cobalt

OK,

I have been lingering around trying to learn as much as possible about the wonderful 928's. I owned a rather peculiar model that I bought in Switzerland back in 1984. I sold the car in 1985-6 (?) because it had too many problems and I also owned 2 911's at the time, at the old age of 23. So I just dated myself.

Now here I am again 20 years later seriously thinking about a 1994 GTS. An automatic none the less.

I have seen many sites and many tips on what to look for in the cars and what needs to be serviced (inherent problems).

The story

The car is a 1994 Auto GTS with 88K miles it appears to be in relatively good shape and I know that although the cars current owner has spent some time and money on her and is an avid Porsche nut she still was a daily driver for many years and appears to have been owned by non Porsche enthusiasts prior to this fellow.

All the immediate concerns appear to have been addressed. (TBF) Torque tube done by Devek. There was oil in the valley of the engine but he claims it was repaired by new seals, new knock sensors. New shocks, water pump and timing belt at 60K miles. (recently re-tightened). Front end slightly lowered to reduce uneven tread wear and there has been paint work to the driver and passenger doors due to door dings since there is no side molding. Also new tires, brakes and refurbished alloys.

The car is stock other than the Muffler delete and the stereo.

I spoke to the current wrench who has worked on the car and his reputation and involvment with the PCA precedes him. His opinion is the car is a fine example, BUT he has not seen the car in a few months. Has no idea why he is selling the car because it is very nice.

Questions.

I have not seen the car (other than pictures) and currently I do not have the time to go out there and take a look see. I only know of the one shop that works on 928's in the area and he is the mechanic who works on the car. Do I have him do the PPI? (I no better but what other choice do I have?) What do I need to look for or direct him to look for?

The car is currently in heated storage which is surrounded by lots of snow the owner does not want to move it unless I make a comit to buy. He houses it some 170 miles from his home at his weekend home.

I have been told never to buy a car sight unseen. Although I bought my 3.6T that way and I now own one of the finest examples available. IS this to great of a risk to do and even if I have someone else (maybe a rennlister) look at the car for me is that taking to big of a chance? I was also thinking of flying out after the PPI to drive the car over 1000 miles home.

We have come close to agreeing on a price but I was curious what would the worst case be, if something went wrong. I have no problem working on the car although I never messed with an auto tranny.

Please feel free to unload on me but try to be kind.

Thanks

ErnestSw

No PPI, no committment, no sale. Why would the current owner require a committment BEFORE the PPI?
What's the story on the "factory" 1980 5.0L?

heinrich

Fly out there asap. Cost is minimal. PPI must not be performed by the shop that services the car, no matter how reputable. Worst case is, the car was in a crash or run without oil and now sits awaiting several thousand dollars' repairs. Unlikely but the risk is there. Just go drive it. With all that ifo all you have to do is drive it and look in the fluids and under the car and in the engine bay. Personally.

heinrich

And Anthony .... if you buy this beauty ... welcome to the shiver
Heinrich

Green Goblin

Tell us were and Im sure someone would be happy to help you out as best we can.
Good luck and hope to see pics soon, what color is it.

Andy

Gretch

"the owner does not want to move it unless I make a comit to buy"

No rational buyer does business that way...see the car, pay for a PPI.......Don't be an *** about it with the owner and if you like what you see buy the car............

Other wise, wait this guy out....if he really wants to sell the car, he will accomodate you.......

heinrich

As unusual as it is, I have no choice but to agree with Gretch this one time

cobalt

You guys are great!!

I agree with all of what you have to say. (Can't read the responses fast enough to respond)

Here is my problem, I own my own business and we are the busiest we have been in years. I am weeks behind and the last thing I should thinka bout doing is buying another Porsche. I have absolutely no time to fly out and see the car for at least 4 maybe 6 weeks and the way things are every time I free my schedule It fills up again.

I don't think he is being unreasonable for asking for a small gesture on my part to send him a deposit to hold the car for several weeks untill I can free myself up. (if possible). Especially if the paperwork will show he will refund the money if something is amiss.

The owner is in Wayzata Minnessota. Anyone know a good 928 wrench in the area.
The car is some 170 miles north (?) from there. Anyone in that area willing to take a look see for me?

It is a big risk buying sight unseen but sometimes my gut tells me things. (now you know why I admit I am crazy)

No seriously I know the issues involved. He is willing to work with me so long as I show I will comit to buying his car.

I like what I see in the pictures and I know they are not worth a thousand words when buying a car but I would like to move forward with my time being limited. The only way I see to make this work is to take chance and if push comes to shove I loose a small deposit.

Out of curiosity what is a 928 GTS with 88k miles on it worth with a blown engine or bad tranny. $20-$26K or less.

heinrich

a blown engine likely takes 10k off the value. a blown tranny (auto) likely takes somewhere a little less off, maybe 6 or 7k?

cobalt

I posted this before. I bough the car back in 1984 it was an 80 928 looked stock from the outside but the engine was not like other 80 928's the PO told me that the car was one of few made by the factory and given to Porsche execs. The paperwork was from Porsche and it stated 5.0 liter 288 hp. I do not know if the engine was installed later by the factory or if it was installed new. I do not speek german so I had nothing to go by other than what I was told. i paid something like $4000 for the car with the great exchange rate so it didn't matter to much. Another $500 to ship and $1200 to bring into complaince and I had a real sleeper it was faster than other 928s and other than the electrical problems and other issues it was great car. i sold it for $19k and never kept any records on it. Although Evan on the 993 board will attest to the fact that it was a 5.0 l engine in a 1980 car.

One thing was every mechanic and current 928 owner of the time was confused everytime the looked at the engine.

bcdavis

It might be less.

You have to consider the cost to repair it.
There are not many GTS blocks around to use, or cranks, so if the engine was toast,
you would need to find a new GTS engine, which would be very expensive, or you
would have to build a stroker of your own, whichj is also expensive. Or you would
need to put an s4 engine in the car, which would be ok if you supercharge it...
But generally, a blown GTS is not worth very much, because you would need
to do a lot of expensive and time-consuming work to get it back on the road...

cobalt

So at worst case if the car has these problems, a shell needing engine and tranny work may only be worth $10-12k?

I know there is no correct answer other than seeing the car first hand and more importantly driving it.

I have no interest in throwing money away. (thats why I buy Porsches see told you I was crazy ) I wish I could find a way to do all that I have to do and work this deal out.

I checked on flights and the best I can do with air fair and hotel for my wife and myself is a little over $1k. Thats a lot to add to the cost but could be worth not throwing the cost of the car in the toilet. Maybe I can work it out in 3 to 4 weeks and see if he is willing to sit on it for me. I am sure he will want some money to hold it or I just take my chances and if it sells it sells.

cobalt

One more question. I know on 911's that leak down and compression tests tell you quite a bit. Does this test tell you much on these water cooled cars?

I would also assume that any reputable shop doing a PPI should be able to detect if there is something majorly amiss with the car.

I was under the impression that the auto trannys on these cars were made by MB. Is that true? If so shouldn't they be relatively easy to fix or get parts for. Also do these 32v engines have issues with valves sticking or dropping and how does one detect this?

Randy V

Hey - I wanted that Iris Blue GTS!

Guess we'll have to arm wrestle for it!

Chris

Hey Anthony are you after the Iris Blue GTS ? There have been several posts about this car before, Chuck had some insights also, something about the current owner had to do a lot of catchup maintenance from the previous 7 !!! owners.

Chris