Fuso 4x4 What is it worth?

[MPatchen]

Hello,

I’m hoping to enlist the help of other Fuso owners or whoever might have an educated opinion in determining what I should set as a selling price for my Fuso? It is a 1990 Fuso 4x4 with 111,745 miles and a Callen built camper that my father designed and had built. Below in the pictures you should find a specification sheet from an article my father wrote about the Fuso for Trailer Life magazine just after having it built. Unfortunately for me; it is not getting used anywhere near what I’d hoped for, so that is why I’ve started contemplating selling it to someone who would hopefully appreciate and use it. For whatever its worth, if I were to sell it, it would go furnished with whatever is in it like the hy-lift jack, tools, pot & pans, etc…

Thanks!

Michael

 

[kerry]

That's a tough question. There are so few FG campers of that vintage in the USA that it will be tough to find any comparisons? Is the engine a turbo? What is the top speed?

 

[MPatchen]

Yes it is a turbo and what the top speed is I'm not sure? I've cruised at 70MPH, but in most places that it has been, you couldn't/can't go that fast anyway.

As far as no old comps to compare it to, maybe the question should be what would it cost today to make something similar? Or are there many for sale?

Thanks!

Michael

 

[haven]

MPatchen, your father deserves congratulations for designing a great camper! Here's a PDF of the article that appeared in Trailer Life http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/docs/F...-Life-1991.pdf

and here's a thread discussing this camper and other early Fusos with campers. A couple of people posted to say that reading your father's Trailer Life article started them on the road to adventure travel with a Fuso FG http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10230

You can find listings for used Fuso FGs by browsing Truckpaper.com and commercialtrucktrader.com. Prices will vary depending on miles driven and the type of body and accessories.

Also search Craigslist using Google. Here's an example search: "fuso fg site:craigslist.org"

The value of the camper depends on its condition, and the equipment included.

I should think that the value of a 20 year old truck and camper will be a small fraction of the replacement cost in 2011.

 

[alan]

Hi Michael,
I'll take guess! if it was in Australia probably around $50,000aus

 

[biggoolies]

estimate

You have not given enough information.
What work or parts have been replaced on it?

Have the tires been replaced?


Is the living quarters in good condition?

Do it leak when it rains?

Is it insulated for cold weather?

What appliances does it have? Do they all work?

Are there any problems with the vehicle being it is 21 years old?

Percentage highway miles to offroad miles?

 

[Amesz00]

its really hard to put a specific value on a rig like this, as there arent too many around, even in Aus. its value is whatever someone is willing to pay for it- having said that it appears in pretty good nic so id second alan's guesstimate of around 50k.
andrew

 

[kerry]

I think you'd be hard pressed to get $50k for it in the USA. Not that I don't think it would be nice if it were worth that much. The market is pretty small for a vehicle like this. Most people look at the gazillion Class C truck/van motorhomes of the same vintage for sale with less mileage for about $8k and make an unfavorable comparison. I'm guessing max of $30k at the upper end much less if you want a quick sale.

 

[Terrainist]

This is just my opinion, but I think you would be lucky to get 20k for it. 15k would be top dollar. 12k-13k would be market. Again, just my opinion. Based on keeping an eye and ear tuned to anything fuso fg I can for the past couple years (I want one). Not that that makes my opinion worth anything.

There was an 99' I believe, guy sold it for 8k or so. Here's the thread. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=628372 Not built out the way yours is.

The problem with anyone that knows, is that your truck most likely needs a good going thru. A rebuild if you will, just assuming. All the systems need to be gone thru, all the things that will deteriorate have and need to be replaced. It's a 30 year old vehicle and camper. Takes a lot of time and money to bring everything back around to what it should be. And when your done you still have an old truck and camper.

The market in Australia and the U.S. is vastly different. I don't doubt you could get 50k for it there, maybe you could. If you can get that for it here, jump on it. Sight unseen, I wouldn't give you more than 13k for it. I don't have the money for one, so I'm not trying to manipulate you. To me, it's just an old truck and camper. Hard to find, but still just that.

 

[Terrainist]

Oh, and thanks for posting. That thing is great.

 

[FusoFG]

I think you can get half what your father spent to buy the Fuso and build the camper.

The truck doesn't need rebuilt, the 111k miles are just barely halfway through the service schedule in the owners manual. You're talking an average of 5,000 miles a year for 20 years.

There may be an issue with some of the rubber parts: windshield wipers, window seals, etc. Depends on how it's been stored.

The people on this forum that write about major repairs on their Fuso are usually people who have purchased them used from commerical users. These companies pretty much run their vehicles until repairs become too expensive and then sell them fully depreciated.

A private ownere like you or your father is far less rough on their own personal vehicle.

I have a 1993 FG with 113k miles that I have owned from new and wouldn't take $15,000 for just the truck let alone the $4-5000 listed in the truck papers for a run out commercially owned and used vehicle. Other than scheduled maintenance and A/C condensor fan motor it has never required any repairs.

I have taken the camper off and converted mine to a stake truck and I get stopped constantly by local contractors, carpenters, handyman, etc who desparately want to purchase mine because they are tired of their longer American pickups with a third of the load capacity.

So you may have to sell it to somebody that wants the truck and not the camper.

By the way, I read your father's article in Trailer Life when it first came out and that's what convinced us to search for a Fuso and build a custom camper on it.

We traveled all around the US and Canada with it.

We're now on our second Fuso camper on a 2004 FG and would never part with the 93 because there is no way to replace it's capabilities for the price I paid for it new.

Thanks to your father for his seeing the Fuso's potential as an expendition camper.

That said, it's still a pretty niche vehicle and you have to find the "right" person to get what it's worth.

 

[MPatchen]

First I’d like to thank everyone for their input, but more importantly the kind words about my father and the influence he had on many of you. Being the typical kid, the older I get the more I realize and am impressed by his many accomplishments, especially since I am still working past the age he managed to retire at. He was always a napkin sketcher coming up with ideas and his biggest design/build was an airplane that now belongs to an air museum in South Africa of all places and is still flown to air shows.

Anyway back to the Fuso. Someone posted some questions:

What work or parts have been replaced on it? – It has had it’s services but I am not aware of any major repairs or parts replaced.

Have the tires been replaced? – Yes the tires have been replaced.

Is the living quarters in good condition? – There are some scratches and scuff marks, or where the adjusting rods for the blinds swung back and forth off-road, but for it’s age I’d say yes.

Does it leak when it rains? – No.

Is it insulated for cold weather? – It is insulated with whatever a typical camper would have.

What appliances does it have? Do they all work? – Magic Chef 3 burner stove with oven, Dometic frig/freezer, sink with electric and hand pump, freshwater toilet and it all works.

Are there any problems with the vehicle being it is 21 years old? – None known. Except for the last couple of years it was always garaged when not in use.

Percentage highway miles to off-road miles? – No real idea. They lived in a place called Canebrake which is a private community on the edge of the Anza Borrego State Park and most trips where to Baja, so they didn’t have real far to go to get to Baja. They had a place in Catavina that was kind of their headquarters to head out from.

One last comment, someone posted “To me, it's just an old truck and camper”, yes it is an older truck and camper, but it is a very capable older truck and camper still to this day, capable of taking most anyplace you would like to go off-road.

Thanks!

Michael

 

[Terrainist]

If you list it for sale, please make sure one of the places you list it is in the 'vehicles for sale' section on the Expo site here. Can't imagine a more relevant place to list it. If you list it in other ways as well, your exposure will be better.

Lots of pics help make the sale, list of work done to it, list of things wrong with it, condition of things, etc.

Curious to see what it would sell at like a lot of other people.

 

[lehel1]

nice camper

hello all

i can only imagine the difficulty in pricing your rig, we sold our unimog camper last year and had a tough time pricing that as well.

i am alittle surprized at some of the prices suggested. we have about 60k invested in our 08 fuso chassis and camper built (both bought/built new)
if i were to sell i would think i'd be in the 50k range for our rig considering that investment.

with that said you seem to have a nicely built rig (from the looks of the pics and articles ) and that these are not readily available hear in the states, you have a great market nitch. many overseas traveler look for rigs to travel in the america's, this goes with many americans as well. we looked for a couple of years to replace our unimog and ended up having to build our own, eather prices were way over our range or just difficult to find any to look at. based on what you have we would have difinitly taken a look if it had been available.

i'd think you'd be very reasonable in the 18000 to 22000 dollar range based on being in very good condition.

good luck in your sale cheers lehel and laura

 

[MPatchen]

Re: 1990 Fuso FG For Sale

Thanks again for everone's input. I posted a ad in the for sale section of the Portal.