danglerb

That would be my tack as well, refurbish a whole area at a time, get all the WYAI done.

Andre Hedrick

Agreed, I paid for NOS set of A-arms at $650 each, two weeks later Capt'n Carl come out with a kit Spend the bucks on suspension part now cause they are not easy to get.

RyanPerrella

you know at some point mileage becomes a non issue. I would say for 30 plus year old cars. They have had most everything replaced, been repainted, repaired etc etc. I dont think anyone would pay attention to mileage on an old 911 that was restored, most would have over 100K but everything on the chasis is new, so who cares about mileage. Of course for unrestored cars where nothing has been replaced then the value of the car drops. The only real thing that never gets replaced would be a body shell, but for a porsche i would think you would have to cover a few million miles before the chassis would be under stress where its unuseable. From spot weilds yeilding and what not. But even then thats could just be a crazy idea of mine.

danglerb

Maybe one of the dismantlers might know, if they are seeing any chassis degradation on high mileage cars.

Any 928 that hasn't had it done should likely have the suspension done, rubber and age even if not miles. Springs are maybe also a time thing?

Wiring harness at some point is going to need replacing.

Glass, windshields at least are constantly taking some damage related to miles conditions. Is new glass available, whats it run?

Bumper covers over time.

All the seals and rubber parts over time and conditions.

fbarnhill

Hi,
As to the degradation goes, on my 83s, the clutch finally gave up at 195k. The aluminum ball joints broke at about 205k but they broke while backing out of a parking space. The struts were replaced around 225k and the 5 speed trans at around 250k. I spent a lot of money on that car keeping up with things that were wearing out. However, as long as I kept up with it, the car was dependable. I never had to touch the engine except for oil and tuneup. Did i mention that I drove this car over tripple digits mph almost every weekend? This car was driven through snow, ice, mud etc... One of the reasons I love 928s is that 'It can take everyting i can throw at it and still bring me home'. Sorry but my favorite quote about sharks.

danglerb

Makes me wonder what sort of inspection might be prudent prior to triple digit speed on all the aluminum suspension parts.

RyanPerrella

not sure which model year this changed but later 928's have steel ball joints replacing the previous aluminum ones. There may have been a recall on this as well.

low miler

Well, up until a month ago, I've never owned a 928 with more than 50,000 miles on it. I always prided myself with selling really low mileage cars because I not only knew they were easier to sell, but were probably much better drivers as well.
Well, the first statement is definitely true, but with the recent aquisition of my '89 GT with 119,000 miles on it, the second statement certainly doesn't hold water. In all honesty, and I'm not just trying to build up the car for resell (a PPI will have the final say), that '89 GT drives as good or better than almost any 30,000 mile 928 I've ever owned. These are amazing cars!
Now of course, this car was properly maintained which is indicitive of it's condition, but it shows that with simple proper maintenance, the skies the limit on these things!
As a reference, just log onto mobile.de and check out their GTS's for sale in Europe. Most all of them have over 100,000 miles once you've done the kilometer conversion.
928's are made for driving. I now think they just get better with miles.

danglerb

Low mileage, all things being equal, is clearly good, and its exclusive, most cars are not low mileage, and you can't make a low mileage car out of a higher mileage car. Exclusivity is one of the reasons someone buys a Porsche, and right or wrong mileage is a major part of market value.

I think condition is more important than mileage, which doesn't help me to buy a low mileage car any cheaper, but maybe to enjoy the value of a higher mileage car while thinking rude thoughts about those who insist on low mileage cars and pay a large premium. It doesn't make me blind to the lower resale value of a high mileage car if I choose to sell it, or to the few but costly repairs unique to a higher mileage car.

I'd say my "comfort" zone is between 100k and 140k, the first for price, and the latter for big ticket repairs and lower resale value. Resale is the killer, consider two cars each owned 4 years and 40k miles with $12k upkeep.

If I buy a 140k car the discount from average price is small, but I am going to take a serious hit for 180k miles when selling regardless of condition.

If I buy a 100k car the premium from average is small, and the hit for 140k also isn't too bad.

Hard to say where that exactly leaves the net cost from one to the other, but I suspect the 180k hit may be VERY nasty.

Darien

Lot of "if's" man, just buy .

I couldn't believe I'd buy a shark with 145,000 mi but I did. It's all about the PO and what their relationship with the car was. When I got my 86.5, the PO owned it for 15 years and kept all receipts and had a Log Book of every minor detail. It's getting ready to turn 160K and I would compare it to one with 60K

It's comes down to just "finding the right one"!

danglerb

The right car will generate plenty of flexibility in me, I worry in fact that I may become downright compliant in the face of something fairly tasty. I know me pretty well though, and the real hazard is that I may be tempted by a very low cost car that needs too much work, and maybe let slip away a really nice car thats just a bit overpriced but might be a lot smarter to buy.

Hopefully this pre buy chatty stage won't last much longer.

Darien

After 328 post in less than 1 month, surely you're on the right track

danglerb

I did about 650 when I bought my central AC, but its more a complexity and hidden info thing, not the size or even my interest in learning, plus I do "try" to be helpful when there is some tidbit I have learned to pass on.

Vilhuer

More than 10,000 kilometers per year is normal for 928 in Europe. Or to be more specific, it used to be when they were newish. So it is difficult to find really low miles 928 in Europe. Odo readings really start from 50-60k and go up from there. In GTS 100k miles is normal.

Then there is German habit of adjusting odos to make cars easier to sell. For some reason Germans seem to fear engine is going to explode any minute when car is over 150k kilometers driven. This makes turning odo numbers below lower than this and getting rid of original service book very interesting idea for seller.