This car is just about falling into my lap...
Here are the details.

1988 928 S4 Automatic
One owner
Silver/blk
36,000 miles
no accidents, no issues.
the seller is a customer of mine,
just want to be fair to both of us.

There is currently an 87 S4 on ebay with current bid of 19k.
it's white/blk.

Any major common issues I should look into?

I apologize if these questions get asked often.

Chris

 

Chris-

Welcome to the 928 board- I've seen a lot of your posts at FChat. Sounds like a very nice S4, but without knowing a lot more of the maintenance history or pics, it's hard to put a value on it. Could be a $10,000 car or a $23,000 car. With that mileage, hopefully the cosmetics are perfect, so then the major issues are whether the flex plate release has been regularly released (although I'm not sure whether the pressure buildup is a function of mileage or time), and how long since the timing belt was done. 928'ers do timing belts on time elapsed, not so much by mileage. And even with low miles, a lot of 19 year old rubber (read: fuel lines) and wiring harness under the hood may need replacing by now.

Any chance you can get the owner to bring it to VCR this weekend? There are some very knowledgeable 928 owners in the SoCal group who would be happy to salivate over a low mileage beast and give you an assessment. It might be a good excuse for me to get off my butt and come up from Irvine.

Let us know if this is a possibility!

 

full on retail is probably $15-20k if it were a 5 speed it pulls more to the top of the range. The timing belt water pump service due at 60,000 miles OR every 6 years or so makes a difference. At a wholesale dealer auction it would have trouble breaking $10,000 on most days. Value is so hard to determine and depends on who wants it ! If you wish to own it that is one thing flipping it is quite another.

 

If there's a legitimate $19k bid right now for a low mile 87, I'd say he's the luckiest man in the world. That's way high, even for a low mile car. The 88 is basically no different than the 87, except maybe the oiler in the engine. If you want to be fair, let it go to ebay for a while, and close the bidding at the last minute. That is the only accurate estimate of the 'worth' of the car. But, it has to be a legitimate bid, where the buyer is actually coming to buy, not look.

 

good point Doc many now use a "winning bid" as a negotiating price and then after the auction is closed try to negotiate the price with threats of bad feed back etc.... there are bad sellers and bad buyers working E-bay along with some very nice people.

 

I am going to look at it again later this afternoon. Cosmetically it is pristine.
Mechanically, I don't know yet. He says he has records, I don't know to what extent, but there are records. I should know more later today.
If it looks good, I will pick it up.
I can't seem to find any low mileage examples of this car anywhere.
Could possibly be a diamond in the rough.
I will post pics later today, of the car and records.
I will bring it to VCR next Sunday, this sunday wont work for me.

Thank you for your response, it is truly appreciated

Chris

 

I was more looking (off and on) for a gts, but this is quite a nice example and might be worth keeping. Keep an eye out

 

Thank you for the reply.
This car ('88) should be sellable if needed. There are no 88 low mileage cars for sale.
We'll see how it pans out.

Once again, thanks for the spending the time in replying

Chris

 

For the record,

I just became a member of this board


Here is the link to the eBay Auction


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/87-PO...QQcmdZViewItem

 

The S-4 gets you 99% of the bang of a GTS at 1/3 -1/2 the price...what it lacks is the rarity and perception of "value".

 

Then it might be a keeper!

Thanks again

 

There was a recent discussion about a pearl-white car for sale in Atlanta. The discussion may be related to the car that you are interested in purchasing:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ighlight=pearl

 

The car I am looking at is a one owner ca car. Silver/blk

going to take pic at 1pm, should be posted here by 1:30

Thanks for the link though

 

OK...I understand now.... the Ebay link above that you posted is a car of similar mileage. You are merely using it as a means of comparison. It is not the actual car that you are interested in purchasing.

Good luck!

 

Ya boys! It is MINT!

Bought it, seriously a time capsule, perfectly kept.
paint is perfect, interior (including driver bolster) near perfect.
all service records. congrats to myself! Definitely one of the survivors

Now, where do I park it?