That is the best advice when buying a vintage aircooled, i spent a mint on mine but it was rust free,restored 5 years ago and the chassis was rhino lined and the body was cancer free, it only has 3-4 little rust bubbles on the roof and drivers rear quarter.spend the money up front to buy one as rust free as possible. it can be missing all sorts of stuff... but if it's rusty (especially from MI) you are in for a huge uphill battle. (speaking from current beetle resto-mod that is in progress)