bowerbird

I'm going to be driving a couple hours tomorrow to look at a 1979 Porsche 928. The owner has had it since 1987 and has made some pretty encouraging claims about the condition of the car.

It is a manual transmission with only 80K or less. I like the sound of that but it has not had a timing belt replacement since 1996 or so, when the car hit 60K. It is also a non-original color. It was originally green but was re-sprayed to guards red. This was done by the original owner, before 1987 and cost him 5K. I know little else about the car, but it seems promising.

He wants 5K for it. I have had difficulty knowing how much the 928s are worth. The prices are always all over the place. If anyone can give me feedback on the info I have, I'd appreciate it

pcar928fan

Prices are all over the place and come down to condition, condition, condition! Show me a super nice 928 (and model year) and I would say it is worth 2X the "normal" selling price of and average 928 of the same year.

As for T-belt... no worries on a 4.5L engine. If it breaks you will have to get the cam timing right again and put a new belt on... no big deal at all! That said, it would SUCK to be in the middle of nowhere and have the belt break and strand you! So, replace the belt, but don't worry to much about it breaking...it won't hurt anything.

It could EASILY be a $5k car... Interior needs to be SUPERIOR and the repaint needs to be AWESOME, but other than that if it seems to run well and in particular if the A/C is working, man I think $5k would be fun times!

Landseer

Not enough info, unfortunately.

Best advice is have another highly knowledgeable 928 person look at it.

You might plan at minimum to take great pictures and post them up here for a quick perusal.

Where roughly is the car located?

JHowell37

A lot of people here have bought much newer examples, for much less money.

pcar928fan

^^^^^
That is true, but many of them probably could have been parts cars more easily than turned back in to nice DD's. I am assuming that this car is ABOVE average and BETTER than DD status, thus $5k might not be a bad buy...

Landseer

If the timing belt hasn't been done in 14 years one must question its entire maintenance history.

bowerbird

good point. Although the owner brought up the topic and said he had it done on schedule miles wise, I'm not sure he accounted for decay over time.

pcar928fan

Then I guess you should question the maintenance of my '94 GTS and my '88 S4...they went 10 and 11 years between T-belt changes... btw, for those that saw them at OCIC, they were a couple of the finest cars there and both were driven in trouble free... I don't think someone not doing a t-belt for awhile has little to do with how the car was handled or treated...

Landseer

James,
You are optimistic.
Come to think of it, we have seen fantastic cars popping out of the woodwork lately.

bowerbird

I'll take some photos of her and put them up later today.

deptotpr

Just like the Nike' commercial. "Just do it!" I have a 1978, and she loves to be driven. If the maintenance history is weak, like mine was. Start over. Change the oil, drain the tranny, refill with new gear oil, place some new bushing for the shifter, and drive it like it's stolen... Porsche' are designed to be driven! Cannot wait to see pics....

Jerry Feather

There is a beautiful 85 928 on eBay right now that will close out this evening. It is a 5100 now. It sounds and looks to me like about 3 times better than the one you are comtemplating. It is in Alabama. It has about 65K miles, sport seats and manual. The pictures show paint and interior in excellent condition.

Have a look.

Jerry Feather

Mrmerlin

take a peek at this gem, it may giver you an idea of what you dont want
5K for an old car thats had a color change is too much IMHO.
Plenty of older cars pop up with original paint and a service history. That also may need some work .
Remember its a better idea to look at a few and drive them, as each car will have slightly different characteristics and you may find a hi mileage car will drive better than some garage queen.
Bottom line dont be in a hurry you will find a nice car 5K can buy a lot of car for a 928 just depends on how far your willing to look

pcar928fan

I am an optimist for sure...always have been...

kccampro

Repaints that are not in the original color always worry me... the amount of work requiried to do it right is extensive. You should be able to tell fairly quickly how thorough the work was... just pop the hood. I agree about the interior... it needs to be fantastic.