XS29L9B

I don't have a 928 because a magazine told me it was an investment.

ThetaTau87

It seemed like the "tip of the mountain" comment was directed at the 5-speed GTS in general and not meant to imply that individual car was the best example available.

IMO the article is spot on. In general the 928 is not a good investment. The exceptions being the most rare and best preserved examples. Most are neither rare nor well cared for and would require far more money than they are worth to put back to original condition or even just reliable/presentable condition. This helps and hurts the 928 market overall. As more examples slip into disrepair the well maintained examples gain value, but become a smaller percentage of the overall market. Average values go down even while the values for the best go up significantly. The values for the best and most desirable cars have and will continue to climb, but the 928 market is far from where the 911 market currently is with even basket case long hood examples bringing huge prices.

Adk46

There are forces tugging at the 928 in the direction of greater desirability. But a big force remains against it - the maintenance factor, both in typical condition at purchase and that necessary to keep them running well. Prescott Kelly at Parade said it directly: a 911 is an easy car to own.

Let's be satisfied with what Dieter Landenberger implied, that 928 owners should feel good about what we do, keeping them on the road, and that others will increasingly appreciate us. Well, he suggested values will go up, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

We are moving from being unsung heroes to ... sung heroes. For sure, George Michaels' Honorary Judges Choice Award at Parade is something to sing about.

buccicone

It amazes me that a lot of buyers of the 928 are not really mechanically adept. They get into the cars run into a problem and they get parked. Then you need $10K to repair it for a $5K car.

docmirror

I've been saying this for plus 5 years. I parked my broken GT about 8 years ago just waiting and waiting for this runup in value to happen. The cheerleaders follow one sale at $50k or higher and start to vibrate about the 'the 928 is going up! Buy one now, they are going to double in price!' Two things wrong with this thought. First, when the basement price is maybe $5k, doubling that is still only 10k, which is the breaker price for an early 911. So you start at nil, and you double it you have double-nil. Second problem is that when you buy one of those doubled in price cars for $10k, you still have to spend another $18-20k to put it in or near that top-tier condition where it will approach the highest value. Now you're playing with fire. You've got ~$28k or more in your pretty cherry 928. You have to sell it for over $30k to make money, but there's a dozen other cars that are avail for half that price.

Sure, there's going to be increases. As 928s get broken up, and parts get harder and more costly to find the remaining examples are going to rise some. If you are looking to make money, best to look elsewhere for a while.

upstate bob

Every time (daily) I open the door on my barn I'm greeted by the most handsome motorcar I've ever owned. I appreciate that I didn't have to fork out a bundle to acquire it and, so far it hasn't attempted to bust my wallet. I tried recording a ride with a helmet mounted action cam (garmin virb) that wasn't too good. need to work on it a little more.

Captain_Slow

If starting out with a car in good overall mechanical condition, decent paint, and a better than average interior (this was the biggest factor when deciding to buy my 88), and being willing to DIY everything except work best left to someone like Greg Brown, then the 928 can be owned for reasonable "monthly payment" (recent responses in another thread from folks who were good enough to do the math and post their results confirmed this - about $200 per month). I, too, have noticed the 33% rise in value of my 88 on Hargerty chart. My ownership costs have so far been low. It came with wheels that bring good money and I didn't think they looked right on a 928, so I sold them. The proceeds have paid for Panamera 5-spoke wheels, and almost all of the parts I've replaced. Had I not had the wheels to sell I'd still be well under $100 per month (NOTE: I have used Roger's lower cost motor mounts option, HVAC blower, and HVAC vent actuators. I had no choice but to use Porsche trans mounts, and wanted to use a new OEM ATE master cylinder and other small Porsche parts). So far, so good. The nose really needs to be painted, but I went into this with a plan to put cosmetic stuff off and give the car several years of "forcing me to fix stuff" before thinking about painting. The cam cover gaskets are weeping, etc. but ironically switching from the regular motor oil used by the PO (it was new 20W oil when I bought the car and I put about 3000 miles on it) to Mobil 1 15W-50 has reduced the weeping significantly. Very minor cleaning twice a year keeps the engine clean....no drips ever. The original paint on the cam covers and intake are not peeling yet, so I let it be until running problems dictate it's time to do a refresh to fix vacuum leaks, etc. But when I do the refresh I want to copy everything Curt did...even sending the little bits to the same plater so I can get the same "wrong" cad plating

In summary: I'm happy to experience folks at C&Cs loving the 928 as if for the first time...and the values rising at a rate that will likely pay for most of my hobby, including sending my transmission to Greg for a rebuild. Of course I have to DIY everything I can, but this is more than half the reward of owning the car. Can't complain if rising values cover a significant portion of ownership costs (as others have stated..this is only true if starting off with "good" to "very good" condition car and nothing tragic happens).

Snark Shark

Seems that cars that depreciate a lot tend to stay that way, but it's mostly psychological, and therefore temporary. People run into a repair or multiple repairs that cost more than the value of the car, which makes them balk at the repair cost. Then the car sits, or they keep driving it without repairing it. Then the market gets flooded with basket case cars that make the whole model look bad. But eventually people figure out that the ones that are in good repair are actually really good cars, and prices go up. I suspect with 928's it will take a long time to play out since people are so reluctant to scrap them for parts. I blame the longevity of the 928 bodywork and engine for that. But of course, that's not a bad thing in the long run either.

hb253

This is certainly one of my motivations. This part of NJ is crawling with Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis, but 928's are a rare sighting indeed.

Hugo

corellian vette

I have a soft spot for cars with niche audiences and are bad investments

My other favorite car of this era is the BMW e31 (850 and 840) from 1991 - 1997.

There are a lot of similarities. Not only in the intended target audience when new, but in how the secondary market reacts.

Like the 928's, the cars have an avid following, are actually well supported by parts (both OEM and aftermarket), and have an unfounded reputation for being hard to work on and hard to get parts for.

Thus, they are hard to sell but also really good values if you can find one. You get a lot of car and a lot of performance for the money. You get something you don't see very often but everyone recognizes and admires. AND, they both have rare and desirable top-end models. (850csi and 928gts) although I think the GTS is more expensive.

And both are favorites in my collection but are terrible investments.

voskian

I have been driving 928s for 20 years now, why, because I really like the looks of the car and how it drives. My first 928 bought in 1996 with 23k mikes cost $25k and sold it 17 years later for $18k, after putting an additional 75k miles. I kept track of all expensive abd maintanence and it averaged ~$120 per month!

I'm now into my second 928, and even though it is worth more now than I paid 3 years ago, it will probably be my kids problem what to do with it when I'm gone...you just need to drive them and enjoy them.

Daniel5691

LOL the side window on the Hagerty site says a 1981 928S is worth around $10,000.
No way I'd sell ours for that. Not even double that ! And it's still mostly in boxes! !

Crumpler

My original window sticker says 55 grand...I'm holding onto mine until it appreciates back to that amount.

Wait, that was 1986, what's that equal in today money?

hb253

According to http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm it's about $120,500 in today's dollars.

Hugo

Crumpler

Well, there you go Hugo...there's no way I'm willing to take a greater then 50% loss on my money!!
I will now hold out until $120k.

Wait, should I factor in what put into the car?
That's going to be tricky, I stopped keeping track a few years ago...