A guy wants to trade me a 74 Bug (standard), need advice

I am trying to sell/trade my MR2 for something different. It is a decent car but I don't drive it often and I would rather have the cash for tools or something else entirely, which I will probably sell for the cash. Anyway, I have a guy that wants to trade me a Standard 74 Bug that he has done a rotisserie resto on. He claims it is worth 7500-8k (a bit more than my spyder). I am waiting to hear back on whether he was looking for a straight trade or not. So what does the hive mind say? Smart trade if the resto is up to snuff? What should I look for? Is it actually worth that much or is it going to be a mother to sell for more than 6K?

I do not dig the goofy resto look.

The Beetle is a cool car to look at, but to drive... not so much

Sell for cash.

Prices on Beetles are going up. 1974 is not as popular with the VW crowd. 1950's, 1960's Beetles are getting decent money. You can still find decent Beetles on eBay for $8,000. I too don't like the white walls and 2-tone paint.

Do you love VW Beetles?

Agreed with the others, if it was a perfect show quality resto it might approach $6k but that would be a stretch and I'd be wanting to go over the car very carefully.

VWs are somewhat easy to rebuild so suddenly everyone thinks they are a restoration expert with them. I've see many cobbled together bugs that were declared "restorations" by their sellers.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: </cit The Beetle is a cool car to look at, but to drive... not so much

Yes, it's a very "quirky" vehicle to actually live with. In our ritual cycle of my inheriting my wife's car when we got a new one, I got the Beetle she bought before we married when she needed cheap transportation. It was a fun experience that "car people" of that era sort of needed to have but unless you've spent time in one and just can't wait to get back to it...

I dont have any love of beetles and also think this one looks goofy. You guys are making me think that this wouldn't be a smart trade. Duly noted.

ACVW's were built down to a price, not up to a standard. Restored cars like that appeal mostly to unrepentant hippies trying to recapture their youth and young girls who squeal about how 'cute' they are.

Neither of these groups are noted for having a lot of disposable income, that means you'd be stuck with it.

The ACVW hot rod nut nut looking to modify one won't be looking for something like that, instead they will be looking for a 'blank canvas', i.e. a dinged up but running example.

They are not very good cars; they handle abysmally and are uncomfortable. Not to mention the heat/defrost are practically nonexistent.

Datsun1500 wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: They are not very good cars; they handle abysmally and are uncomfortable. Not to mention the heat/defrost are practically nonexistent.

Other than that? Nice?

Other than their propensity to rust...

I think they're neat to look at when they're a little skruffy with a surfboard on top, and in someone else's driveway.

Curmudgeon wrote: They are not very good cars; they handle abysmally and are uncomfortable. Not to mention the heat/defrost are practically nonexistent.

I used to have a '71 Beetle. I enjoyed it, I thought it handled fine and it was comfortable enough to ride in. The heating was abysmal, even for a VW, but the heater ducts were rusted out.

He chose the wrong year to restore and did so in a really bad way, with decisions like that, who know what else is lurking in and underneath.

Stay away, bad choice to trade, own, buy, or sell.

I haven't seen your MR2, so at that, I'll say sit on it. (the MR2)

Every Beetle I have driven was just not confidence inspiring when making turns at anything other than a sedate pace, the steering gets sloppy at large steering angles. The Super Beetle was better (rack and pinion) but at highway speeds (70-up) would get light in the nose.

The seats were always the ones with springs and horsehair, my butt fell asleep.

In their defense, a buddy and I went in halvsies on a dune buggy which was nothing more than a homemade roll cage on a stock Beetle floorpan and we could not kill that damn thing.

N Sperlo wrote: I haven't seen your MR2, so at that, I'll say sit on it. (the MR2)

Yeah it could be an AW11 for all we know. It's generally not wise to trade those for other things

(I'm guessing it's a 3rd-gen AKA the MR-S since it was called a "spyder")

stuart in mn wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: They are not very good cars; they handle abysmally and are uncomfortable. Not to mention the heat/defrost are practically nonexistent.

I used to have a '71 Beetle. I enjoyed it, I thought it handled fine and it was comfortable enough to ride in. The heating was abysmal, even for a VW, but the heater ducts were rusted out.

This describes my relationship with my '72 pretty nicely.

The example in question is uninspiring.

I have a 2001 MR2 Spyder and although it is a good car, I am not a fan of the convertible and I don't drive it enough to justify the money tied up. If it were an AW11 in rust free condition there is no way I would be letting go of that. I suppose I should put it on here but I am lazy and don't want to drive anywhere to trade and I am fairly set on my price (IE none of you cheap bastards would want to pay me).

Thanks for the heads up on the bug. NO GO!

I have always wanted to make a vintage track car out of a Super, but the aero issue has stopped me every time. I am just not comfortable going fast in a car that is basically shaped like a wing.

A Ghia, OTOH....