The original VW Beetle was amazingly simple to work on (part of its enduring charm, no doubt) but later model Beetles are more complex. However, removing the interior door panel from a new Beetle is not too difficult, provided you know the steps.

The first of those is to remove the small trim panel that forms the interior door-pull or armrest. This can be a bit tricky, but try not to use too much force to avoid breaking the plastic clips that hold it in place. With that removed, you should expose two screws which then also need to be removed.

Next, there are three Torx-headed fasteners that sit along the bottom edge of the plastic trim panel, and they also need to be removed. From there, it’s a matter of gently prising the plastic panel off the door in one piece. Once all the clips have been released, the entire panel can be lifted slightly to free the assembly from the top edge just under the window glass.

If you need to remove the panel completely, you’ll also need to remove the wiring harness for the power windows, locking button, fuel door and the courtesy light (they unclip or prise off with a screwdriver; don’t cut them) and then pull the door release cable from its bracket and unhook it from the interior door handle mechanism.

If you’re going to tackle jobs like this on a car like the VW (and why not?) the best advice is to get hold of a workshop manual that will walk your through tasks like this one with good descriptions and lots of pictures for reference. Such a book will save you lots of money over time.

These old, air-cooled Volkswagens have a huge reputation for reliability and durability. And, back in the 1950s and '60s when they were most popular, they definitely were more reliable than a lot of their competition.

However, these days, even a relatively late-model Beetle such as a 1976 could be an absolute minefield of problems, starting with rust and a driveline with worn out mechanical bits and pieces. You haven't said how many kilometres the car has covered, but I'm betting it's plenty and that really plays against something like this car. You could wind up having to rebuild a large percentage of the car just to get it roadworthy, at which point, you could have bought something newer, faster and more comfortable.

In fact, that's another issue with old designs like the Beetle's; there's virtually no safety equipment beyond seat-belts. This is why cars like this have a place, but that place is as a weekend toy where you can relive your youth in small chunks on a Saturday morning before the shopping traffic has hit the road.

With your budget you would be looking at a 2010/2011 VW Beetle, which had a regular automatic transmission and not the troublesome DSG that was fitted in later models. That’s a big tick for the Beetle. The Citroen C3 is a decent car, but an orphan in the sense that there weren’t many sold and you won’t find a dealer on every corner. As for the BMW, they’re too expensive to service and repair if you use a dealer, and they have too many niggling issues that spoil the great driving experience. The Subaru Impreza is well worth looking at, but my pick of that bunch would be the Volvo C30.