https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/d...665884140.html

I looked at this car today and found it to be grossly misrepresented by a seller who should know better (and likely did). Represented as a low mileage, original car in excellent condition, it was not. Some parts of the car were repainted and very poorly done, with significant checking on the hatch, and a large spot on the front fender touched up very roughly with a brush. Other panels appeared poorly repainted too. The engine and engine bay had been terribly neglected and clearly saw wet and corrosive conditions over the years. The interior seating was fair, with condition typical of a car with 2-3x miles. I took the car for a drive and within 2 miles, the car overheated ... pegged gauge and flashing central warning light. Prior to that, the engine ran poorly and hesitated on acceleration. The odometer did not work, and the tires were very old. The car did shift well. That was it for me. The seller seemed motivated and accepted an offer of $13k (this was before I saw or drove the car). It might be worth $6-7k, but be prepared for expensive surprises when addressing the deferred maintenance and cooling problem. The single stage brown paint is salvageable and could be turned into driver quality with some new paint on some of the panels. My take is that the seller got taken by the previous seller in NJ, and is hoping to pass it on to someone else.

Be careful or avoid altogether,
Dennis

Hi - the ad appears to have been taken down this morning, but pictures from prior ads (from previous sales) are readily available, as Hoi kindly referenced.

Here is the VIN for future reference: WP0JA0929BS820347

I do have the seller's name and address (Ventura), but will refrain from posting publicly. Although he initially comes across as a pleasant, honest enthusiast, he seems quite willing to pass along the same obviously inaccurate information that the previous seller used to mislead him.

As as for the odometer, the trip odometer does not work at all and the main odometer doesn't appear to work properly either. The internal gear is definitely broken, at least partially. Regardless, the overall condition of the vehicle is consistent with a 70-120k mile car that has seen some years of neglect then some restoration (re-covered dash, console, and possibly the arm rests. The engine bay looked like that of a car that saw many wet seasons. The car did shift quite nicely, typical of either a well preserved or rebuilt gearbox. That was the highlight of the car. The engine immediately overheated after 2-3 miles of driving in typical 80F socal weather, despite a properly filled coolant system and functioning engine fan. It had a 928MS radiator. The seller tried to tell me that he had driven the car the day before and it ran perfectly. I don't believe him.

I have an 85 Euro 5-speed and it is my favorite of all the 928s I've driven and owned from 78-91. Their personality is totally different than any other 928 because of the aggressive cam, high compression, rear axle ratio and cat free exhaust. They are real hot rods, with a wonderful snarly exhaust note. I plan to keep mine until I'm dead or until I offer it to Hoi. I also had the misfortune of a broken cam, and the resultant pleasure of doing an engine-out full top end rebuild this summer (with some very helpful guidance by Colin, lizard928). Some parts are unique to this model (just follow the PET), but only the NLA cams are hard to find, very hard. But thanks to the wonderful 928 community, I tracked a correct one down. 4 exhaust valves were badly bent on the driver side due to the broken cam and interference. The pistons were unmarked, and the bottom end of the motor was perfect.

A couple points to note. My cam appears to have broken because the timing gear appears to have become loose as some point in the past (probably over 10 years ago) and mangled the key-way and cracked the timing gear. I suspect this caused a stress fracture at the cam nose that eventually led to a break at the transition from the cam nose to the larger main diameter of the camshaft. Regardless of when the timing belt may have last been done, I highly recommend a full inspection of the timing gears and the belt, rotating bits and tension. I would first look for excessive wear on the timing gears (worn hard coating), which can be done without removing the belt. Inspecting the key-way can only be done by removing the timing gear and not really practical pre-purchase (you could remove the cam bolt and do a partial inspection). If things generally look good pre-purchase, I would definitely do a full timing belt service post purchase, and replace the rollers, bushings and water pump and remove and inspect both timing gears regardless of the timing of the last TB/WP service. Too many mechanics cut corners and don't replace the tension arm bushing, use a cheap water pump and don't properly rebuild the tensioner. Don't let any of this scare you away though. Do this, and you can expect many miles of trouble free smiles and sensational driving with these fabulous specimens.

Now that's the epitome of " bring a trailer"!