<Many years ago a friend
refused my offer to buy his automatic super beetle. I was crazy about it
but he refused to let me buy it. He sold it to a stranger. I totally
understood the reason so I did not blame him.>

Probably for the best. Years ago my father insisted I sell him my '73 Super Beetle after it had been hit hard from behind (and repaired by a VW dealer). Didn't want to, but he insisted. Over the next few years I had to hear about it every time something went wrong with the car-and a lot went wrong. More recently, a friend turned down my offer to sell him my '75 Westy, for $3,000.00. He never actually said "no", just never responded when I made the offer, leading me to believe he thought the price was too high. Stuck it on Ebay and it sold for $6,100.00!!! Wooohooo! Worked for me!!   Jeff