How would folks who drive their 928's routinely describe reliability as compared to other Porsche's of the same age?


I have an 86 911 now and I'm looking for a 928 S4 to replace it. I've had a 928 before and it was a great car, and very reliable. My 911 has also been excellent, I put 5-7k miles/year on it and would do the same on a 928

I'm reasonably handy, and would do all routine work my self, but would likely farm out bigger jobs.

Thanks!!

 

I have used a 928 as a DD in the past. Wonderful on the freeway however a bit laborious around town. I was surprised at how well it handled the snow!

 

Not an issue should you be up to date on maintenance, also ensure a JDS rebuilt brain.

 

Drove my 79 for 10 years as a DD. No problems.

 

87s4 aut.

my comments would be:

(1) if you overhaul/maintain no problems whatsover.

(2) the 928 will consume more gas that the flat 6. as a dd, you need to consider that cost.

(3) if you are in stop and go around city....the turning radius etc on 928s4 is a bit cumbersome, but great on highway. obviously the smaller size of 911 is better in tight corners and city urban driving etc and probably better torque curver lower from stop. the s4 is better after 40-50 mph etc

 

Proper maintenance and she'll be good with any car that age.

Almost 160k on mine. I've put about 6k on her in the past two or so years myself. Granted I prefer using my Nissan as a daily, the more I fix the Porsche the less driving time my Nissan gets

 

Thanks for the insight,

I have a jeep that I drive as my year round daily driver, so this would be a dry weather, 2-3 days/week driver.

I've seen a lot of comments on rebuilding the "brain"- I'm assuming this is the LH F-injection main brain?
what goes wrong with them?-solder joints coming loose?

On my previous 928, I did the big service, IE-timing belt/ water pump, tensioner etc..... and after that , drove it a ton for 3 years, and have 0 issues. I guess my worry is if because of complexity of these cars, are they getting to a point where age is making the electrics fail?

 

In 14 years mine has only "died" once and that only delayed me 30 minutes to fix it. These seem to be remarkably durable cars, but they have some idiosyncrasies, nearly all of which I learned about by hanging out here. Once you are familiar with them, like I was when mine "died" on me, daily driving a 928 is a great experience and good solutions to the common issues are easy to come by here. A lot of the 928s that seem to have more than their share of problems are the ones that languish undriven for long periods of time. I'm out in mine nearly every day and don't baby it. All I do is scheduled maintenance. There are some unscheduled repairs that are wise to do (like replacing old fuel lines), but I generally avoid fixing things that are not broken unless they fall high on the wise to do list. I've never owned another car that was so durable. It just keeps going. With proper maintenance and some precautions to preserve the cosmetics, such as using ~100% occlusive window shades on all windows outside, available from Hooked on Cars, my car looks and drives almost like new.

 

50K as a daily driver, including a number of high mileage (>1K) trips, no problems- the more I drive it the more I love it.

 

If all the deferred maintenance is brought up to date, and then you keep up on general maintenance, a 928 can be a great daily driver. It's a blessing and a curse... love to drive it, even in traffic, but don't like putting the miles on it. They do LIKE to be driven! I've put over 120k miles on mine since I got it, most as a DD.

 

The electronics in general are quite robust, the LH is a special case. Part of the circuitry is on a ceramic "hybrid" circuit, which does not age gracefully and will fail at an inopportune time. The rebuild replaces that with a modern PC board as well as general freshening. See John Speake's website for more info: JDSporsche.com

Other electrical problems tend to be heat or corrosion-related wiring issues. Heat and age also take their toll on fuel lines. That can all be dealt with by careful inspection and replacement as needed, there is nothing special about 928's in that regard.

The one thing that has left us stuck is the fuel pump, they last a long time but not forever, and generally don't send up any warning flags. We carry a spare for long trips.

 

In terms of the service work, they are pretty much like any other cars. Things get old and fail: wires, hoses, bearings, seals, alternators, compressors, power steering racks, fuel pumps, etc. If you are hooked into the community here parts availability is not a problem and parts costs, while higher than an old mustang, are mostly not worse than your 911. Failures seem to come in waves. I'll have a bunch of things fail one right after the other, then a year or so of reliability, but again that is just old car. The bigger problem would be a lack of knowledgeable mechanics. Much worse than what you have seen in 911 land. Even the dealer is generally worthless. I would say your first step would be to hunt up a local mechanic who is considered to know 928s and like working on them. 2nd step, of course, is to find the best car you can that has been driven regularly but gently and worked on by someone who knows what they are doing. That is different than finding a car where no expense has been spared at the dealer. My GTS had over $60K in service records, mostly from the dealer, but the flex plate tension had never once been checked or released and, and the belt tensioner had been assembled totally wrong.

 

I've been driving my '82 daily for the past 5 years and it has been trouble free, go for it!

 

great info- and falls in line with my experience on my first one, back about 14 years ago.

Is the LH computer brain re-build a plug an play, IE-send out your unit, and plug in the new one?

Mechanic wise, that's great advice. I know all the local guys, but I think I only know of one in the greater Boston area who specializes in 928's- anyone out on the North East that folks on this board recommend?

I'll do my own work on; brakes, tune-up, oil change, suspension, but I'm not sure I'd do a timing belt/water pump.

 

Sent LH out to Rich for a rebuild at http://www.electronikrepair.com/
He did an excellent job.