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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Considering '74 2.0 from TheSamba

Posted by: BigDBass Mar 15 2006, 02:37 PM

Texan ebay seller of a '75 candidate ended the auction early, so I got nowhere with that.

This car (http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=272605) has been listed for awhile and I haven't seen it mentioned at the non-club. I wonder if anyone has seen or knows anything about it.

I spoke to Pete, the VW/Porsche mechanic who is selling the car for a customer. Parts of the conversation turned me off but I'm not quite ready to end my interest in this one. However, some aspects make me question the asking price.


The strange part of the conversation was that he seemed to really be trying to sell additional mechanical work. He was willing to drop the price significantly in conjunction with swapping in a 0 mile GEX rebuilt 2.0L motor with warranty. (I've heard bad things about GEX) Additionally, he offered to convert it to carbs, and disagreed when I said I prefered FI, citing lack of availability of parts. I'm not interested in these things, just mentioning it because of the "pitch".

Anyone familiar with the car or seller, or in the Mission Viejo area for a PPI if I get that far?

Posted by: Jake Raby Mar 15 2006, 02:46 PM

wanting to swap things out sounds kina fishy...

If he thinks GEX makes a good engine, he is questionable himself...

Posted by: Mueller Mar 15 2006, 02:46 PM

he has to be hiding something in order to offer swapping those items....

Posted by: BigDBass Mar 15 2006, 02:51 PM

I asked if there was anything wrong with the stock motor and he just said "well, it's got 83k miles one it!" and then disclosed the pushrod tubes leak.

He basically said he'd knock $2000 off the price of the car, charge $2000 for the GEX engine and install it for no labor cost in exchange for the stock engine out of the car. The GEX is sitting there and is yet another customer's, I guess.

At face value, he seemed to
be pitching the additional work because he wasn't going to make much money by acting as an agent in the sale.

Posted by: Mueller Mar 15 2006, 02:58 PM

83,000 is no big deal...........

$10 for the push rod tube seals...takes a few hours to repair them and is fairly easy, just messy and a pain

sorta common leakage due to age or improper install....once repaired, lasts for years.....

Posted by: drewvw Mar 15 2006, 03:09 PM

Whats your gut telling you after your conversation with this guy?

Sounds fishy.....

Posted by: BigDBass Mar 15 2006, 03:15 PM

You pose a good question; after the conversation my gut also says "sounds fishy".

83k miles sounds great to me; I'm more concerned with the questions raised by the some rust versus "no rust" advertising issue and the unsolicited additional service offerings.

(I like your semi-colon Vonnegut quote.)

Posted by: jhadler Mar 15 2006, 03:19 PM

I smell a fish...

For $7900 that car should be better than it's sounding. If there's rust bubbles under the paint, sure enough it's hiding out somewhere else...

The battery relocated to the trunk makes me thing that the battery tray rotted out, and instead of welding in a new one, they jsut moved the battery. So, that makes me wonder what condition the hell hole and suspension console are in...

And he's offering a free engine swap with GEX motor? Of course he is! He can make some good money with a Porsche 2.0L motor, and you, in return get a 1.8L knockoff that might not even survive the drive home...

83k on a 2.0L motor is not bad at all. You could get quite a lot more out of that engine. And leaking pushrod tube seals? Easy enough to do, don't need to drop the engine or anything...

Too much suspicious stuff. Could be legit, but a first hand inspection would reveal a lot. I noticed there are no pictures of the engine bay, and I'd hazard a guess that the seats are torn as well (seat covers...)...

-Josh2

Posted by: drewvw Mar 15 2006, 03:22 PM


Thanks. I am a big gut person when it comes to buying cars.

The 914 I just bought had a couple of question marks, but I went for it (Over a TR6!! wacko.gif) because the owner seemed to be honest/straight forward and there was a good vibe there....


sounds like you better keep looking then....

Posted by: BigDBass Mar 15 2006, 03:38 PM


I inquired about the seats, he said he hadn't looked under the covers. I asked him to do so and he said he didn't want to touch them without the owner's permission first. confused24.gif

Yeah, barring someone in that neighborhood looking at it, it's time to move along with the search. headbang.gif

Thanks guys!

Posted by: andys Mar 15 2006, 04:17 PM

Did you run a Carfax on it?

I'm always leary of someone selling something *for someone else.* Make sure their story holds water and is verifiable.

When buying used, part of my decision making is always WHO is selling.

If it's too good to be true...............

Good luck,

Andys

Posted by: bmunday Mar 15 2006, 04:26 PM

I contacted this guy via e-mail about three weeks ago. I asked for additional photo's and received nothing. He siad he would get them right over to me. He's about 10-15 minutes, so if you are really interested, I will go take a look... BUt after he couldn't send me pics of the hello hole, engine bay, etc I said forget it..

Posted by: KELTY360 Mar 15 2006, 05:19 PM

My experience with buying long distance is that you're buying the seller as much as the car. You're not getting informed, straight answers from this guy. I'd be walkin'. It's easy to walk away, there's always another one out there. Good luck.

Marc

Posted by: newto914s Mar 15 2006, 05:53 PM

agree.gif
Have you tried cars.com. It was very helpful while I was looking for my 914. Infact I almost bought a car off that site that was local to chicago.

Posted by: BigDBass Mar 15 2006, 06:43 PM


I've been checking:
914world.com classifieds, of course
pelicanparts classifieds
thesamba
camp914.com
craigslist in various cities
collector cartrader
rennlist (seems less active)
ebay (although I don't expect a purchase there)

Now I'm adding cars.com to the rotation, thanks for that.

Am I missing any?


Posted by: Tobra Mar 15 2006, 07:02 PM

If it has all the options, what happened to the passenger side mirror? Fell off, I guess, keep looking

Posted by: Pistachio Mar 15 2006, 07:06 PM

PCA chapters local to your area.

Most of them have websites linked off the national site with a classifieds section of members cars/parts for sale.

Posted by: ! Mar 15 2006, 07:07 PM

QUOTE (andys @ Mar 15 2006, 03:17 PM)
Did you run a Carfax on it?

I'm always leary of someone selling something *for someone else.* Make sure their story holds water and is verifiable.

When buying used, part of my decision making is always WHO is selling.

If it's too good to be true...............

Good luck,

Andys

Carfax is no good on 914s. 81 ish is as far they go back.

Best to have an independent 3rd party look at it.....or fly out yourself.

914s are starting to get to the price level where it's worth the price of a plane ticket....

Posted by: Gint Mar 15 2006, 07:21 PM

It better be a damn nice car for $7900 smackers.

Posted by: newto914s Mar 15 2006, 07:22 PM

When I was actively looking(instead of just passively watching idiots run up the price of junk on Evilbay flipa.gif like I do these days)
I would also sometimes do a google search for "porsche 914 sale" ya never know what might turn up
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2083344
Samson

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