What is this 1987 Porsche 924S worth?

mbformula1 · 05-27-2014, 01:55 PM

Hello,

I am new to Porsche and am considering purchasing a 1987 Porsche 924s.

The good: It starts right up without hesitation. Only has two small areas of rust from what I can see. It has maintenance records (not sure how extensive, haven't looked at them). The seats are in nice shape with very little fade or wear. The body is straight. There didn't appear to be any leaks of any kind. The brakes are in good shape. The tires are expensive Michelin pilot sport tires with a lot of tread left. Owner says it was garaged.

The bad: The car has not been registered since 2007. The paint is in terrible condition with many huge spots where it has chipped off. The headliner is hanging down in the back. Owner says the brakes feel squishy. The back hatch window won't stay open. The total miles is unknown because odometer was replaced (owner says about 90,000).

I haven't driven it so I don't know how the transmission shifts, the condition of the clutch, how it rides etc. The region is New England.

I would think just for the reason that the car hasn't been registered in 7 years and it has terrible paint would kill the value. I have looked up other threads elsewhere and many people say seem to say a good condition car will usually sell for $1,500-2,000 but this is far from perfect. I was thinking with conditions problems of this car and risk because it hasn't been register in so long would be worth like $750-1,000. Do you think that would be a fair offer? I don't want to offend the guy. I also don't know if this is even a good car to buy. Is it worth buying or should I wait for something else (like a 944 or another 924)? I would prefer a 928 or a 911 but they are out of my price range. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, John

zedsn · 05-27-2014, 02:47 PM

2k for a good car is kinda low. The tires may be dry rotted even though they have lots of tread left. Car will definately need a timing belt and maybe even a water pump right off the bat and unless you can do them yourself they ain't cheap to have done. With the crappy paint I don't think that I would even offer 1k for the car and not knowing the condition of the brakes or clutch you might want to go lower or even pass on the car and spend more money and get a decent one that has up to date timing belt, records, and nice paint. My 2 cents.

ernie9944 · ernie9944's Garage

Piece of advise stay away from that 924S,there is lot of 924S/944 on the market which are in running condition that you can drive and road test before buying.But in the 1,500/2000k brackets it will probably need some maintenance done.You want to look for a car that had a major tune (TB/BSB/rollers/seals/WP & the clutch done recently,even if you have to front another K when buying it will pay off.

Lapkritis · Lapkritis's Garage

There's an '82 turbo locally for $1000. Smokes, disrepair and cheeseball parts. Can you have fun with it and not get carried away throwing money at it? I think $1000 is fair if it needs paint and tires...depends on the seller but I would go lower for someone who would drive and learn than someone who would part out for a couple bucks more.

jwmc1 · jwmc1's Garage

Personally, I would stay away from that particular car...might seem cheap, but could cost plenty to keep running. Once you have decided to stop spending money, you have probably spent a ton. Buying one of these cars is a lot like buying an airplane, the engine history and maintenance can be more important than anything else. Better to spend $5,000 on a car than spend $1,000 on the car and $10,000 to get it running and looking right.

Dantilla · 05-27-2014, 09:11 PM

Nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche.

You will be far, far ahead financially to buy a car in good shape than to try to fix a beater on a budget.

Could be a fun project, but for someone with a healthy checkbook.

The only way to make this work is to have another parts car or two around (I had six or seven 944s at one point when I was racing).

Lapkritis · Lapkritis's Garage

82 Porsche 924 Turbo

You follow "Bring a Trailer" on FB?

fiily · 05-28-2014, 07:06 AM

Lapkritis, I saw that car today on CL, I would give em $4-500 and know that the car is just a beater. I would keep it for my daughter to drive, my wife would love another porsche in the driveway..lol.

John, I would heed the words of advice others here have mentioned. Pay me now or pay a lot more later for a budget porsche. Doing the timing belt, water pump, front seals, new vacuum lines, coolant hoses adds up very quickly, even if you are skilled enough to do the work yourself.

Bad Clutch = $$$, Bad paint = $$$, and who knows what else is lurking around another panel.

Do yourself a favor a buy the best maintained/looking one you can afford, otherwise the love affair could turn sour very quick.

Lapkritis · Lapkritis's Garage

C'mon - buy it, you know you wanna. What could it possibly need...

fiily · 05-28-2014, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

C'mon - buy it, you know you wanna. What could it possibly need...

Tempting...I would buy it just to get the wife going. Seeing her expression having the car delivered by a wrecker...priceless.

Lapkritis · Lapkritis's Garage

The wrecker ride would be more expensive than the car.

I'd try to get a temp plate, a tool set and a one-way bus pass to at least make it an adventure.

argiopeweb · argiopeweb's Garage

Speaking as someone who bought a $2k '87 924S there are probably better choices, but, if I had to do it over again, I'd buy the same car. Mine had a good service record, but had been sitting in a garage for years and was non-running. I try not to calculate how much I have in it, but an estimate says ~5k in maintenance and repairs. The big things:

Clutch + slave cylinder - $2000
Timing & balance rollers, belts, and seals + water pump - $1100

There are ~4-5 items in the mid-100s range as well, and 2 $500 sets of tires.

The best advice I can give is to either go to a reputable mechanic who does lots of Porsche work, or do the work yourself. I made the mistake of having my clutch work done by a non-Porsche mechanic, and I ended up having to redo the work because the clutch plate was not appropriately aligned.

As for the issues with the car, the rear-window shock issue is well known. Replacing the shocks has been known to cause the rear-window assembly to (slowly) deconstruct and need re-sealing. A forum search should turn up plenty. Brake issue sounds unpleasant, but certainly not a deal breaker. Paint might be for me, but I'm not adept at painting.

If you're looking for a project car to turn into a daily driver, I'd recommend it. I was relatively successful fixing mine up on a student budget, and the learning experience since I've started doing my own work has been invaluable. I'd expect a known-good condition with strong maintenance record '87+ Porsche to start in the mid-$5k region.

mbformula1 · 05-29-2014, 03:59 PM

Hey guys thanks for all the replies so quickly. I appreciate it. I should have said before but the guy is asking $3,200 so it is not that cheap. I just thought with those paint problems and the risk of having a car sitting that long would reduce the price. Also the 924 is a relatively common Porsche and not the most desirable one as it was just the entry level.

I am told that the current owner got it from the wife of a guy who died from cancer (unfortunately). Before he passed, he apparently was working on restoring the car and I think there may be many new quality parts (I thought the brand new Michelin Pilot Sport tires were a good sign). It was sold by the wife to a carpenter (who has it now) in exchange for work on her house. I also thought I could get a lower price because it is not listed on craigslist, or anywhere that I can find for that matter, it is only on the side of the road with a for sale sign. It is place fairly far back from the road as well so it does not easily catch the eye. Thus there probably hasn't been that much traffic looking at the car.

I was told that it does have maintenance records though. Maybe I will take a look at them. It might actually have expensive stuff like the clutch and timing belt/water pump already done. Maybe I will just risk it and take it for a test drive on the road to see how it drives (despite it not having license plates) and see how it drives if it has through maintenance records. If it has missing maintenance records or some major problem I can find when driving it, I will definitely pass.

I hear what you guys are saying. I definitely don't want another project. I am working on restoring a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 240D /8 and I can tell you, I wish I had spent more and bought one in better condition because parts are expensive and your time and agony working on it has got to be worth something. I looked up what the cost for just the parts to replace a water pump, timing belt, balance shaft pulleys etc. kit and it was like $800 (on 944online.com, I don't even know if those parts are any good) and replacing them is a lot of work.

I do know a certified Mercedes-Benz mechanic who worked at a Porsche dealership for many years so I would definitely have him take a look at it as he is very familiar with 1980s Porsches and what goes wrong with them if I am still interested.

I think you guys may be right, maybe this car is a bad idea, I just don't want to write it off immediately. I think in the end, I might end up passing on this one and look for one in better condition. I want to focus on finishing my W115 Mercedes-Benz and get it done if I was going to start another project. In the end, like you guys say, it is much less expensive and less agonizing to buy a more expensive example that was taken care of, maintained with quality parts, and was not driven in the winter. But this one might have had a lot of the work done to it so, assuming that it has good maintenance records and a lot of the expensive work done, do you think it is a good idea? What do you guys think factoring that in?

Thanks for the help, John

jwmc1 · jwmc1's Garage

you should pass on this...my $0.02

mbformula1 · 05-29-2014, 04:09 PM

Lapkritis,

I saw that 924 turbo on craigslist. Very cool but it looks like it needs a little to much work for me. The suspension, brake upgrades and the quick release steering wheel sound nice though. Thanks for sharing.

zedsn · 05-29-2014, 04:15 PM

The 924S has the same motor as a 944 and maybe you can find a real nice one when you are ready to buy for around 4k with good paint and records. Walk away from that one for that price. I bought my running and driving 83 944 with decent paint for 1500 but it was due for the timing belt and the waterpump was weeping.

argiopeweb · argiopeweb's Garage

For $3200, I'd probably skip it if I didn't like the paint and didn't need a project.

Incidentally, I wouldn't consider the 924S (924 styling with Porsche drivetrain) to be relatively common. Porsche produced fewer 924S's in its three year production run than they produced 944s in 1986 alone (16669 vs. 17010, according to Wikipedia). Hardly rare, but not common.

fiily · 05-30-2014, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbformula1

Hey guys thanks for all the replies so quickly. I appreciate it. I should have said before but the guy is asking $3,200 so it is not that cheap. I just thought with those paint problems and the risk of having a car sitting that long would reduce the price. Also the 924 is a relatively common Porsche and not the most desirable one as it was just the entry level.

I am told that the current owner got it from the wife of a guy who died from cancer (unfortunately). Before he passed, he apparently was working on restoring the car and I think there may be many new quality parts (I thought the brand new Michelin Pilot Sport tires were a good sign). It was sold by the wife to a carpenter (who has it now) in exchange for work on her house. I also thought I could get a lower price because it is not listed on craigslist, or anywhere that I can find for that matter, it is only on the side of the road with a for sale sign. It is place fairly far back from the road as well so it does not easily catch the eye. Thus there probably hasn't been that much traffic looking at the car.

I was told that it does have maintenance records though. Maybe I will take a look at them. It might actually have expensive stuff like the clutch and timing belt/water pump already done. Maybe I will just risk it and take it for a test drive on the road to see how it drives (despite it not having license plates) and see how it drives if it has through maintenance records. If it has missing maintenance records or some major problem I can find when driving it, I will definitely pass.

I hear what you guys are saying. I definitely don't want another project. I am working on restoring a 1975 Mercedes-Benz 240D /8 and I can tell you, I wish I had spent more and bought one in better condition because parts are expensive and your time and agony working on it has got to be worth something. I looked up what the cost for just the parts to replace a water pump, timing belt, balance shaft pulleys etc. kit and it was like $800 (on 944online.com, I don't even know if those parts are any good) and replacing them is a lot of work.

I do know a certified Mercedes-Benz mechanic who worked at a Porsche dealership for many years so I would definitely have him take a look at it as he is ver would think y familiar with 1980s Porsches and what goes wrong with them if I am still interested.

I think you guys may be right, maybe this car is a bad idea, I just don't want to write it off immediately. I think in the end, I might end up passing on this one and look for one in better condition. I want to focus on finishing my W115 Mercedes-Benz and get it done if I was going to start another project. In the end, like you guys say, it is much less expensive and less agonizing to buy a more expensive example that was taken care of, maintained with quality parts, and was not driven in the winter. But this one might have had a lot of the work done to it so, assuming that it has good maintenance records and a lot of the expensive work done, do you think it is a good idea? What do you guys think factoring that in?

Thanks for the help, John

HI john, you mentioned the car being off the road for 7 years. I wouldn't drive the car due to sitting that long and just the dry rot. If the timing belt breaks by chance while you drive it a short distance, I would think you bought yourself a 1987 924s needing engine work, or a very upset seller.

7 years of a car doing nothing but sitting is worse than driving it, seals, gaskets, rubber products shrink, rot.

I understand the price is tempting if you can get it cheap, but there are more fish in the pond, especially 924s/944 models.

mbformula1 · 05-30-2014, 02:37 PM

Filly,

I never even thought of that. If that timing belt snaps when I drive it I am completely screwed. And you are right. Sitting is the worst thing for a car. You guys are right. I will just pass and see if I can find something better. Thank you for all the help guys, I appreciate it.

John