[Zeke]

Sasquatch (Jay), once again, the consensus here seems to be very correct. The 914 initially was not a bad car in many respcets, It has it's weak spots in rust issues (no pun) and electrical. Many unqualified mechanics have had thier turn at one time or another on most of the cars. I don't think too many of the second and third owners took them to a dealer for maintenance. (Let's not get started about what kind of mechanics were at the dealers at the time. We can only speculate.)

Therefore, a lot of hack jobs were performed that didn't last the way they should. (I am not saying here that if a mechanic didn't work at a dealer, he was a hack.) IMO, the car with the original FI relies on a way too complex system of vacuum hoses and sending units to control fuel mixture. It took someone who knew these systems to keep them right. If everyone that hasn't so far changed every hose on the car and checked over every electrical connection and ground, would do so, the car would be more reliable.

Having the engine vulnarable to moisture is another fault. Again, IMHO, if the engine never got wet, even during washing, much less left out parked in the rain, the car would be more reliable.

As far as chassis is concerned, the car is staight foward like its cousin, the aircooled VW. It is simple and strong. Probably the worst car I have owned/worked on in this catagory is an MG TD. Wood floor boards and buldheads, the worst shocks (dampers) that have ever been designed and the frame somewhat underbuilt. So, by comparison to some cars, the 914 is bulletproof (for definiton, see other thread).