This was not really a question about "pure math" of a car. I'm a car guy, I get it. The emotional draw and the money spent are never really equal to the "pure math" of what you end up with when trying to sell it.

It was more a question about "For $X amount, would you buy or not by a particualr car and why" More of a "Tipping point" question. To see where people start to "Draw the line" as far as quality, condition vs price before they wouldn't buy a specific car or not, using examples from ebay/craigslist as the case studies. All wrapped into one thread so that if some one wanted to, they could read the whole thing.

I really was not interested in the car I posted. I just used it as an easy example since it was a 200k mile car for $8 when I have seen other say mid-100K cars for the same or less money. Curious what are the ins and outs of a car that some see the value in vs the ones people don't

 

Odd looking gearstick - its not a "GTS short shifter" whatever that may be (GTS factory stick is the one from 91GT, shorter than 88 S4 one, but nothing like the one shown).

Get the VIN number and make sure it was originally a 5-speed, and not a conversion.

The interior doesn't look great (possible crack in dash picture and leather looks rough), plus at 200k miles both interior and paint will be ratty.

Hold out for a lower miles 5-speed example with better paint/interior that needs mechanical refresh (almost all S4's on the market need $5k worth of parts, even the ones asking $20k). If you're really lucky you'll find a non-running ("it ran when it was parked") GT or late 5-speed S4.

 

Most here will say that the value on an S4 is for the maintenance done, the car is free. The maintenance can really pile up on cars that have had minimal maintenance done over thee years. Even if you are good and can do it yourself it will take some time and the parts prices are always going up. Once you do all the big jobs it should be pretty solid for a long time.

big jobs:
intake refresh (aka "full monte"): plugs, wires, caps rotors, knock sensors, MAF sensor, injectors cleaned, temp sensors, vac lines, hall sensor, wot switch, isv, cam cover gaskets, new paint/powdercoat on cam covers/intake...

motor mounts/pan gasket

timing belt/cam gears/water pump/tensioner rebuild

a/c rebuild with compressor, O rings throughout, expansion valves, etc

radiator (they last 20 years...)

suspension (lasts 20 years or 80K whichever come first)

clutch+master/slave cylinder, hose

LH computer rebuild (all will need it, $660)

and smaller stuff...

They are great cars, and the "brotherhood" is the best. When you have a 928 you will have many 928 friends!

 

I would say yes. If you can wrench on it, who cares how many miles are on it. Parts wear out, they get replaced and you move on. If the basic core of the car is sound, you can keep it going a long, long time.

 

Cole
In the past 3 months I have purchased (2) Euro '84 928s. First was a nice driver with a new repaint, coilovers, 18" wheels, good interior but far from perfect for just under $10k. Blew the timing belt and decided to buy a second as a donor to help make the first far better. The 2nd car didnt run, was rough and I paid $2000 delivered to my door. It has a much better later model trans that i wanted.
The second $2000 car would have taken far more than $8000 to equal the $10k car. However, the $10k car is far from perfect. So now, when I am done, my $12k plus some expenditures and sales will net me a much nicer first car. What the worth would be is anybody's guess. If this confuses you as much as me, then you have learned nothing from my post.
In the end, my car will have a fresh repaint, coilovers, engine out rebuild, re-wire etc..., and hopefully start.
I sold the parts roller after I stripped it for less than the value of the coilovers on it. Basically, there is no logical value to these cars today.

 

 

Cole, Yep... no rhyme nor reason. You'll find completely overpriced pieces of junk (any year) all day long or on the same day you could find my car... 86.5, 5 speed, $4k worth of wheels, with the brakes / suspension of an S4 and the early "shark" front end... Not perfect by any stretch but very nice inside & out for $11K - pretty much middle of the road price-wise but looks & runs like a much more expensive example! Great cars at decent prices are out there, but you gotta move FAST and prices vary DRAMATICALLY - without much consensus or rhyme or reason... Hope you find what your looking for

 

Could this be a car for you? Gold or Fools Gold..........??????

Gold County 1983 5 speed

I keep looking for 928's....someone please stop me!

 

Sweet. Ostrich??

 

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/cto/2300897187.html

 

I think the reason that this thread hasn't existed before is because the question does not lead to any consice answers. There is no general "what's it worth" for these cars. The variations are endless, differing by year, model type, option list, condition, location, color, etc.
The best you can hope for is to post up examples that you are considering and asking what we think about the price. However, if you have read this forum for any length of time, you'll see that we generally, as a group, trash prices here, so we aren't even a good litmus test either.

 

The problem with the question raised in this thread is, what is worth it for one person may not be worth it to another. Some turn their own wrenches, some don't. Some have parts cars available to fix up rougher looking examples. The opinions are endless.

That said, perhaps give us specifics of what you are looking for and we will give you our opinion whether it is worth it to you or not and we can post examples that will work for you.

 

'86.5 rulez

 

Cole,

I think you got your answer. NO.

As a yardstick, members have indicated that a top condition 88 with everything working, avg miles (100-150K) and well documented repair records is 15-20K.

Just reading the CL posters words it is hard to really assess the exact condition of the car. The poster talks about taking care of everything, then lists basic items that need attention that he should have done, if he is the type of person he says he is. Also the ad is in Denver and he suggests you have a guy in Anaheim, CA check it out for you, WTF.

Given the experience of the posters here, the guess is it will need 8-9 K of parts. With the proposed benchmark of 15K for this year and model, the car is worth 5-6K "if" doing the work yourself is your thing. If doing the work is not your thing, and given that shop labor is usually more than the parts then the car is worth less than $0.

On the idea of a Worth it or Not thread I would vote no. I have been a member on here since Jan. What I have noticed is that members seem to post nearly all the ebay, CL and other ads nationally several times a week. These posts seem to all attract a lot of attention, but I think they can be made better. For my 2 cents I would propose that the moderators instead set a standard for these sor of sales related posts. I would suggest that it be a requirement that the title clearly lists: the year, model (i.e S, S4, GT, etc) and the location (city, state). This would make it easier for someone interested in a Euro or S4 or whatever to search the posts and educate themselves on price, problems, etc. It would draw readers from a particular location to focus on commenting on the ad, i.e. they have seen the car, can check it out, etc. And it would draw out owners of similar years and models to comment.

 

If you do a search of this forum "s4 5 speed for sale" you will see a bunch of threads including some examples of cars which sold in the last year. You can use Advanced Search to only see results from the last year also.

A few results:

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...rine-blue.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...n-antonio.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-for-5-7k.html

"What's it worth" threads are generally pointless unless someone like Stan has looked the car over. Too many unknowns just looking at an ad, and with a 928 those add up fast. Then you end up with the old $5K purchase + $10K in repairs = a car worth $10K, when you could have spent $15K on a nicer car from the get-go, suffered less, and realized a better value.

-Joel.