Terry Grillo

Hi all,
I'm visiting from the 911 list to ask a question on behalf of my neighbor. He is considering a 914, and needs a reliable car. He loves Porsches and 914s. Always wanted one. However, he's a country physician(GP) and needs to get places without worrying about his ride. No off-road driving of course, and plenty of really great twisties in our Sierra Nevada foothill community. His budget is less than $7k. Advice is appreciated. You can reply here or to my home address at tgrillo@volcano.net
Thanks,
Terry Grillo
82 911SC
very black

Trust me

The 914 is not the most reliable. It can be ok if totally stock (i.e. fuel injected). I have owned a couple. Found them to be best for the weekend. Don't get me wrong. I loved my 914's. Great fun on twisty roads. But, be prepared to work on it and spend some money.

Troy

Rouser

Don't want to "worry?" Take my advice ... by a Honda.

The 914 (30+ years old) is more a fling-thing than a daily thing, and unless this guy knows how to go through one with his eyes closed (an acquired trait), surprises WILL abound.

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yarin

In general Porsches are not the most reliable of cars on the road.

914s don't have power steering, power braking, power windows, power steering... so by default they are prone to less leaks and problems.

Just my 2 cents... I don't think any Porsche is reliable enough to be a daily driver without a considerable amount on maintinance. Ain't no Honduh.

ZV

I have had terriffic luck with Porsches and reliability. Of course, the most important stipulation is that _all_ maintenance schedules must be followed to the letter. A properly maintained Porsche will be every bit as reliable as anything else on the road. However, the 914 is, at best, a 27 year old car so it will not be as reliable as a brand new car. The 914 should be roughly on par with an original Beetle.

Problem is that many 914's have been neglected in the course of their life, you'd need to spend about $9,000-$12,000 for a _perfect_ 914 if you want one that's completely reliable. (That's for a 2.0, 1.7's and 1.8's will be less.)

Since you're in California, rust isn't an issue, but if he plans on driving anywhere that uses salt on the roads the 914 is a terrible choice. The 914 has no real rust protection and it will rust out if you so much as look at it funny.

Aaron

hitbyastick

I'll drive my car across the states if I feel like it ... of course I got AAA

Frank Sinatra

Everyone is always complaining about the rust problem. I was just wondering, can you have the car coated with something now, that would prevent the rust. I know you would probably have to strip the car down, but are there anytypes of coatings out there. Thanks.

hoffman912

Frank

well, the 1st step is to buy one in great condition with no rust on it. (or as little as possable). whatever you do dont buy a rotted carcass.

the floors, pans, etc can be coated with por-15. when done correctly nothing can get by por-15.

also some 912ers have used rhino lining (truck bed lining). 912's have the same rust prob... pre galvanized.

Frank Sinatra

Thanks for the info Hoffman.

hoffman912

no prob blue eyes

Queenie

My 914 has been my daily driver for a year now, and it's been very reliable...but with a caveat: I didn't come to it without having already owned several old German cars (meaning that I had a pretty good idea of what to look for as well as what to expect). It might not be such a hot idea for a total novice. Then again, it's a good way to learn stuff both about old cars and about yourself.

It takes a certain kind of dedication to make any early car a daily driver, and as was already mentioned regular maintenance is an absolute must.

But if one is prepared to deal with the quirks and the maintenance, then there's really no reason *not* to have a 914 for a daily driver. I love mine and wouldn't trade it for anything...except a 914-6.

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Joe R

I just don't think it is fair to compare a 30 yr old Porsche with a even a 10 yr old Japanese or American car. Lets compare apples to apples.... Oops you will have a tough time finding a 1970 Honda. Does anybody remember what they look like? YUCK!!!!

As for a 1970 Vette Whoa baby cool car Same problems we face with out Porsches Maybe more.

I will put my 78 928 UNRESTORED against the same year Vette anyday. My 74 914 will run circles around any old rice of the same vintage.

Frank Sinatra

very good point Joe!

ZV

Joe put it very well. The biggest danger with a 914 is indifferent maintenance as I said. Unfortunately, a lot of people looked at the 914 as, "just a VW" so they didn't take the best care of it.

Hoffman was right on about Por-15. Problem is that you need to get rid of existing rust before you put the Por-15 on. Also, you have to spend a lot of prep time for Por-15 to be done right. I'd suggest having the underside steam cleaned before applying Por-15. It's getting hard to find an unmolested 914 anymore, especially for under $7K. Fortunately, there seem to be a lot of 914's in California so the market there is a little better for buyers.

Aaron

914und993

I have owned my 1974 914 2.0 for twenty years, and my dad owned it for the 10 years before that, so I have a pretty good feel for its reliability. I'll start by saying that it is far more reliable now than when it was new. These are the problems that have been addressed to make the car very reliable now:

1. Fuel pump relocation - my dad suffered with the problem of vapor lock on hot days for as long as he owned the car. Not long after I got it the fuel pump was relocated, and that problem has disappeared.

2. Would not hold its ignition timing - I'm not sure exactly when this began to rear its ugly head, but the car for many years had driveablility issues that were related to it. Once it was discovered that it was due to distributor shaft wear that caused wobble, an Pertronix type electonic ignition with optical sensor cured the problem.

3. Overheating - to be fair, this did not begin to happen until a 5% overbore/higher compression ratio P&C set was installed. It shouldn't have caused the amount of overheating that we observed, but despite ensuring proper operation of air flaps, fan, and stock oil cooler the problem remained. It was also probably the cause of a series of dropped valve seats. An aftermarket oil cooler installed adjacent to the transmission has fixed this problem very nicely.

It still has the original D-Jetronic FI system, which just keeps cranking along.

One other thing, the extraordinarily brittle (after 25 years) plastic fuel line running through the hump from the tank to the engine was replaced with a metal one. That was just an accident waiting to happen.

Chip