Start your examination with a thorough inspection of the bodywork. Lift the luggage compartment lid (bonnet) and remove the spare wheel to check for rot at the base of its storage well.
Check the lower front valence from outside the car and don't forget the lid as well. Not only is it vulnerable to attack from flying stones, but condensation forms in the seams and rots its way out. Occasionally, you'll find rot around the front (where the panels bolt to the body) and knocks and scrapes from careless parking. Replacements are available (they may require modification in some cases) although the job isn't as simple as it looks. Rot around the mounting bolts may have spread to the body itself, in which case you'll be into quite extensive welding, and the captive nuts themselves often seize solid.
The lower rear corners of the front inner rear arches warrant careful searching. This whole area, including the bottoms of the "A" posts, often rots away and is difficult to repair. On later Super Beetles with MacPherson strut suspension, you must also check the whole of the inner front wings and strut turrets from underneath, as the strut top mountings (visible from inside the luggage compartment) are rarely, if ever, attacked and can give a misleadingly encouraging picture. Panels are available, but the whole front end of the car has to be stripped to do the job properly so it'll rarely be worth the effort and expense.
The real problem area on most Beetles, however, is the lower six inches of bodywork from below the front corner of each door to the area just forward of each rear wheel. The door bottoms themselves suffer the usual problems of blocked drain holes (complete second-hand panels are the most sensible answer) and the bolt-on running boards invariably fall apart if you use them for their intended purpose and actually stand on them.
But that's nothing compared with the problems of the heater channels and rot in the lower sides between the rear edge of the doors and the front lower corners of the rear wings. The heater channels effectively perform the same function as the sills on most conventional cars, and once water finds its way in, via holes in either the front or rear wheelarches, the result is only a matter of time.
The damage is repairable, but only by separating the body and chassis, so have a good dig with a screwdriver and avoid any car that's even slightly affected. Jacking points are best regarded with suspicion, too. Inspect closely.
Rear wings have been dealt with already, but check for rot in the inner rear wheelarches, just above and inboard of each road wheel, where the body bolts to the floorpan. Once again, serious rot here is a body-off job.
Likewise, the rear bumper mounts, the rear apron and the engine cover suffer in the same way and for the same reason as their counterparts at the front. The floorpan itself, while prone to corrosion under the rear seat and battery, is often sound. Do have a good look for rot in the footwells, though.
Don't forget to assess the condition of the trim. Seats, door coverings and carpets are as hard-wearing as you'd expect, but again you come back to the problem of age. Limited reupholstering may be possible in some cases, but failing that, you'll have to scour wrecking yards or the classifieds for good second-hand replacements.
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