928 as a daily driver?

i grew up in BH. my mom daily drove a 928s year round. snow and all.

 

How much snow was there in Beverly Hills?

 

Jeff......

If you can do all the work by yourself I´d say sure, why not. There is a great aftermarket parts supply network. However, the cars are pricey if you are not a DIY´er.

928´s all look good on the outside as they have a lot of aluminium panels, are all zinc plated to begin with, and if this one looks good on the inside, as in, no mashed cushions or torn seat stitching, no warped glovebox or dash cracks, or wrong shifter handle, warped center console side panels, etc, etc, then you are in good shape.

FWIW most of them (the pre 1992+ 928 GTS) are all relatively inexpensive anyways, except for really low mile S4 or GT versions........so proceed with caution when choosing one and find someone who really knows 928´s to do the PPI.

At 88K miles you are getting in to the realm of head gasket, steering rack, radiator, transmission replacement, etc........

 

bloomfield hills

 

928s are gorgeous, IMO. But, oy, the electronic gremlins.

 

What year 928 is it? I grew up in So Cal and I always had a 928, starting with a 1981 in high school (1998) and used it as a driver. I loved every minute of it. Then my dad drove a 1993 and 1995 928 GTS for about 5 years as a daily driver. They are great touring cars, and very comfortable. A little bit of a pain in the arse with the timing chain and water pump

 

There has NEVER been a better time to own a 928. I recommend you go to Rennlist.com to check out the 928 forum over there. The amount of knowledge there will BLOW YOU AWAY!

If you like to work on them yourself they are VERY AFFORDABLE! More so now that EVER BEFORE! I own EIGHT of them and LOVE THEM...all of mine are very nice cars too.

If they have big electrical gremlins then yea, they are VERY difficult to EVER get right! SO, avoid a car like that.

Also I have found that it is WAY more expensive to paint one and put a good interior in one than it is to do most mechanical work on them! So get one that is in SUPERIOR cosmetic condition but might need a little mechanical work vs. the other way around...even if you have to PAY SOMEONE ELSE to do that mechanical work you would be far ahead.

That said, buy one that needs none of the above and just do the maintenance stuff and you are good to go.

Most of us are finding out that you can change a non leaking water pump with every other T-belt service and that 6-9 years on a well cared for car is not to long to go on a T-belt really! My last three (94 GTS, 92 GTS and 88 S4) went 11, 10+ and 10 years on their last belts! Honestly I should have changed them out at 8 but didn't even think about it at that time...

Good luck with your decision! Oh, they go like stink on a race track too!

 

928 International in Orange County sells every single 928 part under the sun! Including, new, used, replica, etc.

I also like Deveck (sp) in Northern Ca.

These are must have people if you have a 928

 

Devek has been toast for years now. The best vendors in no particular order are 928 International, 928 Specialists and 928sRus. They have everything and actually work well together too. I think a 928 would be a fine daily driver, but they do require the maintenance of a very expensive car...even though they are cheap to buy now. I bought mine with full records from new and several very expensive bills from the PO, and I still have spent the purchase price again in maintenance and upgrades - and I do my own work. It's a great car, just don't expect to ignore things like a Chevy. Personally it's a fun car for me, nice days and weekends, the occasional drive to work, but not a DD.

 

Benton Harbor LOL

 

Just a thought (since you posted about gas mileage above) but I'm not sure that the 928 will be that much better on gas than your truck. I remember ~20 hwy, a little less in the city.

 

I daily drove an '87 928 S4 for about 7 years - with about 5 years of that involving 40 miles or so commute each way. Can't imagine many other cars I would have rather had for that duty - after a hard day of work, it was both utterly relaxing AND exciting to get in, fire it up, and drive off.

In the Chicago area, it was also excellent in the winter once shod with proper snow tires.

 

Best advise is right here, as many here know, I have owned 39 Porsche's though never a 928 though I have driven many of them, and Rennlist (I am a member there as well), is the place to really learn about these cars. I will add one thing, they are not really cars you toss around corners like a 911, they would tend to feel bigger than they are in those situations, but they are GT cars so that is expected.

 

I have had 6 928s and don't know if I would use one as a daily driver. My advice would be to find an '89 automatic in excellent shape. '89 was pre-airbags, old style simple LSD, but had the digital dash readouts and ability to do diagnostics with the Bosch Hammer. Also '89 and later had a better final drive ratio than '87-'88.
Be prepared to look for a while to find just the right one. You want lots of service records by a good shop. Keep the R-12 air con and don't go 134-a as well.

 

1989 928's are good, but there is an aftermarket diagnostic tool available with a different cable for the 1988's (and for the 1987's if you are willing to change out 1 chip).

1989 and earlier 928's don't have airbags (a plus in my book). The 1989 5 speed GT is quite a good buy for performance. Go that route if you are getting a stick.

For the automatics, go with the 1988 because Porsche hadn't added the cat overheating circuit that shuts off half or all of the motor, yet you can still do the diagnostics. The 1987's are good, but you'll have to swap out one engine computer chip to have the diagnostics.

Prior to 1987, get the 1986.5 if you like the older body style...or a 1978 euro model.

The worst years for performance were the U.S. 1982 to 1984 models.

My 1988 928 S4 is armored and gets a fair amount of use. Easy to swap out parts to repair/maintain, and enough power to get groceries in. Honestly, I preferred the exhaust note on my 1986.5, though.

For all of the 928's, there are "Porken" aftermarket belt tensioners which greatly extend time between belt services. Lots of aftermarket performance chips and a few aftermarket tuner devices, too.

The one major "gotcha" for the automatics is the flex plate...and there are several aftermarket solutions for that, too.

 

I see there are MANY 928 guys here with great info! While not as comprehensive as Rennlist we have done a pretty complete and solid job of explaining the 928... my work here is finished!

Well done men!

 

I use mine to commute to work for about 2 weeks every few months.
Very comfortable, I love it.

Oh, and look for this in the next issue of excellence magazine
Thanks to Richard for the ad, not sure if he is on Ferrrarichat or not
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

^^^^^^
Chris, great ad! I bet that will zero out your inventory!

 

Thanks!
Zero-ing out the inventory is the plan
There are going to be 100 happy people in the world

PS: the typos have been fixed

 

I kinda really want a 5-speed 928S...

 

Another +1 for the 928!

I've never owned one, but have serviced several and spent many an hour looking and considering. Such an advanced car for it's day, and such a high-quality and thoroughly engineered car overall. The performance, handling, safety, durability, longevity, etc. make it an excellent daily driver today, 20+ years later. Truly one of Porsche's finest. Like the others said, just buy a good one, not a neglected one. The fact that there are so many neglected ones with 150k+ miles still hanging around and not rusted shows how good these cars are; a well cared for example should last decades.

 

Most (not all!) of the 928 is aluminum. They do need new fuel lines once they hit 20 years old (don't neglect this step!). Most of the car is well thought out, for example the fuel pump and fuel fill lines are on the right side of the car, but the exhaust is on the left side. so you never drip spilled fuel when gassing up anywhere near anything hot.

However, the catalytic converter is in the dead center of the car...under...the automatic transmission hoses. There is a shield over the cat, but you do want to take care that you don't have a transmission line spring a leak (tranny fluid is almost as flammable as gasoline).

Obviously that's not an issue for the 5 speeds.

They do hold up, even under abuse. Quite peppy for their age and low-cost at this point in time, too.