I see alot of Porsche 928's on Craigslist for $5,000-$10,000. Why so cheep ? They are great looking cars and V8 powerd. I have always thought that the 928 was one of the coolest looking Porsches ever made. Is there a reason?

Also, any 914 guys in central Illinois?

Thanks
Bob

I am sure if mine ran now it would be worth $5000-$10000. As it sits its half of that,. Part of the problem is they are expensive to fix. I've been hanging onto mine as it costs nothing to store it with the hopes some day it may appreciate as it really seems and elegant if heavy car. Just need to find a forum that can help me debug why it won't start .

What year 928 and what exactly is wrong? I've own three. 80 euro, 86.5 and my current 88s4. There is a 928 forum, go to 928 international.
Let me know if you need help. I might bwe able to help.
Chris

928's= alot of money to repair


cool cars though

The 928s are very complex cars that cost 80K+ when they were new, 20-30 years ago. Parts costs reflect that initial value, and the complexity means a lot more stuff to break than on our cars.


...For 914 guys in central IL, there is someone on here from Mahomet, near Champaign-Urbana. And Brad Mayeur in East Peoria is an invaluable resource to anyone in the Midwest.

--DD

The biggest issue with the 928 is its orphan status.
The 914, 924,944,911 etc use alot of common parts.
These cars all have VW and Audi parts in the mix...
That makes these parts easier to find and more of a common item.

The 928 has about 135 electrical sensors and switches...these are all unique to the 928.
Interior parts on most porsche products are from VW/Audi also.
Not the 928.
Even the seat switch to move the seat is unique...

With the age of these cars, alot of the electrical items need to be replaced. The motor is fantastic, the tranny is robust, the body does not seem to rust.
The Electrical systems are falling apart now and unless you are willing to deal with that...its gonna cost you quite a bit.

Rich

Electrical and vacuum leak nightmares. That's why you don't see them driving around much anymore. Sure, you can fix it but it will cost some real time and money.
That said, they are very very nice cars when they're good.

I've owned an 83s for about 7 years now...put about 60k miles on it so far (has about 110k) and it drives like a dream. Do basic 928 maintenace and they run like a bat out of hell. However, when looking for one low miles are not necessarily good (seals get hard if not used and crack/leak...like any car) and look at the wiring harnesses real good...if you find one hacked up walk away!

I had a 79 928 several years ago. I got it for $3000.00 or so. It had been repainted and looked sharp. As I pulled into the driveway I lost a quart of oil thru a leaky oil pump seal. $12.00 part and two days labor I fixed it right up. Then as previously mentioned, several vacume leaks, and electrical, AC, and worn clutch issues, I had her running like a champ. Then sold her for 5k or so before anything else broke.
The later DOHC engines were prone to broken timming belts and valve and piston colision, a very expensive repair.
All in all they are great touring cars, Luxury and HP.

Good Luck ,

PS.. 928 international is a very reputable and trusted source, tell Mark, Tony from Clark St. WH. sent you.

I live in rockford, illinois. definitely not central, but still illinois

Thanks Guys, the 928 sound like a sweet car but I don't have the pile of cash to get/keep it going. I love the simplicity of the 914. Also great to hear there are some 914 guys in IL.

Bob

I had an 88 928 S4 for about 3 or 4 years- You have to buy a car that has been well maintained along the way or you will find yourself upside down in an instant. Mine was very well taken care of before and during my ownership and I made a $2,500 profit when I sold it. Cheap, great, miles... But dont think you can buy a cheap one and do the same.

Electrical gremlins are the biggest issue. The "brain" ( a bit lot more sophisticated but similar to the 914 pc board) has or will soon go out by now. Used they run over $1K. Even the bulbs have to be high quality/well matched or the warning system will think you have a bulb out. It was one of the most sophisticated cars on the road in its time, hence the price.

Then there are the mundane things... My S4 had dual A/C as many did. That great big glass hatch was like an oven in sunlight (I'm in TX) If the line to the rear A/C begins to leak, pull out your wallet. The part is/was around $1,500 as they had to wake up the elf in the black forest who made them for Porsche and convince him to make just one more. And it goes on and on.

Fantastic GT car. Will run 140+ all day long in complete comfort with a real A/C system unlike its contemporary 911 siblings.

I used to make the run on TX281 between Austin and DFW in little over 2 hours on Sunday evenings when officer Billy Bob was home havng dinner in every podunk town along the way, cruising at ... well its about 230 miles.... you can do the math.

Along the way, a bunch of people bought them because they were relatively cheap but who could not afford to properly take care of them. And there you have the answer...

Great car if you find one with proper maintenance records.

Routine is timing belt replacement every 30,000 miles or 4 years. Its an interference engine with 32 valves. Replacement of the timing belt is 800 bucks including replacing the water pump while you are in there. Repair of a broken timing belt is one addition zero or so.

When I bought mine, it had 15,000 miles but 8 years on the belt. I had it shipped rather than taking the chance on driving it the 540 miles. Came off the Intercity Lines truck and onto the lift for the belt replacement. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. I did not drive it at all until the belt was replaced. I looked at it as a ticking time bomb.

Back in 1990, I was working at a Porsche dealership. The Porsche rep came in one day, threw me his keys and said go for a ride. It was a 928GTS. That car was unbelievably smooth at high speed. I thought I was doing about 95mph (I've got a very good sense of speed), but man was I wrong - I was doing 145 on the Interstate approaching Downtown Tampa. I brought that car back an hour later. Very Cool Car. Glad I didn't own - I'd be in the slammer.

T.C.

Another problem for high mileage 928s is the aluminum engine block. The cylinder bores were coated and are basically throw away blocks at high mileage due to wear and tear. The bores can not be taken up +.030 or +.060 like with Detroit Iron blocks. Some shops were sleeving these engines, with dependability issues. Al Holbert drove a 928gts off the showroom floor and with a few mods, he drove the car to Bonneville and set a record on the salt flats. We have been building exhaust headers for 928 enthusiasts for 31 years. 928 guys are really into their cars--as we are into our fourteens
Marty

I've owned 5, starting with an '84S in 1990. My favorite Porsche. A good, unmolested, somewhat low mile car is the best Porsche bargain out there. As said above, complexity and high cost of repair is the problem. And fuel consumption. I sold my last one as gas was on it's way to $5 last spring...10 to 12 mpg in daily use is expensive. They were way ahead of their time in 1978, a true exotic GT car. Best road car Porsche has every made. I have a 2006 Carerra and my last 928 was superior on a long trip.

Click to view attachment

I wouldn't mind a 928/4

http://wikicars.org/en/Porsche_942

Buy one cheap with electrical problems, rip it all out, put on megasquirt.

Or put on SBC weber setup

Someday, all these cars with oodles of sensors and electronics are going to be
impossible to restore until generic systems for ABS, STM, CAN, etc. are available
for cheap.

What will you do with a BMW i-drive system 30 years from now, other than
remove it and add it to the artificial reef offshore?

I have had 2 928's. A 78 Euro 4.5 and an 83 S, which I still have in addition to the 914/6. I rebuilt the engine on the 78 after a "helper" dropped a small nut into the cylinder, through a plug hole, which then gouged the bore. The blocks are Reynolds extra eutechtic (sp) aluminum which means the aluminum has silicon in the alloy. They are not coated. The blocks can be rebored but you need to etch back the aluminum to expose the silicon. That engine now has over 150k miles on it with no issues. It did take awhile to get the oversized pistons from Mahle but I did get them. Working on these can be daunting but if you have a full set of factory manuals it really isn't that bad.

Any one ever heard of a V8 conversion done on a 928? That could be cool?

I guess it is still technically a V8 conversion if you are converting to bow tie power. http://www.renegadehybrids.com/

Falcon you might be thinking of the Chevy Vega when refering to throw away aluminum blocks.
The blocks in the Porsche 928 was and IS very durable. some engine pulled apart with well over 100K miles still showed cross hatching in the bore.
The silicon alloy used by the Reynolds Aluminum company for these engine blocks was VERY good.

I owned a 78 5 speed for 13 yrs. did all the work on it. Yep better be good with a multimeter. Never put a wrench on the motor past the intake gaskets, water pump and belt.

I used to own an 89 s4 - I LOVED that car. One thing I absolutely loved to do was the 0-60-0 in 9 second trick. Wonderful rocket car...fabulous on the freeway, outperformed my wife's 911 all the time.

Until...

I had to replace the torque tube bearing. It was one of those while-yer-at-it problems - it turned into a $7k repair bill. No way I could afford another big ticket item.

There was only one shop in town that was willing to work on it - no other shops wanted ANYTHING to do with a 928 - the electrical system is a nightmare, and parts are REALLY expensive. Makes Beechcraft look like a bargain airplane.

So I sold it.

MUCH happier with our 911 and 914.

Cheers,
Peter

Isn't that a Panamera????

Click to view attachmentThis was a customer's 928 single turbo/ water meth injection "Special order" that we built circa 1979. We set the boost to 6 psi, it ran like a raped ape, and shipped the car. The customer was aware that the engine was not built for anything but normal aspiration...but explored the variable boost control and higher boost limits. I figured that by the fully clockwise position of the boost valve, he must have killed the engine at 25 psi of boost. It had 100 % leakage in all 8, and some of the ring shrapnel was buried in the aluminum block.
Marty

Amen

I guess I have to get in on this, since I'm also a 28 owner.

I've got a 78 and done quite a bit of work to it. A lot of people say that the 928 is so cheap because they are expensive to repair, they have vacuum leaks etc...

I think they are partially correct. But the same can be said of the 911's too. The 928's downfall is the same reason that the 924 and 944's are also cheap. They use water cooled power plants. These were the first commercially available water cooled cars that Porsche made.

So for a auto manufacturer who built their name on air cooled cars, to then come out with a water cooled one... We'll they were doomed from the beginning. Not until the 911 became water cooled did things change.

Another good example of market reluctance is the Cayenne. Again Porsche who made it's name with sports cars, now coming out with a SUV based on a VW chassis. The sales of these have been very bad for Porsche ever since it was introduced. I'll bet that in not too much time, their prices will crash too. Maybe not as hard though.


On the 928 side of things... Mine is quite old now (78 first year) and it suffered from old rubber vacuum lines, old rubber body seals and other things generally getting old. After I take care of the basic maintenance items, I spend an average $500/year in repairs and upkeeps. I drive it on weekends and auto-X it too, so it's not like it lives in the garage either.

I know where there is a S4 for sale with like 40K miles... never seen snow... asking around 11K... but I'd bet they'd take less.

PM me if anyone wants the info.

Brad Mayeur in E. Peoria is one of the Major 914 gurus, and would know of any cars in your area. There may be some 914ers in the Lincoln Trail region of PCA. I used to live in Urbana and we had a few in central Illinois, but I've been in Chicagoland for the last 30 years now, so most of my contacts have long since moved on. Dr. Bob White (a retired U of Illinois professor) has a 914-6 in Urbana unless he gave it to his daughter. You might also check with the Champaign County Sports Car Club, they used to be quite an active bunch.