63 VW bug Purchase
- Thread starter buickboy
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Bugs are fun, but are a death trap. The gas tank is over your legs and they provide ZERO crash protection from any angle.
I'd buy a 16 year old a 5.0L mustang before I bought them a Bug.(and I know 16 year olds that have been killed driving 5.0L's)
I had one for a first car, but that was back when the speed limit was 55, nobody wore seat belts and the average "car" wasn't a 5000lb SUV with the Bumper at head height. Yikes.
I'd buy a 16 year old a 5.0L mustang before I bought them a Bug.(and I know 16 year olds that have been killed driving 5.0L's)
I had one for a first car, but that was back when the speed limit was 55, nobody wore seat belts and the average "car" wasn't a 5000lb SUV with the Bumper at head height. Yikes.
Buy them a ole G body or 3rd Gen FBody.
A friends daughter just learned about appling make-up while driving. It's mazing she's even alive, much less only got a few black and blue marks. A rusted bug isn't what I'd consider as being a crash survivalble good investment (any 40 YO car probably wouldn't be). A ~83 v6 camaro, ~86 Olds Cutlass, are both decent learners cars, IMO. Gutless, bulky, easy to work on, affordable insurance, etc, etc. Not to mention most ever corner has a store with parts on the shelves for you.
To answer your question thou, you need to get a mechanical inspection, and see what the undercarriage is like rust wise (etc), and then have the brakes inspected. A used car can have hundreds of dollars of needed repairs, and they need to come off the asking price if not specifically mentioned in the offered price. At $500 if it needs $600 in safetly related repairs, it's no bargain, IMO.
Mine got lousy Gas mileage, too. You'd think 60 HP would get more than 22 mpg on the highway. A 150 HP Neon get's 10 more MPG than that, has cruise, A/C, airbags and can be purchased for less than you will have fixing up a bug just to "get by" in a modern world.
Like Muscle cars, Bugs are for people that pay "full sentimental value" for stuff. Their usefulness as a means of transportation was over in the 80's.
Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun for $375 in 1980... but cars SUCKED in 1980.
Like Muscle cars, Bugs are for people that pay "full sentimental value" for stuff. Their usefulness as a means of transportation was over in the 80's.
Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun for $375 in 1980... but cars SUCKED in 1980.
the bug has a lot of potential, good and bad, it depends on the asking price, bugs here in florida are pretty expensive, especialy if they are well taken care of, it's a headache my buddy's own caught fire with us in it
but it was our fault, in the military and we really did'nt take care of it too
but it was our fault, in the military and we really did'nt take care of it tooI have a fondness for the old bugs, as I had one for my first car back in the day. Heck, I'd buy it and make a project out of it, you are seeing less and less of them on the roads these days and they are going up in value. If it runs I'd say its worth somewhere in the 1000.00 range, depending on condition. If it were nice probably more. As far as safety goes, they probably aren't the safest car on the road, but compared to most new cars our TR's aren't either.
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