sidehatch

Please dont bash me,as im not going to post anything silly anymore or have been,but now im in a dillema that i would just like to get opinions on.My 89 s4 is really nice i fixed alot of cosmetic things,and im really surprised at the condition,and the car really makes me happy,although theirs bangs here and their and whatnot,but those can be buffed out.The question is the car has 107k i paid 5grand,the 1st owner had it for like 5 years the second owner who i bought it from put 45,000 miles on it in 14 years.Is this car worth putting money for a mechanic to totally fix it up,or even if i knew how to fix the car myself,would it be worth it because the mileage seems to high to me to invest so much money,is the goal to find a low mileage car and fix it up,or do you take a car with mileage like this and rebuild engine.Its the mileage thats starting to let me down because im thinking,if i go and change all these parts,isnt the engine just getting tired and worn by now,im new to all this and need guidance.

largecar379

5 g's for and S4 isn't too bad....if you didn't have to put another 25 g's in it to make it tolerable.......

928 engines (that have been properly maintained) have seen mileages go past 250,000......so, if you are really attached to the car, and are willing to care for it responsibly....yes, it's worth fixing the little things (see above).

Twenty year old cars, regardless of marque, need a little care every now and then.

Good luck-

--Russ

Jim M.

107K miles is nothing for these cars. We have a local car with over 400K on it and the heads have never been off. Now, on the other hand these cars can eat up a lot of $ just trying to get the cosmetics correct. Pictures of your car with all angles and details shown will let all of us give you a better opinion.

sidehatch

Ok i will get photos tomrw and post link i have some here nothing much http://www.flickr.com/photos/2622791...7607837341285/

cold_beer839

Doesn't look all that bad from those few and crummy pictures.

As others have said, mileage is not what hurts these cars, it's the lack of mainteance that some of them have experienced.

If your car has no TBF issue, then look at the other big things first, like TB/WP, trans service, tune up, etc.

eugkim

As others stated, the mileage is not high. My questions - why did you bother buying if you didn't plan on keeping it running? What else will you do with it, part it out?

Ispeed

You are in for cheap and an '89 a/t is a great 928. If you can focus on the necessary mechanicals and not get carried away, you will do fine.
107k is not much at all.

Please don't ask any more stupid questions. Use this place to help you restore the 928, and use the search function before starting too many threads. Every topic has been covered many times before.

Leon Speed

Yes a '89 AT is a great car (not that I'm biased). All of the cars here have more or less high mileage. Besides, they are all 15-30 years old. I say have your car mechanically checked by someone who knows these cars. Then decide what to do.

Shark Attack

If it is infact a nice car with nice interior and it is straight. I say keep it. You have 5 K in the car now. Lets say it does have tbf, another 3-5K for an engine.. you are still under 10K for an 89. 89MY is an awsome car. Sadly we have this "high milage" fear built into us in the US with the magic 100,000 number being taboo. You are talking about a car that can no longer be bought new. IMO milage has nothing to do with the value of the car anymoe.

Fabio421

The car looks great for $5k. Do you have any mechanical inclination? If so, buy a set of work shop manuals and do as much of the work yourself as you can do. It will give you a confidence in the car that you can't get any other way. The WSM's can be bought for very little money if you buy the CD version from Jim Morehouse. The paper WSM's can get pricey @ >$500 a set but they are worth it. For now I would go with the CD's and then buy the paper WSM's later if you feel the need. Thats what I did.

Jim bailey - 928 International

If as you have stated in other threads you only have "a few hundred left for repairs" or that you are currently "BROKE" it sounds like you have few options. You should EXPECT that every visit to a Porsche mechanic is going to cost $1,000 MINIMUM or at least the estimate for repairs . Nicole just posted that she spent $12,000 in her first year of ownership on a car that was PPI as being in good shape. You have a broken oil breather hose on top of the engine that means an air leak into the intake and an oil leak into the V . Fixing that properly is an intake R and R which means intake gaskets , all the hoses , knock sensors , flappy valve and idle stabilizer , hall signal , etc. Parts alone total about $1,000 ! Labor is probably 6-7 hours maybe more by book time so that is $700-900. If the paint is peeling on the intake that is the time to refinish it .... more time and money. You seem like a nice enough fellow but the ice you are walking on is very thin and the water below quite deep.... For example rebuilding the engine with new pistons can easily cost $10,000... customer in NY was recently quoted $14,000 to rebuild her engine ...the last new GTS engine from Porsche cost about $32,000 !! When your auto trans takes a dump our good guy price for a rebuilt is $2,495 plus shipping and a 10 hour R and R by the mechanic of your choice....the radiator for your car is about $1,200 from Porsche or $895 for our all alloy special radiator. I could go on and on but I doubt that you are interested.....

dprantl

I find that a huge plus for me. More power to the stupid people. I look for cars that have just crossed 100k miles that have documentation of being maintained properly. The truth is, there is a very comprehensive service at 90k miles and if it was all done well, the car is good for another 100k miles. I've been buying cars like this for 10 years and every one of them has been a great car (a 928, two 968's, many SAABs, etc). IMO buying a 15 year old car with 15k miles will bring you as many problems as a 15 year old car with 300k miles, albeit different ones. The only low mileage cars that are exempt from this are ones that are stored in a climate-controlled environment all their lives, but good luck verifying that.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft (daily driver just a few miles short of 210k)

SeanR

Sidehatch,

You have mail. Don't let these guys scare you away.

Mike B

Alright, if Sean is open minded then so am I.

My only caveat is you read what others post. If you want to learn then this is the only way.

SeanR

We were all noobs to this at some time. These cars are not MBG's so when emotion takes over logic and then the realization of what a person just bought kicks in, can be overwealming.

I think he's the real deal. Hard as hell to read his posts due to punctuation and the like. Hell, I can't spell worth a damn. I got a good e-mail from him asking for some advice so I went with it.

Let's move forward from here.