Pricing of a VW Beetle

Hey, I’ve got a friend who is interested in buying one of the old style VW Beetles, but doesn’t know how much is a good price. Does anyone have a price range for a car like this?
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You are describing A LOT of variables by just saying “old style Beetles”. It would be impossible to give you an answer without knowing more about the car he’s looking at.

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I gave you literally all the information that i was given. (shrug) Anything that you can give me would be helpfull. Google says between $9,000-$15,000. But that seems either too low or too high

Craigslist give a pretty decent snapshot of potential value:

So… $1500 or so on the low end; $14,000 on the upper end.
These would be for ‘daily driver’ types. Show cars and collectibles would be more…

PS has your friend ever tried to live with a car whose technology is now 100 years old? 4 wheel non-auto adjust drum brakes, points, valves that need adjusted every oil change, etc.
It’s not insurmountable, but one should be aware of how spoiled we’ve become when considering a classic…

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Hey now @jast. Careful not to fracture the rose-colored glasses through which I view my 1960 VW Transporter. Converted for camping, of course. Or my two 60s era Bugs. .

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The need for kitsch overwhelms the sensibilities.

You can get this Porsche for less than $10k. I can tell you which one the designer of the Volkswagen, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, would choose…

2007-porsche-boxster-s

Talk about kitsch. You can get a much more sensible car than that for much less than $10k, with lower maintenance costs to boot.

Second jast. Owned a 1961 beetle. So many reasons not to recommend an older beetle. They look cool but that’s about it.

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And this could be the WORST used car buy one could make unless you did your homework or knew what you were doing.

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DD is always recommended.

I sympathize with folks who are clueless on car repair, but economically forced to buy older used cars. It is a miserable place to be.

Neither is the case here. We’re talking about vintage car recreation. I’ll take an old Porsche or BMW anyday. They were well made at the start, and worth the effort and loving care you afford them. BMWs from the 90s and 00s especially; they are bulletproof, and parts are cheap and plentiful.

If you have to hire a mechanic to fix your vintage car, you are either wealthy enough to buy a new one, or have the wrong hobby.

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“Old”
The boxster in the photo above is a turd in the early years of production

Every car maker builds a turd once in a while(yes even the Japanese).

I prefer older cars

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Boxster was a smashing success for Porsche. The car is now a classic, and the S series runs and handles like a true Porsche.

https://www.pca.org/news/2017-09-20/model-guide-first-generation-boxster-affordable-flat-six-powered-roadster

after settling a class action lawsuit and finally solving a decade worth of piss poor IMS bearing design failures resulting in numerous catastrophic engine failures…

For ANYONE thinking about buying a “unusually low priced” Porsche (or any car that seem like a bargain) you really need to spend the money to have it looked at by someone that specializes in that particular brand and perform a “pre - repurchase inspection” before you even think about buying the car, truck RV, airplane, boat, etc.

You could in theory find a Porsche Boxster for $2700 like the one in poor condition that was on Craigslist not long ago and think “wow, what a deal”. Then you find it needs an engine due to an IMS failure - then what?

Do your homework first and save your money for the car you can enjoy.

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Cadillac built the North Star, fabulous engine, but it could be broken with minor abuse. Mazda’s first series of rotary engines ran like mad, but if you let one overheat, it was toast. GM just cut 2 cylinders off their bombproof 350, to make the 4.3 V6 I had in my 91 S-10 Blazer. I changed the engine at 70,000 miles because the unbalanced crank was toast; then again after another 80,000.

My Uncle owned 2 Boxsters. They were fabulous on the mountain roads where he lived in Clear Lake, CA. They drove like they were on tracks at speed, exhilerating! But, if you would rather putt about in a 50hp VW, knock yourself out. You’ll still be overhauling the engine every 100,000 miles.

Zach,

Did your friend buy the Beetle?
The Yellow one in the photo looks to be a US spec 1970 standard beetle.
Too “new” to be anything worth restoring or collecting to a VW nut but still still has the engine where it should be.
Tell your friend that, that car will most likely never have decent air conditioning in the event he lives in this part of the country…
Price wise there are entirely too many glue sniffing folks out there that think that just because they have a car that is over 20 years old it is worth a fortune. Sadly there seems to be too many folks out there willing to pay some of the glue sniffer’s prices.

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I had a 1960 356B Cabriolet. But my dream of second chances do have limits.

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A 356, now that is worth a price!

It’s funny, people wax romantic about Japanese marathon cars which run out 250,000 miles on their original engine, but forget they had to change the timing belt for $900 every 80,000 miles or suffer “catastrophic failure”. There are many cars which will run out 250,000 miles (American pickups come to mind), without these costly overhauls.

I’ll repeat myself, if you have to pay a mechanic to keep up your vintage car, you have the wrong hobby. Part of the joy of owning an old beauty, is the fact that you know every bolt, and most of the quarks.

Damn, I miss that 71 XKE! I like to think she’s still out there turning heads.

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Or, if you burn cheap gas in a rotary engine and suffer ping, it was toast. Bye bye apex seal.

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I don’t even know my car’s electrons, much less its Quarks. :rofl:

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How old was your 356 when you owned it Tommy?

I enjoy these threads of comparing apples to oranges or how far one engine can go vs another from from people wouldn’t know what a wrench looked like if it wasn’t for You Tube or Google.

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