Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 15:31:23 -0700
Reply-To: dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Dangers of Ebay Adventures
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ascii
It is that simple! Trailer it!
I have purchased 9 late model Vanagons, mostly Carats and Syncros off eBay and have trailered all of them back to NY.
My trusty F250 and Featherlite hauler have never let me down.
Sellers descriptions are good for cosmetic stuff but mechanicals are usually off.
dylan
----- Original Message ----
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2007 5:12:25 PM
Subject: Dangers of Ebay Adventures
Just had a couple come here yesterday after buying a diesel vanagon on ebay.
They got it for less than $2000 so you would think it was a good deal.
However the problem came when they decided that they were going to fly out
here to NJ and then drive the van back to Texas. He called me and asked me
what I thought. I recommended having the thing trailered to Texas from NJ
but he thought the $900 price tag was steep for this. Instead they flew out
here (not sure what that cost), picked it up from the guy and started to
drive the two hour drive to my shop from where they bought it. First
problem, all four tires were dryrotted. One blew out on the road and they
were towed to a shop and replaced all four ($400). When they arrived here I
inspected the van and found that all of the brakes were pretty much shot. I
replaced them (around $300) and they were off again, only to break down a
short distance from me with an overheating issue. I went and got them and
put them up for the night. The overheat took out the engine (low
compression now), so now they are flying back to Texas and having the van
trailered out there after all.
Moral of the story, if you are buying a van on ebay from far away, weigh the
cost of having it trailered to you against the cost of all of the fuel you
are going to use getting it home, your one way air fare, all of the expenses
you can incur with repairs/breakdowns on the way, and just pay the money and
have the thing trailered to your house. It works out to be cheaper almost
every single time. I have had my share of "adventures" like the one these
kids are having and I say they are overrated. :-)
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
http://www.strictlyvwauctions.com
http://www.eurovan.org
http://www.vwcabrio.org
Phone: (856)-327-4936
Fax: (856)-327-2242
| 
