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Allright, I'm looking at picking up a '73 thing and am curious about what they're going for right about now.

The good:
Thing runs and drives, has new brakes from MC out, starter, rebuilt carburetor, full tuneup, new fuel pump, oil was just changed, new DP centersection seals, intake to head seals, shocks on all 4 corners, fuel tank has been pulled and flushed, new shifter bushings. I have no question about whether this stuff has been done or not and have no question as to the quality of the work as I'm the one that did it all.

Doors are there, seat frames are there and intact, all lights work, top is there. It's seen better days, but it is there and the frame is good.

The bad:
-Has rust bubbling out from a previous body repair done under both front doors.
-Rear half pans have been poorly replaced
-front beam has some rust on it, Nothing god awful, but it probably will need attention fairly shortly.
-Windshield wipers don't work, motor is toast
-It likes to eat starters, last one it chewed up in the equivalent to a weeks worth of daily driving.
-heater tubes are shot, exchangers are fine, it's the actual cardboard tubes that come into the cab.


I have a '66 bug that the guy wants and I want the thing, so I'm trying to figure out a fair cash amount to ask for since we both know the bug is worth more than the thing.

My gut feeling is the thing is worth about 1,000 but I haven't bought or sold one in 8 or 9 years so i don't know what the market is like today.

Any input would really be appreciated!

Justin

There is an old saying, "a picutre is worth a thousand words". It's very hard to place a value without seeing it.

that's an issue, with the way the deal is setup is a ittle more complicated than what I've put out here, but it boils down to it's going to have to happen fairly shorty, he lives 110 miles away, and doesn't have a camera.

Basically what i'm trying to figure out is what a running 'driver' thing is going for. No way this thing could ever be put off as a show vehicle in the condition it's in right now. It needs a wiper motor and tires to pass inspection, i'm not worried about tires, but a wiper motor is a good chunk of dollars. I figure it'll cost about $500 to get wipers and tires. (300/200)

It has a couple rust holes and starting is hit or miss (think it needs a support bushing). The repaint on it now is pretty poor and you can defintiely tell what was and wasn't shot.

Here's what my thought process was:
Driver thing: $1800
wiper motor:-300
tires:-200
top:-150
repair beam:-100 (steel, bushings, etc)
misc:-50
-------------
$1000

the starting price is the only thing i'm not sure on.

Justin

ahh.. i rember when i was 16 i bought a 67' bug.. thought the world f it.. well 2 weeks later i put $2000 in it and it was still a piece of crap! lol... so basically the trick is get it cheap or buy a better one.. lol. but honestly $1000 is even cheap for a thing w/ no engine... check out thesamba and ebay see how much there going for..
"-heater tubes are shot, exchangers are fine, it's the actual cardboard tubes that come into the cab." 73' used a gas heater? not heat exchangers?

I was off on the year, it's a 74 so it does have the air ducts and not the gas heater.

This isn't anywhere near my first time around with old cars, especially VW's. I just haven't been in the thing market for almost 10 years now so I don't know what it's holding. The last one I had was in similar condition body wise but had a good top and side screens and would pass inspection, bought it for $500 and sold it for $800 after I got it firing on all 4 (had a cooked #3).

I'll check over on samba, see what the deal is over there.

Justin

These days any Thing that will drive is worth $1000. That said, without seeing the Thing it is hard to say if it is too bad to fix. Rust is an evil deamon to remove from a Thing. Things Unlimited sells good used Thing wiper motors for $135. A rusty beam can turn into a new front end very quickly. A good used Thing front beam is $250.