1987 928 S4 value at auction

[Don Settergren]

Okay, I read through nearly this entire BB for hints on what an '87 928 S4 with an automatic is worth. The car I'm looking at is at an online insurance auction that ends on Monday, has a clean title, 118k miles, looks great in the pictures, but they don't give any further information. She looks stock in red with a tan interior except for a big exhaust tip. The only thing I see wrong with it is the transmission shifter is rotated 90 degress.

My guess is that the insurance company paid out on a theft and the car runs and drives - or is dead. Or, the car got a bad oil change and the insurance company paid out on an engine failure. Or, hidden suspension damage. Or, ?

What do you all think would be a good, uninspected, price?

[928ram]

I couldn't give you any numbers, but since you can't hear it run (if it does) I wouldn't pay more than it's parts value. Maybe $3500 at the most; really, if there were nothing wrong with it the guy who's plate is still attached would be bailing it out.

[Don Settergren]

The bidding is at $3700, so you are right on with your estimate!

However, it could still be in good shape and rejected by the owner. Maybe the payout was generous. Or, sometimes stolen cars are paid off and the owner gets a new car. Then, when the car is recovered, it goes to auction no matter the condition... Hmmm.

[928ram]

Don, did you bid on / win the car??

[Don Settergren]

The online portion of the auction ends at 8:00pm. Then, my bid goes up against live bidders - who get to learn more about the car by seeing it live. As there aren't many high-end cars in this auction, the high-end buyers won't be there to jack up the prices. Maybe it'll go low...

[porschetoycar]

could this be a flood damage car from hurricanes?

[Don Settergren]

I guess I'll never know. My bid of $4500 was not the highest online. And the live bidders went higher because the final selling price was not displayed online. This could been the one that "got away!