lfe132

Gonna look at a 914 tomorrow and I'm new at 914's. Can anyone give me a heads-up on what to look for besides the basics on buying any used car?

Matt Romanowski

Rust. Check under the battery, where the rear suspension mounts (on the inside), the front trunk gasket channel, the rear trunk, the floor boards, the seam where the fenders meet the cowl, and everywhere else.

Also make sure all the electrical stuff works. You can spend a lot of time chasing electrical gremlins.

Jay Gratton

+1 for what Matt said. You are better off spending more $$$ on a good 914. If there is a little rust in one place then there is more in another! The engines is 2nd when it comes to these great little cars.

Edgy01

As much as I love the 914 it is a handful with issues like rust, etc. Another area to check is the rear deck lid rollers in which the spot welds can breakloose. Can be observed from inside the engine compartment when the hatch is popped on either side of the body just forward of the rear trunk.

Fundamentally, the design of having the engine area exposed to the elements (with a less than optimal weather tray) causes moisture to intrude into the engine area to include the battery area. Unfortunately, next to the battery but on the firewall side is the ECU for the engine,--a hostile place for such electronics. Most 914s have a lot of rust there.