So as some of you know I have been searching around Maryland for my first 914. 2 weeks ago on the 4th a seller named Jim in VA, 2 hours away, had a 72 with a transplanted 2.0 in it. He only had 2 pics and little to no info on it, but did have his phone number. I saw the ad 7 hours after it was posted to craigslist for $2500. I later received an email stating it was sold. 2 days ago this pops up on eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172783341024?_trks...utorefresh=true

While the car does have issues, for $2500 Can it be all that bad? My rant is about the seller. I realize making money is nice and while everyone wants to make a quick buck it sucks to be on something I almost had. He now has it for sale at BIN $7800 or best offer. I offered him $3500 stating he would make a quick $1000. He declined. Sorry just wanted to get that off my chest.

I understand your frustration but you have little reason to rant. Either you get the car or you did not - 1 minute or 7 hours - no difference really. Once someone owns an item - they can do what they want, ask what they want, burn it into the ground, etc. It is their car 100%...

Someone who did that with a 914 (and that quickly) must be well aware of the car. Not just a general flipper...is my guess. Around here - there are many who seemingly have disdain for such practices - you will have plenty of sympathy coming your way soon.

Keep you head up and eyes open - the "right" car will work out and when it does - you will know it! It will make these cheesy deals fade into distant memories.

Tony

Agree with Cracker. 7 hours into a posting an ad with a potential bargain is plenty of time for a number of people to buy the car. You're going to have to quicker.

Your feelings probably pale in comparison to how the CL original owner feels by under pricing the car.

Many of time I just missed a great deal then there were many of times I found a great deal. If the CL owner was happy with $2500 and the new owner thinks he can get $7800 for it, more power to him.

I have bought many of car & parts at the "buy low, sell high" motto. To be honest I wouldn't take your offer of $3500 either. Now a real offer of $5k, then maybe.

Uhh....we feel your pain, but that car looks like it has multiple issues. You might have dodged a bullet.

Hang in there, I predict that 914 won't even bring 4,000 grand on Ebay.

You missed on a good deal. 72 car with a 2.0L and a side shift conversion. The new owner is asking what seem like a fair price and should sell it you what it is worth not relative to what he paid. Considering he listed on Ebay he would have considerable fees and would make no where near $1000 if he accepted your low offer.

I was offering him 3500 outside of eBay. So he would make that 1000 in full. Sucks either way.

Many pics on this car, but none of the hellhole? Also the passenger door jamb does not look very rust-free to me. Seems funny for a longtime Porsche owner to omit this important area.

If you focus too much on finding a "deal", you're going to have cash in hand and be able react extremely quickly. It's a stressful process. You'll find that you'll waste a lot of time driving many miles only to find out that someone else got there first even though you talked to the seller and said you are on your way. Remember, these are not the "throw away" sports car anymore, they are becoming more valuable every day and you're not the only one looking for a deal.

If you have the money to invest in rustoring a 914, take that money and invest it in a car that is well sorted. A $15,000 914 is going to be cheap and able to hit the road immediately compared to a $2500 one that needs $15,000 of work and a year or two (or more) on jack stands. "Buy the best car you can afford" Is the phrase commonly stated around here and in any vintage car group.

Ok, I dunno if that was a typo, but I lol'd.

It was completely intentional

Sail area on the car looks rusted. Claims it's 'minimal rust'

What an ad . The seller did you a BIG favor jacking the price up. Increase your budget.

I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 foot pole. Loads of rust hiding all over that car, and the fender to cowl seals have been filled in, which usually means lots of bondo that's hiding rust. OP dodged a bullet on this one, in my opinion.

My thoughts are that a car is only worth what someone will buy it for. It was probably worth it at the original price, might be worth it to someone for the new price.

If you focus your attention and energy on automotive flippers, you're going to die angry and depressed. They've been around since the day the car was born, and they'll be here long after you're gone. That is of course unless a large asteroid comes and ends it all.

On mine I think I replied within 2 hours of it being posted in the early hours of the morning, paid for it that night.

Nditiz, don't make me start my own rant about your own, less than stellar, dealing with me for a local-to-me PPI. You said you'd get back to me and never did. Not a big deal to me until you start complaining about others. Just saying....

Hurts to lose a deal, and doesn't help the sting when everyone else just says tough luck. I feel you. Best consolation it that deals will continue to come along. Keep your eyes open and you'll get one, and some other chump that missed it will be on his forum complaining about you! :-)

Mike sorry I never got back to you I put that message out to a couple of people willing to do a PPI. I thought I had responded saying I already had it done by another memeber.

Also, I was in no way looking for a flipper. Yes I love finding a "deal". My budget is not $3500 either it is closer to 10k. The sting of this rant is because I usually scour the local ads daily if not every few hours and missed this only to have it pop up for more money and nothing done to it. While I may have dodged a bullet the feeling I have not being able to drive a, rusty not sorted, 914 still exists. I figured even if it did turn out to be a turd I'd still have value in the motor/trans, unless I'm wrong about the value of the 2.0.

No you didn't.... because it didn't matter to you at the time and wasn't in your best interest to be straight forward. No worries

This might be a blessing in disguise. The "story" and bragging about his other vehicles is a little too much.

Wouldn't be surprised if the car doesn't sell for no more than $4K. Time will tell.

Flippers suck, but that is a part of life.

Move on and keep looking.

Often the one that "got away" is the one you don't need to get. At least you didn't spend a half hour hooking up your trailer and going to the bank to get the cash, then drove two and a quarter hours to find out the car was sold out from under you

If your budget is $10K, find a solid $12K driver and negotiate. Don't waste your time with rusty "deals".



You and everyone else on this site, plus every car flipper and Porsche fan in the world!

I'm not currently able to buy, but I still search every day and dream . I use searchtempist to search all craigslist ads around the country, I look at thesamba, pelicanparts ads, cargurus, ebay, bringatrailer, and here of course, plus a few others.

Don't just look local, search the entire country. Transport costs can be expensive, especially if you find one you like in Cali and it has to be hauled all the way across the country. But it can be worth it for the right car.

Good luck in your search!

Heck, put a WTB ad in the classifieds. I'm sure someone around here has a decent car they would sell you that would fit your budget. Way easier to deal with a member than trying to be the first one to the Craigslist seller that will sell it from underneath you in a second for a buck and a quarter more than your offer.

You could try a WTB craigslist ad. I did that and had a great opportunity to buy a 75 1.8L in ancona blue for $7k. Seller responded to my ad, no other parties to fight with and a great deal from a nice guy. We spoke a number of times over a month while he was working on getting it out of storage, and by the time he called me to take a look at it, I was no longer able to buy for reasons I don't care to explain... The car later hit craigslist and sold in about a day. That's my "the one that got away" story...

PO painted over the rust, but the flipper didn't say that.
Not factory wheels, but the flipper didn't say that.
No pics of the battery area, even though the flipper knows 914s.
Flipper picked his words carefully so as to hide that it's a turd.

Worth $2500 if you really wanted a 2.0 and some of the parts. After a month seller is going to wish he took your ill advised 3500

That car is a serious rust bucket.

Be happy.

Be glad you "missed out" on that one. No pics of hell hole. The rust on the sail panel looks like it was simply painted over at one time.

If you want to get in cheap, then I hope you have your own shop and welding skills. Buy as sub-$5K car and get to welding. Otherwise, you are going to have to spend north of $10K these days it seems (and the car will still have some rust issues but nothing terminal).

IMHO, the days of cheap 914's are gone. I have a 1974 2.0L Alaska Blue in my garage. It is currently being disassembled for restore but still has glass, doors, dash, suspension and motor in it ( http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=257306&hl= ). I would NOT take less than $12K for it today because the body is in good/great shape. And yes, it needs some minor/medium hell hole repair but the longs are solid. Anyway, just my opinion.

Pictures say 1,000 words. Or, in this case, 15K in metal work and paint. You should go crack open a bottle of blue label and celebrate not buying that rust bucket.



Click to view attachment

Hagarty is just one data point, not THE data point.
Buy low, sell high. Isn't that the point? People like to use flipper as a disparaging term but if you did the same in the stock market, you would call yourself a hero.
Yes, it sucks as a buyer when the market increases and cars cost more. The owners, investors and sellers aren't complaining.

Yup, no pics in neither front or back where you will find the rust. I guarantee you there is rust where the fuel lines are. I am not an expert but I am understanding more and more on these 914's as I work on them.

I disagree with you can do whatever you want it is your car. That is crap. Learn how to do business the RIGHT way. I think you should pass on this simply because the guy is an amateur and do not do business with amateurs.

That pic above is a perfect example of a flipper being He couldn't invest 10 minutes to straighten the trim or correctly position the glass seal or the door seal.

Yes I buy cars low to sell high, but at least I recondition the car so it's better and adds real value. This seller is just profiteering.

One more thing there is no video on how it runs or anything. Why would anyone want to buy a car without actually visually inspecting it and giving a test drive. Does not make sense to me. This guy is a joke.

I wish I could do that, I always end up buying a car low, dumping a ton of money into it, then selling it for even lower, haha. (914 not for sale!)

In 1989 I was looking for a 914 and found a decent one. I negotiated and got the buyer down to $2100 although he wasn't happy he agreed to the price as he was unemployed at that time. We hopped in the Porsche to go to my credit union for cash when a van pulled up. "How much did he offer for the 914?" the guy in the van asked. When the guy in the van heard the number, he offered $500 more. The owner of the Porsche turned to me and said "Get out of the car!" ..... hahahaha, so I did.

Draperjojo - that really bites, I would be pretty livid.

Thanks everyone for making the sting feel better.

Don't feel bad. My stuff is mostly labor and it's newer cars not old rusty "classics".

It helps that I get emails from Craigslist for new posts of things I'd be interested in. Usually it's people tired of dealing with the problem/can't afford a mech. Few flippers actually want to fix cars. And I'm sure speaking English is a benefit.
I even once bought a 914 from a tow company auction. It had a rough life but the 2.0FI is nice.

You call that a rant?
Doesn't even qualify as a rant. Maybe a complaint, but certainly not a rant.

Some of us here are professional ranters!

Sounds like you had an oral contract with this guy. Any witnesses to the agreement?

Some are professional ranters. Some are professional whiners. So, what's the difference between and rant and a whine?

Hmmm. Interesting.

You'll have to up your game. This is 2017, waiting to "scour the ads daily" will have you last every time. Sign up with the engines that search for you with immediate alerts etc...

.............here is a horror flick

Click to view attachment

I once drove an hour and a half each way to look at a supposedly undamaged 914-6. It turns out both half's were undamaged, it had been cut down the middle and two cars grafted together.

You don't win them all, and some you are glad you did not buy. If you look at some of the rust repair members have done, you can be very glad you did not buy it, unless you are a great welder.

Which search engines provide immediate alerts? The few that I have alerts from never seem to be "immediate" and sometimes I don't get the alerts at all.

Personal networking is the best way. Otherwise, you're in competion with dozens or hundreds of other buyers.

whine: Oh, why do bad things always happen to me?
rant: I'm going to hunt that guy down and make bad things happen to him!

[/quote]

Some are professional ranters. Some are professional whiners. So, what's the difference between and rant and a whine?
[/quote]

A rant is when you do it
A whine is when someone else does it

Lol that's why I love this forum and I don't even own a 914 yet. I did want to punch this guy until you guys pointed out the bullet I missed.