slowtaxi

.... and wondering how one goes about picking out/up a 914 (or pre-1990 911) site unseen. Do you fly all over the country with your Porsche mechanic seated next to you 'till you find that for which your looking? I'm up in the Northeast (just outside Boston) sooo, the concept of finding something rust-free is but a dream. As I peruse the various sites, I'm trying to figure how I inspect & buy a car from TX/CA/AZ. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

skl

That's a tough one- one should never buy an older Porsche site unseen. Unfortunately you can not trust anyone these days. No rust means no rust ONLY if you look at it YOURSELF!
To weed threw them you can have someone check it out who lives the area (I believe they call it a rennfax around here) or contact someone in the local PCA region, etc. Even then, you've pretty much got to check it yourself.
Good luck... you'll need it!

slowtaxi

Thanks so much for getting back to me . . . appreciate the advice.
BTW, of your two 914s ... which am I looking at in the photo? Looks sweet regardless!

Best, N

skl2

The one in his avatar is his original, first car. The 2.0 is going thru a full restoration and you can see is progress in a thread a few down on the main page.

Also, as far as your questions goes: I looked all over the country for my 993 and had many of the same concerns you do. You basically have to cast a wide net and start widdling down what you find. You will notice tons of variance with big seller sites (ie, cars.com ,etc) and the cars are hit or miss. As you narrow your search to PCA members and enthusiats on the big sites, there is less variance and the cars are usually described much more accurately. There is no substitute for talking to the person selling the car...ask as many questions as you can to try and weed out the bad apples. When you finally feel like you have a good lead, find another enthusiast in the area to check it out for you, drive it, etc. Then, if everything seems to be lining up, fly out to see it - schedule a PPI with a reputable shop so that you can be there with the car while a Porsche mechanic goes over it. If everything checks out - drive it home!

Using this method takes time, but you will quickly see which sellers are the real deal and which ones are trying to unload a car asap. I had many conversations with the previous owner of my 993, both over phone and email, and also spent a lot of time with the PPI shop prior to heading to Arkansas to pick it up. The seller was top notch, took the time to answer my questions, and I ended up with a top notch car.

racer

I found my second 914 in NJ (and actually, it was one of 2 in NJ that I was looking at)... Nice rust free(ish) ones do exist in the Northeast.. they are just boxed away from Oct till April.

To me, I found myself willing to drive up to 250 miles (say 3-4-5 hours) to check out a car in person.

As for a West coast car.. you would need to build a repoir with the seller.. Ask for lots of pictures... Might want to check on the boards for a local 914 "guru" to help you out.. maybe a nearby 914 friendly shop if a car warrants a PPI etc.

You can't take away ALL the risk, but you can mitigate it.

Read up as much as you can on 914 weak spots (hint, rust).


What kind of 914 are you looking for? Stock? 1.7? 2.0? Color? Flares? Modded with a six? Maybe a V-8 conversion? point is, there are LOTS of 914s out there.

Heck, there's even some "northeast" 914 owners on this board who might be able to help you out.

Jay Gratton

Don't give up on the Northeast, I have bought three 914's up here and they were all rust free. Ya just have to look. What is the budget you are looking in?