Value of '74 2.0?, What's it worth? Options

[BillC]

I may go look at a 1974 914 2.0 on Saturday. It's in kind of rough shape, and was wondering what y'all thought about it.

I've seen some fair-to-poor quality photos. The car has peeling clearcoat on the trunk lid, so it has been repainted at some point. It has some rust showing in the front trunk and the owner says there's a few rust holes under the driver's seat. The battery tray is rather rusty too, but no idea on the hellhole (probably not good, considering the tray's condition).

It appears to have the appearance package and the performance package. The pictures show vinyl on the sail panels and the COA says it came with sway bars.

The car hasn't run in 4 years. He says it was running fine and then just quit on the highway. He thinks it just needs a new fuel pump, but he really doesn't seem to know and doesn't appear to have any interest in fixing it. I'm guessing that if it was just the fuel pump, he probably would have had it fixed by now. The tires look old, and I'm sure the brakes need going-through too.

It has been stored in a parking garage for the last four years. So, not directly exposed to the weather, but not really protected either.

What do y'all think it might actually be worth? He's asking $8000, but that seems rather optimistic. I'd like to get a reasonable idea of the value before I go look at it.

Thanks!

[poorsche914]

$8k is wa-a-ay too much for what you describe.

This '74 2.0 appears to be a much better deal...

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[tygaboy]

You've heard it all before:
If you can see that much rust, there's WAY more that you aren't seeing.
We need pics to offer much more info than that.
#s matching? Appearance group? Which wheels?
Not that I'm trying to talk you out of it. Just need more info before we can offer more info back.
Best of luck!

[Cairo94507]

I like that Yellow Poorsche914 linked.

[thelogo]

Sounds like a parts car to me

Its worth the value of the parts


Last time i checked restored car are more valuable
Then cars in need of restoration

[My 914]

8K is a lot of money for a car that doesn't run.

[BillC]

I agree that the yellow car appears to be in better condition than the one I'm asking about, and certainly a much better price. And, it does give me a direct comparison. The only reason I'm interested in this car is because it is so close to me (less than a 1/2 hour drive).

It has the styled steel wheels. He claims it has the original motor. He sent me a pic of the COA, so I can check all that if I go see it. Under "Optional Equipment", the COA says: U.S. Comfort Equipment, Stabilizer Bars, Slip Differential, Manual Antenna with Speaker and Noise Suppression, Tinted Windshield Side Glass and Rear Window, Sealed-Beam Headlights.

The car is the original exterior color and interior color. The two pictures of the interior look pretty good, but don't show a whole lot.

I also realize the car is probably in far worse shape than represented.

I'm just trying to get an idea of a reasonable value for it -- I don't want to pay too much, but I don't want to under-bid either and lose it (if I decide to buy it, which isn't likely at this point). The car has been for sale for a long time, at least 6 months since I saw the first ad. So, either no one has made an offer on the car, or he has an unrealistic idea of its value.

When I first saw the pics, my first thought is that it's worth maybe half of what he's asking. Now I'm starting to wonder if even that's too high.

[My 914]

I think it is.

[Racer]

What's the appeal for you? Restore? Return to driveable and flip? Father/son project? Where there pics in this thread that I missed?
Non running rusty car doesn't sound worth $8K. Running but rusty car might.

[beech4rd]

Ray of Hyattsville, Md started advertising this car in the March 2017 issue of Panorama and it's been in every month since then. One would think that after six months he would have got the message that his car is a little overpriced.

[BillC]

What's the appeal for you? Restore? Return to driveable and flip? Father/son project? Where there pics in this thread that I missed?
Non running rusty car doesn't sound worth $8K. Running but rusty car might.

Original thought was to get it running and flip. Plus, had the thought of possibly "upgrading" from the 1.7 to a 2.0 if it was in decent shape (i.e., sell my current car and keep this one).

Not going to post pics until I can get some of my own. The pics I have aren't mine, and don't feel comfortable posting them without permission (plus, they really are pretty lousy).

Ray of Hyattsville, Md started advertising this car in the March 2017 issue of Panorama and it's been in every month since then. One would think that after six months he would have got the message that his car is a little overpriced.

Yep, that's the car. Been looking at the ad and wondering since the first time I saw it. May go see the car just to satisfy my curiosity.

[mepstein]

$4k max.

[EdwardBlume]

$4k max.

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When you back out all of the costs to get the car to where you have a "nice" car, it's a loser unless you have some other reason to love it.

[cary]

I'm with Mark and Edward. $4k max.

If it needs paint you'd have a tough time making money flipping it.

[Tom_T]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) .... with the running consensus, too high Bill.

Normally I suggest to use the Hagerty valuation tool, but in this case you'd be deducting down from #1 condition.

Unless you want more headaches to bring it back, there are better & more solid project 2Ls out there for that price, like the one linked above.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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[rjames]

Sway bars and vinyl can be had for less than $300. Nothing to get excited about.

Without more information, approach it like it's a parts car. The rust alone may cost several thousand to fix.
If your goal is to buy and drive with minimal effort, don't get hung up on finding one that's close to you. If your goal is to buy and flip for a profit, you'll either need to be really lucky in finding a car that's way underpriced or you'll likely need to know how to weld, paint or rebuild an engine.

[Front yard mechanic]

Sway bars and vinyl can be had for less than $300. Nothing to get excited about.

Without more information, approach it like it's a parts car. The rust alone may cost several thousand to fix.
If your goal is to buy and drive with minimal effort, don't get hung up on finding one that's close to you. If your goal is to buy and flip for a profit, you'll either need to be really lucky in finding a car that's way underpriced or you'll likely need to know how to weld, paint or rebuild an engine.

Send me a nice sway bar and a new sail oh yeah those little skinny Chrome things for 300 does that include installation and shipping?

[JoeD]

It has the styled steel wheels. He claims it has the original motor. He sent me a pic of the COA, so I can check all that if I go see it. Under "Optional Equipment", the COA says: U.S. Comfort Equipment, Stabilizer Bars, Slip Differential, Manual Antenna with Speaker and Noise Suppression, Tinted Windshield Side Glass and Rear Window, Sealed-Beam Headlights.

Not that it would make it worth $8,000 alone, but if it has a factory LSD wasn't that a super rare option? Wouldn't that be worth a significant amount by itself?

I don't know- just asking the brain trust...

[nditiz1]

It has the styled steel wheels. He claims it has the original motor. He sent me a pic of the COA, so I can check all that if I go see it. Under "Optional Equipment", the COA says: U.S. Comfort Equipment, Stabilizer Bars, Slip Differential, Manual Antenna with Speaker and Noise Suppression, Tinted Windshield Side Glass and Rear Window, Sealed-Beam Headlights.

Not that it would make it worth $8,000 alone, but if it has a factory LSD wasn't that a super rare option? Wouldn't that be worth a significant amount by itself?

I don't know- just asking the brain trust...

Damn! didn't know about this local one when I was searching, but I'm ok with that. I have fallen in love with my car. As far as parts go I have been tempted to get a parts car if and when something fails. Bill, maybe we can go in together if he would sell it for $4k. You could have the motor and We can part out some things we don't need then keep the rest.

[BillC]

So I went to go see this car a couple of weekends ago. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to y'all.

The car is in sad shape. There's a pile of rust on the floor under the right long, and the floorpan is all rotted out in that corner. The car is starting to sag there, as you can see in the pic of the right door gap (or lack thereof). The interior is in pretty good shape, but rather dirty. Still has all the stock fuel injection, and it is a 2.0. Didn't check if it was the original engine, though. Surface rust in both trunks. The rear trunk floor pan is wrinkled; at some point the car was hit from behind and the tail light panel was replaced, but not the floor. I pointed it out to Ray, and his response was that it must have happened before he got the car from his uncle. One of the hinges for the engine cover has broken loose, so he had to go find a screwdriver to get the cover open (to pry it out from under the rear trunk lid).

Even though Ray's ad says the car stopped running just a couple of years ago, it turns out to be at least 4 years since it last ran.

I asked Ray if anyone else had come to look at it, and he said a guy from Colorado had stopped in and "tried to lowball" him, so he "chased the guy off". I finally got Ray to tell me how much the "lowball" offer was, and he said $5K. My first thought was that Ray made a huge mistake by not taking that offer, because he's quite unlikely to get a better one, at least not in the next 10 years....

I told him that y'all thought the car as it sat might be worth $3-4K, and that it would only be worth his asking price if it was running and drivable. His response was that if it was running and drivable, he'd be asking a whole lot more! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I left without making an offer. He tried to get me to make one, but I told him that he'd think any offer I made would be another lowball. Truth is, it's way more project than I'm looking for right now, and I don't have a safe place to store it until I'm ready. Plus, it's waaaaaay overpriced and he's delusional about its value.

The car is sitting in an underground garage, so it is protected from the weather. If anyone wants his contact info, his ad is in the back of Panorama. Or, I can PM it to you. Just don't get your hopes up too high.