the BugShop FAQ

The following guide to buying a Beetle (many of its parts apply to any aircooled, or indeed any car), is reproduced by kind permission of the author, written by John S. Henry of the Bugshop USA. This large and comprehensive article will be serialised over the coming months. Impatient? - then go to; www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4000/bsfqbyng.htm and get to the source.

The text following is part of a series of articles written by John S. Henry on the restoration and maintenance of air-cooled Volkswagens. While his experience is exclusively with the Beetle, many of the techniques can be applied to other models.

Comments and suggestions are welcome at: johnshenry@sprintmail.com . This text is copyrighted and duplication, re-distribution or publication is prohibited without consent of the author.

What to Look for When Buying

Symptom: You just HAVE to buy a Beetle now that you have read all of this stuff.

Heater Channels. If you are going to get bored real quick, and not read any further, and only remember a word or two about what to look for, that is it. Heater Channels.

Index for this article:

þ Introduction

þ "Is a Beetle What I Really want?"

þ Terms Used

þ What is "Solid" (important truths about heater channels)

þ The "Solid" Beetle- Vintage Considerations

þ Mechanical Stuff- ENGINE

þ Mechanical Stuff- Transmission, suspension

þ Mechanical Stuff- Brakes

þ Mechanical Stuff- Clutch

þ Mechanical Stuff- Other

þ Mechanical Stuff- Vintage considerations

þ About Chrome

þ Summary of Considerations

þ Assessing the "Ultimate" Beetle

þ So How Much to Should I PAY!?

Introduction

I know the feeling well of trying to make a technically intelligent choice on purchasing a used, complicated mechanical device when you know absolutely nothing about it. There is just this fear that the seller is thinking "Oh, he'll never look there" and my educated friends would later say "You paid how much for this!?". You just wish you could talk to someone who had knew this stuff well and could give you a few "pointers". Well, this is what this article is all about. I really believe that with all of the experience I have, that this experience has the most to offer those just venturing out into the world of Beetles. And based on the feedback I have received, this is definitely the one of the most useful articles at this site

Hopefully, you have come to grips with the fact that you are looking to buy an "old" car. And "old" means that it WILL, almost inevitably, require some work when you buy it or soon after. If you have some automotive experience and some tools and ambition, well, plan on setting some time aside on the weekends and getting greasy. If you have no experience, tools or intentions of getting your hands dirty, well, plan on finding a good VW shop and set aside a few hundred; for starters. You should not have the mindset of "IS there anything that would need to be fixed". Instead you should be thinking of "WHAT will need to be fixed", and how much that might cost. Now don't let me scare you off. It IS possible to find a cherry, well maintained and/or mostly rebuilt Beetle that doesn't need to go under the wrench right away, but don't fool yourself. You will likely pay big bucks for such a find and sooner or later it will need you attention (or money). So plan on having to spend some money on your Beetle after you buy it.

And here is perhaps some more hard reality. Even the best of Beetles requires many times the maintenance of today's cars. I don't mean to scare you off, the maintenance is relatively simple, and even fun. But don't expect a Beetle to be a car that will carry you 200,000 miles, through all sorts of conditions with nothing more than some oil changes like the cars of today. The aircooled Beetle, in all its years, is mostly a car developed with 1940s technologies. It is crude and simple. But hopefully that is why you want one.

And you might have a particular year in mind when you go out with your wad of money, but be flexible; it's not like you will pick from a row of cars, one from every year, and they will all be in exactly the same condition. No, you must take your intentions, your preferences and your budget and then go look to see what is available. Your intentions are especially important. If you want high vintage value, don't have to drive it immediately (or at all) and are willing (and able) to take on a bit of a "project", you might look for one thing. On the other hand, if you need and "immediate driver", you should look for other things too. Below are some of the important things to look for both a "Project" and "Immediate driver".

I might mention that originally this article was attached to "The Years" article, but the two just got to big and had to be split up for web management reasons. If you are considering purchasing a bug, though, you may want to read that article as well.

"Is a Beetle What I Really want?"

This section was a recent entry to this article. It has come about as I see more and more folks new to Beetles, considering, or even buying them, thinking that they are just as reliable and driveable as the 15 year old Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla that they looked at. They are not, I assure you. Yes, they can be cheap transportation, but they are not the same as other cars. Now some of this is my opinion, but here's how Beetles are different from other $1000 "mainstream" used cars that you might consider:

þ They will require much more maintenance, both periodic "preventive" maintenance, and repairs

þ They drive differently

þ The ride is harsher (because the car is lighter)

þ They are much louder in terms of engine and road noise

þ They handle much differently, with significant oversteer (tail heavy weight distribution)

þ They are not as safe

þ People will often want to stop you and tell you about "back when" they had a Beetle

þ Many parts will be much less expensive than other cars

þ Mechanically, they are simpler

Ok, first, some of these statements are controversial. Yes, there are scads of people who will tell you how they survived an accident in their Beetle, drove away, and the "other car" was totalled. I'm sure there are such cases, I am not interested in debating. Second, note that not all the differences are negatives.

It may be a surprise to some that I said that the Beetle will require more maintenance and repairs than a "typical" car. What? The car that won the world over and was the icon of bulletproof reliability and economy? Yes, that car. In 1967 it was the gold standard for reliability and economy. In 1999 however, when compared to a 1984 VW Rabbit or '82 Civic, it is a quirky, needy, noisy, ill handling antique that can't help rusting. Remember folks, this car was designed in the 1930s, the gross functional changes made in the 40 years between 1938 and 1978 to the suspension and drivetrain are insignificant. The Beetle, no matter what year of manufacture, is a 1940s car, at best.

Ok John, are you done pummeling the Beetle now? Point is, if you really want a Beetle, it better be because you want a Beetle, not just some cheap wheels that have a little character. And you better really know what a Beetle is, and what it isn't. To summarise, I think a Beetle is for you if:

þ You are comfortable with things mechanical, own tools and are willing work on these cars (or, have a big wad of money and good shop nearby who will do this stuff for you)

þ You admire, respect and enjoy "vintage" automobilia

þ You are willing to put up with less-than-current technology ride characteristics and/or won't drive the car all that much

þ You will not (have to) drive the car in salty, winter weather

þ You really, really, really, really, really, really, really like them

Conversely, I think a Beetle may not be for you if:

þ You are not comfortable with things mechanical, do not own tools and are not willing work on these cars

þ You just want "jump in and drive" transportation that you can depend on for years at a time without having to deal with any maintenance or repairs

þ You like to drive fast and aggressively and will not be happy with an underpowered car that has a tendency to spin out if you swerve to miss something

þ In order to buy it, you would have no money left over for any immediate repairs

þ You can't decide between the Beetle and the Chrysler "K" car in the paper for $400.

You get the idea. Yes, Beetles can be very reliable. But you need to keep them mechanically happy, well maintained and even if nothing breaks, you still need to have tools and manuals (They can "sense' if you don't have repair capabilities and will break by themselves. They like to be "touched" often). And yes, they can be made to go fast and handle pretty well too, but that can cost big bucks. And lastly about that driving in the snow comment. Beetles actually drive very well in the snow, but they cannot survive the rocks and salt of winters. No matter what you do, paint, undercoat or fix, salty roads will eat them up. Newer cars of today are able to deal with this problem much better.

So make sure you know what you are getting into. Even if you are older and used to own, or had in your family, a Beetle, assess this decision carefully. Drive the new prospect as much as you can. If you are really a Beetle fanatic, you will want to by a Beetle because of all these things.

Ok, enough of that, now lets go on.....

Terms Used

Now before we start, let me give some definitions of some terms I use often in this text:

þ Solid- Mostly, this means "not rusty". It means no perforations especially (holes); a car could be very solid and still have some surface rust or cancer bubbles. It may also mean nothing loose, floppy, and rattly from a mechanical perspective, but usually when we say "solid" body, it has nothing to do with the mechanicals.

þ Complete- This means, well, complete. Nothing missing, all parts, fenders, bumpers, interior, moldings, etc. are there. Doesn't say anything about if all the parts are the right ones for that car (see below).

þ Correct- This means all of the parts are the right ones, and really it implies some reasonable level of completeness, but not necessarily totally. I mean a Beetle could be very "correct", but still be missing a few important pieces. But completeness says nothing about correctness. A car could be totally complete and totally incorrect. Make sense??

þ Original- A good definition of this for me is unmolested. This means everything is as it was when the car was bought new. Might not be shiny and clean, dent and scratch free, but is there as it was originally. And this is an area of some disagreement among enthusiasts. To many people, a car can have been repainted and they still call it original. Not me, original is original, not painted, modified, restored, covered, coated, etc., etc.

These are ordered the way they are above for a reason and really are very important. You should assess a car starting with "solid" and work your way down to "original". Each successive grade you give as you work your way through, adds to the value of the car. (I'm thinking of some kind of formula where you take each grade and multiply each category, then divide by the year, raised to the.....naaaa). But just understand that high grades in one area doesn't merit the car a gem. Think about it, someone could have bought Beetle new, parked it in a field and just left it there. It might be rotted up to the door handles. Original? yep; correct? uh huh; complete? absolutely; solid? I don't think so. Solid should be your utmost priority in almost all cases. Look beyond new seats, stereos, chrome wheels, big engines, for solid. Then complete, then correct, then original.

Ok, enough briefing, let's move on. We'll take two approaches here. We'll call one the "solid" Beetle. Most of these considerations should apply no matter what you are buying. Then we'll go a second step and talk about mostly mechanical stuff that would be very important if you needed that "immediate driver". At the end of each section, I'll mention some "Vintage" considerations that you would want to look for if you were making a long term, heart and soul investment on a real oldie.

And at the end, I'll give you some tips to get super nit-picky about assessing a Beetle. You will want to read this if you go and look at the "fully restored, absolute mint, pristine and indistinguishable from new" Beetle that the seller is asking $8000 for. Ha.

Next Month - Heater channels and more