What do you think of this car?, 1973 914 2.0L Options

[HeelnToe]

Okay, folks, could use some help here. I'm taking a look at this car on Thursday. It looks pretty good in the photos, but being new to 914s, I'd love it if the folks here could let me know if you see anything I should be worried about.

I've posted an entire set of photos to Flickr here:

http://flickr.com/photos/jeffreysmith/sets...57604097717696/


(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2060/2328288390_34f9401e67.jpg)

[HeelnToe]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Well, that didn't work out the way I hoped it would. Thanks to everyone in the group for the advice. It prevented me from buying a 914 that had serious structural rust issues.

Probably the smartest thing I did was take the advice from folks here to call Pete Bristow from Bristow's Automotive in Tacoma. He agreed to do a "house call" for me and come with me to take a look at the car. The owner was unwilling to drive it all the way north to Tacoma, so Pete made that a non-issue.

Pete knows his 914s, and within seconds of checking out the car, started spotting things wrong with it that I almost certainly would have missed. Like...

• The right trunk hinge had been re-welded and was missing some parts
• The paint was definitely a "10-foot" job, with serious scratches on the trunk and crackling all over the place
• The battery tray looked good, but the frame rail beneath it was rusted heavily
• There was actually a crack in the frame that was well hidden, tucked right against the firewall. I never would have spotted this. Pete earned his keep right then and there.
• The left front corner had been hit at some time in the past and repaired. I actually spotted this one, but Pete confirmed it by pointing out a few places where the repair work had been done.

So, overall, it was a nice-looking 914 with some serious problems. Definitely not worth the $8500 the owner was asking. Probably more like $3000-4000. I was looking for a car without rust issues, so I passed this time.

Again, thanks, everyone, for all of your help.