eotku

I am a new to this forum and have been looking at buying my first 928. I have loved the 928 since it was introduced. I now have a chance to buy one but don't have a lot of money. I have found this one located in Vancouver Wa. http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/5721257391.html. The owner is older and can't drive it much anymore as he has health issues. He bought it 5 years ago and has been stored for 10 months of the year when he is out of state. This is his third 928 and loves these cars and seems like a super honest person and really wants to pass this car on to someone who will dive it so it just doesn't sit. It runs and drives great but the dreaded torque tube nose has started (not too bad). The interior is the worst at it has spent most of its life in California and looking like some of it outside. But Seats are good and the electrics seem to all work. Car has never been in a wreck that I can see and looks like the original paint except for the hood. He has reduced the price to us alone to 5K as he would be putting it back in storage soon as he goes back to his primary home. So does this sound like a good deal? It is the early 86 model. I am a car guy and have feel I can do a lot of the repairs myself. I'd appreciate any advice you all would have. Thanks in advance.

GT6ixer

Welcome! That is a nice car and for $5K and it runs a drives you are way ahead of the game. I bought my first 928 3 months ago sight unseen and not running for 5k. I am about $2k into a top end refresh and fuel system clean up. You WILL need to spend money on it eventually but if you bite it off in small chunks it's not so bad. Lots of threads about the cost of ownership and the guys that have owned them for a while average anywhere from $100-$200 a month. YMMV.

Biggest thing on your car is that it'll need a timing belt if not done in the last 6 years and rubber fuel lines and power steering hose. There has been a handful of unfortunate fires the last few years attributed to these lines.

Read the New User sticky thread if you haven't already. It'll tell you 90% of what you need to know.

And most importantly have fun and post lots of pictures when you buy it!

zekgb

Is the paint original and does it show as well in person as it does in his pics? If it does that's a huge plus, if you can live with the interior it seems like a decent buy. Be aware that this car is at the age where the big ticket maintenance stuff is coming due. Besides the torque tube you'll need to address the fuel lines immediately if they haven't been done yet. Then it's on to the intake and timing belt/water pump. Less critical are motor mounts, oil pan gasket and all the other leaky bits in the engine bay (though PS and AT lines are also moving to the must replace list as potential fire hazards.) Does the AC work? If not plan on 1-2k to get it working again (if you need it in Portland.)

If you can turn a wrench and budget for the big ticket maintenance items these cars can be incredibly rewarding to own and as long as the paint is good on this one it's hard to go too wrong at that price.

eotku

The interior needs both rear leather quarter panels, dash, door uppers, instrument Pod, shifter and the door, hatch rubbers etc, I know the costs can really add up. I really want to keep the total investment to around 12K if possible at least for the initial amount if it. I feel the cosmetics of the car could cost a lot if I'm not careful but the mechanical seems solid.

zekgb

Yeah I think you might be able to do the interior work and get the mechanicals caught up for that price but it will be close. Before pulling the engine for a burnt valve my timing belt/wp/intake/ignition refresh had a parts only price of $3700.

eotku

Thanks for the advice. The owner said that the person he bought it from had just done the timing belt and promised the paper work for all the maintenance but it never came. So belt, water pump, idelers is on my plan if I buy it as its all the rubber hoses etc. The plan is that I want this to be a driver so mechanical first... cosmetics last. I have painted many cars in the past so I am not intimidated by the work. Just most of the cars I worked on were domestic and not european so this car is a little out of my comfort zone.

GT6ixer

I guess it all depends what you want the car to be initially. Even though it seems mechanically fine, unless the owner has many thousands of dollars in maintenance bills you can spend that extra $7k very quickly. Now if you want to roll the dice and wait on TB/WP and flammable fluid line replacement (which almost no one will advise) then $7k will probably get your interior looking really good.

Personally I've gone the mechanical route first. My car's paint is not original nor in great shape. So for now I want it to be good driver then I'll slowly refresh the interior. A full respray maybe in 10 years.

Adk46

If you promise to make the car better during your ownership, you have our permission. You can work on it at your own rate, using your own judgment. We will help you. But it must not become a "shredded blue tarp" car, so sell it to GT6ixer before that point (I sense he will need a new project soon - I don't think he sleeps.)

docmirror

Looks nice from 30 feet. If you don't mind the work, pick it up and get going.

Fuel lines first! Then inspect the timing belt and water pump. Not sure if it's needed but have a look. 85/86 is kind of my favorite year.

Michael Benno

Good looking car, reasonable price. I'm local to you, If you want to go check it out I can help. Alternatively, bring it to A&P repair in Portland for a ppi, they know 928's well

Your budget is reasonable, I'd say go for it if there are no big issues

eotku

Well I pulled the trigger and she is not sitting in my garage in Oregon City.

eotku

The 35 drive home on the freeway was amazing. The car drove great. Purred like a cat (big cat) and hands off the wheel straight. Once I got back off the freeway and close to home and below 15 mph speed it developed a rhythmic grinding noise in the front left wheel. It brakes straight so not sure what that is but am sure it will be pretty easy to find. The more and closer I look at her the better I feel about the purchase. I think she is in pretty good shape and just needs some love. Thanks Michael for your offer of help. It's good to find someone local I can ask for help if I need it. I'm sure we will meet soon!

eotku

I'll post some photos this weekend as I clean her up.

eotku

I meant in my 6 post the she 'IS" sitting in my garage. (Need to proof read my posts)

James Bailey

Ok you got one !!! take it slow and carefully plot out what you do from here. Typically it needs a couple grand or so of upkeep per year so if it was neglected for 4-5 years there really is probably $8,000 to $10,000 of repairs needed to be a truly reliable daily driver ready to take off on a 1.000 trip with no real worries.