Considering a 928 purchase

[curtisr]

Hi everyone,

There is a 928 for sale up the road and I am hoping it's a great deal. Trouble is, I'm not sure that I know what I should look for. I do have a 924s (87) and a basic knowledge of the rear wheel drive cars but little else.

If there is anything I should keep in mind while looking at it, I would be eternally grateful.

It's an '82 with 120k miles. The owner thinks it should pass a safety inspection without issues. The A/C doesn't work.

Many thanks.

Rutger

[tychain99]

what is he asking, what color, standard / auto, is the interior in good cond, is the dash cracked, rust/ dents, tough to know if it is a decent deal with out knowing a little about it. after that, there is a more thorough checklist to run through, I am not even close the biggest 928 expert on here, i am sure someone else will have a strong list of other mechanically related things to check on,..

[harborman]

Originally Posted by curtisr

Hi everyone,

There is a 928 for sale up the road and I am hoping it's a great deal. Trouble is, I'm not sure that I know what I should look for. I do have a 924s (87) and a basic knowledge of the rear wheel drive cars but little else.

If there is anything I should keep in mind while looking at it, I would be eternally grateful.

It's an '82 with 120k miles. The owner thinks it should pass a safety inspection without issues. The A/C doesn't work.



Many thanks.

Rutger

The 928 is no 924, but a totally different car. I would do a bit of reading on the 928, specifically the year of the car in question. Get all maintenance records if possible. If you can, get someone that knows the 928 to look at it. Read up here and on Rennlist for much information. Get pictures of it to post here, as many as possible, motor, inside, body, etc. Find out as much as you can on the car.

[curtisr]

[QUOTE=tychain99;6516450]what is he asking, what color, standard / auto, is the interior in good cond, is the dash cracked, rust/ dents, tough to know if it is a decent deal with out knowing a little about it. after that, there is a more thorough checklist to run through, I am not even close the biggest 928 expert on here, i am sure someone else will have a strong list of other mechanically related things to check on,.


Here's the description from the ad:

4.5 litre V8, Multi port fuel injection
Fresh paint touchups to body
Fresh Sachs shocks
Brakes are good.
The interior is a bit tired as it needs a dash pad
has a working sun roof,
Electric Windows,
Power Seats,
Electric rear defogger
Engine runs strong and with an
Ansi muffler on last year with a fresh catalitic converter
A/c is not functioning but is complete.
Tires as you can see are Dunlop Vgroove with lots of tread.
All lights work fine, Including the pop up front headlights.
Vehicle is sold as is, although it should pass with no issues for certification.
Floors are solid and car is undercoated.

The asking price is <$5000

[Danglerb]

928's are expensive to keep happy, in practice this means purchase price is the last thing to consider in buying one. If its not pretty much exactly what you want it will be a costly lesson in fixing, modifying and ultimately selling at a loss to buy what you should have in the first place.

Without a several hour inspection by someone expert in the 928 the value is at best a guess anyway. Could be it needs just a few thousand in attention, could be a LOT more, and still run pretty well.

[Danglerb]

Not a great deal.

BTW AT vs 5 spd is a big factor in cost.

[curtisr]

Originally Posted by harborman

The 928 is no 924, but a totally different car. I would do a bit of reading on the 928, specifically the year of the car in question. Get all maintenance records if possible. If you can, get someone that knows the 928 to look at it. Read up here and on Rennlist for much information. Get pictures of it to post here, as many as possible, motor, inside, body, etc. Find out as much as you can on the car.

Thanks, harborman, most excellent advice. Sadly, I don't know any 928 people but, I'm reading lots.

Here's some pics:

[curtisr]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

928's are expensive to keep happy, in practice this means purchase price is the last thing to consider in buying one. If its not pretty much exactly what you want it will be a costly lesson in fixing, modifying and ultimately selling at a loss to buy what you should have in the first place.

Without a several hour inspection by someone expert in the 928 the value is at best a guess anyway. Could be it needs just a few thousand in attention, could be a LOT more, and still run pretty well.

Danglerb,

I appreciate immensely the time you and harborman have taken to help me out. Should I decide to pursue it I will be at the mercy of the owner. I can only hope that he is trustworthy.

It is an automatic by the way (sadly). There hasn't been any mention of records but this is clearly a question I plan to ask.

I'd like to know what you think of the pictures I posted, if you don't mind.

Thanks again.

[nuts4porsche]

i say buy it,the pics look good,but what you cant see you cant inspect-start it and let run for a few before you drive it,drive it hard and take it back,talk about it for a bit and see if it starts right back up....and dont worry about it being an automatic. RISKYB Porsche!

[Danglerb]

AT is too boring to suit me, nice for trips or traffic, but no fun to drive than my wife's Lincoln and a LOT more expensive to keep happy.

I'm not seeing anything like a $5k car. Hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like overspray around the doors, and the rubber between the fender in the front and rear and the bumper cover should be black, which means cheap repaint. Seats don't look right to me, maybe redone, or swapped or something, but not right. Dash looks like nasty damage, like water or something. Headliner around the doors us shrinking and pulling up. Top parts of engine look MUCH cleaner than bottom parts, often means a very bad for electricals pressure wash was done. Some hoses have visible cracks, replacing those will not be cheap. Tires may have lots of tread, but check the DOT stamped date of manufacture, more than 3 years is old.

Find out who is local to you that knows 928's, a normal Porsche dealer or 911 shop will be of no use.

[SanDiego928]

You really should find a qualified person to do a PPI before purchase. But the pics do show a good looking 928. My 2c

[SanDiego928]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

AT is too boring to suit me, nice for trips or traffic, but no fun to drive than my wife's Lincoln and a LOT more expensive to keep happy.

I'm not seeing anything like a $5k car. Hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like overspray around the doors, and the rubber between the fender in the front and rear and the bumper cover should be black, which means cheap repaint. Seats don't look right to me, maybe redone, or swapped or something, but not right. Dash looks like nasty damage, like water or something. Headliner around the doors us shrinking and pulling up. Top parts of engine look MUCH cleaner than bottom parts, often means a very bad for electricals pressure wash was done. Some hoses have visible cracks, replacing those will not be cheap. Tires may have lots of tread, but check the DOT stamped date of manufacture, more than 3 years is old.

Find out who is local to you that knows 928's, a normal Porsche dealer or 911 shop will be of no use.

Gosh darn you are thorough. Good call. Im learning just from your post.

[nuts4porsche]

the int. does look bad,not taken care of at all! the seats dont match anything in it. its a 30-30 looks good from 30 feet but not 30 inches.

[nuts4porsche]

offer $2200

[924CarreraGTP]

I would go $2,500 at the most. Seats are $800. Dash is $500 used, Pod cover is $400 used, Radiator $400 used or $800 new. Timing belt replacement $800 to $1500 depending on if you do it or a shop does it. Make sure the transmission shifts good through the 3 speed. Check the kickdown for proper operation. That means foot to the floor push the button under the accelerater and check it with plenty of road and no cops or traffic. Check the paint code inside the drivers door. Look down the side walls just ahead of the radiator and just behind it to make sure the car hasn't been front ended and repaired. Crawl under it, look for anything unusual. Bad CV boots, hanging wires, rust spots, broken alternator fans, lost belly pans, leaks (especially under transmission in the rear and front of engine), check brakes, make sure headlights pop up and work. Check blinkers, tailights, stop lights, reverse lights. Check the sunroof operation, the rear hatch latch (every 928 has a bad rear latch) Start the car over and over again. The A/C not working is common on most german cars, but check to make sure the heater and fan blows. If it makes a sound like an elephant dieing, expect to replace it or repair it too.
This is what I would do before buying any Porsche. However if it was a 911, I would get under the car an knock around on the panels. The 928 is not prone to rust. Look for it anyway.
It kind of depends on how bad you want the car. One thing is for sure. Over $4000 is highway robbery for this particular car. If you can satisfy the needs of a Porsche 924S, the 928 is not far above it in terms of the skill it takes to fix one. In fact, it's kind of less worrysome because a timing belt failure on this particular car won't destroy the engine and thus your butt hole doesn't have to be puckered like in a 944 or 924S. I can't tell you how many times I've missed a shift in my 944 and overreved the motor only to wince in fear.

[Landseer]

Its resprayed and not well, a bit rough, but I like the engine compartment.
Not sure about the Canadian market, but I think I agree with the above advice on value.

If you buy it, don't drive until replacing fuel lines, all of them.
Really, no driving.

[robucop]

Is it me or is the cross bar in the enginebay bent upwards?

[curtisr]

Originally Posted by SanDiego928

Gosh darn you are thorough. Good call. Im learning just from your post.

Roger THAT! You guys are awesome!

[curtisr]

Originally Posted by Landseer

Its resprayed and not well, a bit rough, but I like the engine compartment.
Not sure about the Canadian market, but I think I agree with the above advice on value.

If you buy it, don't drive until replacing fuel lines, all of them.
Really, no driving.

More great advice--IF I get it, the car will be trailered.

Rutger

[MPDano]

Looks like a $2-2500 car to me. In my book, it's a $1500 Frankensteined 928 with wrong colors. Pass on this one, there are many out there for way less and in better condition.