First off I'm 17 and my 914 is my first car that I worked day in and day out at a minimum wage job to pay for. But lately I have been beginning to realize that this is not a daily driver car. So here is the problem. I need a daily driver but I love my car. She is cherry red and turns heads everywhere we go. The question is will I regret getting rid of it when I hit my midlife crisis? This is my baby and tears come to my eyes when I think of getting rid of it but its not cheap and it keeps my wallet constantly empty. So I thought who better to ask than the one group of people that understands what its like. Should I suffer through it and know that in the long run keeping it is best or sell it and buy something a little more practical?

Help Please!!

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Tell us why it's not a Daily Driver - I daily drove a 914 for years

Tears will come to your eyes when you watch her drive away. Not middle age.

Every car is going to empty your wallet at your age. The car, any car, owns you...

Don't do it... You will regret it...

Buy a 500$ civic and keep the 914. You will be happy you did..

It is a daily driver right now but the previous owner didn't take very good care of it so I'm spending at least 100 a week (which is a lot for me) to fix little things that go wrong.

buy a reliable beater for a daily driver and keep the 914.

it will be a car you will regret letting go!

Keep it and make it better. Ask for more help, if you need it. Buy another car down the road and keep this one too.

Yes, save up some money and buy a good beater for cheap, keep the 914 for weekends and dates. You will be glad you did.


Shoe

What are the "little things" you keep having to fix? The car doesn't have to be perfect. You can make the car perfect in 10 years when you have more money and can take her down for a bare metal restore.

Its hard and you do what you have to. I wish I had had similar advice when I was 20 and sold my'69 Austin Healy for $2000. Bought a ford escort to get thru college. But Ive always regretted that decision. With the extra job that summer I could easily have bought that d.d. and kept the Healy.
I would say keep looking for a older civic or such as stated above to be a d.d.I was in Minnesota and like you needed a more practical car for winter.(since I had a '74 BMW bike too)
BTW i didn't get a healy but got the 914- 20 years later(and only paid $2k for it)

So - keep the 914.: find a cheap d.d. 5-10 years from now you will be glad you did. Do you know what my Healy would be worth today?? 914's are going up in$$$ too

take it from us who have owned one and sold it; we each regretted it. where I live, space is the issue. As long as you can park and store it safely, keep it and use it for weekends. worst case, take off the insurance and store it.

Keep it!!!

You’re driving a 40 plus year old car, there are always going to be little things cropping up. At $100 a week in repairs you could still be coming out a head in fuel savings…

This is definitely your best bet. I had the same situation when I was younger but with a 65 corvair I spent all my minimum wages on restoring and running it. I still miss that car. Get a civic beater and split the driving between the two, something goes wrong with the 914 then you can park it and drive the civic until you can fix it.

My first car when I was your age was a '74 Bug, it's what I learned to drive in.
I guess it all depends on whether you can afford to buy another car and if you have
space for keeping the 914. At 17, it's a different ball game than it is when you are
older. Keep the 914 for sure if you can, you'll kick your self later if you sell it.
Also keep in mind that a beater Civic or the like, is still going to require some $
put into it over time. However, it's the route I'd take at this point if I was you.
Tell us what needs done to the 914 in the near future and what you've put money
into in the past. There's always a way to accomplish what you want if you put
mind over matter. Work hard, make it happen!

I was in a similar position in the mid 90's...long time ago. I loved the car but every time I would drive it I would have to spend $250 fixing something that broke. I ended up bailing. I just couldn't afford the repairs, didn't have a good place to store it, bla, bla, bla.

I calculated out the time value of $$, the amount I was spending on repairs and I just couldn't justify the expense at that point in my life. I ended up focusing on other things, got a water cooled VW that was fun and much cheaper to repair and invested the $$ I would have spent on the car. 10 years later I got a very clean 914 and have had that ever since.


Today's market is a little different. These cars are appreciating a bit more rapidly and it probably sense to keep it if you can and get a newer daily driver that doesn't need much.

As fun as these cars are to drive, if they are bleeding you dry that can sap every ounce of enjoyment out of owning one. I would hate to have someone soured by that experience.

5200 per year on repairs is too much.

I have a line in the sand....no more than 2000 per year on any car.
If it goes over that line, aside from restoration, the car gets sold.

Can you afford the storage cost of two cars? The insurance of 2 cars? I know how cheap that is at a young age (not currently). If it's not practical, don't force it. Write down what you really love about your car. Besides the fact that you have done so much work on it. Write down what you don't like or is beyond your ability to fix ( perhaps rust issues ). Take a ton of pictures of the good and bad.

If you have to sell, make your daily driver cheap and a bandaid until you can afford to either have the best Running 914 around or two cars.

You've got the bug. There is no cure. You will be back if you leave 914 ownership! I sold my first 914 I bought when I was 18. I spent years digging parts out of junk yards 'fixing' the car. When I sold it, I was sad but I'm on my 3rd one now and every one I have bought has been a better car than the last and brought a bigger smile to my face.

A 914 is not that rare of a commodity. There is still lots around and in the next five years I can't imagine they are going to dry up.

Regardless, welcome to the world and glad you are mutually in love with one of the best cars on the planet. Damn things...bring tears to my eyes!

Buy a motorcycle & keep the teen.

At least the teener will appreciate vs. any modern "reliable" car

It's just a car. Sell it and move on if it's causing stress. You an always buy another one later if you want.

Guys on here, buy and sell these cars all the time, and I have seen them say that you can always get another one....

BUT, this is the one you know every inch of, you know every rattle, every bump. If you buy another later in life, you will have to start from scratch learning the car. It is a tough decision, but at least you don't have a wife and kid to help you make the choice... do you?

good luck.

Find a way to keep it!

Dude, you're seventeen.

If the car isn't attracting girls and getting you laid, then sell it.

If it is, get a 2nd or 3rd job or whatever it takes and keep it.

Dude.. don't sell it. If you really love your car, it becomes part of your family.

True story.

Betty and I were married about 2 years, and things got really lean money wise. She was using her 914 as a daily driver, and I was driving a beat up old Dodge Aspen to work. I already had my 914, and at the time it looked like an escapee from a junkyard. We only had the money to keep one 914 running reliably, and that included the months where we ate peanut butter sandwiches because we couldn't afford anything else. We talked about selling my car, but she finally talked me out of it. Best decision we ever made. Years later, it is a beautiful six conversion, and it is getting closer to my vision every time I work on it.

I agree with the suggestions above. Buy a cheap Honda for basic transportation, and keep your 914. You will be glad you did.

Sell it and buy a VW diesel. Or something that's cheaper to keep.

I have fond memories of a dozen cars I wish I kept. You'll buy another some day.

When I was 17, I found a '58 Porsche Speedster in Newport Beach that was for sale for $1500 and my dad wouldn't let me buy it because I had broken my arm skateboarding. I had a huge cast on my arm, but I had the $$ in my pocket. I've owned multiple Porsches since then, but that one has always haunted me.

I would keep this car, keep working on it, and "Damn the Torpedoes!"

I bought my teener when I was 17. Drive it for 5 years and then bought a jeep. The teener sat in my moms garage for 25 years until I took it to scotty b for restoration. I'm glad to still have my first car.

Counter point is your young and if having the car doesn't make you happy, get rid of it and move on. You don't want to let "stuff" controll your life. Be happy and successful and buy again if your still interested.

This brings back painful memories. When I was a college sophomore in Spokane I bought my first 914 ( a '73 2.0, silver with chrome ) and couldn't keep the D-Jet together well enough. I sold it for next to nothing, and instantly regretted it. After graduation I got a good job in Seattle, bought a 1969 912 (silver with chrome), lost my good job, the "rebuilt" engine blew up, and sold it for next to nothing for grocery money.

In retrospect I would have done anything to keep them in storage somewhere and wait for my skill level and income to increase and do them justice. My 912 would be worth a fortune now, and it was easily the most beautiful car I've ever owned.

Since middle aged men are FULL of advice, and I am no exception, I'll just throw this out. If you really love the car, if it gives you the fizz, if you think you'll regret selling it, then do as others have suggested and store it and go find a cheap Toyota or Honda. If you look deeply into your inner being and think that your 914 might just be a passing fancy, then sell it without regret and move on.

I've owned almost sixty cars, most of them lousy, but the only cars I really regret selling are my 912 and my first 914.

-marcus

"I've owned almost sixty cars, most of them lousy, but the only cars I really regret selling are my 912 and my first 914."

That made ME think: How many cars have I owned?

It's too easy to say "don't sell it!!!"

But it sucks to be broke.... and young.

So.... remember that it's a car. In fact, it's a car that you (me, too) drive a LOT! You can go around a corner and lose it in a ditch..... and it would be toast until someone drops another $15K into it.

My point: don't just hang onto it because it's cool. These are not art pieces..... they are cars. We love them, but something changes if we make too many sacrifices to keep them around. They should be fun.

That said, if you can tuck it away in the garage in the background of the pic, do it. (don't keep it if you need to hide it under a tarp.... it will break your heart to see it get musty)

If you decide to sell, at least you are selling at a good time.... most of us sold off cars when they were worth NOTHING.

Cheers, buddy. You are starting adulthood off right!

Only you can decide what's right for you. Maybe you need the cash for med school.
you can buy another in 10 years, but it may be $35k. If freeing up the cash now increases your earning capacity, it might be the right thing.
It certainly appears many are returning or discovering the 914, so my estimation of 35k may be low.

The first car I ever bought was a 1972 914, way back in 1976. I still have that car (see my avatar) and am glad I kept it, even after I wrecked it. You will regret selling that car, unless maybe you could sell it to a good friend or relative with the option to buy it back when you can afford it.

Thanks for all the help guys. The more I think about it the more attached I become. Luckily I do have a garage I can park it in and since its summer time in KS maybe I'll pick up a cheap motorcycle and work on the 914 when I have some spare cash. I'll be proud to sit my kids down someday (in the very distant future) and tell them the struggle of how I had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to my job that paid next to nothing for my first car until I could afford to do it justice. So thanks again! Its nice to have a group who all understand what its like and have more experience than me to help along the way.

My first car was also a 914 POS. People loved to crash into it. The 2nd one was a cherry chassis with mechanical issues I bought from another kid almost 20 years ago. I'm about to do a bare chassis resto now that I have extra time and money. My 3rd car was a Nissan Hardbody truck. I got 15 years out of it as a DD.

So here's my advice... park the 914. Buy a rough condition popular Japanese car/truck that you can get parts for cheap at the pick-a-part. Do little things to increase it's value and when you have a decent job build a nice 914 then sell the DD for what you paid for it.

When I was 19 I sold my 914-6. I'm 48 now and still think about that car a lot! If I were you I would do everything I can to keep it and get a daily driver. If you have to store it that is better than selling. Good luck!

I've never had to spend $400 per month to maintain any of the 914s I have owned. If you spend that much, it shouldn't be long before that thing becomes a reliable daily driver. If you sell it, what are you going to buy? If not something else that will need maintenance, then it's going to cost a fair amount. What else does your 914 need?

i'm 37 now and still have my orange 914 i purchased when i was 15. i don't regret keeping it. and it was my only dd until i was 23 or so.

Here's a different idea, inspired by responses on the WTB section of the Classifieds. People often post: "WTB, this or that" and many times members chime in with a response. Why don't you make a list of things you need, keep the first post in the thread up-to-date with the strike thru feature when you get the item. Members can PM you their responses and I'll bet you can get a lot done on the cheap. Don't forget to say you're a poor student at the beginning of the thread. A lot of us middle aged guys would love to keep new blood in the hobby. Heck, I was at the Parade last summer and sometimes it seemed like a walking graveyard, this 58 year old codger included! Best of luck to you.

Paul

I was just talking with a young cat today at cars and coffee, How I sold my first 914..and boy did I miss the way she made me
When I was young I sold off cars, (72 510, 68 912, 68 RH drive jag, 68 BMW, 72 and a 1972 914 ) saying I could always get anther one. the only one I got back with a 914

The more I think about this, the more the original question answers the question.....

"Should I sell out?"

Some good conversation and plenty of counterpoints. So the real question is, are you the kind of person who would "sell out?" Hopefully not. Worst case the 914 isn't your passion and you'll find something else to believe in that you will never "sell-out" for.

Weigh everything, choose your priorities, and then never look back. Don't forsake your passions in the process. (and never be afraid to dump anything that gets in the way!!!!)

I regret selling my beetles, and they're getting hard to find for cheap. I keep thinking I'll get another one soon but I haven't yet.

I have managed to hold on to my '73 911 which was the first car I actually bought for myself at 19 years old, and it's nearly back on the road again. At the rate longhoods are appreciating I could easily sell it and get a pretty nice car with the money, but it wouldn't be my first Porsche.



I agree with an earlier statement... If you've been putting money into it then it will probably be reliable soon. I drive what you'd consider a rusty beater 914 as my daily driver, it's hard to kill these cars.