I recently was offered a chance to buy a 1973 914 from a friend. It was bought new by her in high school and she still has it. It has 52,000 original miles and is in perfect shape in every way. I am new to these cars and I can't figure out what it is worth. The online books vary greatly in price and I am not completely sure what a fair price is.
Can anyone help me as far as price guides and what I should offer her for this car.

2.0L or 1.7L?

low of $4000 to high of $15,000.

we need pics!

Don't want to sound ignorant, but how can I tell what engine it has? It doesn't have any badges that state engine size. I do know that by looking at it, it has aboslutely no rust anywhere. The interior is perfect with no rips or tears or fading. It is the orange color. The car has always been garaged and never driven in the winter. All the weatherstripping and trim is great and no scratches or chips in any of the glass.
I will take some pictures today and post them.

It's worth exactly what you're willing to pay for it and the seller is willing to take. No more, no less. The Cap'n

Well, if it has no badges, that is a bad sign, as it means the car was either damaged, or at the very least repainted at some time in it's life. Original paint is certainly worth more than a repaint that did not incled putting the original badges back on... something wrong there...

At the rear passenger side of the car, there would have been a "1.7" or a "2.0" badge, in black. Ask you "friend" if she still has such a badge??? Or, since she is allegedly the original owner, at the very least wshe should have the glove compartment owners manual, which included the Service Booklet, and the engine size should be noted on the cover or just inside the first page of the Service Booklet. If these items don't exist, I would be somewhat skeptical about the originality of this car... and reduce the price accordingly...

Now to get ot your real question of "Which Engine" (you are obviously aware that the 2.0 is worth considerably more than a 914 with the 1.7 motor) , look in the engine compartment... if it looks like the attached photo it is a 2.0... if it does not, it is a 1.7...

If it does prove to be a low mile 2.0, then you need to get "down and underneath", and start digging a screwdriver into the metal underneath the rocker panels, and esp. the metal behind the passenger seat. That is most likely where the rust will be, and unless they replaced it all when the car was repainted, there will be rust...

When you get some answers on that, write back and we can discuss more about value of the car...

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Thanks to all for such quick replies. I just had a chance to omce again look at the car this morning. It does not have any badges and it has been repainted, but only on right rear quarter panel where someone ran a bicycle into it in her garage. The picture you send looks similar to this one you sent except tht this one has the heater fan motor across the top. I have known this family for years and the father has purchased this for his daughter when she was in high school at the local Porsche dealer. It does have the original manuals and even has every registration reciept for every year since new. I did notice though that this must have been a cheaper model when new. It has the Porsche stripe on the side, but it has plain steel wheels with plastic hubcaps.

I did crawl underneath and pry around with a screwdriver and it is solid all around. Even underhood, the engine compartment is clean and dry. The interior is in excellent shape and has the original radio. No tears or fading on the dash. These people are fussy about their cars and it was always garaged.

I did manage to get the VIN number, can I use it to decode this car better?

Thanks again for all your help.

yes, what is the vin?

The vin is 4722915757

they all look similar ...

if your air filter (the big black box on top) looks *EXACTLY* like the one in the picture above, it's a 2.0L ...
if it looks somewhat similar, but different, it's a 1.7L ...

get a flashlight and look around under the battery tray area, it's also called "the hell hole".
if there's rust, you'll find it there. you have to dig a little, there should also be a bracket with the FI brain attached to the battery tray, so it's hard to get a good look underneath.
there's a cavity there which is in fact the top of the pass. side longitudenal. poke generously with a screwdriver.

also, slide the pass. seat all the way forward, lift up the carpet behind it and inspect the floorboard for rust.
there's black tar glued to the floor, look for cracks in it. press down on it firmly and listen for a "crunch" noise (rust under the tar) ...


oh, and

Andy

buy it

mystery solved!

it's a '72 1.7L ...

considerably less worth than a clean '73 2.0L ...
Andy

Ok, thanks. I said the year wrong in my posts before. So based on it being a "72 and a 1.7 engine and no rust, what should a be a reasonable price for it? They are thinking around $3000. Should I offer $2500 or less? NAd it has 53,230 actual miles.

$3k is a very good price for a prestine car with no rust. just make sure you don't get any surprises (see my "rust" post above) ...

if the car is as you describe it, i think you should pay them the $3k they ask for ...
Andy


PS:

if the car is as you describe it, i think you should pay them the $3k they ask for ...
Andy


Amazing how a pristine 1973 914 turns into a repainted (at least partially) 1972 1.7 litre when you start poking around...

Oh, well, there just ain't many of the really good ones left out there any more, and thats why IF they are 1973 2.0's with low original miles, they are selling for $15K and UP... mostly UP...

You do know that the 1972 models still had the rather so-so "tailshifter" transmission to deal with... and the anemic 1.7 engine... But, that said I agree with Andy...if the car is not rusted, then $3K is not a bad price for it... after all what else can you buy for $3K and have so much unbridaled recreation???

Of course, you can always offer $2.5K and see what they say!!! Folks used to laugh at dealers offering Speedsters for $3K back in the 1960's, and I have to say that I walked away from an original 1965 289 Cobra, back in 1977, because the dealer would not come off the $6,500 price tag, and the car needed paint!!! Of course, at the time I was driving a 1975 911S Siver Anniversary Coupe that I paid less than $12K for, so I just couldn't see how a ratty old Cobra could be worth half the price of my Porsche... does the term "Dumb Ass' come to mind here???

[color=#CC0000]I bought the car this afternoon for 2k, I will use it as a daily driver for that price.

so go take a couple

Nice Score.

Now post some pictures.

You got a deal! Even if it's half as nice as you said. Nice score, now put up some pics.