boast for owning rare items. God is just providing me with items that I could sell to earn an honest income so that I could provide for my family. I am not being dishonest on my dealings. I am just doing honest business.

Praise the Lord.