ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

Well, thought you guys might be interested in an update, though it's not a happy one. Franz has yet to be sold, is sitting in the driveway with e-brake cables that appear to be about 2" too short, and the muffler detached. So if I could get anyone to buy it, it still leaks, it can't run right now, and there's no working e-brake.

-My dad tried to change the e-brake cables but apparently the ones I bought on the other site's classifieds years ago are too short. He lost interest in the project completely and decided not to buy the car, so the e-brake cables are stuck as-is. Out of curiousity, are Ghia or Bus cables shorter?
-I took the holey muffler off with my boyfriend with the intent of putting on the new one. The new exhaust has sliding pipes, which makes it easy to put on, but are they supposed to be secured somehow once the exhaust is installed? There's no room for clamps unless they are very very thin and small. So the car can't run right now because there's no exhaust/muffler attached.

I've had queries, and offers, but neglected ones I thought were too low until it was too late and they found a different car. I had an offer of $450 which is how much I bought it for originally which was slightly heart-breaking. I would settle for $1000-1500 at this point and I have no idea if that's anywhere reasonable.

One guy (the one who was originally gonna give me $1000 or $1500 for the car plus parts that I waited too long on) asked if I would sell him the VIN and title. I don't know how much he'd give me for it, but I asked. I don't want to go that route because it would mean junking the car, but I really need the $, I have not been able to find a job.

Does anyone have any tips on how to list a car/sell a car that's not top-notch, needs work, but is worth at least a decent chunk of change? Getting desperate and that probably won't help.

im pretty good at writing up craigslist adds, thats how i make my summer money, buy a car for, lets say 400 bucks, wait 2 weeks, and sell it for about 1200.

if you want, you can send me all the info with pictures of the car, and i could post it to whatever classifieds your in for craigslist, if yah want...

they ar ejust slip joints, no need for clamps and stuff, you leave em as is. make it run and it will sell a lto better. someone bought my dads van even after the brake lines blew out in the driveway, cause it ran fine. he stuck a nail in hte brake line and took off with no rear brakes. they then drove all the way to NJ that night, no idea how they survived.

Put the muffler on and make it run. Just show the new owner the cables that are too short. Needing work is OK, but it has to start and at least drive around the block, otherwise, that's all it is....scrap.

Blarg. I guess I will seek more boyfriend help then. We already bought all the nuts and bolts anyway.

put the boyfriend to work or get rid of him and find another one that will.......

bajaherbie wrote:put the boyfriend to work or get rid of him and find another one that will.......

what he said , even tho his avitars are Not what they used to be....

Get him to run and yeh, I think $1500 is a good place to start. $450 is an insult and too low. I got twice that for Blueberry with a rotted frame head and no motor.

birddog1148 wrote:

bajaherbie wrote:put the boyfriend to work or get rid of him and find another one that will.......

what he said , even tho his avitars are Not what they used to be....

X2 Keep the car and fix it.........................................

I got an offer for the body only at $700 and the engine (as long as it's not a cracked case) for a D-SLR camera (plus two lenses and a flash...equals out to a pretty fair deal, I think). Only problem is the guy wants to test run the engine for a while, and I don't know if he'd want to do that in my car or he has one to do it in, or for how long that is. Ultimately my engine would go in his Porsche 912, but he doesn't want to test it in that in case it explodes. I would still have plenty of parts to sell, and a few people have expressed interest in parts.

Oh yeah, and being an amateur photographer who really wants a D-SLR but cannot afford one anytime soon...this is a REALLY good deal. The model looks pretty good for a starter. I'm giving it some time to think about it first because I'm going to be away for a little while anyway. California for a couple days this week with my boyfriend's family (there was a death in the family) and then Maine for my family's vacation next week!

A good DSLR will set you back $8-900 with lenses so I think you will make out just fine. As for running the engine, let him fire it up and run it for a couple of minutes, that really is all is needed. If the motor is junk, he'd know it within seconds of firing it up. Anything else that comes up after that is external stuff. Don't let him snooker you.

Sneaks wrote:A good DSLR will set you back $8-900 with lenses so I think you will make out just fine. As for running the engine, let him fire it up and run it for a couple of minutes, that really is all is needed. If the motor is junk, he'd know it within seconds of firing it up. Anything else that comes up after that is external stuff. Don't let him snooker you.

The D-SLR is not worth that much. It's a Fuji Finepix S2, which seems like a decent model, but according to closed ebay listings, it's worth $200-400. That range worries me. As for the engine, he's worried about a crack, which I don't know if you could tell from just running it?

If you think the camera is worth the engine, trade straight-up, all sales are final. He may be an honest guy, or maybe not so much so. You have no control over how he treats that motor, if he fries it he might cry foul and want the camera back. Sticking you with a 4cyl boat anchor.

^ hah yeaahhh definitely going to make sure he signs something that it's going as-is, ditto for any body-only sale or the everything!

What good do you have with the parts other than body and engine?

Stick to your guns. Camera + $. He'll cave. He knows it's worth the deal.

If you want to sell the engine, allow him to run it...in your car...and compression test it. No way would I allow someone to pull it and put it in another vehicle to test. Sounds shady to me.

A running 1600 would be worth at least $500...minimum.