Buying a splitty or bay in South America

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by VWFURGOJURGENS, Sep 23, 2018.

  1. Ok so for a bit of background I’m a Spanish teacher and have lived in Peru, Colombia and Argentina and travelled extensively so know the continent well which means I can easily navigate the private buy sell pages for bargains.... and there are lots of bargains!

    I could buy a decent enough looking split now for 7000 US!

    https://m.olx.com.pe/combi-vw-66-iid-1011093428?location=ciudadarequipa.olx.com.pe


    Or this (admittedly 95 model)
    https://m.olx.com.pe/vendo-combi-vo...1022716648?location=ciudadarequipa.olx.com.pe

    These are the tip of the iceberg!

    Basically, what’s the catch? Any real difference in the Brazilian built vans?

    TIA
     
  2. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    Quality of build/materials I think
     
    VWFURGOJURGENS likes this.
  3. These are generally used as mini buses too and cram a lot of people in and will have done for 40 years so I imagine it will have taken its toll!
     
    snotty likes this.
  4. Poptop2

    Poptop2 Administrator

    I’m guessing some of roads may leave a little to be desired too.
     
  5. True
     
  6. bear in mind that selling prices for vw vans in the UK have slumped and may drop further, who knows. so you may be better off buying here.
     
    Lord Congi likes this.
  7. Keeling54

    Keeling54 Supporter

    A friend and I had a business importing splitscreens from Brazil, we were paying between $1500 - $4000 per van depending on condition. We did it for a couple of years before Brexit killed the exchange rates.

    Don't forget that the pictures don't tell the true story, they look great but unless you can personally check the condition before paying for, it be very wary. Their idea of a great bus is a rusty wreck that we would scrap.
    We also found that we couldn't pay money directly into a Brazilian bank account, had to by dollars first, pay into a bank in Florida and then transfer the money from there. Probably easier for you if you have friends there.

    Any finally, make sure you get the original log book/registration document sent with the van, they have to be de-registered when they leave Brazil and the authorities tend to keep the registration document as part of the process. Without it you can't register it here.
     
  8. Excellent advice - thank you!
     
  9. You could easily double that 7000 usd by the time youve factored in import tax, shipping, registering, MOT, initial trip to Brazil to view vehicle etc (or do it blind...very risky). But people have and continue to import from these climes so i guess it must be feasible. As said before prices have slumped in the uk though so it would have to be super cheap i guess! Good luck though:thumbsup:
     
    Merlin Cat and VWFURGOJURGENS like this.
  10. if you look extra carefully at the pics theres that much filler up the flat side thast its bowed not flat , front panel is the same
     
  11. I imported vans from South Africa about 15 years ago with a colleague originally from Johannesburg. He would go back for a holiday and source them then do all the admin that end to get them into a container for shipping via Durban. I'd do the same once they reached Felixstowe.

    It was just about worthwhile back then because clean Westies were only making £5/6k. The things to be careful of are the 'on-costs' like export and import duties, port fees that can be horrendous if you get delayed whilst your vans are effectively impounded until you pay and clear customs. Then collection and transport costs and of course your own time cost because it really mounts up. I would also be wary of any mechanical or bodywork done before or after you buy them because in those parts of the world every job is bodged as cheaply as possible - the priority being to keep them running, roadworthiness doesn't come into it.......
     
    DubCat and Merlin Cat like this.
  12. Keeling54

    Keeling54 Supporter

    Shipping from Brazil for 2 buses was approximately £2-£2.5k, import duty 5% of the total cost, transport to and from the ports both ends was on average £500.

    They would take up to 6 months to arrive.

    Even a bus that was reasonably road worthy would need the headlights swapped out, a washer bottle and wipers fitted even it didn't have safari's and all of the fluids putting back. No idea why but they would drain the fuel, oil and brake fluid before shipping. That was the minimum before putting it in for an MOT.

    Brazil is very humid so most of the vans are rotten, they patch weld and botch everything, everyone we imported we sold as needing full restoration.
     
    Merlin Cat and snotty like this.
  13. theres a fellow here bringing in cars from south africa , there are total crap , bodged brase welded butchered , isopnded be oned belief , asking 8 10 k for projects , best of al like all dodgey dealers taking of all the best bits and selling them back to you
     
    Merlin Cat likes this.
  14. Parts from Brazil are great, my sister goes over there for work and brings back all sorts for her westie, but she has seen some proper horror stories in terms of vans over there! No personal experience, but I wouldn’t!
     
    Purple likes this.
  15. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    I read the JK blog stories of when they went over a couple of years back to pick up representative Brazilian vehicles and it basically cost them a lot of wasted time when the rich foreigner would make a long journey to see the lovely car that turned out to be a wreck. Brazil is a big place, travel is not easy.

    As for South Africa, my South African dentist tells me there were quite a few buses out there ended up with Porsche 3.6 transplants more as a run of the mill bodge using two old aircooled junk cars as donors, than as a mystical nirvana upgrade ..
     
    Bulletooth likes this.
  16. .

    As an owner of a 2003 Danbury imported van, tell your sister there is money to be made sourcing parts for late Brazilian bays because the supply here has dried up or is stupidly expensive!
     
    Jonboy_t likes this.

Share This Page