Not having the energy to fully sort the Beetle out and unwilling to sink any funds into it, I took the plunge and put it on eBay with a conservative reserve. Really I only wanted to achieve a sale value above what the dealer had offered my daughter which I had thought was a bit stingy since she’d paid a lot more than that only two years prior from him.

Anyway putting all that to one side I wrote what I considered was an honest description of the car for the advert. I didn’t list every defect, just the ones that would need more urgent attention. I included a generic description which made clear this was an old car and to set expectations accordingly.

I only used about six photos, but the advert immediately got some views and a couple of messages with questions. After 10 days the auction was won by one of the buyers who’d messaged. I felt happy with this as they had obviously given it some sale and set a price they were happy with which was above the reserve.

So although it was all fine, I did go into an anxious overdrive and was very nervous on the day of the sale. Helen helped me to clean the car as I wanted it to look its best so we were outside with the key wash at 7:30am!

I needn’t have worried. The buyer was super chilled and seemed happy with the purchase. It was a sweltering day and I met him outside the train station with the roof down. The Beetle looked a million dollars. I showed him around the car and then we had the awkward payment process which was all online and a bit fiddly through eBay but we got there eventually. Once I was happy the car was paid for and we had filled in the V5 I waved him goodbye, stepped out of the car for the last time and walked away. I didn’t look back.

So there ends my latest phase with a convertible. I enjoyed having the Beetle for a few months. I was tempted to keep it but as it had such a low value it just wasn’t worth any investment so it had to go.

As a driving experience it was quite nice. The 1.4 engine was smooth with a nice character and the gearbox was slick. With the roof down it was quite blowy so under 45mph was most comfortable, above this it was blustery. It has an odd driving position as the drivers seat is set a long way back from the windscreen. But the wheel was in the right place and the dashboard had a bit of character with retro graphics. It was best suited to short journeys and when I would take it out it did turn heads in a nice way with lots of waves from people. It seemed to make people smile!

Sadly I never gained any confidence in the car – I was too aware of its foibles and all too aware of other unknown issues which were bubbling below the surface (like the rust bubbling in the sills!). I too readily imagined being stuck on the side of the road with a puncture, snapped cambelt, over heating, oil leak or any one of a number of electrical gremlins. Unlike my Hondas, the little Bug never gave off that reliability confidence.

So farewell black beauty, thanks for the fun times in this driest and hottest of UK summers, I’ll remember you fondly and hope you have great adventures with your new family.