I own a 914 and have been looking at the 928's and thinking about getting one, am I going to be disapointed going from a 914 to a 928 and why are the 928's selling for so cheap on ebay?

The front engined water-cooled cars just don't bring the $ that some of them deserve.
To me a 928 would be the car you took on long hiway drives or to/from work if you wanted a car with A/C.
The 914 is your driver car. The one you really enjoy putting your gas foot down where everyone else buts their brakes on.

The cost to maintain a 928 is very very high.

Go over the maintenance records carefully. If the owner doesn't have any records, run away!

I had a '89 928 GT 5pd, awesome car! I disagree with the cost to maintain. I put $0 into mine the year I owned it and drove it 65 miles a day to/from work. you cannot beat 325HP/torque. it will not handle like your 914 for obvious reasons, but your 914 is not going drive like a 928! the 32 valve ones are extremely fast even by todays standards. the most solid feeling car I have ever been in hands down.

hey gearren,

i was born and raised in n.b.!! my parents are still there, i was just there a couple of weeks ago. next time i'm up there i'd like to hook up and see your 914. not many 914s in that area.

doug

Every other Porsche costs more to maintain than a 914 and they are all harder to work on than a 914. Some are a little harder to work on like 911s and some like the 944/928s are a lot harder to work on and require expensive/specialized tools to do certain things. I think the biggies on the 928 are the clutch ($1000+), and the 45K mile timing belt change ($1000+). There's also a clutch tube issue on some of the 928s.

I think if you go into it knowing that you are getting a lot of car for the money and just anticpate paying maybe $1000/year on average to keep the car on the road you'll do fine. If you find one with a fresh clutch and timing belt you could probably drive many years without any repairs.

Just make sure you get a PPI from someone that really knows these cars. I'd also suggest driving a few and doing a lot of research about the common problem areas. I'd give that recommendation to any classic car buyer.

And you could even do everything right and still come up with a problem that cost $3K to fix. That's the risk you take with classic cars that MSRP'd for big dollars when they were new. If you can't cover the worst case scenario then you shouldn't be playing with old German cars.

I drive an '84 low mile 928 as my daily "modern" driver. I can't argue with any of the preceding comments. A 928 is a great car for the $ IF you get a low-mile, well maintained and documented car. They are out there. I just bought mine with 44K miles last month. I sold my '81 80K car on ebay. I drove it for nearly 2 years and 13K miles with nothing but oil changes and $300 in failed attempts to fix the AC. The belt/water pump had been done shortly before I bought it. I think they are great cars (I have owned 5 starting in 1989). DO NOT buy a "project" 928. One downside with today's $2 gas, expect 12-14 mpg in town and about 20 on the highway. Great cars.

Just sold my 78 silver 5 speed for 5,000 dollars. Bought it 13 years ago for 8,300. Put 11,000 in parts during that time. Never left me stranded just required parts as any 25 year old car would. Fast and solid. In 70MPH heavy traffic this car rocked. just squeeze the throttle and you were cutting through cars like nothing. Stomp on it and down shift and it was scary fast.

So was the car expensive compared to say a 78 vette? don't know haven't seen a nice one in so long I can't say. But year for year it whipped the vettes hands down.

128,000 miles and never had a valve cover off. I did however turn nearly every other bolt on the car.

I own a 928 and have for the past 4 years. It is a great car! If you just do the normal maintenance they are probably one of the most dependable porsches. I bought mine with 68k miles on it and it now has about 110k. Torque tubes, timing belts and water pumps are the things that get talked about most....If you can do your own work they are not expensive items to deal with. For your info though, mine has the original torque tube in it and sounds fine...water pump and timing belt I changed at about 100k miles...was a 1 day job.

It handles unbelievably well for such a heavy car. Is killer from 70+....and people still ask me if it is a new model that Porsche came out with.

Will you like it better? Well, I drive a 914, a 911 SC and a 928..they all are great to drive and all are very different. Best thing you can do is drive one and see what you think..that is what is important.

The thing to be aware of is electronics...this car was the upper upper end of porsches when they were made and are crammed full of electronics. Run from a car that has had alot of patch around wiring done or look at the relay/fuse board and make sure everything looks proper and not "garage mechanic" patched. This car was considered an exotic that you can drive every day in it's hey-day. Most of the body is aluminum (fenders, doors, hood) rear quarters and roof area are steel..they are built like tanks. The weisach (spelling?) rear end is a work of art and very effective.

The engines/tranny's are solid as rocks...and you can drive them all day and get out of it refreshed like it was a 15 minute ride.

Don't be scared of 100k mile 928...that is when their engines are just getting broken in...these cars run much better the more they are driven. I'd be leary of an older 928 with very low mileage...seals will be hard/maybe cracked and replacing engine seals on this car will cost. Find one well maintained, good records and that is driven regularly.

About 80% of all 928's made are automatics. 83 on are 4 speeds and prior to that are 3 speeds. Note that from a stop a 928 auto starts out in 2nd gear...so if you want that jump start from a dead stop you need to either put it in 2nd and shift it yourself or floor the accelerator that activitates the kick-down switch...then hold on for you will be going for a ride!

Good forum to ask questions about 928's though is on the Rennlist forum...all the "specialists" hang out there.

Jim

I do want to add, that the 928 is the Porsche I always loved from being a kid. And I think one of these days, I'll add one to the stable.

James

I just sold my '79 to move long distance-that's when I picked up my teener!
Mine needed alot of little things when I bought it ($3k),
but I wanted to do all the work myself (TB, Water pump, etc.)

I agree with the others: VERY solid feeling car, don't worry about mileage, the engines are tough as hell, and (fairly) easy to work on. Parts can be steep, but don't be scared if you can do the work yourself. (Or at least most of it)
The Golden Rule applies: Buy the newest, lowest mileage one you can.

Vastly different beast, but VERY fun...And everyone kept asking me what it was!

32 g*ddam fuses, though.....

Mini dealer thought it was "cool to have A/C in the glove box. I gave him a perplexed look and "So"? my 78 928 had that from the factory too. Cars were and still are way ahead of thier time. new 911's are now using the rear suspension design form 928's

Today these cars are cheaper and faster than a new Mustang Really pissed my buddy off his 30K convertable GT would get blasted off the road by my "antique Porsche".
Didn't help to tell him that my car cost more than his in 78.

ALL the widgets, bells and whistles should work, or you will pay nice man to get them fixed. even if you do it yourself the window switch is over 100 bucks. 2500 for rebuilt transaxle.

I had an 87 s4 5 speed, and it was a sweet car,

as a generalization the 87 and newer cars were the best, but that doesnt mean that the earlier cars were bad, but they fixed a lot of stuff and made a lot of stuff better with the s4 and newer versions. Of course, they also cost more as a result both now and then, but they are very solid.

-I've never driven faster for a longer distance than what I did in that car....on a trip to canada, I averaged 109 on a 200 mile stretch...and the thermostat never moved an inch...thats the sign of a well designed car.

oh...to piggy back on that 109+ mph...you can do that with the sunroof open and the stereo playing your favorite music!

I went from a 914 as a daily driver to a 928 GT. in the first week of having it I took a road trip from SF to LA late at night. I was somewhere south of SJ and I realized I was doing 145 mph! I knew I was going fast, but I didn't think that fast! the car is a 170 mph tank.

Hmmm...got to get me one of these.... where am I going to park it?

"Risky Business" is the first time I ever wanted one. Owned an 81 for a little while. Yeah, very nice cars, very cool. If ever the opportunity presented istelf again.......

"OK....which one of you is the U-boat Kommander?"

Ya, watch the spedo when driving it.... Its just a good rule of thumb not to "hot rod" past 2nd gear... lol

I love the 944 turbo.. but I love the sound of the 928...

Andrew

928's are nice solid GT cars. I remember driving over mountains from Santa Cruz to Palo Alto once in one back in the 1980's when I was about 19. The Porsche dealer I worked for at the time needed to get the car to Palo Alto and I was the only guy availalble. Wow it was best drive I have ever had.

I think if you find a clean and well maintained 928 it should be like any other Porsche in terms of reliability. Finally, its hard to compare to lightweight 914 roadster to a big GT car. I still think you would like a 928 as long as it has been well maintained. I here they can be expensive, but I have always wondered why you couldnt just throw a v8 crate engine in when the motor goes.

Well motors don't go. except for the one in the Alien. just about everything go's sooner or later. two weeks before I sold mine I replaced the steering rack. 45 minute job in the drive way. 400 bucks. Altenator 90 bucks to repair 10 minutes to replace. From what I understand the guy jumped in and drove it to Indiana. Biggest grin I ever seen was him driving away. I still refer to it as my car. Yes some days a miss it. Old friends are hard to say good bye to.