How long did it take?, til you found the right 914 Options

[brokenmoped]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, but I've been checking this site pretty much everyday for about six months now, so I decided I might as well introduce myself. My name is Corey, and I'm a 20 yr old POOR college student.

I've been searching frantically for the perfect 1973 2.0 (of course) for quite awhile now and was wondering how long it took everyone to find their very own special teener.

And also, where do you guys look?! I use Ebay, collectorcartrader, google, and the classified section on this site. I bought the last few local autotraders, but to no avail. I'm in Orange County, by the way.

Anywho, nice to finally find a forum where people don't talk about ricerz they "PWND" in a sweet drag race d00d (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

Thanks,

Corey

[messix]

heres a free classified that usually turns up results
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/s...=min&maxAsk=max

i found mine after about two months.

be patient and find the most rust free car.

[Andyrew]

Bout 2 weeks of 914 searching... months of car searching...

[nebreitling]

welcome. how long did it take? only about 3 months for me, we in the bay area are blessed with an abundance of 914s...

a few words of advice, take'em or leave'em:

-don't get hung up on a 73 or 74. the early ones are a bit lighter, the later ones a bit heavier, but they're all *about* the same. the late cars can be made lighter, and they'll all take a 2 liter (or a /6, or an /8, or whatever you can dream up)

-do get hung up on rust. i'd rather have a rust-free '76 with a tired 1.7 in it than a 73 with a rusted long....

-save your money, borrow some from your dad, sell yourself on the street -- whatever it takes -- buy the best one you can afford. paying an extra 2k upfront can save you about 5k in the first few years.

-the longer you own them, the more expensive they become. make sure that you're set up financially and mechanically to take care of your car, or else it can be a stressor.

-get a ppi

cheers, good luck!

n

[redshift]

Except for us, most people buying them are paying too much. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

Welcome. I've been looking... what year were you born? Longer than you have been alive, and I found a few, and wore 'em out.

WOOHOO!


M

[messix]

oh yeah, many 914 members down it that area. i'm sure they will go with you to look at the prospective buys to help look for the trouble spots. root werx went with me and was invalueable in the purchase of mine.

just keep looking and watch these posts and look up the info on this site and pelican parts has a good site also with a buyers guide that explains some of the different variations on these cars.
good luck

[ThinAir]

I fell in love with 914s in 1978 and it took me until 1990 to find my first one. Not that I was looking all that long, It just took that long before everything came together for me to get my first one. I drove it pretty much "as is" until 2002 when I took it apart to restore it and then had to put the project aside. It's still on my back porch, waiting.

In the meantime I got a new job and decided that the fastest way to good & fun transportation was a "new" 914. It took me a couple of months of looking at the 914World.com classifieds to find my dream car - like yours, a 73 2.0L that had already been repainted. I had to fly to Seattle to get it, but then again Flagstaff isn't close to any ready source of 914s.

As has been mentioned, spend the money up front. My big limitation on my 72 is body work. Mechanical I can handle. I spent more to get a car that already had done what I wanted on the body. Even though I'd had a ppi and thought the car was good, I ended up before long with a dead engine because of something I'd missed, as well as having to fix a totally broken clutch tube. So make sure that if you don't know how to do stuff that you are at least committed to learning. It's well worth it when you find the right car and it is "in the zone" and running right. There is no smilie big enough for the smile on my face every time I turn the key! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

Oh yeah, welcome! I'm glad you have introduced yourself!

[LukeD]

7 LONG YEARS!!! to find a well taken care of virtually original owner of 34 years 2.0, lota mods car. I had planty of 914's before that but none as cared for as this one.

Spent as much as I could and even though the engine is getting tired it was well worth it. IMO get the best chassis you can find, everything else can be fixed with this site and a chiltons (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[SirAndy]

QUOTE (brokenmoped @ Jun 25 2005, 11:29 PM)

and was wondering how long it took everyone to find their very own special teener.

about 1 second ...

wasn't looking for a 914, wasn't even looking for a car. drove by a porsche shop that had the car sitting in the lot with a for sale sign on it. saw it, came back later that day, test drove it, bought it ...

i'm cursed now ...
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif) Andy

[SpecialK]

Got three.....still looking [for the "right" one].
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

[Leo Imperial]

Just like you I started looking on Evil Bay and Collector car trader. I started looking about 5 years ago. I lived in New York at the time and could not find the "one". I moved to the Bay Area in October, looked around on craigs list and then found this sight. I looked at a coulple cars and bought the first car I found on this sight. I have found the people on this sight are honest and fair. I took me one month in this area to find a car... With no hell hole issues. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

[VegasRacer]

Another potential source to check is The Samba.

Don't be to hung up on a 73 2.0. Figure out what is essential and what is negotiable on your dream teener. (Smog laws, FI vs. carbs, cosmetics, mechanical, rust, etc.) The only way to have the 'perfect' one is to build a tub. Anything less will require a compromise.

To answer your question - when I was looking to replace / upgrade 914's in the past it has taken 2 - 6 months of serious searching (plus a few road trips). Others (like my current car) found me.

[spare time toys]

It found me (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif) doing a search on for odd spellings on EBAY and it popped up and I made a crazy low bid and I won.

[MecGen]

Hi
Welcome to the group (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)
If you want the most bone stock 914, then you got to find a perfect tub, mecanics are not realy a concern.
Everything needs to be there or you start 3xing the price of the car.
The best years for re-sell is a 73-74, stock 2.0l. If you are buying it for fun...pick the best body not year. If you are a collector, you would want to have a certain resale bonus.
Take my 74, #1914 Baby Blue, 2.0l. Never hit or rusted, origional longs/floors,ears. 90 % like the day it came off the floor, unmolested, I WAY overpayed for this oil pumper 15 years ago, but it was worth every penny.
This summer its going up for sale, but its a big dollar 914. A local guy is eying it, but he is not a 914 member, and its already breaking my heart....but that another story...

Great to have you aboard, don't forget to buy a digital camera, that should be included with every 914 sale (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/givemebeer.gif)

Later
Joe

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)

[qa1142]

I'm in Chicago area where there is more rust than teeners (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

I was looking for nearly a year but found mine in local paper (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

She is not perfect but I love her just the same (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/w00t.gif)

[Dr. Roger]

I found mine using evil-bay, samba, and craigslist. After two months I scored a real clean, almost rust free, straight '74. Low miles. No engine or trans but a helluva deal. Like the guys said above, mechanical stuff is cheap compared to the body and rust issues. I took everyones advice and I'm really glad I did. Zero regrets.

I would suggest searching craigslist in your area and surrounding areas also.

Be consistent in your searching and you will score a keeper. Hey, U are in Cali, right? =-)))))))

Good luck. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[xsboost90]

i never really liked the 914. I was never REALLY looking for one. I was autoxing and doing quite well w/ my 89 944, but i had always liked older cars, and combining the two porsche and older"antique" car seemed obvious. A friend of mine has a 912 and my bug for old cars came back. I looked at some 911/912 models but didnt have the money to touch one let alone fix one up. Found someone in toledo-300miles away- that had one fs, and noticed he also had a 924s. I jokingly sent him an email, my cars worth $8k, yours is fs for $4k, and that 924s is about 4k, ever think of a trade? Surprisingly he emailed back he had thought of that and wanted to see my car, so off i went to toledo. My gf wanted a 924s too so that worked great! I fixed up the 24s, gave it to her fresh and she helped me to fix up the teener. Someday itll get the full resto it deserves, but for now at least it wont break in half and its hella fun!

check on these websites, seems like most people on a website about their car cares for it more than someone who buys their car parts at krogers.

[brokenmoped]

Thanks for the advice, everybody. I completely forgot about craigslist. I used to use that site to look for apartments. Anyway, I found this car in Long Beach and it seems like it's had a lot of work done to it, but I'm not exactly sure if it's worth the asking price. I'm going with my dad to take a closer look in a couple days. Any input would be awesome.

Here it is: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/car/80774285.html

[merrill]

5 months and $3500. Autotraderonline.com. I looked and looked at all the usual online sites and scored this car. Had to fly there and drive it home, nice adventure!

[MattR]

What school do you go to? When you find a 914 (took me about a month, but I was looking for a project car), you should join us in Costa Mesa for our socal 914 events.