So I found this beetle that looks in relatively good shape, and the seller is offering $650. Only thing--that I can tell--is that there is no engine.
I've been looking for my first car recently (saved up $16000), but nothing in my area shows up that's reasonable, or that isn't shady.
I researched how much engines are for this thing, but from the looks of it, they're way more than I think it's worth for a good conditioned beetle (1600cc twin-carb is $3000+).
Of course I asked for specs, and more pictures, but even then, it seems too good to be true.
Should I just abandon ship, and wait for something else?
And if so, do you have any recommendations for first time car owners?
Pic is the beetle. The guy is seller is willing to drop it off.
Also, according to the seller, it has a new headliner, an $80 new carpet kit that hasn't been installed I guess, and "many extra parts." I asked him/her what that means, and so now I'm just waiting for the response back.
Kevin Hughes
tl;dr wan to buy first car, vw beetle on Craigslist is $650 without engine. Should I bite, yes or no?
Jaxon Fisher
Great idea for a project.
Did you work on a vintage car before? Do you have the tools and space to work on it? Does anyone you know have some sort of idea of how cars work?
Aquiring a running VW engine and putting in the back of a Beetle is not a big task and is not going to cost 3000$.
But I'm sure there is a lot more work to be done before the car actually drives well (will probably require new tyres, brakes, lots of smaller fixes) and all that will add up, and also take a lot of work and time. Spare parts for these cars are easily available for reasonable prices, there is lots of know how, plus the Beetle is a very easy car to work on
do this: >buy cheap daily driver like an older civic or corolla for 3-5k >buy beetle, engine and take your time to get it to run and drive properly >once it's drivable you can decide wether you can deal with a 73 Beetle as a daily driver (chances are it's too noisy, slow and uncomfortable for you)or not
Also get the fuck away from Veeky Forums for advice on this, join a forum for aircooled VWs
Jason Carter
Thanks.
>Did you work on a vintage car before? No. I have no previous experience with cars, period. I would like to see this as an opportunity to learn about them a little more, though. And also, I won't mess with the paint until maybe much, much later. For now, I would make sure that it isn't rusted to shit behind the back seats, and stuff like that.
>Do you have the tools and space to work on it? Space will probably the hardest part, but I can ask my friend. As for tools, I don't own them, but I can borrow them.
>Does anyone you know have some sort of idea of how cars work? Yes. He's not a professional, but he has forced himself to learn enough to where he have a reasonable amount of knowledge on cars. I don't think a VW beetle would scare him. I just don't know when I could recruit him.
Have you ever had experience with beetles before?
I'll try to keep this updated if the guy contacts me in time.
Brody Barnes
A brand new 0 mile motor will be 3k, but a rebuilt motor shouldn't be over 1500.
Also everyone with a bug has extra parts, because you can find good 500$ parts cars every now and again.
Hudson Mitchell
Vw beetle engine and transaxle are so easy to install and swap they have speed contests. The world record is 1 minute and 4 seconds.
You still need room and tools though.
Jayden Sullivan
You have to adjust valve springs after every oil change just fyi. Youre retarded if you cant find a decent newer car for 16k.
Jordan Edwards
A beetle is a good car to learn on. But like other user said, find a civic or corrola or Camry or something in that flavor for a DD. Its only 4 bolts and a floor jack to drop the beetle engine.
Get underneath and check the floor pan for rust. Poke it with a screwdriver (not hard, but with force). They like to rust around the edges, where they change from "flat" and blend into other components.
Okay. Cool. Meh. Yeah, I read about how the rust needs to be religiously checked. Especially behind the back seat, where apparently fires can start if it has rusted through, and the battery touches it. That's pretty neat.
Robert Ross
What color you gonna repaint it?
Josiah White
I don't know to be honest.
I was just thinking that I could give it a quick fix for the moment, and use it as a daily driver because I thought it would be cheap (and it is), but I don't know if I should just choose a different car that's more reliable for a high price.
If I were to paint it, however, I would probably choose that sort of vintage baby blue. The thing is, that baby blue doesn't look good new in my opinion. The worn, blue color that has been sitting down is what I'm talking about.
What would you paint it?
Leo Young
Either harvest gold or baby blue would look great on it. Perhaps a caramel brown too. Gotta stick to the decade it was in.
Levi Baker
Forest green like this would be godly as well.
Camden Harris
Eep. Wrong pic.
Easton Long
Personal suggestion no.1
Blake Rogers
Personal suggestion no.2. As much as I like red, I'd seriously go with the blue one personally. Just my taste.
I'd never go with yellow, black, white or silver though.
Jose Fisher
>first car >project car
pick one
get a small beater truck. nothing is more useful to a young man starting out than a truck.
Logan Martinez
>1600cc twin-carb is $3000+ Get a $300 SBC on CL, and the adapter kit.
Christian Perry
>offering $650 You mean "asking" $650. He won't give you money.
Seriously: if you have $16K to spend, get something newer and functional.
Anthony Young
I never liked the old Beetle, it was poorly designed, badly built and was horrid to drive however, there are people who do like it.
My uncle had two and he said he whipped out the engine out of one in under a hour. So, I guess they must be reasonable easy to work on but if you now what you're doing then go right ahead.
But if need to drive, buy a daily drive and work on this in the meantime. The Beetle is a terrible car though
Elijah Cox
OP wants a lil' shitbox. Shut up.
Jace Long
Yeah, gold might be good. These are good too. I really like the blue one. We'll, I just want to get it to work. All these anons recommending paint jobs are nice, but I'm not planning to overhaul it. And I'm a college student, so I don't know if I need a truck. Something about the shape, and even risk of the beetle attracts me, and for the most part, I think it'll teach me to be a better driver in terms of safety awareness, and road responsibility. Also, braking with no ABS will be a good skill to acquire I think. Thanks for catching that. Have sleep problems, and stay up too late to a point where I can't always concentrate. I got about five and a half hours of sleep for today, from 0530 to 1050. Yeah, I know. There's. I real good reason to buy it other than it'd be a good memory, and learning experience.
Carter Wood
Glad to see I have a good line up of support here.
Jeremiah Parker
There's no real reason to buy it*
Thomas Cruz
Could you give me more information on the SBC engine, and converter kit?
Specifics and all, if you can.
Gabriel Rivera
I'd day don't miss the opportunity, considering your budget.
Also if you have a garage where to store it (dad, grandpa, whatever) you can leave it there and pick it up when you have time for it. You can also save further for spare-parts, engine and bling in the meantime.
You do not need a truck. Probably not a brand-new car either, just take 's advice and buy a cheap mainstream car for a day-drive. You will have both the practicability of the daily car and the joy of having one of your dreams.
Jayden Torres
That's what I was thinking too.
Thank you for your advice and comment.
More advice and comments are welcome.
Caleb Hughes
>Could you give me more information on the SBC engine, and converter kit? >Specifics and all, if you can. The SBC is shorthand for a Small Block Chevrolet V8, the most common variant is 350 cubic inches, or 5.7L. It's not going to fit without serious modification. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_small-block_engine
Aiden Lopez
Ah, so it was the one that I saw when I looked up SBC for VW Beetle.
It's tempting, but I'm in no line of work to start cutting a car up.
However, thank you for the recommendation.
Eli Barnes
Subaru WRX engine, you know you wanna.
It's not a classic Beetle so you can do what you want with it.
EZ30 would be cool if itfitted.
Colton Adams
NO THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA THIS BELONGS IN THE QUESTIONS THAT DONT DESERVE THEIR OWN THREAD THREAD
R E A D
T H E
STICKY T I C K Y
Matthew Wood
>Subaru WRX engine, you know you wanna. Nah OKAY K A Y
But too late.
Chase James
That thing is a literal fucking deathtrap, and is nothing more than a parts car. Whether you have $1600 or $16000 you can do better.
May as well buy a fucking bike man.
William Williams
My 73 is for sale. Pic is a year old it has chrome mirrors now.
Jack Wilson
i wouldn't for your first car, get something reliable to get you into cars. Its nice being able to jump into a car and just driving when you're starting out
A project beetle might be too much to bite off, but if you still want a beetle you should consider the budget and that buying the car for $650 and add onto a rebuild engine that would cost up to $2000 to put together and add $1000 on all the little odds and ends that need fixing and maintenance items that need to be repaired (ie, complete set of brakes, complete set of tyres, registration, licensing, NOS or secondhand/reproduction parts such as blinkers) and not to mention all the tools and sprays and oils along the way. Just from this list alone and without factoring in a paintjob its going to cost 3500 grand, and we haven't even done cosmetics yet, its just to get the thing driving
Considering this, you could spend the same $3500 on a running, driving and tidy VW Beetle that you can enjoy immeditately and do running repairs as they come up. Doing it this way means you can ease yourself into the car hobby without being overwhelmed with things like an engine rebuild, motor upholstery or rust repairs. It also means you can decide whether the vintage car experience is for you or if its just a passing thought
tl;dr just spend the extra and buy a tidy beetle
Zachary Lewis
Location and how much?
Jace Adams
Never mind, for some reason I thought you were in Hungary.
Adam Cox
Ez30r conversion
Do it
Brody Moore
You have 16-fucking-thousand dollars and you're seriously looking at that piece of shit?
Seek psychological counseling.
Ryan Miller
This.
Joseph Evans
t. people that don't really like cars
Follow your dreams, OP. You've only got one shot in this world.
Cooper Anderson
OP I just read the thread and it sounds like you don't even have room for one car, let alone 2 which is what you should buy in this case.
Yhe ONLY way to do what you are wanting to do is to buy the proverbial $3k Civic and also this Beetle as a project car that you really have some kind of a vision for the end result on. Use the reliable car to learn about driving on while you learn about mechanics from the Beetle. Stay motivated and busy.
Connor Smith
This is OP. I want to respond to some of you guys, but I don't have the time now. Will be back in a couple of hours.
Bump.
Brandon Reyes
That's part of the fun. Damn, that looks good though. No thanks. Maybe if I ever get enough money where I'm comfortable to spend it on upgrades for cars. Yeah, okay. I know they're a pain, but I have the fantasy of having a cheap, shit car with personality as my very first.
I'll post the links to a couple other CL posts where they have VW Beetles for sale. One of them is black and gray that looks pretty good, and seems reasonable ($1995) for the condition that it's in. The other is an unfinished project, but runs. It's orange and gray, and doesn't seem to be as reasonable as the black and gray one.
Thank you. I'm new to Veeky Forums, but I can already tell that a lot of /b/tards bleed over between here and /pol/.
I actually have one space available, as I'm moving to a different place in town next weekend. The second place could be at my grandparents, but I haven't looked. I could ask my land lord if I could park one on the street, If I really wanted two cars.
The guy whose selling this gave me some more pictures, and said that he has a carpet kit, and a "glass pack" from a BugHaus.
I will post them just for the hell of it. Here's one.
Isaac Bell
Here's two.
He also said that the seats are new from CL as well.
Carter Gomez
Whoops.
Zachary Edwards
Three.
Eli Barnes
And four.
Owen Watson
*I have that image/fantasy of having one's very first car be something they had to work on to get going, and then hang onto it for a while until they're ready for a better one (I live frugally).
