Karmann beetle

[Poppy]

Hi Folks,

Seriously thinking of buying this car. Looks good but has lot of little rust chips etc. How much do you think it would cost to get these touched up?
Are we talking a respray and at how much?
Here are the photobucket links which I hope work! lots of them!! Sorry about that!

BTW what do you think the car's worth?

 

[trev]

what are the channels like?

 

[British Leyland Man]

Well, on the face of it I'd say "its orange, get er bought!" Orange is perhaps one of the best colours on a beetle!

 

[Aidan]

It looks like there might be something lurking in the sills. Any pics of the underside?

 

[Poppy]

Karmann

Karmann

Well, I have to admit I'd be taking a chance on this one. I haven't time to go see it in the UK. The car was a US import in 1991 and converted to RH drive in 1994. Second owner since then is selling and hardly uses the car. Seems very honest and took 47 photos of the car. I know it could be a bag of **** but my hunch says it's not.
Let say it's solid how much to sort out the paint? More photos to come including interior and underside

 

[Coxy]

AA few bubbles coming through at the bottom which may be only a small thing but cabrios let a lot of water in and this is a typical rust spot. It doesn't look too bad at all but migh give you some haggling space

Looks like there's rust coming out on the outer sill plate so I would really check here because the strength for cabrios is along the sills and the strengtheners below them.
Overall, it looks like a great car with very little rust that I can.

 

[Endfloat]

What sort of money is the car going for?

 

[Coxy]

No sogn of accident damage or more importantly no rot on the shock towers.

 

[Poppy]

Karmann

Karmann

Looks like there's rust coming out on the outer sill plate so I would really check here because the strength for cabrios is along the sills and the strengtheners below them.
Overall, it looks like a great car with very little rust that I can

.

Yes, I was suspicious of this but zooming in on the photo it looks more like surface rust. If the sills were going I would expect to see other worrying signs elsewhere. Most of the rust just looks like road chip stuff.

 

[trev]

.

Yes, I was suspicious of this but zooming in on the photo it looks more like surface rust. If the sills were going I would expect to see other worrying signs elsewhere. Most of the rust just looks like road chip stuff.

I'd be looking for more detailed pics of what's under the carpets along the sills. Karmann Cabrios have extra strengthening panels added inside the front and rear quarters, replacing channels on them isn't as straightforward as it is on a hardtop bug (I'm not saying replacing channels on a hardtop bug is straightforward!)

This is the time to be super cautious, by the time you've handed over the cash it'll be too late if you discover you've bought a lot of rust. I hope you get a good one

 

[JustinOval]

Get someone to have a look at it, ask on VZi - there are plenty of good people that will go out of their way to prevent somebody getting ripped.

Where in UK is it?

 

[Poppy]

Karmann

Karmann

Seller willing to take £5K
Sounds good if car is good!

 

[Dirty1]

£5k gets alot of Oval or a hell of alot of small window early 60s bugs!!! - especially if theres paint needed in the future!!

 

[JustinOval]

Buyers market for late cabrios, I'd shop around as it's not really a bargain.

 

[Coxy]

That's not a bad price for a 1303 Karmann. You won't find many less than £5k and if you do they may not be as good as that car that appears to be.
The prices will only be rising once we hit Feb as it does every year.

 

[Poppy]

Karmann

Karmann

I reckon it's not a bad price for a Karmann if it's structurally sound. If it is, the real deciding factor for me is the costs of painting. Any ideas on cost?

 

[trev]

£5k gets alot of Oval or a hell of alot of small window early 60s bugs!!! - especially if theres paint needed in the future!!

amen brother!! I'd be thinking that way too...

as for the cost of the paintjob, I'm not being smart but it's kind of one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. It could be anywhere between 1 grand and x grand, depending on the extent of the job, how much prep, what kind of paint, reactions with old paint, amount of stripping down, masking up, oven baked job or not. Amount of rent the painter has to pay, his payroll bills, overheads etc...

There are sooooo many variables. Most painters won't give a price without seeing the car and even then you need to leave some "elbow room" for uplifts for stuff that gets discovered during the job.

 

[Aidan]

Bob Heaton in Cork says that he'll give a rough idea of price over the phone in his ads. Why not give him a bell and point him to this thread and see what he says about it.

www.classicmotorscork.com

I've no direct experience of dealing with him but I've heard one good report.

Bottom line is that if you reckon that the car will cost you £5k and a respray will cost you, say, another €2-3k, then would you be better off buying a car for a couple of grand more that you knew to be completely sound, given that you don't really know if the sills/channels are rot free on that car? Very few cars of that age go in for paint and come out having had just that, especially if they're starting to get a bit frilly..

That said, it would be an opportunity to put your own stamp on the car, depending on how far you want to go with the paint.

If you store it indoors, you could get away with a reasonable amount of time before having to get the paint done - depends on what you want from it really.

How long has it been for sale? Sounds like you've been haggling already but maybe you could offer a sensible amount below the 5k and build in some sort of buffer for yourself. Presumably the seller needs to sell a lot more than you need to buy.

 

[JustinOval]

Talk to Tom on here for a rough estimate for the paintwork.

 

[Mikey]

Get someone to have a look at it, ask on VZi - there are plenty of good people that will go out of their way to prevent somebody getting ripped.

By 2, even it looks like a bargain don't buy till you have more information.
Don't be afraid to let it pass too, these are tough times people always selling.

Bob Heaton in Cork says that he'll give a rough idea of price over the phone in his ads. Why not give him a bell and point him to this thread and see what he says about it.

www.classicmotorscork.com

Supposed to do great work, I'm sure its hard to give a rough price on something without seeing it.

Talk to Tom on here for a rough estimate for the paintwork.

Definately give Tom a ring, he'll does great work too and a sound guy.