Alan

Sorry I meant that positively (as in $5K or more) - it looks sharp.

Obviously interior, accessories and engine are also important...

Alan

ilikebig928butts

hey IDF

You got yourself a vintage >>>PORSCHE<<< for $5k. Even if you spend another $10k to get it in respectable working order, you're still only $15k into it. These days, $15k would get you as far as a sub-compact Hyundai would. Get some perspective and appreciate it. But dude, your ride LOOKS mean. When I got my '84, it was no where near as nice as yours. (Still isn't) But I've seen put in about $6k into it and I can almost out run the CHP now... Trust me, invest in your '82 and she'll hug you around every corner.

snoz

Now you have a 928, and now you will find out how badly you want to keep one. "I dont want to get into a money pit". Well, 928's are money pits pretty much by definition. I made an impluse buy on my first one, got burned, and later went in for a second (with much more info). I dont' regret a minute of it.

The body/paint on your car looks great from the pictures. The important thing is that you have found the place that will guide you in your 928 journey.

MainePorsche

Caveat Emptor.

You KNOW that you can't trust a stranger in a business transaction.
When I took mine in was in CA moving to Maine, and I picked the car up myself in Indiana (if I remember correctly) on the way. I had all copies of of the parts and service done on the car(the PO was a Lister and meticulous) sent to me before I gave a deposit to hold. We entered into a written agreement regarding the deposit given to hold the car till my arrival. This agreement allowed my backout with complete return of deposit for any reason. I was in, on, and driving the car prior to final exchange of money and paper.
I've had no surprises.
You bought a 30 year old car, sight unseen, from a stranger.
Sorry to sound so grim. Hopefully things won't be grave, and you can repair with your own hand. I enjoy working on my 928, and it makes owning it that much more meaningful.

Bill Ball

So, the car age limitation does not apply if the damage is drivetrain? I didn't know that and I wouldn't interpret what eBay has written in item 1 that way.

I understand your concern about the tranny. That's $2-3K right there. But with a bad clutch, there is not much you can say about that yet. MAYBE the clutch just needs bleeding. I'm thinking a brake fluid flush is called for (nearly always neglected), and that might help the clutch (bleeding would include the clutch slave - responds best to REVERSE bleeding), although it is likely it may need some other clutch parts. That's not cheap either. It helps if you can do some of the work. The clutch on the 928 is actually very easy to service - well, I mean, it's very accessible unlike some other Porsches, and with guidance available here, one of the more owner doable jobs. It's even easier if you find another local 928er who has done one before. We've had clutch parties in my area. Get a few owners together with a case of beer and...we usually can get a clutch done without anybody dropping it on their head.

MainePorsche

+1

karl ruiter

Sorry to hear about your disapointment. I do buy cars of ebay, but only total basket cases, so I have never been disapointed. If it had not been driven much lately, it is possible that the alternator was charging and the shifting was good a few days ago and just went bad. Perhaps not likely, but these cars don't like to be left sitting and when you start driving them after a long period of sitting sometimes a bunch of stuff fails. Alternator is not a big deal and will effect power as the battery drains. Shifting could easily mostly be a minor clutch issue or a shift linkage bushing. These cars are not known for shifting totally perfectly, but sometimes with a linkage or clutch repair thay can be made much better for small $. If the spoilers are stock, then it is a competition group car, which should be a fun car to drive when the issues are sorted. Good enough power, great brakes, nice handling.


Looked at the ebay pics...Ljet motor=comp group, I think.

Nicole

Can't say much about the mechanicals, but the car looks very beautiful - much more than the average $5k 928.

I don't recall seeing it at the OCIC in Dallas, but then again, there were too many cars, and I kept getting distracted by an amazon green metallic 91 GT Euro model with Porsche Exclusive interior and supercharger.

Avar928

I can recommend some good 928 shops in the MD area. Good luck with the car, it looks pretty sweet actually.

I "inherited" my 928 and am fixing her up between shop visits and my own garage. I've already put down over $3,000 and I have yet to scratch the surface. I expect to spend another $5-6k just to get her up to spec and with the modifications I want....and that's all before body work and paint. I can tell you this, it's well worth it though. Even though she's a rough cutie on the outside, she pulls hard and sounds great.

JHowell37

I'm in the DC area and I can take a look at it. With a few exceptions, there really aren't any good 928 shops anywhere. Most places always f*ck up something, do it wrong, or over charge for trivial work.

The brakes and clutch could both be an issue of needing to be bled/flushed. And the transmission might work better once the clutch is bled. At worst, the charging issue could be a bad alternator, in which case, rebuilds are readily available.

Charley B

Yikes. So given that criteria you buy a 30 year old European sports car for $5K.
Did you assume you had found the biggest sucker in the world giving away a pristine problem free supercar?

Any 30 year old car that is not costing you restoration type money ($30K) upfront is going to have a fairly involved deferred maintenance list.

Get the charging system sorted out, adjust the clutch and see what you got.

Good luck.

SMTCapeCod

Some folks have had work done by Taylor Chapman, at his Porsche shop in Sterling that should come up via a web search. His name comes up frequently & favorably in a local Porsche message board. I was told he is proficient with 928s though I haven't had work done there.
There's a shop in Annapolis as well that escapes me. A couple more near Sterling but I've heard at least one bad story about both of them.
There are a couple of guys tending to focus on OBs but with knowledge of newer models as well and one of them is in your vicinity. You can try to hunt down a local Rlister as well, to see whether he/she would look it over for you as well.


Edit: PS, why can't I delete posts anymore...
;-)

And regarding allusions to 'supercar' status...in its day, perhaps.
This is an '82 US. The purchaser is coming from an A8...which is very heavy and faces parasitic HP loss from the AWD, but is still starting at a 340HP (depending on year...and that may be S8...) baseline IIRC with a nice torque rating that I don't recall. While the 928 sets a different tone from the coupe styling and sportier appearance...its not going to deliver more punch, except perhaps for the manual/auto difference off the line once its sorted. Should be a huge delta in braking/handling, just want to temper expectations about acceleration.

Mike Frye

idf,

It looks like you may have skipped a few steps in your search for the 928. Were you looking for one or did you cast a wide net on eBay and end up with the 928 by default?

A $5k 1982 5-speed 928 is going to be one of the following:
> good to very good mechanically and a little rough to look at
> good to very good aesthetically and have some mechanical problems
> good to very good in both areas but sold at an unadvertised estate sale in an empty room

Or some combination of the above.
The car looks very good cosmetically and that's a HUGE plus. Seriously most of the DIY guys on here would pick it up for that in a heartbeat knowing full well that the entire engine, trans and running gear could require major work. As Stan (MrMerlin) said, it's a 5-speed too, which is another plus. Cosmetics on a 30 year old car can be expensive and most cars of that vintage have some issues in that department.

I don't think you're going to get any satisfaction out of the seller or eBay on this if it runs at all, which apparently it does or at least did when you got it.

It all depends on what you really want. If you wanted a 928, you got one for (what looks like) a good price for what you got, but it will require some work. I'd take JHowell37 up on his offer and let him go over it with you. He won't BS you and he knows his stuff.

Then you can decide if this is the car for you or if you want to pass it along (should be able to get close to what you paid just based on the appearance of the car if you ask me).

idf

I wrote the guy again last night and he wrote back that he was not surprised and felt misled by a guy that wore his ex military officer status on the sleeve.

I didnt ask about the feedback, but the guy sounds like he left feedback and discovered the problems after the fact. He said there was a laundry list of undisclosed stuff.

I can say in general his description of his experience seems to mirror mine.


My A8 is a 2007 with 365 HP / 350 lb-ft. Yes, the AWD does sap power, but the car still does 0-50 in 5.9 seconds and runs very strong.

I understood this car was not really going to be much faster, but should have that special feel which I can tell you it does not. The car literally crunched my first time thru the gears. Things were immediately obvious like braking and thinking 'whoa I may rear end this car'. I wasnt driving fast or anything.

I'm used to the high maintenance bills in general and have read the comments about the need for investment, etc. I am not new to cars. I am new to owning classics. By that I guess what I am saying is that I just expected a higher level of disclosure so I could make the judgement on whether I wanted to make the investment or not. I was given the impression that I got a really sorted car that mainly needed interior work.

idf

Thank you guys, I will reach out via PM


I have to read this in more detail. I dont know what the ebay policy really is. I thought I read it one way but now I read it another. I dont really know what protection I have here.

After letting the car sit overnight, I see that the real transaxle has a drip that has left about a soda can size spot.