what is your van worth ??

i tell ya in todays market and just the sheer resale of our earlys.this is a question to see how and where members stand on the value and selling value of our vans. we have all seen vans on cragislist and e-bay for a very long time months even and longer. i do not understand the guys trying to sell a van like i saidover and over agin with a jacked up price then after awile they start begging for some one to buy it with a best offer any offer and so on.me my self and i,m sure some of you members have been in this way a time or 2.for instance i had a 24 ft boat got in 2004 spring and like most of us it was a deal when i got it it needed a motor but other than that was in great shape.the long of it is this, i had over 6 grand into it after buying it and fixing it. with gas prices and what was going on in my life i needed to get rid of it i played the cragislist game a month or two lot,s of tire kickers even sold it once to find out the guy did not want it his buddy came and looked at it for him. when the man came and seen it he told me the buddy new better.and i could keep the $200.00 deposit.but any way i ended up selling the boat for 1800.00 loseing 4 plus thousand dollars or so.it sucked yes but long of it it needed to go my point is why do thease guys selling thease vans act like you want sex with there old ladys when you offer them what they wanted for any way a fair market low ball offer. they go off into the what i have invested in this van.SORRY THATS LIFE.a boat is a lot diff than a car or van in the sence of geting to use it on a reg basice. i guess for me it is simple math cut your losses and run or keep the darn thing. sorry for the rant in rave but this kind of things buggs the hell out of me. this in no way has anything to do with anyone selling a early here lately just been on mine mind for a wile.

Bear, In todays market if someone wants to sell something their best shot is to put it on the money and not waste their time or a potential buyers. Even though my van will never be for sale I know it's worth half or less than I have in it. Bill

thats the way i see it. you get tired of one thing cut your loses and move on.it,s like this don,t play with fire if you don,t want to get burned. keep your money in the bank.

I agree, with you're selling strategy halfway. If you've got a project van and you know you'll never finish it and it's going nowhere, by all means sell for what you can and move on. However, if it's giving you faithful service but you're ready to try something else but in no hurry why not try for a little more. These vans are a tough sell, not quite like an rv but close. I'm like Bill, never gonna sell mine so don't really care but the flip side is they are so damn reasonably priced sometimes and because of this, I've got 3 now!

Jerry

i have had a dozen people aproach me about selling my van in the short 3 monthes ive owned it. i thought i over paid at 3k but i liked it so i bought it. not sure what i could sell it for but no one choked when i told them what i paid and was slowly making improvements. now the day i decide to sell it i am sure it will be a different story. i have a car that was worth about 8k in good condition 2 yrs ago. same car today is worth 3500.00. i have about 12k in it and all the expensive mods and conversions 'might' bring 5k IF i found a buyer wanting one the way mine is set up. obviously, i am not selling it either but the point is to buy your van, boat, car, blow up doll etc. for yourself and get your moneys worth out of it, then the resale value doesnt really matter. usually, if i dont want it anymore, neither does anyone else.

Apparently a good running 250 and 3 spd wrapped in a project van isn't worth $300.
-John

Mine's worth a LOT less than what I have pulled out of my pocket, but I love it and think it was worth it. IF I sold it to replace it with something without as much Bondo, I'd probably list it here, on Vannin.com and the Yahoo group so that it went to a good home and make another vanner happy. A lot of Craigslist BS to put up with otherwise. Don't know how FleaBay would work out either.

I am truly grateful for those who restore these wonderful vans, even to the point of putting more money into them than the general public would pay for them. Simply put, they just don't make them like this anymore... they exist in limited numbers and once they deteriorate to the point where someone decides to junk them, that's it. Gone forever. There's one less van for a future owner, with luck owners, to enjoy. In my opinion, these are fascinating vehicles; their style, technology (Or lack of), mystique, the period in history in which they were manufactured... these are things that can never be replaced with a modern vehicle.

I know first hand how much it sucks to pump money into something, only to have it be worth(again, to the general public) a fraction of what was paid for it. Not fun! It is somewhat reassuring for me to take the view that I am merely taking care of, and enjoying the hell out of, this toy until it's time to pass it on and give someone else the opportunity to do the same.

My father owned a drove my van all of my life and then some ... Now I have it in hopes of making it better than I received it.  Maybe some day I can hand it down to my son or daughter in hopes that they will do the same.  To me it's priceless and money put into it well spent.  

Most people don't want to sell but want to know what it's worth ... Others drag Their feet to buy in hopes that you'll drop your price.

If you do any more than routine maintenance then you can pretty much expect a loss when selling and sometimes even then.

Consider it a hobby a lot like building models but on a much larger scale ... The beauty of it is no one builds theirs the same as the next guy.

i,v waited 33years to find and buy my 64 , its money well spent for what
you spend on used car you don,t what your geting at lest when you redo
your own van you know what you got in it and in most cases it one of a kind
and will last longer then todays auto!

I look at it this way...I wanted a old "new" vehicle, without a freakin computer. Now the fact that my first ride was a 53 Ford half ton, and after several years of single life and then married and 3 kids, That made the decision real easy.... A VINTAGE VAN with enough seating for everyone. I figured that what I put into it, I probably wouldn't get it back anyway if I sold it, so I might as well spend the money on it and make it what I want and enjoy a nice looking ride. You can hardly tell, but I have over $6,000.00 invested in mine( and I have the bills) and We still have a long way to go. I am building this van in the hopes of being buried it...lol..so to speak. I am building this for me and my better half ( but mostly me ).hehehe. Unless you have a rich uncle that says " here I will sponsor this build then you sell it and keep the money" You will not see to much for a return. Build it as if you were going to keep it until you die, That's how I am lookin at it, then I won't have the headache of trying to sell it. By the time we are done there might be $13,000.00 actual cash into this project, but it will feel like a million dollars to me.

the truth be known i have 10,000 grand into both my 1966 no-door and my 1970 and there both not even done yet but it,s what i like and want.i am going to buy a 1965 or 66 sport van deluxe when i get the other 2 vans done.then after that i want a 1969 to 1972 chevy k5 blazer that will round out my auto craze.my daughter jessica won out on the 1970 van it,s going to be her,s it,s going 4x4 but she wants it blue the blue on the new ford mustanes. my son michael will get the 66 no-door other son matt can pick from the sport van or k5 but i still GET TO DRIVE THEM ALL.

Anything is only worth what someone will pay for it, plain and simple.

Ive owned my 64 Eco for a little over a month and am $3700 in so far. I paid almost 1/2 of that for it. The way I see it by the time im done I will be $6500-$7000 and that just a semi restore. Ive always had a way of getting most if not all my money back in anything I sale, a lot of time I get more. Sold my 62 VW bus and 83 Chevy Truck for more than I paid and I hardly touched them. Goes back to the something is only worth what someone will pay Knowledge is power when selling and buying.

None of us are into these vans to make money, Have more than I wish to say in the 64 alone and it's still need 10% of the bodywork to go and still paint , rims, interior.

I got this 68 GMC Van and some members told me here that in the 60's it was considered a cheap Van, due to no extra doors on the side, now I find out that it is a rare Van with no side doors. It's a keeper, purrs like a Kitten and has a nice original patina on it. Old Van rule for sure ! If someone knows what my 68 GMC No door van is worth, than let me know. Thanks.

Back in the day everything was a option, so if you wanted side doors your had to pay extra ($55 dollars I think) , same goes for the pass. seat. No one knew there was going to be a vanning craze in the 70's and the no doors had those nice smooth sides for murals without the doors breaking them up. It is funny the cheapo van back in the day is the van everyone whats now. Same goes for the small swan mirrors, those were the cheapo's you got if you didn't upgrade your mirrors. Now everyone wants those

I guess mine will be worth whatever my wife can get when they pry my dead cold hands off of the wheel when I kick the bucket, other than that, it's worth quite a bit because it won't be for sale until then.

I just got my first 1964 G10 a couple of months ago... and I will be the last owner that van will ever have. It is the most original, eye catching van I have ever seen and no $$$ can replace that.

stunami you made me laugh than think about a man that passed away about a year ago , he had a buick electra i think and a small gun collection needless to say he was buried sitting behind the drivers seat with his gun collection in the trunk. now i could go for that kinda make a man cave in the back of the van with my guns,fishing gear maybe even stick the evinrude back there, yes the family will only spent the $$$ foolishly so why not let me take it with me.