Is it worth what they are asking?

[Tamaren]

Hello,
I have an option of buying a pair of 1978 Porsche 928's, both 5 speeds, both ran when parked, everything is there, nether have been taken apart, one has new seats, all glass, no dents, minor paint issues,
The silver one has 110k on it, says plug in fuel pump and put ignition and it will run, the black one has 71k on her, and everything is there to make her run. clear titles on both. What do you guys think? anything I should look at? problems? good cars, exc. he wants 4k for the pair of them, what would you say they would be worth?

[Danglerb]

Since it needs the fuel pump plugged in most likely you aren't going to want to go to all that trouble and will let it sit for years and then sell it?

Why believe it from the seller?

Without a full PPI from someone expert in the 928 they are parts cars and not worth anything close to $4k, maybe half that if they look like the paint can be saved without a respray.

[aluminum]

not a chance $500 for 1 or $800 for the Pair or have them get them running and you can try them out to come up any

[tlister67]

It seems most non-running 928s are advertised as just needs a fuel pump or relay. Since these cars are not running you really have to assume the worst in assessing value. These look like the larger collection of 928s for sale in Colorado. I can't remember the price but thought he was looking for not much more that 4k for all 4. Perhaps someone bought them and are unloading the ones they don't want. I would say they are worth 1k each. You might make a good one out of two but fixing both will be a lot of work. You will still need lots of parts as some thing wear on all of them. If you could determine that at least one engine has compression it would help. The manual transmissions commonly have synchro issues.good luck. That could be the biggest outlay.

[JK McDonald]

You should get a lot more information from the seller concerning the "Who-What-When-Where-How" of his ownership before making any serious decision to buy either one. Also make sure to take the time for a careful visual (deteriorated interior, under carriage rust, hidden accident damage, etc...) and mechanical (compression, plugs, coagulated fuel -drain fuel tank, hook up a battery to check electrics, etc...) inspection before making an offer. There were a long series of updates and improvements that began after the introduction of the early models. Be cautious concerning the mileage because the plastic odometer gears are well known to fail. So the actual odometer operation can sometimes be questionable until the car is running on blocks or driving down the road.

There are a lot of 928 cars out there advertised as dead in the water but was "Running When Parked". Personally, IF everything checked out - offering a $1,000 for both would be a reasonable starting point. This is assuming you could build one road worthy vehicle with a parts car remaining.

Good Luck, Michael

[harborman]

My question, why have they been sitting so long? You could spend a lot or $$ sorting out their problems not to mention many hours. Cars this old that have not been maintained or driven can be nothing but a sink hole for $$. 71K miles on a 78 is pretty low. You need to get more history on these cars, unless you just want to go for it and flip a coin on what you end up with.

[Danglerb]

Part of the vagueness in price is that the purchase price most of the time isn't a big factor in total cost of a running reliable car. The other part is that 928's routinely sell for crazy cheap and crazy expensive prices due to crazy owners and buyers.

My advice is to not let price sway you too much, find the car you want and buy it.

[cdrusn]

928s are very seductive. You want in your heart to believe they look so good they must want to run and after all they are a Porsche so they come from great engineering. But if you use your brain and not your emotions you will ask yourself how much does it cost to make a running Porsche 928 run properly let alone one which isn't even running. Even mild repairs can run into several thousand dollars and that's if you do the work yourself. If you just want something to play with something that might be made to run correctly I would go $1K knowing that you can sell the parts on ebay and craigslist and maybe break even. Look at prices and you will see that a good running 1979 is only worth $3,500 on a good day. Good luck!!!

[Landseer]

Price of parts has jumped in the last few years. Porsche / VW liquidated NOS parts. Exchange rate favorability seems to be ignored. It costs a lot of money now just to do the TB/WP service now.

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by Landseer

Price of parts has jumped in the last few years. Porsche / VW liquidated NOS parts. Exchange rate favorability seems to be ignored. It costs a lot of money now just to do the TB/WP service now.

Parts normally needed for replacement won't be good on a sitting for years donor car, so you will be buying those new from Porsche etc anyway.