Two identical 914s for sale - one is assembled, the other disassembled, Why is the disassembled 914 worth less, if not parted out? Options

[JeffBowlsby]

This post is not aimed at anyone in particular. Human nature for some of us gearheads is to take stuff apart because its easy and fun. Much harder and time consuming to reassemble. We take it apart then lose interest, time or both and we end up selling off projects or literally 'basketcases', often at a loss. So we have "invested" our time and labor to disassemble, but that effort just devalues the 914 that we paid good money for.

The one benefit to a basket case 914 is that its already disassembled, saving time and effort. But if you don't know 914s, then parts could be missing or unusable. There is usually a reason why it was taken apart...because something didn't work...so finding and replacing the defective part(s) is also a factor, further devaluing the package. If your time is worth anything (its our biggest asset), then the cost to reassemble is significant and in many cases can be worth more than the value of the parts if you put a $ figure on your time.

Would you pay more for an assembled, functioning 914 or that same car that is disassembled and in boxes and maybe not even be complete due to lost or otherwise unusable parts? Could that disassembled 914 even have a negative value, actually less than free, all things considered?

"some assembly required" HA!