huskydog

Looking at a 1988 928S4 5 speed, guards red/tan with 39k original miles. Mint condition, all records wants $22,500. Anyone have an opinion if that price seems reasonable?

goodspeed928

Not to bad, "HAVE IT LOOKED AT"
Other wise have fun with it.

tdelarm

If it were indeed “MINT”…then I’d say you are in the ballpark but if you have to pay for “catch up maintenance” due to neglect then the selling price should reflect that. Items to watch for are oil pan gasket leaks, motor mounts, t-belt/H20 pump (due to age-not mileage) clutch, torque tube, plug wires, brakes ect…Obviously a Pre-Purchase Inspection is in order and a must as you already know from owning one.


Trust me, as I’ve gone this route with an 88 S4 w/ 36k miles that I bought from Brian Buxton @ Buxton Motorsports in Illinois advertised as mint for $22,500. Pre-Purchase Inspection showed leaking head gasket (was supposed to be oil and was reassured this but turned into a coolant leak due to poor previous owner coolant changes) oil pan gasket leaking, mice living under the intake and knock sensors chewed through, T-belt/H20 service needed, plugs, rear AC leak, all belts & most hoses needed replacing (which I did myself) and, rear tires needed replacing. Soooooo…….final bill for the mechanical service, which took two months…$5500….OUCH!

I paid mid $18k for the car plus the $5500 for mechanical service totaling around $24k. NOT A GOOD DEAL IN MY BOOK as after receiving the car I had to put another $3100 total into correcting the T-belt rebuild that “Foreign Performance” of Illinois botched, new plug wires, replaced a leaking radiator which cost $800 and a transmission cooling line for $200. ALL these items should have been caught in the PPI along with the missing belly pans so I could either pass on the car or have the price dropped to compensate for the repair bill. So even with a Pre-Purchase Inspection, I’ve learned you have to be careful. Needless to say I believe Brian Buxton made a killing on this car…O’h well!

My point being is I believe you are in the ball park IF…AND I REPEAT IF…you don’t have to go through what I did. Does sound like a nice car though. Nice color combo.

Let us know what happens.

Tim Delarm
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Scott G

I've had a similar experience as Tim with my 87 which I boought with 68k miles. The PO said it was "mint" which was an exaggeration but still it was a nice car in original condition. I paid $21500 which I felt was a little too much at the time. It cost me $4300 for a new clutch, A/C work, LH controller and a host of small maintenance items. I knew the clutch and A/C were not great but didn't expect to repair them so soon. I've also done a lot of work myself to get it into excellent condition. Still, I have a long way to go before I'll be satisfied.

I'd probably feel a lot better about my purchase if I had paid a few thousand less. Oh well, I had been on the fence for a long time and I'm happy to finally own a 928. I just hope my bank account can take it.

Jerry 87 928S4

IMHO the price is high. It seems that anything pre-1990 is usually under $20k.

The well taken car of model year 87 - 89 are in the $15k - $19K range with the 5 speed combined with low mileage getting the top dollar.

In contast, I paid too little when I bought mine and too much within the first 6 months - but I cant see driving anything else.

DougM

Rarely will you find the perfect car. Always budget an extra few thou for the first year fixes because not all owners may have been as **** as yourself. I, personally try to fix everything and therefore bury myself in the car. Some people don't mind rattles or driving on a 10 yr old timing belt. To each their own. Many people don't fix until it's broke so plug wires, water pumps etc won't be changed. These are old cars with many little maint. items, so there will almost always need to be something done, even with a pristine model. These things spent time in the shop when new, so they definitely will need mainteance now that they are 8-25 years old.

srv

The key here is not just a PPI; it's a PPI by a 928 mechanic.

Prior to buying my 928, I had the PPI done at a Porsche dealership as I did not know at the time that a 'genuine' 928 mechanic should be looking at the car.

Well, the car got a clean bill of health (..all cylinders were either 150 or 155 psi) so I bought it. What a great car! I lucked out despite not having an official 928 wrench look it over as sometimes, a good car is a good car, regardless of who looks at it.

The point is, a competent 911 mechanic does not necessarily make a good 928 mechanic as they don't know the nuances that comes with a mechanical relationship.

So go and look as hard as you can for a bonafide 928 mechanic, and take that yummy sounding car to him and have it checked out. It'll probably cost you $200-300 dollars, but it will be money well spent.

And if it checks out, offer him $19k and see what happens.

Man I wish my 928 were a five speed!!! <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

Brent 89 - GT

Seems high to me. I am also on the hunt for a shark. That kind of money gets you nearly to 928 GT territory, a much more rare, desirable model IMO. I think the others have made it clear that just because it is low miles does not mean it will not need work.

BTW, there is a low mile black/black on ebay right now. It is in Iowa and only bid to $12.5k now. There is also a VERY nice black/tan bid to 17k, that is near the high end on an S4 IMO. Best of luck

huskydog

Thanks to all who have responded. I looked it over and found the following myself, electric seats (both passenegr and driver seat) do not travel forward or back but all other functions work, the memory seats do not work either, I think whoever put the stereo in may have caused the problem. There is no cover for the rear hatch, in fact one of the retainers has been ripped from the interior.

As for general maintenance, probably much would need to be done as I can see signs of rubber drying out, and the gas struts that hold the hood open do not work. I would have my 928 mechanic do an inspection, pending nothing major i would offer $18k and see what happens. I'll post if I get it.

DougM

regarding the seats
Did you try them with the car running or not. I thought I had problems with my GT and then decided to try them with the car runnung. Cheapest fix I've ever had on a 928.

BC

ON the seat movemen - doe sit click in either direction, or simply not try and move at all?

The rivethat holds the rear floor cover is kind of put into the fiber board with an alloy washer/flat nut, and break easily. It is also easily fixed.

I assume the car is in maryland?

For comparisons, I purchased my black/tan (prevously tan - only thing I don't like) 89S4 5spd with 37,600 miles back in October 2000.

It was a texas car that was previously owned by a Chuck Zachman of pristine-GTS-ownership fame.

I wanted black or silver. 5spd, and specifically an 89 as it has the higher final drive ratio for a bit quicker step-off.

This car was perfect in many ways. Since then I have found that it WAS perfect in most ways. Some wierd hidden stuff under the dash and in teh back for readi install, some clipped wires, and a bumper cover that looked great, but was repainted incorrectly twice, and now needs to be bead blasted down and redone.

I paid 24k, and was happy to. I wanted a low milleage, unmolested S4 5spd, 89, and got one. I lived with the tan interior long enough, and sold it in perfect shape to pay for a new interior redo.

Anyway, thats this man's story. It fell into my lap, and I feel lucky for the chance to snap it up.

Good luck with your search, and anyone else that reads this. BUt when looking at good or perfect or "okay" examples, just ask yourself if you want to "drive" the car or "work" on the car.

Gretch

On the seats, the switches can get cranky, especially if the seat is in the full forward or full back position. when I have the problem with Gretch, I just rock the switches back and forth a bit until they "take". The problem then goes away. I suspect oxidation of the contacts and that may be the reason the previous poster has luck with starting the motor to get a response, (slightly higher voltage).