eBay purchased 928s- what was your experience
11-11-2007, 09:12 PM
#16
Racer
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Saw my 88 on E-Bay, had my brother (former 928 owner) go check it out, when it did not meet reserve in Auction, the sellers contacted him, he put them in touch w/me, we worked out a deal, he picked it up, sat on it for me until I got time to go pick it up, and it was just as described, it had a PPI, everything that needed repair was quite minor that a DYI could do. I have been happy w/the car and 928 ownership, past 911 and 4cyl Porsche owner.
11-11-2007, 09:41 PM
#17
I bought an '88 off ebay and it was largely as advertised. In fact, the seller actually asked me to pay $500 less than my winning bid, because the car sold for more than he was looking to get! I'm in CA and the car was in the Gettysburg, PA area so I had my brother, who lives in MD, check it out and pick it up for me. I keep it parked near Dulles Airport and use it on my frequent trips back East.
I found an '89 on ebay that was being sold locally here in NorCal and went to check it out before the auction ended. It needed a lot of work, but felt the price I negotiated with the seller was a deal for what I was getting and my wife and I drove home with the car.
Only negative was selling my '82 Euro when the winning bidder claimed he couldn't come up with the money. Sold the car to a local Rennlister shortly after the auction.
I found an '89 on ebay that was being sold locally here in NorCal and went to check it out before the auction ended. It needed a lot of work, but felt the price I negotiated with the seller was a deal for what I was getting and my wife and I drove home with the car.
Only negative was selling my '82 Euro when the winning bidder claimed he couldn't come up with the money. Sold the car to a local Rennlister shortly after the auction.
11-12-2007, 01:58 AM
#20
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11-12-2007, 02:00 PM
#21
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This is a somewhat problematic poll a bit like asking someone if they ever slept with an ugly woman ?... a lot of people may wish to save face and not want to share their experiences. The language of Ebay ..."win" when you are high bidder when in fact you just offered to pay more than anyone else in the world thought it was worth. 
I personally would never buy a car until I drove it and looked at it in person and spent a lot of time face to face with the seller. Anyone selling is usually asking a bit more than they think it might be worth or a price which would make them happy... your job is to make them less happy but not to the point of offending them if you really want the car! I know of several cars with thrust bearing failure which were sold as running cars AS IS ! Some owners may not have exactly KNOWN what was wrong but ...
I personally would never buy a car until I drove it and looked at it in person and spent a lot of time face to face with the seller. Anyone selling is usually asking a bit more than they think it might be worth or a price which would make them happy... your job is to make them less happy but not to the point of offending them if you really want the car! I know of several cars with thrust bearing failure which were sold as running cars AS IS ! Some owners may not have exactly KNOWN what was wrong but ...
11-12-2007, 03:16 PM
#24
Drifting
I got very lucky with mine. I had intended to only consider ones within a couple of hours driving distance, but it showed up because the seller opened his account while at college, while his 928 was actually in St. Louis. EBay won't let you change that once the auction starts.
In any case, I considered it because I know someone in St Louis who could look at it and be certain it was for real, although the guy is not a mechanic. Basic insurance that it's being accurately represented.
I spoke to the seller a few times. He had had it only a few years, but as a student hadn't spent a lot of money on maintaining it. I figured that in to my decision. He disclosed seats with some tears, a non-functioning passenger window, dead battery, minor paint flaws and wing addition.
I bought it without a PPI because I felt he was honest. We agreed to meet and settle the deal in Denver, so I figured if he could get it to Denver it was at least minimally road-worthy. I made it the rest of the way to Santa Barbara with the only unknown issue being a "new" one, the drivers side window switch burned up on the way.
I took it to the local Porsche mechanic for "Post-PI" and aside from the deferred maintenance were openly admiring of the car. "That's a nice 928". Bringing all the deferred maintenance up to date was a lot more money (labor) than I expected, but I got what I wanted, a sound foundation for a nice driver.
But all told I think I got very lucky. I wouldn't do it this way again.
In any case, I considered it because I know someone in St Louis who could look at it and be certain it was for real, although the guy is not a mechanic. Basic insurance that it's being accurately represented.
I spoke to the seller a few times. He had had it only a few years, but as a student hadn't spent a lot of money on maintaining it. I figured that in to my decision. He disclosed seats with some tears, a non-functioning passenger window, dead battery, minor paint flaws and wing addition.
I bought it without a PPI because I felt he was honest. We agreed to meet and settle the deal in Denver, so I figured if he could get it to Denver it was at least minimally road-worthy. I made it the rest of the way to Santa Barbara with the only unknown issue being a "new" one, the drivers side window switch burned up on the way.
I took it to the local Porsche mechanic for "Post-PI" and aside from the deferred maintenance were openly admiring of the car. "That's a nice 928". Bringing all the deferred maintenance up to date was a lot more money (labor) than I expected, but I got what I wanted, a sound foundation for a nice driver.
But all told I think I got very lucky. I wouldn't do it this way again.
11-12-2007, 03:59 PM
#25
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This is a somewhat problematic poll a bit like asking someone if they ever slept with an ugly woman ?... a lot of people may wish to save face and not want to share their experiences. The language of Ebay ..."win" when you are high bidder when in fact you just offered to pay more than anyone else in the world thought it was worth. I personally would never buy a car until I drove it and looked at it in person and spent a lot of time face to face with the seller. Anyone selling is usually asking a bit more than they think it might be worth or a price which would make them happy... your job is to make them less happy but not to the point of offending them if you really want the car! I know of several cars with thrust bearing failure which were sold as running cars AS IS ! Some owners may not have exactly KNOWN what was wrong but ...
I personally would never buy a car until I drove it and looked at it in person and spent a lot of time face to face with the seller. Anyone selling is usually asking a bit more than they think it might be worth or a price which would make them happy... your job is to make them less happy but not to the point of offending them if you really want the car! I know of several cars with thrust bearing failure which were sold as running cars AS IS ! Some owners may not have exactly KNOWN what was wrong but ...I hope you don't mind my quoting you in the opening about saying that when you buy through eBay you win the right to first refusal, not a car.
I just thought it might be good to pull all the eBay experiences together, good and bad, it might turn up in the searches and save us all having to rehash the same stories over and over again when someone logs in (like I did last year
) with the same eBay questions. As we're seeing, some people had a good experience, some woke up with an ugly woman, but at least there are several stories in one place now for future reference.Thanks everyone!
11-12-2007, 04:01 PM
#26
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my deal went sort of like this:
I "knew" no where near what I "know" now, after 1 year of ownership. (I am still learning every day, but that's another story)
Seller said car needed transmission work, some light rust in the quarter windows and hatch, A/C recently recharged, timing belt recently changed, interior so-so, paint OK from 20 feet, minor scuffs on right side, tires and brakes OK.
Car was (still is) listed on 928 Registry as a 1980 300hp Euro.
I knew nothing of PPI (should have, but again, that's another story)
airline ride to pick up car was a non-event, seller picked me up at airport.
seller pushed clutch in, and crunched a whole bunch of gears (clutch was either shot or hydraulics were bad, or both)---he thought the syncro-s were gone in the first 3 gears.
Being the wrench that I am occasionally, I started to add up the dollars and found that I could handle the low purchase price plus the cost of fixing things wrong, and not be too far out of the market price (whatever that means....)
Drove car home and here's what I found:
NO M28/11 300hp Euro 4.7L engine. It is a M28/09 229hp 4.5L engine----BIG LET DOWN......
Tranny is OK. Clutch starts to work the more I drive it (5 months later, eventually replaced all clutch hydraulics---cheaper than a trans/clutch rebuild, I'm doing better)
Tires were immediately replaced (when I got it home) after I found the fronts nearly burned off because of bad alignment (wanna guess what was done when last aligned???? Jack up the car maybe?? Stupid Sh**.....)
A/C really didn't cool much, so had the system checked and found bad evaporator----BIG LET DOWN (huge repair cost that hasn't taken place yet, but I have the parts to do it).
After 6 months, #8 cylinder gets either a broken piston/rings/cracked head/blown headgasket/something-going-on-in-there problem (haven't fixed that either and don't care, 'cause I'm now building a 5.0L Euro hyrid---that's another story......)
So......would I do it again?
Yes, but now that I have become sort of "educated", I know more about what to look for.
Was I looking for a car that didn't need to be worked on? No, I would not have a garage queen---no disrespect to anyone else.....
Was the car misrepresented? No, the seller didn't have a clue either.....(he wasn't just playing stupid, as he called 6 months later asking about maybe buying it back.....but, that's another story....). In fact, I traced the car back through 4 more previous owners, and they didn't have a clue EITHER!!!!!
With any thing else on eBay, Autotrader, or any other listing/auction service, you just need to be "educated".
In fact, my latest purchase was originally an eBay listed vehicle:
2001 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 4-door with only 2880 miles
nice truck, good price, couldn't believe the the non-existant mileage, but it is what it is...like brand new for $30 thousand less.
---Russ
I "knew" no where near what I "know" now, after 1 year of ownership. (I am still learning every day, but that's another story)
Seller said car needed transmission work, some light rust in the quarter windows and hatch, A/C recently recharged, timing belt recently changed, interior so-so, paint OK from 20 feet, minor scuffs on right side, tires and brakes OK.
Car was (still is) listed on 928 Registry as a 1980 300hp Euro.
I knew nothing of PPI (should have, but again, that's another story)
airline ride to pick up car was a non-event, seller picked me up at airport.
seller pushed clutch in, and crunched a whole bunch of gears (clutch was either shot or hydraulics were bad, or both)---he thought the syncro-s were gone in the first 3 gears.
Being the wrench that I am occasionally, I started to add up the dollars and found that I could handle the low purchase price plus the cost of fixing things wrong, and not be too far out of the market price (whatever that means....)
Drove car home and here's what I found:
NO M28/11 300hp Euro 4.7L engine. It is a M28/09 229hp 4.5L engine----BIG LET DOWN......
Tranny is OK. Clutch starts to work the more I drive it (5 months later, eventually replaced all clutch hydraulics---cheaper than a trans/clutch rebuild, I'm doing better)
Tires were immediately replaced (when I got it home) after I found the fronts nearly burned off because of bad alignment (wanna guess what was done when last aligned???? Jack up the car maybe?? Stupid Sh**.....)
A/C really didn't cool much, so had the system checked and found bad evaporator----BIG LET DOWN (huge repair cost that hasn't taken place yet, but I have the parts to do it).
After 6 months, #8 cylinder gets either a broken piston/rings/cracked head/blown headgasket/something-going-on-in-there problem (haven't fixed that either and don't care, 'cause I'm now building a 5.0L Euro hyrid---that's another story......)
So......would I do it again?
Yes, but now that I have become sort of "educated", I know more about what to look for.
Was I looking for a car that didn't need to be worked on? No, I would not have a garage queen---no disrespect to anyone else.....
Was the car misrepresented? No, the seller didn't have a clue either.....(he wasn't just playing stupid, as he called 6 months later asking about maybe buying it back.....but, that's another story....). In fact, I traced the car back through 4 more previous owners, and they didn't have a clue EITHER!!!!!
With any thing else on eBay, Autotrader, or any other listing/auction service, you just need to be "educated".
In fact, my latest purchase was originally an eBay listed vehicle:
2001 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 4-door with only 2880 miles
nice truck, good price, couldn't believe the the non-existant mileage, but it is what it is...like brand new for $30 thousand less.
---Russ
11-12-2007, 04:25 PM
#27
Rennlist Member
I purchased my 81 on Ebay. The seller was very honest about the condition of the car, answered all of my questions and was a dream to deal with. I requested about 40 specific pictures be taken of the car and sent to me, which he did without any question. I also requested he take the car to a local mechanic of my choice and have a PPI performed with the results being communicated to me directly.
Turned out the car was in very good condition and the mechanic reported that he did not see any reason why the car would not make the 1800+ mile trip home. He also indicated that the car had been well maintained and there were "tons" of maintenance records.
I was the sole bidder for the car to the very end. Three weeks later, my son and I flew to Minnesota and after completing the transaction, we drove the car back to Oregon.
The ride home was quite memorable.
A good Ebay experience these days requires more research into the "person" selling. If you can't become comfortable with a person after several email and telephone conversations - walk away.
Turned out the car was in very good condition and the mechanic reported that he did not see any reason why the car would not make the 1800+ mile trip home. He also indicated that the car had been well maintained and there were "tons" of maintenance records.
I was the sole bidder for the car to the very end. Three weeks later, my son and I flew to Minnesota and after completing the transaction, we drove the car back to Oregon.
The ride home was quite memorable.
A good Ebay experience these days requires more research into the "person" selling. If you can't become comfortable with a person after several email and telephone conversations - walk away.
11-12-2007, 04:35 PM
#28
Instructor
Purchased my '82 in Feb, 07 off Ebay. Bid on the car 4 or 5 days before end and there were no further bids so suddenly I'm a first time 928 owner (although I have wanted one since I first saw one, have done a ton of research on what to look for and watched Ebay for 6 months+ to get a handle on pricing). The fact that no one else bid on it made me nervous but all worked out OK. Car was near Madison, WI and I'm in Winnipeg, MB, Canada - 725 miles away - so I was able to drive down with my son and pickup (or walk away from) the car. Was exactly as described, and the seller did some pre-trip work on the car knowing I would be driving the distance in -20 degree weather. He was very fair with the whole deal. My basic rules - don't even look at listings with only one or two pictures (the more pics the better, esp. if pics show lots of details). Look to see if pics intentionally hide traditional trouble spots (worn seat bolsters, etc.). Talk to the seller to get a feel if they know 928's or not. Know rough market prices. I don't know if I would go Ebay again - I took a big chance on the condition but I ended up lucky. Not sure if my luck would go two in a row or not! On the other hand, I've seen some locally advertised 928's that were way over-priced and seemed to be directed at unknowing buyers in awe of the Porsche name.
11-12-2007, 05:16 PM
#29
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Excellent point..."Look to see if pics intentionally hide traditional trouble spots (worn seat bolsters, etc.). " If they carefully frame the photo to hide the bad things what else is being hidden ? And frankly cars which change hands quickly usually are not good cars for one reason or another multiple owners became disillusioned and opted to punt. They are certainly at the point where there is little more depreciation for most of the cars so that is no longer a cost of ownership. I figure that a couple hundred per month is minimum for what it costs to drive ANY car not counting gas and insurance and is just what you owe the car for driving it. Years ago I had my wife (a banker) open a savings account just for cars and throw money in it every month just for future expenses and to cover depreciation since we pay cash for cars and sooner or later need to replace something.
11-12-2007, 07:32 PM
#30
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Ok - I'll go. 88 928 auto. w/63.5K mi. Seller listed as dent in front pass. bumper (was in pic. really a scrape) - otherwise very straight, no accidents signs, interior a little dirty, cracked dash/pod, car sat for 9 yrs. (hence milage - verified CARFAX), runs good, A/C cold (still works - 6 mos. later), small tear in drivers seat (as stated). New TT belts, water pump (verified as new - work was good). no PPI other than myself (a w/e wanna be mechanic) bought $9K. BIN EBay. local inspect (by me) and purchase (northern CA). Basic engine / trans, very good.
Here's what I found wrong - idle problem (dies when cold - diag. as ISV), dash lights partially out / dim (fix was bulbs - cheap), had bad steering wheel shimmy < 50 MPH (bad rims from sitting - originally thought it was alignment - bought cheapo 944 5 spokes for now), power not as good as expected (probably knock sensors, throttle body...). radio tuner **** falls off, small oil leak, radiator leak manifested on the 100 mile drive home (replaced radiator w/used one - ok now).
Main issue is that the intake needs to be taken off and the underlying hoses / sensors need to be refurb. / replaced. Also, could use motor mounts. Large, dirty jobs being delayed pending funds / time. I am installing Murf stage 1 S/C kit - almost done.... Will deal with intake / motor mounts as soon as I have time.
Bottom line - areas to watch - basics (engine / tranny internals / not beat up inside / outside), timing belts / water pump, under intake condition - sensors, hoses, vacuum leaks (this is hidden and expensive), motor mounts / oil pan gasket (mine will need the motor mounts, doesn't leak oil (yet)).
So, I'm basically happy given the relatively low purchase price. I'm into the maintenance to the tune of about $5K not including supercharger kit or fender. A good deal? No, but not a disaster either. Would I do again - yes but only w/PPI from someone I could trust (or maybe I'll have enough for my Z06 by then...)
Here's what I found wrong - idle problem (dies when cold - diag. as ISV), dash lights partially out / dim (fix was bulbs - cheap), had bad steering wheel shimmy < 50 MPH (bad rims from sitting - originally thought it was alignment - bought cheapo 944 5 spokes for now), power not as good as expected (probably knock sensors, throttle body...). radio tuner **** falls off, small oil leak, radiator leak manifested on the 100 mile drive home (replaced radiator w/used one - ok now).
Main issue is that the intake needs to be taken off and the underlying hoses / sensors need to be refurb. / replaced. Also, could use motor mounts. Large, dirty jobs being delayed pending funds / time. I am installing Murf stage 1 S/C kit - almost done.... Will deal with intake / motor mounts as soon as I have time.
Bottom line - areas to watch - basics (engine / tranny internals / not beat up inside / outside), timing belts / water pump, under intake condition - sensors, hoses, vacuum leaks (this is hidden and expensive), motor mounts / oil pan gasket (mine will need the motor mounts, doesn't leak oil (yet)).
So, I'm basically happy given the relatively low purchase price. I'm into the maintenance to the tune of about $5K not including supercharger kit or fender. A good deal? No, but not a disaster either. Would I do again - yes but only w/PPI from someone I could trust (or maybe I'll have enough for my Z06 by then...)
