I suggest you go over there, steal the bus, and take it back to where ever you live, (I think you mentioned the UK). The id1ot previous owner would have no idea where to find it if you do. Forge any paper work etc, and get back WHAT YOU OWN!!!!!!
Thats my opinion. Be an interesting lifes story about the tale of the crusade to bring back the Bus to the UK.
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!
personally i would say that the pom has a deffinate right to FULL compensation for out of pocket expenses...and if its been getting restored in the us over a period of time lets say 12 months since the splitty was bought(hypothetically)then the value of that splitty in the staes has gone up dramatically!!im sure that the dmv cover thier asses bu as mentioned the pom went thruu all the right channels and someone has to be held accountable.as for the owner i dont think its a matter of stolen...found...and now its yours again????wheres his fu... insurance???if your brand new mercedes gets stolen and you end up getting it back 12 months later trashed then you go to your ins. agency and get a new car or if you dont have insurance then you get FA!!!i believe that the owner,although having nothing to do with the theft has a moral obligation to do the right thing??
and for all those people that think that the owner should get to keep the car now and pay absolutly no restitution...well thats just bull...and if you still think that then i hope that your in the poms shoes one day,just so that you know what it feels like to loose a dream!!!!if it were up to certain people that i know they would probably flog the car back and get a whole new title and plate for it as you cant tell one splitty from another more or less.just look on the samba for how many splittys or vws i should say get stollen........its a disgrace!!!but what are you going to do??as mentioned above i wouldent be able to sleep at night either if i took the kombi back fully restored with no compo.but the owner should recieve a splitty of same condition at the time of theft which should be paid be the dmv as im pretty sure that you pay for thier service just like a rev check to see if the car is not stollen and financially clear....which they would be liable for in this instance..
and just for the sake of it kombis in the states have gone up in price because of the weakening us$$$..and EUROPE in my opinin is one of THE BIGGEST VW SCENES in the world as someone forgot to mention...(just thought id point out that the uk and the states arnt vw central)sorry if ive offended anyone as ive had no intention of doing so.hope it all works out for the uk dude:kiss
Man, I was also backing up the pom. Through that point i mentioned, it was meant to show that this guy (pom) should have the right to keep HIS kombi.
From what i understand about the story (Please correct me if im wrong), but this guy bought the kombi, got it partially restored, and something screwed in the system allowed the previous owner to get it back without paying a cent.
I may have got it wrong, but this is what i based my previous reponse on.
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!
i thought that he had the problems when it came to shipping out the kombi(due to us customs having a better system???) but i guess its a pretty harsh what has happend.personally i wouldent buy a car from overseas unless i new the buyer or was there to make sure that everything was ok by being there myself??or buy from an ebayer that has reputable feedback....but i think that everyone has learnt that when buying a car from the states then dont relly on the DMV!!! which this poor block found out the hard way!!its a pitty as i was just looking thru the samba and found this splitty that will be parted out????650us$$$$under $1kau
so people should be wary when buying from overseas but ive sold 2 bugs to the states (also because i had almost 400 pos feedbacks) and both buyers were very happy with the cars that they got....but personally it will not deter me try to import a few rare vws into aus just abit wiser now on the us side of things to check with customs and dont relly on the dmv!!
if you ask me australia is in dier need of having quallity split kombis imported and not the other way around.but on the same note i have no probs with splittys going to the uk or any county for that matter if there going to be restored and cherished the way that they are over there....:oopps did i say that....if we want rhd splittys then go to south africa or thailand and a few other countries around the world!!!or look at volksfolks...hes got a few nice splittys at very reasonable prices!!
[Edited on 23/4/2005 by KDFking]
The SSVC members in the UK, apparently had it totally restored by a reputable restorer in California. It was only when they went to export it, that it showed up stolen on customs records.
Well as I said before, it was stolen, it was found after being bought by an unsuspecting new owner who spent lots of dollars restoring the bus, BUT it is not the problem of the original owner, his bus has been found!
He's happy, even though it's now fully restored he doesn't legally owe anyone a cent.
Not everybody insures their resto in the shed or backyard. I do, but not all do this. I recommend you do it. Shannons have unregistered car insurance that covers you while you restore the car.
The buyer can only get some sort of restitution from the seller or the DMV?
The original owner gets his bus back that's great, the buyer is out of pocket, that's a bitch, but this situation is not a win, win situation.
STEALTH
if the (original) owner is that way inclined then surely the ssvc guys
still have the right to strip off the parts they have spent on it & even
(if it was me) take a paint scrapper & start scraping the paint off seeing
as they paid for the paint & take out the motor & put one in equivelent
to what was originally there.
me personally if it was mine & returned to me in a restored state & the guys who restored it are out of pocket i would sit with them & come to
a gentlemans agreement with them.
i have two plusses on my side 1 im honest 2 im not a yank.
put yourself in their shoes a lot of money lost innocently
put yourself in his shoes(owner) are you that cold & heartless
i dont believe anyone on this forum is like that.
ClassicVW(pacific) wrote:.The members bought the bus from a reputabkle bus dealer/restoration guy in California,
this is the one who is responsible, it is that easy
[Edited on 24-4-2005 by silver]
Keeping it real !
I agree. Whoever sold the bus has just sold stolen goods, and as such should refund the entire amount.
It seems that this thread has blamed the buyer, the original owner, the DMV, US customs, and just about everyone else (maybe its the fault of the guy behind the grassy knoll). Silver is the only one who has raised the point that one party involved has just sold stolen goods. This is the crime.
The original owner is entitled to have his/her bus back, it is his/hers after all. The buyer should not be out of pocket for buying stolen goods. So the seller should be held responsible. The seller in this instance may then be able to pursue a claim against whoever they bought it off, cause somewhere along the line, somebody must have stolen this thing.
i missed that yes i agree the seller is responsible
