Should I trade my 21 window Volkswagen bus for a roadster?

[ion-it]

Hey guys! So I read the classic roadster forums nearly everyday and have wanted to have one of my own since 2016 but couldn't because of one issue: I was in the process of restoring a 1965 21 window deluxe Volkswagen bus!

Well long story short I finished restoring it over the summer and now it sits in storage. I've gotten the itch to sell the bus and switch to a roadster with the recent roadsters at auctions. Is this a good idea? Or would waiting for the Volkswagens I.D buzz electric bus and selling the classic one then bring more money? Will roadsters all be $150,000 if I wait 2 more years?

 

[TEG]

Roadsters are becoming collectors items and prices have been rising. Support from Tesla on them is lacking (almost non-existent?) now, so if you have any problems with it, you have limited options on repairs.
So, just be forewarned about that. The battery and PEM are expensive to repair/replace and they don't last forever.

Anyways, FOMO might drive you toward a roadster... Finding good used ones is getting harder and harder so you might want to act sooner rather than later if you want to go that route.
Also, be careful to triple check any listing... There are scam ads out there on the internet... Don't wire money to someone unknown without physically seeing the car, etc.

Your bus has been collectible for a long time. I don't know how much more upside on collectors pricing you would get from that... So possibly it would be good to sell and then get a Roadster.
What is the value of being able to experience some thrill of Roadster driving? Or would you just put it in storage hoping it will appreciate in value?

 

[ion-it]

Good points! Sadly that's the difference I've noticed with a 60+ year old bus vs the roadsters. I can pretty much buy anything for the bus. Being in California is an advantage I'd assume for roadster parts like the classic busses are.
I've read up on the PEM issues and degradation, charging, etc.

If I were to get a roadster it'd be a Sunday driver. The bus was more a sympathy project I wanted to save. Bus values have held $100,000 plus for a decade now and from what I've seen once a older car breaks that price they usually dont go down much. I'm just curious how much the roadsters will go in 2+ years. That glacier blue 2.5 roadster on sothebys went to $100,000 if I'm correct.

 

[IslandRoadster]

Hey guys! Well long story short I finished restoring it over the summer and now it sits in storage. I've gotten the itch to sell the bus and switch to a roadster with the recent roadsters at auctions. Is this a good idea? Or would waiting for the Volkswagens I.D buzz electric bus and selling the classic one then bring more money? Will roadsters all be $150,000 if I wait 2 more years?

How about this as a compromise? Win a Tesla-Powered 1966 VW Bus and $20,000

 

[X.l.r.8]

You could always build the car you want, the difference is negligible between repairing a roadster or building a one off unless you have someone else turning the wrenches. I always had Porsches so I was building a 924 CGT I used to race, everything was pretty simple until the garage went up in smoke. So now I’m building a 986 with hopefully the same motor. There is plenty of stuff out there. I have a Roadster because I always wanted a Lotus which was cruel for someone who worked on Porsches for 30 years. The roadster solved my love of electric transportation and the lotus desire. If you can restore an old bus you can have pretty much any car electrified.

 

[Roadster]

Q: Should I trade my 21 window Volkswagen bus for a Roadster?
A: Carbon Impact | Tesla

 

[acarney]

Hey guys! So I read the classic roadster forums nearly everyday and have wanted to have one of my own since 2016 but couldn't because of one issue: I was in the process of restoring a 1965 21 window deluxe Volkswagen bus!

Well long story short I finished restoring it over the summer and now it sits in storage. I've gotten the itch to sell the bus and switch to a roadster with the recent roadsters at auctions. Is this a good idea? Or would waiting for the Volkswagens I.D buzz electric bus and selling the classic one then bring more money? Will roadsters all be $150,000 if I wait 2 more years?

Depends what condition the Roadster is in. It's very likely you'll have to get some professional work done on the battery system. You might want to give Tesla Service | Roadster Repair | Gruber Motor Company a call and ask about frequent problems based on age/mileage and get a rough estimate of costs, I'm almost certain you're in the thousands not including transport to and from their location. Possibly ten thousands or more, but that might depend on how much work needs to be done.

Then ultimately the cost at auction will be based on the miles and condition of it. You'll probably clean it up and restore a bunch, but I would assume high prices will demand replacements/restoration with as close to original parts and there aren't a terribly large amount of Roadsters out there you could source parts from.

If the car is in great condition and just has battery issues and the existing owner doesn't want to deal with the hassle/cost of having that fixed, it might be a steal. If the car has high miles and a couple bumps and scratches or interior issues, you might have a tricky project on your hands (for max auction value) or just some work for getting a fun car back.

 

[hanknum]

I traded my '78 Ferrari 308 GTS straight across for my Roadster... have not looked back.

 

[da2ny]

I had a '61 VW Bus and now I have a 2010 Roadster Sport. If memory serves me correctly, I think the Roadster has slightly faster acceleration.