Volkswagen bus 23 windows project

[dolfhannigan]

I purchased a Volkswagen Bus shell and all the parts coresponding to it on eBay I payed $18 K, the seller canceled the order after I payed, but he kept the money and today when the shell and the parts arrived, there was no wheels, no original windows, no M-plates and the roof collapsed because of the rust, the frame is destroyed by rust. The shell was dipped in solution to take the rust off and was applyed primer but still the process of rusting was so advanced that left very little body on the shell. Now what do I do? I know I can call customer service and report this seller for not being honest about the real condition of the shell... but this is not going to help me turn this oxidized shell into a real bus since the people at the shop where is suppoesed to be fixed told me that this is not a doable project ...

[jr-41ford]

What did your inspection before purchasing this VW bus reveal?

[mr.elmwood]

Sadly, JR is correct.

That is the answer you will hear from everyone.

[ripsmc]

If you mean the '62 it seems to me the seller made a few comments that could be taken one way or the other. You have no recourse short of suing the guy because I assume there's no way he's going to cough up 18 grand. Suing will be a roll of the dice.

[mr.elmwood]

This started beyond repair and then got worse.

"It did have a lot of rust"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-Volkswagen-Bus-Vanagon-Deluxe-/202219159733?hash=item2f153380b5%3Ag%3A...

[mr.elmwood]

[carcollectornut]

WQW where do I start, you bought a "NOTHING BURGER" you paid 18 grand for a pile of Rust, why would you do that??? The seller did nothing wrong why did you not check with your restoration shop first and show the the auction ad that would of saved you  alot of money.  All the rust was in plain site. The seller was honest about the condition what part of the pictures did you not get' There are a ton of old car selling sites on the interweb where you could of found one maybe even a running  one. and there has to be old VW clubs as well that could of pointed you in  the right direction.  It is maybe worth $200 crusher prices if that, You did it to your self.

          It is from east  what did you expect. Did you not look at the pictures and even in  large them, you have no case, Ebay customer service will just laugh at you and do nothing for you!!!  Ebay only stands behind vechicles 10 years or newer,  1962 is well beyound that date. It looks like it sat in deep rain forest for 40 of the 56 years of its life, you will get no symathy here.. The seller must be jumping up and down with glee that some one even considered buying it.......Da Nut

[mr.elmwood]

I sense you are holding back.
I kept staring at this picture, the before, when it was "better", because the dipping eats more away.
What am I not getting?

[legitimate_bidder]

Yeah, suing isn't a viable option unless the seller made specific representations which weren't true.

When you buy something "as is"- especially a vehicle, you waive any claims against anything which could have been discovered had you properly inspected the vehicle, pre-purchase. (That is why even the Ebay Vehicle Protection mumbo-jumbo which covers vehicles up to 10 years old, is worded essentially the same way).

Real-life, or the internet....you don't inspect...you get whatever you get, and unless there was blatant proveable fraud...there's nothing ya can do about it.

It boggles my mind that somebody would pay that much for a hulk! -even if it weren't rusted to H-E-double-hockey-sticks! Even if it were clean, what it would have cost the OP to make a decent vehicle out of it, would've been 4 times what he could buy a nice one for.

[mr.elmwood]

LBJ, I sat here, staring at the before pictures. Seller did not hide anything. All, ALL, of the metal is rusted beyond use. ALL of the roof and window openings are gone. Floors would all have to be replaced. All door skins. All rockers. The entire engine bay. ALL supports, everywhere. Every seam is rusted. I can see all of this in the pictures. 

LBJ, explain this to me.

[ripsmc]

I agree that the buyer is likely toast. I only mentioned suing because..

1. The hazy insinuation by the seller that the bus could be good.

2. You never know what a judge will do. There's an old saying that a lawyer becomes a judge when they're not sharp enough to be a good lawyer....

It boggles my mind that someone would send 18 grand to someone based on that ad and sight unseen.

[legitimate_bidder]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

LBJ, I sat here, staring at the before pictures. Seller did not hide anything. All, ALL, of the metal is rusted beyond use. ALL of the roof and window openings are gone. Floors would all have to be replaced. All door skins. All rockers. The entire engine bay. ALL supports, everywhere. Every seam is rusted. I can see all of this in the pictures. 

LBJ, explain this to me.

---

'Splain it? Me? HAhahaha! It boggles my mind! That darn thing looks like something that was stripped and left in the woods 40 years ago, and someone dragged it out and put it on Ebay. I wouldn't have expected ANYONE to bid on it- not even for $100....not even 100 of them funny Canadian dollars1 -Unless maybe they were planning on using it as a prop in a movie about the zombie apocalypse or something.

I used to haul junk cars for a living. I would have CHARGED to haul that thing away. There's not one usable part on it...

I am blown away.... $18K???!!!!!

[ripsmc]

I notice that in the pic of the bus by mr.elmwood that it has several support bars welded in to keep it from collapsing into a heap.....

It's amazing how much in value those old buses have gone up. Back in the 70s I owned 2 of them; a '59 and a '65. I think I bought them for about 200 bucks each; straight and driving. I put a later model, higher horse motor into the '59. Neither was the 23 window version though.

Those 23 windows bring an obscene amount of money. Usually a 100 grand and up. Not the one in question and the one in the pic though. There's barely any scrap metal there at all.

[carcollectornut]

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@carcollectornut wrote:

WQW where do I start, you bought a "NOTHING BURGER" you paid 18 grand for a pile of Rust, why would you do that??? The seller did nothing wrong why did you not check with your restoration shop first and show the the auction ad that would of saved you  alot of money.  All the rust was in plain site. The seller was honest about the condition what part of the pictures did you not get' There are a ton of old car selling sites on the interweb where you could of found one maybe even a running  one. and there has to be old VW clubs as well that could of pointed you in  the right direction.  It is maybe worth $200 crusher prices if that, You did it to your self.

          It is from east  what did you expect. Did you not look at the pictures and even in  large them, you have no case, Ebay customer service will just laugh at you and do nothing for you!!!  Ebay only stands behind vechicles 10 years or newer,  1962 is well beyound that date. It looks like it sat in deep rain forest for 40 of the 56 years of its life, you will get no symathy here.. The seller must be jumping up and down with glee that some one even considered buying it.......Da Nut

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After I posted the above responce, I went to the good old interweb I lost count at about 20 being sold on different sites some projects, but not like that one, and many running and all ready done, in the $18,000 range I even saw one for $13,500 done out of Calf I bet the OP is gone and won't come back. He deserves what he did, and no wonder the seller would not respond after the sale, I would not as well THE SELLER DID NOTHING WRONG YOU AS THE BUYER DID!!!....Da nut

[legitimate_bidder]

@ripsmc

Rip, I noticed those welded-in supports right away too! Even with them, I could just picture the whole thing crumpling under it's own weight if ya dared to pick it up.

@carcollectornut

You got that right, Nut. The seller didn't hide anything- it's all there to see in the pics- even before and after dipping; and he didn't make any representations, other than tnhat it has quite a bit of rust...which it sure does!

Seller won the lottery.

Just goes to show...even if ya think it's garbage....list it on the interwebz, and itv might bring an obscene amount of money. This is one I will remember for decades... OP literally threw away $18K, and there's not a darn thing he can do about it, because the fault is his own.