VW Bus for sale?

Hey I'm lookin' for a good bus for sale. I'm not worried about it not havin' any airconditionin' or a good paint job or anythin', just one that runs good, an' will last me for a good while to come, like 3-6 years or so. I need one to travel around in an' probly live in too, I've heard they get good gas mileage and that they make good livin' space for 1 or 2 people. If anyone has one they'd be up for partin' with hit me up, I live around the Indianapolis area and tho I don't have the money currently I'd be lookin' to buy it in about a year or so, and if possible maybe it get where I pay you over time and what not.

 

www.thesamba.com has a whole bunch of em. I'm looking to buy one before summer is out. So I've been browsing there.

 

Soon as you get that buss come visit man.. Im in your city at the moment, but only for the week, hehe.

I'll be on the look out for ya.

 

Bluedragonfly, Indy Hippie...dig around in the old threads from a month or three ago, there's another Indiana sister (I think she said Bloomington, but I might be mistaken) who was looking for local family....I sent her a link to an Indiana family yahoo group...you might want to dig around for that, too...

 

Indy i too am on the lookout for a mechanically sound VW. same exact needs. are you leaving next summer too?

 

OK, as a person who owns busses, I have to voice my opinion about VW 'busses'....they might call it a bus, or more accurately a microbus, but it is still a van to me. (Drive a schoolie around for 13 years & listen to people call your bus a van & call a VW a bus and you might feel the need to point out the difference too, but 'see' me saying this with a smile & a twinkle in my eye)

& on a VW that runs well, after seeing so many VWs on tour with spare engines in the back, I almost consider the whole thought to be an oxy-moron...I say almost because there are a few mechanically sound VWs but finding one for sale is a challenge; few owners of the mechanically sound are willing to give them up. Personally I'd go with a chevy van or maybe a dodge, but they do use more gas.

 

Have you seen Toyota vans? They have the engine under the front seat, like 60's model US vans, where, in the event of a front end collision, it will be protected by your legs....I've been kind of looking at one anyway, because it's "free", more reliable than a VW, and high mpg....Also looking at minivans.....what I really want is a 6 window sk00lie.

 

Lol I could probly come visit even without the bus Blue, but it doesn't look like I'm gonna be gettin' one anytime soon, I don't have that kind of money I'm leaving when I get out of job corp within the next year or two, untill then I'll be sittin' on my ass at camp atterbury.

 

Toyota previas...those things are great...and up here they come in 4x4 models...If I were a Hippie looking to make a crosscountry trip Id want one of those way more than an old relic VW that most shops hate working on

 

try craigslist in your area

 

i would def not get a VW from my area. too much salt from the winter.
now wat if i were to say spend 13k on a westfalia? one with a brand new rebuilt engine and sound body? are they really that super unreliable?

 

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YES...and for 13G you could get a NICE American van, equip it, fill it with food and supplies and have some money left over for some kind bud.
btw...I used to own bugs, ghias and type IIIs...never a bus...swapping engines is a PIA.

Zen

 

Like a 48-passenger schoolie? Just so ya know, our 48-passenger got about the same gas milage as the 66-passenger that we bought later. I think Lucy Blue(the 48) got 4mpg in the city & 8mpg hwy; Daisy got 3mpg city & 8mpg hwy. T's diesil got 11mpg hwy & it was a 72-passenger.

Toyotas are usually good running vehicles.

 

And for about a grand you can usually pick up an older American van; we bought our '83 Chevy van back in '01 & had done very little work on it until this year.

(& zen, are you talking VW microbus? cuz swapping an engine in a schoolie is easy...'course swapping an engine in any van isn't easy & those VWs will always be vans to me)

 

I know the big ones get the same mpg as the small ones, but the small buses are easier to drive, and find a place to park. I don't need all that room, even with a woman and kid and a couple dogs, unless I was going to put some kind of shop in it...I'm not seeing this as a permanent home, more like something I could live in for at most a couple weeks at a time.

 

Yup, I never liked VW buses. Too much maintenance just to look cool.
Schoolies? Can't get past the gas guzzling. For living in their great but on the road costs are too much for my wallet.
I'll stick with my van....

Zen

 

Van living isn't a great option when you're raising a young'en in it...kids need a bit of space to themselves (which is why we bought a larger bus when the boy was about 7...he needed his own bed!) As far as gas guzzlin', it's not so bad when you go to your destination & park for as long as possible. We probably spent less on gas than most people with 9-5 jobs because we'd be in the woods for the week & come to town on the weekend to make our $$, then go back to the woods. Winters were always cool because we could park right by the market we sold at (and still sell at), and take the metro bus to do fun stuff, like going to museums & parks.

And I really love the busses now because they don't use any gas (they are stationary) & the tax people have no idea how to charge us for them...we have major square footage that would cost us a fortune in property tax if the footage were contained in a house!

'Course I do miss the road & have been threatening to buy a running diesil to run on veggie oil.

 

Try a double-decker London bus then hippiestead
Course, there won't be many of em in America, but there's similar I'm sure..

 

There is a London-style double decker in Austin but if I were to go with 2 levels, I'd go with a Sailbus style. Unfortunately you have to get off the highway often with the taller bus varieties because they don't fit under the bridges & underpasses. A simple 66-72 passenger single level diesil would suit my purposes these days cuz it would only be a travel vehicle & not a perma-home