Newbie Introduction, Buy or build Options

[Midenginer]

Hello,

Craig here from Southern California, good to meet you all!
I'm pretty excited about looking into buying a childhood dream car as a weekly driver for my short commute 1000' down the hill and up the canyon, Sunday drive, autocross, etc. and could use some advice.

My only other real sports car was one of the first 2006 Cayman S, which I had as my daily driver company car up to 115k miles. Loved it but maintenance / depreciation were costly and our first son in 2010 and second in 2016 led to a Volt and now my 2019 Cherokee Trailhawk which I'll keep as my daily driver.

I love watching all the beauties and reading the comments on BringaTrailer. Frankly, I should have bought a classic and a commuter rather than the Cayman in '06. My other 70's childhood dream cars Pantera, Ferrari's, Countach are all out of my budget and just as well because I think a 914 will suit me perfectly...but I've never even ridden in one, let alone driven one, so that's first on my list to do this week!

I'm not too concerned that I'll love driving one so the next big question is, for a budget of low $20's what should I get;
A) Best 2.0 I can find, hopefully black, with some smart mechanical and cosmetic modifications. Merry Christmas to me in 2020 possibly!
B) Can I build a 914 6 driver from a roller for that $? I would get the body work done, stick to a Porsche motor, any necessary suspension work, etc to start. I realize 6 restomods sell way above my budget but could I have a solid 6 driver built from a roller within my budget and then improve on it from there? I wouldn't want to wait years to get rolling either. Merry Christmas to me in 21? 22?? ok either way but the budget doesn't double;).

BTW, I don't have the experience, tools, time, space to do the work myself, as much as I like the idea just not realistic, so would have to find pros to do it. I lean towards B but if it's a stupid idea I'm ok, even appreciate, if you tell me so. If its unanimously a genius idea I'm ok with that too!

Hope this is the appropriate forum for this question.

Thanks for your time and expertise. Look forward to any comments...

Cheers,
Craig

[Steve]

You might also have better luck with Craigslist. BAT prices can get ridiculous at times.
There are a bunch of us in So Cal. that would love to go with you if you want to check out a local 914. We know all the places to look for rust or bad repair jobs.

[FRUNKenstein]

You might also have better luck with Craigslist. BAT prices can get ridiculous at times.
There are a bunch of us in So Cal. that would love to go with you if you want to check out a local 914. We know all the places to look for rust or bad repair jobs.

This. I was in the market over the spring and summer. I've sold 2 cars on BaT over the years, so I'm very familiar with it and I'm a big fan. But . . . , I firmly believe that there are very few good deals for buyers anymore. For sellers, it's great as you will get top dollar for your car. But, as a buyer, you can pretty much assume you'll pay top dollar, plus the 5% BaT buyer's commission. Plus, whenever the bidding didn't go high, it was a "reserve not met" no-sale. After following and bidding on several cars, I finally gave up on BaT as a source of potential cars to buy. It's great for educating yourself and to get a feel for the market, though.

My other advice is to avoid dealerships. I think the best way to buy is a private-party sale. Get to know the seller along with the car. You'll get a better value in the end from buying from an individual via a private-party sale. And you won't have the last-minute bidding frenzy you see in auctions.

Nowadays, Facebook Marketplace is a great source of cars, more so than Craigslist. Plus, you get to see the Facebook profile of the seller, which can tell you quite a bit and provide a bit of safety to the transaction.

That being said, I found my car the old-fashioned way: sheer luck. I was at The Great Car Show here in Kansas City in July. I had my 996TT, 944 Turbo and 928S4 on display. A few minutes after I got my cars parked, in rolled a Laguna Blue 1975 914 2.0 and parked right across the aisle from me. The owner hopped out and stuck a "For Sale" sign in the window and left the show. I had to catch up with him the next day. The asking price was very reasonable, and because we had mutual friends, he even came down another $1,200 off that price. It was a no-brainer. And after all of those hours spent watching BaT auctions, it was just so much better. Plus, he put the car up on a lift and went over everything with me in person - the good and the bad. He had tons of records and spare parts that he passed along. It was a fantastic start to my 914 ownership experience.

[Midenginer]

You might also have better luck with Craigslist. BAT prices can get ridiculous at times.
There are a bunch of us in So Cal. that would love to go with you if you want to check out a local 914. We know all the places to look for rust or bad repair jobs.

This. I was in the market over the spring and summer. I've sold 2 cars on BaT over the years, so I'm very familiar with it and I'm a big fan. But . . . , I firmly believe that there are very few good deals for buyers anymore. For sellers, it's great as you will get top dollar for your car. But, as a buyer, you can pretty much assume you'll pay top dollar, plus the 5% BaT buyer's commission. Plus, whenever the bidding didn't go high, it was a "reserve not met" no-sale. After following and bidding on several cars, I finally gave up on BaT as a source of potential cars to buy. It's great for educating yourself and to get a feel for the market, though.

My other advice is to avoid dealerships. I think the best way to buy is a private-party sale. Get to know the seller along with the car. You'll get a better value in the end from buying from an individual via a private-party sale. And you won't have the last-minute bidding frenzy you see in auctions.

Nowadays, Facebook Marketplace is a great source of cars, more so than Craigslist. Plus, you get to see the Facebook profile of the seller, which can tell you quite a bit and provide a bit of safety to the transaction.

That being said, I found my car the old-fashioned way: sheer luck. I was at The Great Car Show here in Kansas City in July. I had my 996TT, 944 Turbo and 928S4 on display. A few minutes after I got my cars parked, in rolled a Laguna Blue 1975 914 2.0 and parked right across the aisle from me. The owner hopped out and stuck a "For Sale" sign in the window and left the show. I had to catch up with him the next day. The asking price was very reasonable, and because we had mutual friends, he even came down another $1,200 off that price. It was a no-brainer. And after all of those hours spent watching BaT auctions, it was just so much better. Plus, he put the car up on a lift and went over everything with me in person - the good and the bad. He had tons of records and spare parts that he passed along. It was a fantastic start to my 914 ownership experience.

Thanks, hope luck is on my side!
Sweet Laguna Blue!