Hey folks,

I know many on this board have a well-stocked garage, but some of us have to pay a Pro to so some or all of the wrenching on our beloved 914s. I was inspired by the number of folks who come onto the board and ask whether they should buy a 914 - figure we should give them some solid data to consider in their decision.

To keep things relatively even for the poll, I'm asking for responses in regard to street-driven cars -- not full-time racers or Concours perfectionists...

This should be interesting.

Flip

PS: I've just passed my 1-year anniversary with my first 914 and during that year it got a new clutch & flywheel, so I'll answer based on my limited experience.

The 914 is a fairly basic car to work on and with a decent selection of tools home maintenace is not too difficult. I would not own a 914 if I could not work on it.

I wanted to say under $500 a year. But I keep buying stuff for my car that it probably does not really need. Which puts it in the next column up.

When I stop buying extra stuff for it, oil and filters are not expensive. Even oil, filters, tires and brakes can be replaced for under 500 for a street car.

Zach

as a pro grease monkey I can say that a 914 is expensive to own if:
1 you dont buy a 914 in tip top condition
2 you pay someone (like me) to d all the work

I thinkk it is MUCH cheaper to buy a great 914 turn key than it is to fix one up

Half the fun is learning how to fix the car.

Expensive at first to get it into good condition, After that not so bad. Most things now are just stuff I want for it, Not stuff it needs.
No question its cheaper in the long run to buy one done. However it allow me to spend the money over time rather than laying out 10 G's at once.

Thus far I think the poll results give insight into the type of person who owns a 914. Interesting.

I do almost everything. I sometimes pay for oil changes because I don't like dealing with 10 quarts of dirty oil.

Jeebus, 30 people have answered the poll and I have the high water mark for spend on both labor & parts. And I thought I was buying a car in very good shape...

This winter will involve converting from single to dual carbs, too. Hopefully after that, the big stuff is done for a while.

...Newbie's oldbie's........really read into this answer, it could save you alot of cursing & money(ducat's) also grief!

$50 bucks and some elbow greese and she'll be worth a lot more than I paid for 'er..

You are still restoring. Most of us that responded are driving and fixing little things as they happen. If you are at the new owner/restoration phase of ownership you are going to be putting a lot more into it.

Zach

It also might depend on how many cars you have. I drove to the ECC in my white car so the only expense for the last year (since I drove it to last years ECC) is 3/4 tank of gas and a shift knob gasket! I just spent 2 enjoyable days tracing wiring in the project car so 12 hrs of electrical work I didn't pay for. This is my greatest expense, bying parts for the project car. Orange DE car only needs a brake fluid flush before DE Halloween weekend. Still, I voted based on 3 914s.

Zach is right. I buy stuff that pushes me into the 3k total column annually.

It is like lifetime college students in the family.

I made them work their asses off for scholarships.

Orangina is a direct result of doing homework supervision for 14 years.

Now she makes demands of her own in my sleep.

Shocks, struts, balljoints, exhaust, bushings, slicks, new front windshield,...............

John

The typical 914 owner male and cheap with day Job. Not many trust fund babies!!

I'm in the resto/repair & while I'm in there phase, so won't even answer - too much $$$$'s!!!!
... but that's the disease.

As for DD use, my test always was & is - if it takes me more hours to do it at my rate of pay (including: parts, set-up, disposal, f-ing around to figure stuff out, re-doing what I may mess up, etc.), vs. the charge to have it done right by a good pro - if the latter is equal or less, then I let them mess with it!!!!

Another factor to consider is if the pro/shop has a warranty on the work if it goes bad &/or if any parts warranties are less or eliminated by a DIYer, then you have to factor that into it.

Sometimes it's just whether you have the spare time & inclination to do something, vs. just having it done & enjoy the or !

Right now, some things which I feel I may not get perfect on the resto, &/or I want my long time factory trained 914 mechanic to get right before he retires, then I'll go to a pro. He's seen so many 914s over the years & learned so many tricks, that he can get straight to the real cause right away, rather than some of us lesser beings taking hours to eliminate everything else!

Others are right though - the basic 914 regular maintenance stuff is pretty straightforward, even a simple tune-up & valve adjustment - assuming the d-jet EFI is running right & sorted-out with no defective parts to track down - any of that is a couple of hours to 1/2 day to get right - including getting the grease off your hands!

914 owners/drivers are some of the most frugal people in the car community. The statistics show that.

BUT, we're also some of the most accustomed to servicing our own cars (short of VW owners IMHO) and I would say the wrenching BBQs make it all worthwhile

with buying a great one is cheaper .
But the real fun is building one

This is a trick question!

If your car is already done it is cheeper!

If you are still getting it to the "daily driver" status you can't count the anual cost to restore, and it becomes the cost to "restore"!

These cars are cheep once they are put together and running!

It would appear that some are considering restoration and upgrade costs versus annual maintenance for driving. In regard to parts, I don't think the 914 is expensive at all, especially in comparison to parts for newer cars. Ever own an early 2000's Volvo - now there's an expensive car - never again!

But yes, I have to do a lot of tinkering and buy minor parts frequently, but she is 39 years old, and all cars of that era when new, required a lot more attention than most modern cars.

Early in my restoration, work was all me and costs were minimal.
Later, when the buying started, I ended up putting out about $13k,
and still have a little bodywork left.
I'll probably spend about $750 more in the bodywork and paint
before I'm finished.
And nearing the end, probably about a $1k more in finishing touches.

Distribution is shown below:
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Great job! Glad to see a good new poll question pop up. I do all my own work and generally spend about $1500 a year on parts, but lately I've been racing for somebody else and the poor 914 has sat. My race budget for this past year was about 6K, and next year will be more. So if something happens between me and the team, that'll all be going back into the 914.
Mark D.

I've done all the work so far as that was the deal I made with my then fiancé when I bought the car. Even if I could have afforded to have a shop do all the work I've done over the years I'd like to think I still would have opted to do the work myself. Doing so has allowed me to learn a lot about what I'm capable of accomplishing.

Of course that doesn't mean I wasn't throwing F-bombs in the garage 90% of the time when working on the car.


That being said, I hope that if I'm ever in a position to buy another 914 it's one that is *done*!