chris0626

Hi Everybody!

My name is Chris. I have been looking for the right 'Shark' for some time now. I found a beautiful 84 today. It's some kind of gunmetal grey-blue with a tan-ish (kind of hard to tell the actual color... the leather needs some serious love) interior.

There are the typical sun faded areas (hatch) and the leather dash appears to be shrinking (seemingly a common thing?). The carpet is in pretty good shape though.

Both spoilers are in good shape, but there is some cracking in the various rubber surrounds (around the windows/hatch).

Under hood, everything appears to be clean, but the car was missing a battery (where is the battery supposed to be anyway?) so I couldn't start it to check the rest of the electronics (windows, lights, sunroof, etc...) or the actual running condition of the vehicle.

It is a one owner car, 57,000 original miles. Assuming that the rest of the car checks out ok (or even decently), what should I offer? They're asking $10k (its on consignment at a dealer). That seems a little high to me.

Looking for your thoughts/opinions. As this will be my first Shark, I don't expect prefection, but I also don't want a nightmare.

Thanks!
Chris

bcdavis

That's a VERY high price for a car that is not running.

The battery is in the back, under a hatch beneath the spare tire.

You could try just jump-starting it with the jumper cable mount points in the engine bay.

But even if it starts and runs, that is still pretty high for a car with unknown problems.
If you can get it to a 928 mechanic, and get it checked out, you will be able to know
how much money you will need to spend to get it up to snuff.

But you can find decent s4s for 10K, and PERFECT early 928s for that price.

rixter

get a PPI from a reputable 928 mechanic, if you tell us where you are someone here can refer you
battery is in the rear
tell us more about the car, Euro or US, is the dash cracked?

chris0626

Rixter, the is a US model and yes, the dash is cracked (leather shrinking together).

I'm in Ferndale, MI and the car is in Roseville (on Gratiot Ave).

bcdavis, the price seemed quite high to me as well. I've been checking Autotrader.com, the Rennlist classifieds, and eBay for a while now and I have seen some better deals... just that this happened to be 'on my way' as it were.

They did offer to jump start it for me (no one knew where the battery was though ) but I didn't want to waste anyone's time until I had a chance to talk to everyone here to see if it was worth it.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Get proof of the "one owner" get copies of all repairs ,do a Carfax ,get it looked at by someone knowledgable in 928s, be sure the air works , transmission works etc. AND DRIVE IT you may not like it. It sounds more like a $5,000 car IF it runs well. Be prepared to spend $2,500 or so just taking care of normal things that have been neglected.

chris0626

Thanks everyone. This is kind of what I was thinking. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't passing something up (you don't see these cars much at all around here).

I don't mind spending time and money on a project, I just don't want my first one to be THAT much of a project (I already have a serious project ). This is going to be a daily driver.

I seriously doubt they will come down 50% in price (if I like the way it drives and things work as they should, as Jim suggested). They said they would put me in touch with the consignee, we'll see what happens.

Chris

rixter

you can also look here, many are overpriced but you can find some nice cars if you're patient
http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com/

Sharkbait

Hey Chris (fellow Michigander),

If you don't have any service records, you're going to spend a small fortune on that thing right from the start. Use that as part of your negotiations. Plan on, without records, at least $3-4000 on top of your purchase price. At least that much.

Richard Lang

Chris, You should be able to purchase the 84 for no more than $6,000.00 if it is in good shape. And if you can verify the maintenance on the car, if not start deducting the amounts you will need to bring it up to the good drivable shape, to bring up to excellant shape add another $5,000.00 and figure on keeping the car into your retirement age.

Richard

bcdavis

You'll save a lot of money by getting a car in truly excellent shape.

AO

Chris-

Before you jump into this with both feet (I know it's hard because once you see these cars... you gotta hove one!) You might want to join us for a 928 beer night - 2nd Thursday of the Month at the Four Greenfields Pub on the SW corner of 13 and Woodward next to the Secretary of State... or better yet, there's a picnic this weekend (Sunday I think) in Dearborn. I don't have the details with me as I can't go, but there will be a number of guys there with 928's. Might be a good way to get edu-macated on 928s. If you want to go to the Picnic, post a reply here and I'm sure one of the locals here will fill you in.

chris0626

I know exactly where that is at! Count me in! Unfortunately, I already have plans this Sunday or I'd be at the picnic too! I think seeing some 928's in excellent shape (perhaps even a ride or two?) and speaking with everyone in person would be a great way to get better acquainted with the car. Thanks for the invite!

PS - I just became a 'member' today!