rgs944

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...fCarsQ5fTrucks

Maybe I should just buy this one. Notice how the guy says the seats do not need redone, and he seems to say it with a straight face while we are looking at the big tears. I know this is a little off topic, but I ran across it and figured some of you guys might want to jump on it. LOL

Landseer

Here, have a mash:

http://www2.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cgi?itm=porsche 928&cat=cp&pgs=100


But, your best cars are the result of...."networking" .

Want to be

I do like that search engine! NICE!

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/2134291259.html ,

try this car and offer $5k. You can always go up on your offers. If the paint is bad, i always drop the value of the car by thousands. Just my 2 cents.

Hilton

If you turn your own wrenches, then it comes down to:

1. Does the engine run and car drive?
2. Cosmetics - paint and interior are $$$$ to fix.

If the car's meets the above, and its a color you like, at a good price, get it.

If its had any of these done, then its a bonus and you'll be starting out ahead of the majority of S4's on the general market:

Intake refresh - knock sensors, breather hoses, gaskets, seals, paint/powder coating
Valve Covers - gaskets, cam chain tensioner pads, oil journal plugs, spark plug seals
Engine Mounts - does the engine rock when revved? If not, they need replacing as its resting on the cross member and the whole car is eating the vibrations.
Clutch - Its a $1500 job to replace all the bits, but they last for 100k+ miles of street use
Timing belt - better peace of mind driving it home, but I'd still dive in and check/do it properly once home, as most timing belt jobs aren't extensive enough.

Good luck

Hilton

Timing belt isn't bad or hard - cost in parts would be $400-$1500 depending on how much stuff is worn and how well the last one or two TBWP jobs have been done (cam gears are expensive and if worn would bump the cost a lot, hence the big range on costs - altho' there's a possible aftermarket solution about to arrive for them that will make them much cheaper).

Talk to Roger Tyson of 928srus.com for a fuel line kit, and about TBWP kit costs.

(my guestimate of $400 is for belt, tensioner roller, Laso waterpump, and some bearings to replace the bearings on the crank idler and tensioner idler rollers - add more $$ for things like rebuilding the belt tensioner, replacing worn gears, replacing leaking seals (oil pump and crank seal, front cam seals etc.), replacing dist caps/rotors, etc.)

stahwille

928S4 w . 5 speed. Gaurds red. w 110k miles......... I know how easy it is to let dollars out run sense.. This auto shares nothing with owning a 944S , 944S2, or 968.. Think double the cylinders, double the weight, double the wiring, double the cost of repairs if / when needed. And forget that I can fix anything attitude. Be smart and buy the 928 S4 that checks out professionally . The 400 mile trip will be short........or the longest journey ..... happy new year MJ

Hilton

Here's the production numbers for North America for each year after 87, sorted by gearbox type:

1987 A28.12 1873
1987 G28.13 548
1988 A28.12 1329
1988 G28.13 465
1989 A28.16 873
1989 G28.12 200
1989 G28.13 1
1989 G28.55 115
1990 A28.16 314
1990 G28.55 145
1991 A28.16 242
1991 G28.55 145
1992 A28.18 45
1992 G28.57 43
1993 A28.18 71
1993 G28.57 50
1994 A28.18 80
1994 G28.57 40
1995 A28.18 47
1995 G28.57 30

(interesting - a single '89 5-speed with a 2.20 final drive.. wonder where it is? Serial #0061 - a no-sunroof 5-speed car)

Notes:
1. The "Gxx.xx" gearboxes are manual, "Axx.xx" are auto.
2. This data excludes all RoW market cars
3. There may be mistakes in Porsche's database.
4. The '92 MY GTS's are the "Early '93" ones sold into NA market

rgs944

Will not have any pics for a while. I did not bring the car home. I am going to trailer it back in a week or so. The TB looks to be on only about 20K miles but is old. I want to give it a good inspection and probably change it before I drive it. There are also some issues to be sorted out with the shifter. They had it in a shop to repair a broken shifter part and something is not lined up correctly now. The boot will not stay on. Overall the car is very straight, only one small ding by the windsheild. I went over it pretty good and see no evidence of any accident damage at all. With a good cleaning it should look nice. It will not be a show car but should look very good on the street with the original paint. The mirrors look the worst but those should be easy to repaint. It also needs some new weatherstripping and door seals. The interior is above average for an 87 but not perfect. The car will take some work but straight S4 5 speeds are hard to find for a cheap price, especially with black interior which is important to me. I paid $7500 for the car. Not cheap if I run into major problems but I think a good deal if I can get it in order with a few thousand in parts and a lot of self wrenching and sorting.
__________________

rgs944

"Engine Mounts - does the engine rock when revved? If not, they need replacing as its resting on the cross member and the whole car is eating the vibrations."

Hilton, This is the one that got me in my inspection. I was reving the engine from under the hood and it was very smooth. I figured that meant the mounts were tight but you are saying the exact opposite. That would explain why I thought the car had a little too much vibration on the foot pedal. I will not know anything for sure untill I get the car in a garage.

Landseer

I think you bought it very well, based on information so far.

Haven't seen one yet that still has original motor mounts that are intact, but its not that big a deal.

rgs944

Thanks Landseer, As long as no big things come up to bite me, I think there are a lot of things that I can do to this car to get it in good drivable street shape. Thanks to all of you for your help and I will get some pics as soon as I get it home.

rgs944

The vin is WP0JB0920HS860337. Does that tell anything that I should know about the car? Since this is the first year of the S4, am I assuming that Porsche started over at 61? So if the vin ends in 337, this should be the 276th car made. Does that sound correct?

cpayne

The folks here are right. get a PPI . Having said that here is what I did.

I rolled the dice on an S4 in Seattle in August. Bought it sight unseen. Had the PO send me all the maintenance records. No recent TB/WP I flew to Seattle and drove it back. After I returned and joined the list, several threads and much info on the car was available by others on the list looking to pick the car up themselves.
I paid 7,900. I have put about 1,900 into it with TB/WP . the car had 155,000 miles on it . I have about another 6,000 of stuff I want to do.

Great Guys from the list Like Landseer, Jadz928 and Kevbolacy. Have helped do much of the work and are teaching me. I love the car and if it has to sit until I can fix it I'm good with that. If the engine drops I'll save and put another in and keep going.
After all any monies I put into it is exchanged for the grin that appears when get on it .
YMMV
Good Luck!
Charles

riviera455

nice story,,,
another one in good hands.

Hilton

Nice car - same options as my white one except I don't have the rear AC:

158 Radio "Reno" - 87
220 Locking differential
418 Protective side mouldings
481 5 speed manual transmission
490 Hi-Fi sound system
494 2 speakers on back shelf
533 Alarm system
537 Left seat with positrol and lumbar
570 High output air conditioner
586 Lumbar support - left seat
650 Sunroof

The VIN sequence does start with 61 being the first car.. however the North American, RoW and Japan market cars were all on the production line together, so there's no saying what number S4 this is out of the factory.