GT6ixer

Ironically when prices hit rock bottom they attracted a bulk of 928-mechanically-illiterate owners who didn't know how to fix them and couldn't afford to have the dealers or independents fix them and instead either left them in disrepair or did their best hack attempt at keeping them running. What this did was create a growing parts need for all of these cars that are now slowly being bought up by enthusiasts who can afford to restore them. I consider myself one of the latter. I am of middle class means and have taken a long term approach. Can I afford to spend $30-$40K to restore a 928 I paid $4500 for? Well not right away. But I plan to have this for decades and spending hundreds of dollars here or there on the odd part along the way is well within my means and I believe well within the means of a lot of current owners of the cars. I for one have no problem with Porsche Classic charging much more for parts that were once available and are now NLA. A valid point you brought up that I do agree with is what the quality will be like. I'd much rather wait and find a good quality used part than buy a cheaply made but expensive former NLA part.

And as far as dealer maintained 928s being in demand, well that may have been desirable 20 years ago when the dealer still knew how to fix the 928 properly. To me the most valuable 928s for sale now and going forward will be ones maintained by reputable 928 specific mechanics, like Greg Brown, Sean Ratts, Colin Jensan, Dave Chamberland, Stan Kolen, etc. Plus the 928 community in my opinion is one of, if not the most, enthusiastic in the classic car world. That means there are tons of DIY owners here that if and when their cars go on sale they would bring a pretty penny. A few guys come to mind. Seth and his Red Witch, Dr Scott and his '83, Jim and Sue Corneman and their concours example 928s, any of Alex VanDam's cars and the list goes on. All of their cars will bring as much or more than any dealer only maintained 928 these days IMO.

Harvey928

Well said Nate +1

linderpat

Thom I hear what you're saying, but put me in the other camp on this one. Besides Hacker's well articulated points, and the points raised above in the quotes, I think that adding these items to the Classic stable only enhances the value of the 928. I'm glad they chose Roger as the touch point as well. He and a couple others are perfect resources for Porsche to interact with on this matter.

SeanR

I've only encountered one reproduction part in the past year that sucked and it sure didn't come from Porsche Classic, it was a normal use part that Porsche ordered from another OEM and they totally dropped the ball. What issues are you running to Thom? While prices are going to go up anytime you have to have manufacturers retool and start reproducing at much reduced quantity, I'm not seeing it being a quality issue. But what do I know.

worf928

One thing in particular is that no new fasteners are plated to the same quality as before. Bolts that were OE yellow-zinc are now unplated or barely-plated unchromated zinc. Black fasteners that were black zinc OE are just-barely black phosphate and actually begin to rust in the bag.

And on the subject of fasteners there are a bunch that are NLA for which there are no dimensionally-identical (or even kinda-close) after-market versions.

Oh, and there are fasteners you can order which result in a bag with the right part number that contain a part that is dimensionally different from the OE and that can’t be used.

Adamant1971

^ +928 on the plating

And,

-Plastic door sill plates suck monkey butt
-Early 87 fuel cooler to FPR hose is garbage

worf928

hacker-pschorr

While true, I'm not sure Porsche has much choice. World health organizations have greatly reduced the types of coatings available to manufactures like this.

worf928

hacker-pschorr

I can too here in Wisconsin, many parts of the US cannot. The place I use 30 miles from here does work for shops all over the world.

Splitting hairs here, but it's just not that simple for manufactures to do many things like they used to, China or not.

SeanR

I can see that. Many, many years ago I stopped ordering anything fastener wise for our cars. Sourced my own and have been happy ever since.

docmirror

At the risk of inciting the ire here, I'll add my complaint. It bugs the spit out of me when I (rarely) order a '928' specific part which was made by a common vendor like Bosch, Fiat or IWIS or something. It comes in a Porsche factory box, and the price s out-rag-eous. Then, subsequent I find the same part on the open market for 1/4 the price. So, I spent 300% markup to let Porsche put it in a factory box, and run it through their warehouse. grrrrrr.


BTW, for others complaining about part pricing, do not EVER buy an old airplane. Two 3/16x1" brass bushings - $147. OBTW, in many cases the operator is not allowed to mfg the part. Truly - you - have - no - idea......

Red Flash

Thom, this is actually a rather nice but Socialist way of looking at the world.

On the one hand, you have to have a business case and ROI. Engineers need to sort through old documents, supply chains need to be negotiated with suppliers for small quantities, new investments made, mistakes made and quality people involved. This ain't cheap, and there has to be an ROI.

On the other hand, if a corporation can charge more because the market allows it, so be it.

I am sympathetic to your mood here, but for better or for worse, this is how Capitalism works, and without it, we probably wouldn't get any parts at all.

^^^This! In particular, I want to soon start a thread on my thoughts on fastener plating technologies...

Speedtoys

I dont buy any fasteners from Porsche unless really special.

There are sources for cheaper and better than Porsche..which, I agree, hasn't placed an eye on the quality of these.

It's likely an item they're willing to not sell with so many other sources for a really non specific part.

hacker-pschorr

I don't think anyone is going to argue the Porsche tax exists. Or how about the Veyron tax. Didn't Roger report back on how much more the 928 air filter is when shipped in a Bugatti box?

But on that note, need to be careful with Bosch and maybe other brands with counterfeit pieces. This is no joke, and years ago cost some Ferrari engines when bogus parts for doing a timing belt job made their way into the main parts system.