Stalking a Van...

[MindyLee]

Do you think it would be weird if I went up to a total stranger's door and asked if they wanted to sell their van?

Ok I'm not going to do that, but I'm intrigued with this situation. Next door to the park I take my kids to, there's a house, and parked on the side of said house is a VW van. It's either a Vanagon or a Westfalia. I couldn't get a close enough look to read which one. I could see enough to tell that a) it looks like it hasn't moved in a while, and b) that it's packed full of stuff. I was super tempted to knock on the door and ask about it, but since I'm in no position to buy right now, I refrained.

But I'll be keeping an eye on it.

 

[BobBski]

If I were indeed interested in purchasing it, I'd definitely knock on the door and ask if he'd ever thought of selling it. Things like that are done all the time. Not weird at all to my line of thinking.

 

[SternWake]

Westy's have the pop top roof and are usually priced in the medium to high insane zone.

I love the westy layout for camping trips, full timing not so much, and their reliability leaves a lot to be desired.

I lived in a '73 Westy in South Africa for 7 months. My first Van. it was Awesome.
They call them Kombi's There.

 

[muddy]

in my experience, people who own kitschy cars are generally pretty open to taking pictures and talking your ear off about them.

 

[MindyLee]

If I were indeed interested in purchasing it, I'd definitely knock on the door and ask if he'd ever thought of selling it.  Things like that are done all the time.  Not weird at all to my line of thinking.

That's the thing, sadly I'm not in a position to purchase right now, so I guess I'd feel like I was bugging them for no reason. But I'll keep an eye on it and maybe I'll get lucky and the owner will be outside one day when we're there. In that scenario I would definitely ask.

 

[MindyLee]

Westy's have the pop top roof and are usually priced in the medium to high insane zone.

I love the westy layout for camping trips, full timing not so much, and their reliability leaves a lot to be desired.

I lived in a '73 Westy in South Africa for 7 months. My first Van.  it was Awesome.
They call them Kombi's There.

I've been eyeballing the Westys...I think that's what this one is but I'll need a closer look.

Can you elaborate on the lack of reliability? Are there particular things that tend to go wrong with them?

Also, is it tough to find parts for those or the Vanagon?

 

[highdesertranger]

while I would never consider asking someone one if they wanted to sell their VW, I do this all the time. have gotten some great deals over the years, also ran into some nuts that thought their vehicles were worth a million bucks. so I say go for it if you see something you like ask, the worse they can say is no. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

There was a thread here not too long ago about VW's and their reliability. I can't find it.

There is a Forum dedicated to Vanagons and westy's. Even there they make fun of their lack of reliability:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vi...&start=0&sid=6fe63bb3e39513103bc95ab2713d57d6

back in 2001 when i was looking, I drove one, but it was so finicky to get into third gear I researched it, and my research told me to run far, run fast, and keep running, faster.

Excellent traction though with the engine over the drive wheels

 

[MindyLee]

Thanks, I'll go check it out!