Hi guys, here's the situation. I'm a 944 guy ('87 NA, great condition). My son recently bought the car of his dreams, a 30th Anniversary Edition '97 Camaro Z28, white with orange stripes, 295 HP,
6 speed, blah, blah - the car is pristine, he is
(and I am too, I suppose) totally **** about his car. It has very low miles and he wants to keep it that way a while. In the fall he will be commuting to a new school. Round trip daily is 80 miles +/-. We were talking about buying a low cost driver. Something like an 80's Corolla, or Taurus or such (yuck). Then the idea of a 914 hit. We both love the styling, I am old enough that I remember driving friend's 1.7 and 2.0 "back in the day" and they were a lot of fun, economical...and he'll have the fun of driving it as opposed to a Corolla! (Not to mention that I might just do a 914-6 conversion on it later)

I need the quick "down and dirty". I've already read you warn people off the rust issue, (where to look for it?), but is this realistic to drive this car that mileage for two years? With a 944 I know where the problem areas are but not on the various 914's. Can you please help us out with advice? Thanks guys. All opininons appreciated - except, no, he's not considering a 924 or 944.

 

I wouldn't send my kid off to school in a 914.
A good one is going to run over $5K and it's reliability will be questionable, even at that price.
At this stage in the 914s life cycle, they are a toy, not an appliance. Toyoda is gud.......so are Hondas. A decent Chebbie pickemup has plenty of room in the front seat..... <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />

 

filling your tank, $15.38
finding only one door vent at hersey, $5.00
finding out what hot-start is on humid summer night in the middle of redneckville md,
priceless. <img src="graemlins/oops.gif" border="0" alt="[oops]" />

 

I've had my 914-6 for about 3 months and drive it everywhere and love it, but I wouldn't send my kid to school in one. I got my daughter a Honda Accord for college next year. I don't expect to ever get an "I'm broke down, come and get me" phone call and that's the way I like it.

 

<strong>I wouldn't send my kid off to school in a 914.
A good one is going to run over $5K and it's reliability will be questionable, even at that price.</strong>

Is would most definitely be possible to make a daily driver out of a 914, but how much do you want to spend to make it reliable. $5 k would most likely not even scratch the surface. You would need to go through everything with a fine tooth comb and also keep on top of the maintainence. FI would be a must too. Also, an important factor is how comfortable your kid is with working on his car. We have learned to carry all our tools with us, just in case. (it helps to balance the weight out too, for handling purposes)

We have a 2.6 L type 4 motor in a 72 fastback that has been in operation throughout the winter here in IL and we put lots of miles on it. It is driven daily and everywhere, long distances. When built correctly (a large displacement requires the extra cooling our Nickies P/C sets provide) with FI (we use an autronic based induction system with full engine management), you have a fast, fun, and rock solid cool running reliable daily driver, ready to handle whatever you can throw at it.

Take care,

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
<a href="http://www.LNengineering.com" target="_blank">http://www.LNengineering.com</a>
Aircooled Precision Performance

 

Why not? I used my '74 2.0 as a daily driver for three years. I paid $2600 six or seven years ago. So, it goes up in value while you drive it. Maintenancce, has been minimal. An alternative is a VW GTI. Fun to drive and very reliable. The two children have had five or six VW Rabbits, GTIs or Sciroccos. All great.

 

Hello

Had several 914´s used as daily driver and as long you keep the spark plugs and contacts fresh they are good starters and have a good milage.
Hot weather isn´t liked by the EFI but you can outtrick it. Most cars out there are not in best condition and you have to debug them.

I wouldn´t do that as your son maybe get the 914 virus and will sale his Camaro to get a 6 into the engine bay.

Grüsse

 

Once you get over $3500, you're on the edge of decent '85.5+ 944's...

That being said, I love 914s, but an 80 mile commute would necessitate carrying a toolbox.
=;-o

On the other hand, I purchased a '73 914 with 100k+ miles for $1500. The owner was selling it because the clutch was slipping. I drove it from SC to GA, and then to NY. After adjusting the clutch, I put another 20k miles on it before it finally let go. I would love to get another one in the next few years.

Are you sure your son wants the raw experience of driving a 914 in weather? It is not the most creature comfortable and it takes a special breed to drive year round.

Just some thoughts,

 

I did the daily-driver thing in my 75 914/2.0 for a while, probably about 15k miles covered in 3 years. The car gave me little/no problems, it was pure stock with plenty of rust. Cold, damp yes but quite reliable. Cost me $2400 to buy, $1000 in misc parts& fixes, $300 on 4 tires and ended up selling it for $2000 to move into a 944.

It is do-able for anyone who doesn't mind being cold, damp (hey, I'm in NY) or have more than 1 friend that wants to go for a ride. By-and-far the most fun I ever had on 4 wheels. Trunk-space? pull out the spare tire and you can fit quite a bit in there, just don't get a flat...

<img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />

 

<strong>It is do-able for anyone who doesn't mind being cold, damp (hey, I'm in NY) or have more than 1 friend that wants to go for a ride.</strong>

You don't *have* to be cold. For a one or two hundred dollars and some ingenuity, you could install a gas heater. We plow around all winter with our 2.6L type 4 powered Volkswagen Fastback, without heater boxes no less. With a little fabricating, we installed a Ebershaecher (sp?) BA4 (4000 btu) gas heater underneath the back seat, with a custom heat shield and recirculating bilge blowers, keeping us scorching in the dead of winter. I have pictures of the install if anyone is curious- it is a really trick installation, very cleanly done.

Take care,

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
<a href="http://www.LNengineering.com" target="_blank">http://www.LNengineering.com</a>
Aircooled Precision Performance

 

Well i'll let you know how my project goes. I just purchased a 914 to be my daily driver. its a '72 1.7 with a single carb. Payed 1800 for it. but its got a lot of new parts that made that price worthwhile.

First thing i'm doing is rebuilding the shifter and putting in some stainless steel brake lines.
I'm trying to keep total investment to about 3500. Doing all/most work in the garage.

I managed to drive it close to 100 miles home without trouble. I was pretty impressed. I plan on making the commute from Houston to Austin in it several times a year.

 

I love 914's.
I love the styling, the handling, the sound, the feel, everything.
In 5 years as a Porsche mechanic, I can count the # of 914's that I would use as a commuter on one hand.
I'm sure that part of it is that by the end of the week, I don't want to spend my weekend fixing cars too.
Probably, most of you enjoy weekend tinkering.
I don't think a 914 will be trouble free unless everything has already been fixed. I , too want to send my boy off to school in a sweet 914, but I plan to build the car from the ground up.
For absolute economy, with a complete lack of soul, Honda or Toyota, as we all know, are pretty unbeatable.
Innocuous little out of the same crappy FWD mold S**T boxes that they are.
I think you should know, my 914 is a dedicated race car, not street legal.

 

I really like 914s. I think they are great sports cars, however as a daily driver, I would say go with a 924. They are cheap like borscht, handle well, and are bulletproof.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying anything bad about 914s, but a 924 is more reliable, and as cheap, if not cheaper to run.

 

well make sure you get a good 924 because cis gone bad is no fun and difficult for some people and mechanics. 924s can have rust issues too and the early ones have to have thier doors rewelded.
my first porsche was a 924 mess. i do see some 24 daily drivers around and a good S with it's 44 internals would make the best daily driver i think, out of the 924 series...

 

Hey all!

I just picked up a 74 914 1.8 that's had some mild
work done to it, and has very very little rust
just front of the doors between the wheels.

From what I'm reading, it sounds like I really
lucked out on this car. I just picked it up for
$4200, and drove it 250 miles from Indianapolis
IN, to a western suburb of Chicago in 90+ degree
heat!

Generally I really research something before I
buy it, but something about this car made me
drive 250+ miles to get it and take it home!

While I'm a total 914 noob, I can tell you that
I think it could only be a daily driver if you
had some tools and knowledge on hand, and you
made DAMN sure all the essentials are taken care
of. Maybe even a full engine rebuild and tune.

I also agree that the 924, particularly the '81,
'82 vintage are pretty damn bullet proof. I picked
up a beater for $1000 and drove it through the
Chicago summers and winters for two years before
it blew a head gaskit. If the car wasn't such a
beater (interior and exterior), I would surely
have fixed it and kept it!

I hope my new 914 turns out to be as good. I
turned down an 86 944 for this car!