Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Ever since watching Tom Cruise drive a 928 in Risky Business I've always wanted one. Well, the time has now come for it to be a possibility.

I've been reading up as much as possible on the web and I've been checking out ebay and PistonHeads to see what seems to be the going rate for an ok 928.

If any of the owners on here could spare a minute, I'd be very grateful if they could give me some pointers about what to look out for.

I understand that the cam belt should have be done every 45-55k and that there are often problems with the A/C not working. My budget is around £4000 and I'd ideally like an S4 but would be equally happy with an earlier model.

Thanks for your time.

Welcome to the forum, and hopefully Porsche.

I cannot help, but there are plenty of people on here who will - they'll be along soon. Good luck in your search.

Incidentally, where are you? You'd do well to turn up to your local TIPEC meeting - hopefully one of the members will have one and let you have an unhindered look.

Good luck again.

hiya, welcome to the forum, have a look at other threads in the 928 section as theres been some interesting chat on buying 928's recently, this may help you and your cause, where abouts in the country are you ?

Hi RiskyBusiness,

928s are relatively complex cars for their age, so there's commensurately more to check.

There's a very good buyer's guide on the excellent 928.org.uk site:

http://www.928.org.uk/buying.html

If you join the 928 list via that website, you'll find hundreds of owners only too happy to answer any questions you may have, in addition to replies you'll get here.

There's a very useful buyer's guide in print written by David Hemmings which is available from Amazon, the Motoring Bookshop in London and dare I say it the Porsche Club GB shop (David runs the PCGB 928 Register). There are usually several copies for sale on ebay at any time too.

Even with all these sources I;m sure you'll have many questions, so ask away!

I would also add you should check the owner as carefully as the car!

I've just bought a 928 (2 weeks ago) so have just been through the same thing. Good 928's seem to be £3-5k. Starting at £3k for the earlier version and 4-5k for a good S4. They rarely make over 5k.
I too always liked the 928 and have wanted one for years. however, as mentioned above, there are some important things that need checking.
I'll give you my experience, such that it is.
Most of these cars are 20 years old or more, so will show signs of use/wear. The bodywork is galvanised so should not be rusty at all, apart from minor issues like edges of the wheelarches and around the filler cap.
They seem to pick up stone chips on the front so look out for that too.
It's very important to look for a service/maintenance history. Check that the cam belt has been replaced recently as this needs doing every 4 years. There are other things. The air con is unlikely to be working...decide if you are bothered about this. I was, and bought one with it still working. Many people don't bother with it. Repair costs can be £2,000 if it doesn't work.
There's something called a "flex plate" that needs checking every so often. It's easy to do (I did it myself in half an hour with the car on axle stands) and it's important that it's done as it can eventually damage the engine if left.
Check the tyres! It costs over £600 to replace them. Most cars I looked at needed at least two.

My advice would be to budget £1,000 for initial maintenance after you get the car. Mine needs the sump gasket changing, engine mounts, and a cam belt check.
Insurance, well you can get it insured on a classic policy if it's your second car. It cost me £170 with Footman James. Forget "price comparison" sites...they don't work with a 928. (best quote over £500)

There's a silver one on ebay at the moment, buy it now £3,000. Seller says it's recently won the
Porsche Club Concours...so it must be pretty clean. It's got 4 new tyres and the cam belt's been done. That would leave you £1,000 for any bills that come up after you buy it.

Morning to you all,

Thanks for all your advice so far, I've taken it on board and will be scouring the classifieds with a very keen eye from now on.
I live in West London and would be very interested in going to a club meeting of some kind soon, where can I find out information on this.

Thanks again.

Very sound advice from Lightning and very valuable to have views from someone who's just been searching.

Just want to expand on some points:

Galvanising slows down rust and doesn't stop it. The wheel arches are very vulnerable at rear because mud and crud gets kicked up there and rots. Though these areas aren't structural, they include fuel pipes which can corrode through as they pass through offside rear arch (very common for owners to get a fuel leak here and to either replace metal line or repair with flexible fuel pipe if they know what they're doing). The steel cradle which holds the fuel tank is also vulnerable to rust.

The service interval for timing belt is about 45,000 miles or 4 years. The belt ages, so even if mileage is low on car you're looking at a belt change may be due.

I would be put more weight on recent service history. Has the current owner been prepared to spend on the car and keep on top of maintenance?

Budget for catch-up maintenance depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. Beware that very few places (including or even especially OPCs) have much experience of 928s so you can pay a lot for them to learn on your car. If you are paying a mechanic then I would say £1000 is minimum for ongoing maintenance on a 'sorted' car. It may be too conservative for catch-up maintenance. One of our members bought a lovely S4 recently, and still paid almost £3000 to an (good, 928-experienced) independent for catch-up work - mainly timing belt/water pump, new disks/pads all round, annual service.

Hi there, Im one of the guys whos recently purchased a 928(last week). I would agree with all comments mentioned. I would the buy guide mentioned, it is a must, I found this to be very useful £7.50 from Amazon (mine scored 187 in the check)

I would say that complete service history with recent bills for the essentials is probably No 1 followed by the body. The electrics are also an important point to to check. Does everthing work?-Check it. As mentioned previously the last cars are now almost 15 years old and so you should expect some wear and tear.

Are you intending to use the car for daily use? Or just for pleasure? It sound obvious I know but would say as a daily option the fuel costs are not cheap! you need to consider this.

Regarding pricing all i can say is that in this world you generally get what you pay for! My advice would be to consult the buying guides (first) and get good advise available and from the experienced guys on this site. Also independant advise is worth obtaining on a potential purchase. Get a HPI check done on any potential purchase.

It may sound daft but also use a little "gut" instinct.. does the car seem genuine, does the owner/dealer seem knowlegable - ask yourself does it feel right? I'm no expert but I think with some knowledge you can normally spot (not just a Porsche) a good/bad car fairly quickly.

Best of Luck with your search. Good ones are great cars and Im sure that they wont be available at the current prices for ever! What else can you buy that has pedigree and looks at this money?


Best Wishes
Rob

I took off the nearside rear wheel arch liner on mine to have a look/waxoyl everything....and what looked like 20 years of dried mud fell on my head!
Half filled a bucket with it! I saw the fuel lines, how vulnerable are they up there in the wheelarch? Mine were OK, surface rust, I cleaned them off and applied waxoyl. Also the fuel filler is in that wheel arch, and there's nothing to stop mud being flung up there too, no wonder the fuel filler area goes rusty.
Mind you, the car is 20 years old. Some cars are dead long before that age.

I've read all of the above avidly; I'm off to get a copy of the buying guide tomorrow and my search will continue.

The example metioned on ebay looks very good but there is an issue with the final mileage of the car not being known. I'd think this could be tricky if i when i came to sell the car on, but perhaps condition is more important. All thoughts appreciated.

(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-928-S-AUT ... 286.c0.m14)

Hmmm.....he doesn't know the mileage? Sounds a bit odd to me. There should be a service history with it, plus old MOT's which should show the mileage year to year. You could ask if he's got any service history.

There always seem to be at least ten 928's for sale, so there's plenty of choice. personally I wouldn't be too keen on one with over 150,000 miles on it, although some say it's not a problem if it's been maintained properly.

Hi RB- Had a look at the car on ebay. Looks like its an enthusiast seller and sounds good ie competition runner up etc.. (Number plate has my intials! )

If you like the look of the car do your home work as mentioned in previous posts and go and have a look. Ring the seller and ask the relevant questions before you go.

At £3K (you may get a bit off) - and if all is well with the checks you make etc, looks like a potential good buy.

Good Luck Rob (RT)

Well you won't have to worry about the aircon on that one as it doesn't have any. As lightning says, as long as the mileage is supported by documentation, then that doesn't matter too much - I doubt it will have any great effect on the car's resale value vs. other factors (although having said that, 3k is top price for an S, so it will have to be in very good condition).

The seller's location isn't that far from where I work, so, if you're seriously interested in this particular 928 then I could possibly go and have a quick look to see if it were worth you travelling to look at it yourself (obviously I couldn't do much more than give you my impression of its general condition, but it might save you a wasted journey).

Regional pages are here : http://www.tipec.net/community.php
Nearest to you is probably Thames Valley : http://www.tipec.net/region_thamesvalley.php

Just turn up, make yourslef known (although they'll spot you, I'm sure) and you'll be made very welcome.

Good luck in the search.

Hi Guys,

I have been reading through this thread with interest as I to have been looking at 928's for a month or so now. Was interested in what you saying about the top price for an S2 as I went to this one: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1222805.htm but was put off by the lack of history and rusty arches. Veiwing these 2 cars on Friday http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1221084.htm & http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1238434.htm huge difference in price S2 to the S4 but I was wondering if I should increase my budget to get a later car, rather than the S2 as I prefer the later rear tail. The S4 would I guess need a cambelt change as it was last done in 2004. Then on the other hand the S2 seems to have been well looked after with recent large bills with a low mileage for the year, PLUS I would have some cash left over for future problems/upgrades.

Sorry to the OP for the thread hijack, any veiws on the above cars good/bad greatly received.

H