Hi (Rough costs for first purchase)

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourselves' started by Jools., Nov 17, 2015.

  1. There's no such thing as an 'average' resto price, but for what it's worth most jobs I do fall between £3000-£6000 for welding plus parts.
     
  2. hi. I paid 7k for a very solid, complete but tatty, running South African import. 2k on mechanicals, 3k for @Paul Weeding to rebuild the engine and 5k for the tiny bit of welding and repaint. So I will have a very solid MOT'd, shiny and running properly bus, that just needs everything else, but I know what its like and what has been done to it. Much of the rest I will try to do myself as I don't have the space or skills to do what's been done until now.
     
    Miss Rosie, Flakey, mgbman and 2 others like this.
  3. I think a lot of people do their own work jooles so its unfortunately not going to get prices, its my first Bay having GM and Landrovers and I have found that parts are 2-3 times more expensive and anyone quoting for work unless you know them put a VW tax on the work. I had a bit of a find with my van at 6k, as with any classic be prepared to have a moneypit
     
    mgbman likes this.
  4. Remember Bays like a lot of classics are really long term investments? You need to still love them even though parts have dropped on the garage floor in a pile of dust!! :)
     
    D1ckyboy likes this.
  5. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I spent 6weeks welding mine and that's probably about average.
    It's not just which panels need replacement, it's how far the rust has set in everywhere you don't intend to replace.
    Remembering it'll go rusty again, spending pots on a massive resto is foolish all round IMO.
     
    brothernumberone likes this.
  6. 77 Westy

    77 Westy Supporter

    You’re asking a question that cannot be answered, most people don’t list what they have spent because that can get rather scary and until you know how much work is required you can’t know how much it will cost. Every bus will be different, most will require a lot of time effort and money spent, a few will not but if your budget is £6k expect the former rather than the latter.
     
    Cov1987 likes this.
  7. My budget is not 6K
     
  8. Baysearcher

    Baysearcher [secret moderator]

    As already said, you won't restore one for the cost you can buy a good one for.
     
  9. I think paneuropaul has shown that on top of the initial 7K purchase a further 10K was spent on the van and still needs a little work.

    D1ckyboy used the word moneypit which about sums up these old vans.

    So realistically if you spend your 6K on a rusty van, you are likely to spend a further 10K for restoration.
     
  10. @zed has given you a hint about the possible costs of a restoration - 6 weeks at £40 per hour is near enough £10k plus materials. I would think that to hand a fairly rusty van to a 'restorer' to do a proper job would finish up with a bill of £15k for a painted rolling shell. Then it just leaves seals, interior, general mechanicals, engine ..... The list goes on, as many of us could tell you.

    You need to work to your budget and see what is available, but if you have enough to restore a van properly, it will cost less if you can find someone who has done it already and is selling the finished article.
     
    Miss Rosie likes this.
  11. If you can afford it the best advice is to buy the best one you can i.e. one that you can use and go camping in. Do bits as and when they need some work. Unless your true hobby is as a mechanic/sheet metal worker.
     
    chad likes this.
  12. oh and have plenty of excuses ready for the wife/parner why you need the parcelthats just arrived and why your account is bone dry
     
  13. First impressions ???advice needed look at this thread in General Discussion.
     
  14. My bus was bought for about £500 from a scrap yard two years ago and have spent £3000 to get it to paint but that's me doing it all[​IMG], if you can do the work yourself great, buy one that needs some work .but if I paid someone to do what iv done thay probably wouldn't or would have charged me something like £20000 so buy the best you can and injoy it first [​IMG]then find out wot needs doing later
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2015
    mgbman and zed like this.
  15. Faust

    Faust Supporter

    If you have got the money buy ready done it's cheaper in the end . If you like to do work yourself i think you will find that there is always something to do to them even on a minter
     
  16. bonjour...:hattip:

    Buy one just before christmas ,might get a bargain...
     
  17. Many years back I fancied getting an MGB which I did and bought a reasonable one for 3000 with an idea to restore it. Bad idea! I liked the car but I didnt have the welding or painting ability to restore myself.

    To pay someone to restore the car would cost 14,000 making the total 17,000 for a car that would be worth 12,000 when done. That would be daft.

    So I went looking for one already restored with new paint and all done. Found one for 10,000 and bought it. Sold the old one for 3,000 . So its all about the money.

    The MGB is still mint and now worth far more.

    So, when I wanted a Bay in 2014 I applied what I had learned, buy one already done provided there is photo evidence and bills to prove.

    Thats what I did.
     
  18. Arghhhhhhhhh. But it still doesn't answer my question.

    I realise you all mean well and I understand that I will possibly save money by buying one already done but it still doesn't answer my question at all. I just want to make an informed decision, I just want a rough estimate in my head of welding costs so if I see one and discover it needs welding then I can put a very rough price on the work. This isn't to say I wont buy one done already, I might. I'm pretty clued up in terms of most things, or have enough nouse to add 2 and 2 and get damn close to 4 and I like to do things up, all three of my houses I've done up and I want a new project...

    So with the best will in the world I understand you all when you say buy one thats already done, but maybe, just maybe I want to renovate one myself :)

    Sorry for the rant, I know I'm new here but it's frustrating when you ask questions and get what everyone else wants.
     
  19. matty

    matty Supporter

    £5k
     
    zed and Jools. like this.
  20. Understanding your frustration but surely you can see that the cost will depend upon the amount of welding, its the how long is the piece of string question ............ you'll probably find people who do this as "a VW specialist" professionally will work for anywhere between £25 and £40 per hour. Two of the guys on here that do it professionally have already indicated prices Zed said 6 weeks so say 240 hours times £40 = £9,600 or Brothernumberone said his average is £3,000 to £6,000. Unless you specify exactly what welding (and without any contingency) I don't see how anyone can be more precise.
     
    Cov1987 likes this.

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