The Deputy

If you are mechanically inclined, buy the best garage kept 928 you can find/afford. If you are not, buy the best garage kept, sorted out/well maintained car you can find/afford. I've owned my 84 a couple years now, and after spending the first winter catching up on deferred maintenance...it has treated me pretty nice. Drive it daily during the summer months and the longest trip so far has been a six hundred mile excursion, which it handled easily. I'd hop in and drive it cross country at the drop of a hat.

Now, if you said you were going to buy two land rover discovery's, a 01 for you to make into a trail machine and a 03 for your wife's DD...then I would say you were crazy...actually...extremely crazy.

Brian.

ashmason

I have very little to add to what has been said other than to tell you I have a 90GT that I drive daily. It was a little neglected when I got it in 2010 and had 178k on the clock. i drove it back to LA from Colorado Springs and it made it just fine. Since my time is limited and my back is not tolerant to spending too much time working on things I take it to Greg Brown. I like to think of it as doing my part to keeping such a wonderful specialist available to us all

Now just about everything has been checked or replaced I have no worries about jumping in it tomorrow and driving coast to coast. Sure something may happen but unlikely.

As a counterpoint, today I drove a DB9 for the first time ever, what a wonderful and special car... I am considering buying one but its hard to justify because I have the 928 and am nowhere near ready to even think about selling it, not even for an Aston!

safulop

I don't agree. Mine is going up for sale, and I had the timing belt and water pump job done in Spring 2015. Why would anyone do it again now? Plus my transmission has been well-maintained, I had it all cleaned out and a filter kit put in a few years ago. I don't think the fluid is an issue in my car.

safulop

It's funny to see that, because now that I can afford a more modern car, my 928 is out of here like yesterday's toast. I mean, it's been great to drive my boyhood dream car, but really it is just way too old now to be a reasonable vehicle. The main reason I bought it was because it was the most awesome car that $14K could buy. I think it possibly still is.

StratfordShark

I can understand this, but only in the context of a daily driver where the car is more of an "appliance", and the mundane nature of most trips makes it more bearable with all the modern equipment like sophisticated climate control, parking sensors, Xenon lights, decent audio, and a more hushed cabin.

But as a more special car for high days and holidays - when driving should be an event - then for me the 928 is far more desirable than anything modern. I was thinking just this morning walking along London's Piccadilly, and was passed by both an R107 Merc SL and a Jag XJS. They looked wonderful compared with anything modern - original and thoughtful designs with such strong identity.

But then my 928 is a bit of a garage queen, but what an event when she's on the road, and what fantastic handling and poise and quality. In that respect she is superior to my '06 Saab Aero.

danglerb

There are many nice cars in the world that share one or two characteristics of the 928, but only a tiny handful that share more than just a few best in class features. The 928 is a classic icon of its time both in design and function, which still stands well in comparison to any other car. A full of torque muscle car Porsche is a snapshot of the past that won't be repeated.

Maybe its best and weakest point is the cost, cheap to buy, still has the expense of a Porsche to own and keep nice. That attracts owners who can't afford to keep them nice, and never get to enjoy the full experience of owning a nice well sorted 928. Many of those owners are still pretty happy with the 928.

Also seems to me that 100% of the owners of the really nice 928's that are kept in top running condition are very happy with them with no intention of selling.

marine928

agreed

safulop

I see where you are coming from; since I can only own one car for myself (wife has family car), it is case of not being able to "have everything." Having owned nothing but distinctive 1980s Porsches for the past 17+ years, sometimes without even AC, it will be quite a change for me to drive a car with all the modern amenities you point to. But I found that I didn't want to do without the distinctiveness, so I am replacing the 928 with a Maserati. Hoping the grass is greener on the other side...

safulop

Agreed it is a beautiful classic, and unique among Porsches. My main problem with maintenance has been bad luck or poor quality of replacement parts, which has led to multiple shop visits to fix the same problems over and over, replacing the replacement parts. Over the past few years I have had to replace a replacement heater valve which began to blow coolant everywhere, a replacement steering rack, a replacement MAF (which took months to diagnose because nobody thought it could be broken already), and now my replacement ISV is suspect. It's just too hard to keep rolling when stuff I thought I had fixed keeps falling apart again.

C4911

I loved my S4, it was an awesome driver but had electrical issues. Quite costly unless you do your own wrenching. One of the best touring cars I've ever driven. Good luck whatever direction you choose to go. To re-iterate, there are lots of knowledgeable people here more than willing to help, it's a great site.

Fox_

Step 1) Buy the right car from the right people and be willing to do your own wrenching.

Step 2)Enjoy classic porsche greatness.





Disco owner for six years now.

Never stranded me, I'll give it that.

RennPartsDirect

You're not crazy for wanting one. The crazy doesn't kick in until you start buying more than one of them...

Koenig-Specials 928

All the help for DIY, parts and everything you've always wanted to know about this car can be found on this site.

However, if you don't drink, you will.
Also you will become real good at swearing once those cuts and bruises starts appearing on your hands

docmirror

I find the commentary theme on this thread to be quite oxymoronic. Almost everyone says some form of; 'yes, good for long trips, good daily driver', and then in the very next sentence some form of; 'be prepared to work on it yourself, and use rennlist help for maintenance'. While these may not be directly opposite statements, and there is a healthy dose of truth that you will need rennlist or one of the experts to own a 928, that would seem to argue against using the 928 as a long distance trip machine.

So, I'll get some hate for that, and maybe that's ok in the 928 forum. I make a lot of trips around the south, and southwest US. A lot of trips from TX to NM, OK, CO. TX is also a very big state, so I get to put on some miles, and know from whence I speak. The 928 is not really a good traveling machine. However comfortable the 928 is, my truck and my new Subaru are decades ahead in driver comfort. I've driven two different 928s from DFW area to the mtns of CO, and while I may not have the keenest and most up to date 928s, both of the trips had failures along the way that would have stranded me, if not for some tools, and knowledge of the car. Anecdotal? Probably. I also drove a poorly maintained 928 2000 miles across country recently, and it performed well for a 30 year old car with little maint history. But - I keep wanting that appliance type comfort, economy, reliability, and the 928 just won't deliver.

Another case in point is that we have a half dozen named experts in the community and these guys are the support staff for the car. I know several of them have got in their TRUCK, loaded up tools and parts and made a several hundred mile trek to get a 928 back on the road. Where if it were a Toyota, it would have pulled into a local import garage and be back on the road in a short time.

I don't think you're crazy to want a 928, I love them too, but as for long distance - be prepared to spend plenty on keeping it on the road, and always buy the AAA premium plan just in case. Sorry folks.

ThetaTau87

I think you're being unfair to the 928. You're comparing apples to oranges with a well worn 928 vs. a new driving appliance. What did you pay for your truck and new Subaru? I'm guessing it is at least as much if not significantly more that buying a completely sorted 928 with all known and potential issues addressed such as Rob Edwards recently did with that Cobalt blue GT. That car sold for $35k. A non-GT would sell for even less in similar condition. Now consider what that $35k will will buy in a new car, not much. IMO there isn't anything even close to a 928 in terms of performance and style that you could get on that budget.

Of course a newer car will have less potential for issues and a mass produced car will be easier to source parts or a mechanic, but you also have to make a HUGE trade off on performance and driving enjoyment to drive a Toyota vs. a 928. When it comes to enjoying a long trip in my 928 vs. the potential of having a break down and driving an appliance to avoid that risk I'll take the 928 every time. I can enjoy the 928 every mile I drive and break downs of a properly maintained 928 should be very rare.

I also really don't understand you saying that a truck or Subaru is decades ahead of the 928 in driver comfort. Are you talking about actually being comfortable in the driver seat and with the ride quality or modern creature comforts like dual zone climate control, infotainment and the like?

For me my 928 is the most comfortable car I've ever driven on long distances. I prefer it over my wife's Audi Avant that has a smoother ride, but not nearly as comfortable seats and is a bore to drive on anything but long highway stretches. I also prefer the 928 over my parent's new Lincoln MKT. The magnetic suspension gives a great ride, but as much as I try I can't find a driving position nearly as good as the 928.

My 928 has HID headlights that are as good as any new car and I installed a new stereo head unit that has the same ipod/mp3/bluetooth phone connectivity as the newest cars. Even better is that as technology moves on all I have to do is replace a $250 head unit, not buy a new car. I really don't see how a modern car has anything up on a 928 in the driver comfort category unless you're hung up on gadgets.