Why a 928 ?
 

To some money is no object, to others they will go without to save for their toys, Out of all the less quirky,better performing and cheaper cars why did you buy yours ?

I didn't buy mine, more like inherited it. I won't lie though, sometimes I'll choose to drive my Nissan over the Porsche because it's more reliable, ride is smoother and it's easier to handle but boring. I'm sure whatever year I'll finally be able to afford a '12/13 997 Turbo S (savings combination of price depreciation, hard investing and living at home) that it'll be a much nicer ride than the 928.

Even with all the shortcomings, when I get behind the wheel of my 928 I just seem to forget all of that because I'm having too much damn fun. For me, having a 928 is like having vintage American muscle with that throaty beast like V8 with the elegance and styling of a European supercar. You just can't get that anywhere.

While my reason for "buying it" was that it was free, I'll never willingly sell this car for another.

I'm on my 2nd one, my 87 was totaled. I bought my first one without knowing really any thing about the car other than I liked the looks of the S4's.

I got lucky finding this site, with all it's information, and the other owners I've met, and friends I've made are more valuable than the car. The 928 is a very special car! It's comfortable, fast, handles great, and there isn't one parked on every street. I'll be keeping mine for a few more years, my grandson loves it, so it'll be his on his 16th birthday. Only 3 more years. I'll prolly buy another.

I know how you feel about parked at every street. I live in an area infested by Mustangs, Corvettes, STIs, Evos, AMG Mercs, etc.... They are amazing machines, quick and sound amazing but there's so many of them they aren't special anymore.

You don't see many Porsches around let alone 928s. Within a 5 mile area of our house there's only 4 others, a Cayennne, 944, Boxster, and a 991.

A V8 engine, sporting image, styling that still look great today and technically innovative when designed..... affordable !

Well what else can you buy at the same level of a 928 with the same purchase price?

We bought it to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary (now we are golden). Picked it up in Stutgart, drove it down to Austria for a ski vaction/wedding anniversary celebration, then had it sent to the states. That was 26 years ago. Unlike a lot of folks in this forum, we spend just what is necessary to keep it running properly. We can't afford some of the wild "hobby car" expenditures that we read about in this forum but we do enjoy the car.

Mine landed on me at a total first-year ownership cost that was competitive with the cost of a new Accord or Taurus at the time. Excepting tires, the operating expense and depreciation combined has favored the 928 for the use I give it. I would be on my third Accord... So, which way would you go, given that choice? Personally, I enjoy the 928 just a bit more than I might have enjoyed either the first or second Taurus.


Life's way too short to be stuck driving boring cars.

I don't know what else you have been looking at, but I think it would be very hard to find something with better performance, durability and reliability for the same or less money. At least that was certainly true when I bought mine about 14 years ago. Plus the 928 has what I can only call a "soul". It feels like a fully integrated, living thing, not just a bunch of car parts. I feel this every time I get in and turn the key. There may be some cars with better performance specs for fewer dollars now, but they don't have the timeless design and the innate soul of a 928. This car actually makes me happy.

I've beat the living crap out of mine over the years, loading it up with a supercharger, flogging it in Nevada many times averaging over 150 MPH for 100 miles at a clip, doing block long burnouts, shoving it unmercifully around the local twisties, and it just keeps going, motor unopened, original tranny, original TT bearings. It only failed me once in that time, when the LH brain died on the way to work one day. That's one of a handful of quirks of which you need to be aware (Relay! Relay! Relay! being one of the others). I knew what it was almost immediately and one of the 928 vendors, fortunately nearby at the time, shuttled over a replacement within 30 minutes and I was back on my way to work.

If you have some alternatives in mind that can do what my car has done, go ahead and list them.

Oh, and as to why I bought mine - I wanted a "sports car" at the time, having grown really tired of family haulers, and my wife said it still had to have 4 seats so I could haul the kids to school if needed. That led me on quite a fruitless search until I discovered the 928. Nothing with 4 seats (and the 928 rear seats do qualify as seats, at least for kids) had the same level of performance and features and was still "sporty". Perfect!

Because I wanted to replace my 944 with another Porsche and the 928 made the most sense. For the money I could afford, a 911 wasn't going to be a good choice. The ones I found were far more money for a similar age/condition/mileage. The 944 wasn't going to be much cheaper as far as age/condition went and is a lot less car, from a performance point of view. I loved my 944, and would be keeping it if I had a two car garage and a bit more money, but the 928 is so much more of a car.

And I agree with Bill Ball. What car gives you the performance of a 928 for similar money? It's a genuine "supercar" capable of 150mph. It handles both very well and very forgivingly. It makes a bad driver look pretty darned good, thanks to the suspension.
He's right that is has a level of "soul" that you don't see very much. And decent examples can be found for well under $20k.

A better question would be "Why NOT a 928?

I kind of like the e36 M3 coupe. Their prices are very low ~7000-9000. May not be as powerful as the S4 but I think it would be a cool nimble little car with low maintenance cost compared to the S4. And Manual versions are not hard to find. The E46 M3 is cool too with prices as low as 15000, 6 speed manual ones are not easy to find, there are more automatics out there. But they have frame crack issues. Rear control arm mounting points crack and break off in severe cases and their front shock towers deform and crack too if you drive it on too many bumpy roads. Just Google E46 frame crack.

I had bought my first 944 in 2006 and went to a club meeting when a beautiful 928 parked in front of me - It was game over immediately. Then it was only a question when the 928 fever rises to levels that are not possible to withstand - and they I bought my ''his masters' voice" last summer.

Yes, it has faults and yes it's not as reliable as our family transportation cars (being a late-model CR-V and LandRover FreeLander) but the sensation you get when that V8 pulls you to your chair and you hear those twin exaust pipes sing their song... priceless.

Something about the 928 has to make you smile :) And that is ALL that matters !

Because it's a 928.

Either you get it, or you don't.

It can't be explained.

I liked the car from the moment it was announced which was about when I graduated in 1976. I went overseas for the first time in 1978 and promised myself that if i earned a bunch I would try to purchase a 928- then I got married!

The 928 fire never died, family came along, houses, other priorities etc moved over here in 1990. nearly purchased a 87 S4 but they were still too expensive for my by then degfraded bank balance due to major house purchase. The opportunity to join the fraternity finally arrived at the end of 1998, the oil price collapsed and I was out of work for a year. the oil price picked up, I started restoring my 1990 Guards Red S4 - got it ust about perfect and then 6 years ago some tw*t on a mobile phone took me out and i had to start again. Picked up the GTS with shot TBF motor and carried on from there.

Why? I llike good value in anything I do- not cheapness- but quality at a good price. This concept confuses a lot of people. So, I have a car that in 1992 cost in the region of US$100k- I purchased it with TBF'd motor at a knock down price-an immaculate chassis with no dent history. Fettled my S4 motor and fitted that. did the usual bits and pieces and it has lasted me 6 years without any significant problem until now wherein some of the wiring is falling to pieces- not a big job to rectify.

With lots of help from my 928 friends I have a car that looks almost new, handles like a dream, sounds better than any V8 I have heard and goes quite well and I xould probably sell it for more than i put into it 6 years ago. That is what I call a no brainer. I now also have some great 928 friends up in Dubai and whilst I sort out the next round of problems I have just acquired an immaculate 2006 Cayenne Turbo S to keep me amused and does that thing go!

I have driven various Porsche offferings and whereas they will leave the 928 for dead in a straight line they do not inspire like the 928 does. Give the old girl another 150 bhp and all that changes I reckon.

Some of my friends wonder how I can run cars like these- I wonder how others can afford not to!

Regards

Fred