Buying a VW what to look for

Hi guys,

Was directed here via the Hayes restoration manual. I’m 25 and in the process of spending savings on a VW type 2.. in honesty on a budget and looking to teach myself restoration work long term - at the moment I have zero clue. As a members VW forum was wondering what’s super important to ask/look for when enquiring about a type 2 VW. Would rather a VW purchase with less working mechanical features e.g engine rather than a VW that needs lots of welding work done. Main concern is the rust damage.. but is their specific things I should be asking in order to understand more what’s under that fresh paint coat? Been doing a quite a bit of research but there’s only so much info you can get from a book. What’s the main things you need to look/out ask for when enquiring/buying basically?


Any sort of info atall would be amazing from personal experience. Thanks for taking the time to read

James

 

Welcome along James, and well done for doing what I never did when I first bought mine and asked questions before purchasing!
Rust is always the killer, all of the mechanical items are relatively simple to work on.

Assuming you'll end up buying a van that's been restored at some point in its life (most have by now, but folk still occasionally import rust free shells in original paint) so ask for pictures of the restoration.
You want to see how they went about the restoration. Did they chop out all of the rust and weld in new panels, or has it just had filler and a quick blow over in the last 6 months to get it sold on. Be wary of a van that's been recently painted with no pictures of the work.

Where are you based? It's well worth seeing if your near to one of us to go with you when you take a look at a prospective bus.

 

The holy grail of cheaper vans - good bodywork, knackered mechanics. They don't exist.
Standard cheaper van - good mechanics, knackered bodywork.
Really cheap vans - knackered bodywork, knackered mechanics.

Best value - one that doesn't need any work - better to spend your free time earning extra cash for your van fund.

What's your budget?

 

The problem comes that you look through the monthly magazines, see a shiny bus, and read about "the bottom 6 inches was restored" .
Probing harder the bus in question is owned by somebody who works at a VW garage, or is fairly rich.

There are restorations in those magazines that have been completed with 1000's of hours of work in them. At £50 an hour of garage time the bottom 6 inches is in the £10000++ category, certainly with a paint job on top. My bus is rusty but there is over £10000 of garage bills in it for rust repairs, not counting DIY time I have spent.
However, that cost is spread over the 11 years and 90000 miles of use I have given my bus. It originally cost £6250 with 5 days MOT on it.

DIY maybe can cost you 25% of the garage cost, but probably 4x the time.

Or the garage buys a failed MOT, slaps over a few patches, fills it and paints it, makes it too shiny , gets an MOT pass and sells it for a lot more than the price they paid the despairing customer a few months back.

Buses that have avoided MOTs through age, as is now allowed, may be well looked after, or they may be rolling MOT failures.

Engine replacement and repairs costs money but not too much time, bodywork costs time and money.

 

Yeah, figured this much - appreciate the info though! Just trying to get all available info before making conscious decision. £11,000 at a push. Difficult because I’m told most of the ones converted from van - camper are probably better looked after, whereas I would personally rather start from scratch. Difficult to find one with relatively untouched interior in relatively good condition that isn’t £15,000 +

 

hey James,

really appreciate the info! Trying not to be sold on one that looks super shiny from the exterior (probably to good to be true). Trying to find one with all the relevant paperwork, and restoration work (if any) done throughout the years. Finding a lot of people who talk as if they’ve had work done but fail to have repair work still on file. Trying to take people on face value but difficult - hence second opinion always good. The Haynes manual has been really good so far!

I’m based in Northern Ireland, so supply isn’t as high as would be in rest of GB. I am however looking at a few in south England right now as potential purchases, but difficult to really get hands on opinion when only means of viewing is via video/pics. Really appreciate the info though!

 

Do you have a comprehensive tool kit and welder?

 

Hi there, thanks for replying! I’m trying to find one that has been kept in house for a period of 20+ years as in same owner if possible. I feel more chance of being well looked and better track record of repair work + record of this if not many owners. I really try take people at face value, but some people are just plain spoofers haha so difficult when dealing with 50 year old van, I also think the ones which are already kitted out with camping interior are more likely to be better looked after/maintained (could be completely wrong on this). I think my bar is too high for what I have to spend at the moment haha - £10-12000, but enjoying browsing around. The dream would be to find one inside a barn untouched for many years and owner wants rid haha. Been the typical online auctions eBay, gumtree etc. do you have any experience on more specific places to look?

thanks a mill for taking the time to respond!!

 

I wish!!!! I’m literally starting blank canvas haha

 

Most were campers from new and were based on the microbus with factory windows. Converted vans have windows cut in and are very different, but still many were done from new. As to which are best looked after you can't judge on the body style - some look after them, some don't.
Many sell at around your budget because they took it for a resto quote! But they might be MOTd and perfectly useable.

I spent 360 hours just welding mine. At £50/hour that would have been £18K and mine was NOT too bad! That does not include parts, filling and painting.
Then there's the engine, running gear, interior, pop top...

I really do believe that every £1k you add to your fund will save you many times that amount unless you have your pants pulled down.

Even if you DIY the part prices have gone mental. 7-8 years ago my fully built up rust free doors were £80 each, they even had opening 1/4lights. Same would be £500 now and stripped of all parts... £80 wouldn't even buy you the opening 1/4 light.

I've restored about 8 buses. When I stopped 6 years ago, putting one back together after painting with new seals, new light lenses etc was £1,000 just for the parts. Now I have no idea but it will only have gone up.

Would I do it now? No way, I'd buy one some other mug has restored and selling to pay off (part of) their crippling bank loan.

 

its literally in the Hayes book

yes sir! I think it was in the Hayes “buying a van” section (that I keep quoting)

 

Really appreciate all the info zed!

Take care

 

My head is telling me one thing, heart another lol. Head says take your time and buy a good one that I can drive away tomorrow. Heart says screw that; buy one (like you) and take my time learning the inside/out. I personally think you get more from the experience sorting yourself.. that is off course if you can take the heartache/put aside all the time to fix

p.s I’ve your earlier thread saved

take care

 

Less people will be looking for camper vans in winter, so hang fire for a few months (at least) and keep saving hard.

Keep your eye on facebook marketplace, facebook local vw groups, just kampers marketplace, the late bay forum, prototype bay forum, volkszone etc

Next year people may be back to holidaying abroad, so there is a chance that more campers will be for sale and less people are wanting to buy them.

I'd echo what zed says about spending as much as possible when you initially buy.
Save, save, save .
I'm not one for credit, but if you have a safe/steady income then interest rates are very low at the moment.

 

Hey Paul, this is 100% a very interesting take and definitely one I’ll take on board. I’ve been looking at similar models for a few years simply as an observer.. until recently. What I would say is the price for buying from my experience hasn’t moved much, if anything since 2019? Certainly not in relation to other markets. Components for fixing etc probably went up alot more. Certainly something to take a note off and keep an eye on going into next year with the whole travel retuning etc etc

Will 100% keep an eye out to try and find some gem on them places you mentioned (wishful thinking) of course winter season

Thanks a mill for the info! Really appreciate you taking the time to respond! Great advice