cgeorgan

I was just skimming the 'net in search of information regarding the Porsche 928. There is a "private" public garage (limited to people who live on my street) behind me, and in that lot there are actually 2 928's. From what I can see, one is a "standard" 928, the other is an S4.

I think these are beautiful cars. First of all, because they're so "different". That's funny in and of itself, because many others would consider the 911's shape unorthodox. Leave it to a 996 owner to think his car looks 'normal'.

I thought about buying a stock, high-mileage (100k), automatic version of this car...the latest year possible, for the least amount of money.

What should I be looking for? How reliable are these cars after 100k miles? What affect does the rarity of spare parts have on overall maintenance costs?

This would be my first foray into "classic" cars (i.e. buying a car for it's historical aesthetic qualities, not it's modern draw). Any advice would be appreciated!

FYI I'm the current owner of a beautiful '02 996 TT, Lapis blue with Savannah interior

heinrich

Well it's a broad question!! Look at the top of this forum for the "Please read this", and browse the forum. Really an impossibly wide question ... btw I gree with you

ether_joe

pics of your 996? is Savannah a cashmere-ish color? sounds purty.

FlyingDog

Age and previous owner's care matter more than milage as far as reliability and parts costs go. Most of the parts are still available at a reasonable price from suppliers like 928 Intl, 928 Specialists, Motorsport, and Devek. 928 Motorsports even makes some wiring harnesses that are no longer available. There's quite a bit available from those companies in the way of aftermarket parts.

The body style changed in 87. I'm assuming by your latest year possible remark you'd want an 87+. GTSs are 92+ and cost 2x or more what an 87-91 S4. The later in the 87-91 range for S4 the more 'refinements' you get like additional sound insulation (90 or 91+), new door seals, digital dash (89 or 90+), airbags (91+), PSD instead of LSD (90+), and storing error codes in the computers (88+). Otherwise the cars are the same. Also production numbers decreased so prices tend to go up. If I was going to get an automatic 928 I'd get an 88 or 89, less computers and no airbags.

Kaz

With regular and sound maintenance practice the cars are reliable well over 200,000 miles. They're barely broken in at 100,000 miles.

tv

What part of connecticut? Go over to see david lloyd at musante motorsports just 5 miles north of harford in south windsor, he works on them, races them and always has a few in the lot.

Depending on whether you like the regular (OB) style like i do or the newer body style 87+ will determine the model.

Best OB is an 86 euro and for you the best newer one would be a GT. A regular S4 because of its gearing might feel too tame for someone coming from a TT. Get in touch with david lloyd and ask him if he is planning any shark parties.

Daniel Dudley

The later models are well suited to the automatic. Automatic S4s can be a good value, 85 86 MY are real sleepers with the original body style.

Have a PPI , it could save your hide, and plan an extra 2K $ to cover incidental maintenance.

Cars with tired shocks tend to handle poorly, but owners often fail to notice and attribute it to the cars dynamic qualities - not so !