I noticed a 1989 S4 has been up on an Ebay auction. It is located near Sacramento, advertised as "mint, showroom" with 75K miles. It has "1995 GTS upgrades". It sold today to the high bidder for $15,000.

Anybody we know around here? I guess the market prices for really nice S4s is not *that* soft after all. I almost put in a bid, but I am squeamish about ebay purchasing and I am still waiting for my insurance settlement from that fire that burned up my first S4.

 

One car selling for a relatively high price does not a trend make.

 

Well, this is the kind of really nice S4 I am seeking, so I might have to recalibrate my budget.
There is another similarly nice S4 with 94K miles for sale at a dealer in Studio City, CA.
The sticker price is $15,995.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=280575115911
For reference vin WP0JB0926KS860270

Didn't look so minty to me, but still nice, and 5 spds that are nice have a way of fetching top dollar.

 

I just learned something: If I ever decide to sell my car, I'm going to find someone with lots of exotic cars in his garage, and take pictures of my car in front of it. It creates instant credibility...

One thing that's unusual about this car is that door inserts and seats don't color match. I suspect the seats were linen originally and have either been replaced or redyed. At the very least I'd make the door inserts match.

And I'm not sure I would ever recommend to a customer to put "928 GTS" lettering on an S4. Sure, it can be done, and I'd be happy to sell the letters - but I'd probably suggest a more "honest" approach.

Regardless, I hope that whoever gets this car will give it a good home.

 

The high prices make sense for highly maintained cars.

What tends to happen is the exterior is pimped by the dealer or owner, its looks belie the maintenance needs under the surface, the newbie 928 looker buys it and then gets stuck with a $10K bill for maint catch-up.

Your car looked decent but you bought it high in this market.

Buying a 928, in Californina-speak, is like sitting in the surf waiting to catch a wave. Operative word is "waiting".

Most prices I see are pipe dreams.

 

I can't stand when people put GTS lettering and a GTS tail light strip on a non-GTS car. It's like people who put AMG on a non-AMG Mercedes.

 

FWIW, tracking ebay to establish "selling price" trends is not the way to go, altogether. Ebay only appeals to one market segment - the folks who will buy an ebay car.
There are many other purchace engines which make up the broader range of the segement - autotrader, hemmings, panorama, craiglist, etc. None of those allow you to "see" selling price.
I sugget that we may not have all the pieces to the puzzle to establish a realistic trend.
Yea, we may be able to say the trend is downward. That is fair.
But to suggest a well sorted 928, or many for that matter can't sell for $15-20K, is narrow minded.

 

I feel the same way about people who put GTS fenders and mirrors on a S4.

 

That would not buy mine.
Dave C was right when he said a well sorted 928 is going to run 30 grand, by the time you buy it and get it sorted.

 

Have people actually put GTS fender flares on an S4? I've never seen that before...why not just buy a GTS? By the time you spend all the money on all of these GTS upgrades you'd be better off with a real GTS.

 

If you can do your research, link with another set of eyes that will support you, then budget 25 over a two year period, you can set yourself up for a great ownership experience.

Lots of lattitude, then, in how to move in the market with a clear head.

Otherwise you drive yourself crazy, looking at S4 cars that range from 7 to 19, with all kinds of unknowns, scratching your head wondering why the guy wanting 11.5 has a car that looks, feels, drives and really is far better than the car at 19. Do the research.

 

I wonder why the fascination with the GTS. Its nice, but not that nice.

Other than RKD, everybody else driving them seems to found their weaknesses and paid big $ to repair them.

 

The S4 rear bumper is no longer available. So unless you can find a good used one, a GTS is the only new option.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that. Learn something everyday! But why the GTS lettering?