juddtaylor

Thinking about picking up a 1986 928 that just came up for sale pretty cheap ($2k) locally.

About 160k miles, AC not working well, and auto trans, but it runs. Sounds like the interior ain't too hot, though.

Worth it?

What should I look out for while inspecting it (not likely to get it up on a rack)?

For reference, I drive a '99 C2 with the euro S motor right now.

juddtaylor

Also, what's that auto trans like to drive? Can you manually select gears at all?

Darien

Maintenance records are key with those miles. Rocket had 145k miles when I bought 10 years ago, but the PO had a stack of records to go with.

I manually shift my AT 99% of the time

SteveG

Yes you can. If the cables are adjusted properly it is pretty impressive. Roger Tyson, i.e., Rogerbox is a proponent.

He is one of our parts suppliers and talkative if you get him during a rare slack moment. Call his shop, it's on his sig line. "Beware the brogue"

Some go as far as a manual kick down switch. There are threads here on that.

I forgot the original question. $2000 sounds pretty rough, needing 10,000 to make it a 5,000 car.

juddtaylor

Those don't sound like good numbers to me. So you're saying really good condition 928's are going for around $5k?

I hear you on maintenance. I've put almost 70k on my 996 since I got it in 2006 (daily driven, plus a bunch of track miles before I had kids, of course a new motor in 2008 helps). Unfortunately, it's at the shop getting like $10k in work done to it as someone ran a red light and tore up the front end

depami

http://www.willhoitenterprises.com/car633.html

Wisconsin Joe

I'd read the "New Vistor" sticky if I were you.

Lots of good info on what to look for. Unfortunately, a lot of the good links are dead (they died with the person who ran the site).

If you don't want a project, if you aren't a "bottom feeder", if you aren't really, really dedicated (and at least a little bit out of your mind), then find a better car for more money.
The adage that the "most expensive car in the world is a cheap Porsche" is very true (and not exclusive to Porsche).

Randy V

Which ones?

Wisconsin Joe

There's still a link to Dan the Pod Guy's site in post 5.

But most of them have been removed. My mistake.

linderpat

Not any more. I don't think you can get a decent car for less than $10K, that doesn't require a lot of work. And a "really good" one is going to be a lot more than that. These cars are starting to catch on.

RedPanda

you know their listing price is 33k......

James Bailey

There is blood in the water and a bit of a feeding frenzy going on.....the tide came in and ALL the Porsches have seen a rise in perceived values.... most 928s are still 1/2 or 1/3 of a comparable 911 it just that the 911s are now getting silly money except for the 996 .

juddtaylor

Wait, what? I've been here 7 years longer than you... I'm not exactly a new visitor.

fiatrn

Judd Taylor
I think the other poster suggested reading this link bc it has some 928 specific sections on checking out used cars and getting them back on their feet if they aren't well:
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...questions.html

The first section is about Rennlist, but then there's some 928 stuff.


I know very little about the auto transmission, but it isn't a paddleshifter or a tiptronic in the modern sense of nudging the shifter for up or down - it is more of a classic automatic setup.


I recently hunted for an '86 for awhile before finding mine. Things on 928s in general I learned to look for:

- electronic tomfoolery. Several of the relays (located under the passenger footwell) can work poorly with age and especially with sitting, and can cause all kinds of oddball behavior or failures

- the heating system runs off vacuum. a leak in the little vacuum hoses can cause odd symptoms like no heat or only heat or the flap doors acting up.

- window switches are a common failure point, and the sunroof switch can also be recalcitrant. It seems the contacts get dirty and then the switch fails

- these engines are interference engines, so not letting the timing belt go too long is a good idea - if the owner doens't have a date and mileage, then plan on changing it. Some say plan on changing it anyway.

- steering racks can leak

- the airpump system can work poorly, resulting in weird running. the airpump has it's own belt and can be disabled, or removed. Penindg where you live, this can matter or not.

- ABS lights can have two reasons for coming on (and shutting off the ABS): a sensor problem or a faililng/intermittant/failed ABS relay

- just bc it is so old, look for leaking or failed shocks.

Like any other car, check for damage, maintenance, water inside the car, used car basics. The 928 was quite the fine car in 1986 -- 5 litre, lots of power, advanced for the '80s w ABS, power seats, heated windscreen washers, fancy stereos. They've dropped significantly in price compared to new, so some cars seem to be in poor condition bc they were not well maintained.

For a price point, I paid 9500 for mine and drove it home across 3000+ miles without trouble. It isn't perfect, but is quite nice and exactly what the owner told me. I've found it sensitive to tire pressures (set them how the manual tells you and they car handles great!). The driving experience is nice, very much a strong solid GT, not as flickable as a little 944 but very nice in the curves. Someone said the car is bipolar - a great cruiser and then happy to roar down a twisty road. I agree.

Jonathan
Denver, CO

Jetdriver69

From someone who has been there twice, you can easily spend 3 times what you paid for the car to get it up to excellent shape.

A quality paint job stripped down to the metal with windows and doors out can run 5-7K easily.

A 5K car can be a 15 to 20K car quickly, especially if someone else is doing the wrenching. If you are doing the work, it WILL run into 100's of hours.

Pull an engine for rebuild or change an AC evaporator and add up the hours.

Of course, every job also has a list of WYAIT jobs that it is stupid not to do while things are apart.

Do yourself a HUGE favor a buy a sorted example that needs little or no work.

Just because a car has low miles and has been stored or sitting idle for years doesn't mean a great deal.

Rubber will be rotten, gaskets leaking, electronics doing all kinds of goofy stuff. Not to mention worn synchos, bad clutches, leaky steering racks, old shocks, the list can be endless and very expensive.

Not to dissuade your purchase, but stay away from POS examples. Unless you are looking for a full nut and bolt restoration or building a stroker monster where $ is no object, buy the absolute best running and cosmetically pleasing example you can afford.

Leave the $2000 cars with an endless list of problems to the parts car category.

You will spend the money, either now or later. It is inevitable and unavoidable, unless you give up on the project and the car goes to next investor.

Good luck!