For the same money, I have it narrowed down to two vehicles, and was wondering what you guys and gals thought; a 71 sedan, 3 year old restoration or a 72 vert, that is 75% restored. Sedan is DONE, the vert needs the rear window, pad and headliner.
On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:44:03 GMT, "msilvany" scribbled this interesting note:
Depends on what you want. Bottom line is, do you want a sedan or a 'vert?
Are either a Super Beetle? If so, do a search on common problems with Supers and see if that makes a difference to you.
Shop around and find out how much it will be to have the top installed-it isn't very cheap to get it professionally done and it takes time to figure it out if you do it yourself and you've never done it before. Remember, all convertibles leak...eventually.
I'd also be curious how much of a 'restoration' the sedan suffered through? Was it a real restoration? Look at John Henry's bugshop.org to see what a real restoration might be like. I suspect the '71 you mention actually had a renovations, you know, some minor cosmetic work like a paint job, new body rubber, possibly a rebuilt engine, etc. It takes more than a rattle can paint job, some cheap window rubber, new tires, and a throw-together engine job to have a bona-fide restoration!:~)
-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)
God forbid you should buy it only to sell it ... I rescued my Bug from a greedy "reseller". But ...
I would put my money on a sedan if you plan on making it a daily driver. If this is a car you wish to resell (gasp) or drive on a daily basis, the convertibles may be more trouble than they are worth. Keeping your cloth overhead in good shape can get expensive, and when you have to replace it ... CHA-CHING! I have also learned some other interesting tid-bits from this newsgroup. Like the fact that vert's run hotter due to lack of air vents over the engine cabinet. Interesting.
I have only ever oned sedans myself. My 74' had a moon roof which was nice. But I don't miss it driving my 68' hard top.
Additionally, I see you live in New York? You had better put a Lo-Jack on that Bug. Seriously, nice looking Bugs get stolen pretty easily in the big city. If you ever break down driving it, stay with the car until you can get it towed home.
-Ray
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