Porsche 928: PH Carpool
80s-obsessed PHer takes a punt on the V8 Porsche bruiser
Car: Porsche 928 S4 Auto (1989)
Owned since: October 19th 2013
Previously owned: BMW E28 525e (M5 replica)
Rafe has a bit of a thing for 80s hot rods
"As a young lad of the 80s, I grew up pawing through my Dad's collection of CAR magazines, whilst he decided which limited edition Ford Cortina he wanted (Carousel or Crusader?), so it was inevitable that my eye would be drawn to the machines at the top of the food chain. I've previously owned four other 80s legends, all having stupidly large engines albeit with notably less complexity (read American V8s and a few European sixes). Being a man of limited patience and a casual indifference to practicality and planning it was decided that my last everyday classic (BMW E28 5 Series - lightly modded but still very practical) would have to make way for something notorious for its high running costs and complexity. Right before winter kicks in. Oh, and I have two growing boys that would need to occasionally fit in the back. My original plan of waiting until spring to make the switch got cast asunder when a very tidy and realistically priced S4 Auto was advertised through the 928.org.uk email list. First car viewed, driven and then purchased. Thus ignoring all recommendations to test drive a handful of cars first."
He's gone into this with his eyes open...
"To be fair I did do my homework on this one. Thanks to the excellent 928.org.uk community, I sat and watched hundreds of emails from other 928 owners come and go highlighting the things to look out for an expect during ownership. Some of the list members had seen this car in the flesh and felt it was well worth the asking price. I also spent time with the mechanic who had worked on it for the past couple of years, and the owner looked like he had the funds to keep the car in top condition.
"928s tend to come in three categories: cheap ones on eBay for around £4K that clearly have bills around the corner, overpriced low-mileage cars expecting an unrealistic five-figure sum that only a good GTS should be fetching, and, finally well-priced, cherished cars with average to high miles priced sensibly. While it's early doors, I hope mine fits the latter group, although 108K in 24 years is not exactly 'high mileage'. Perhaps I should have spent more time noticing the lack of three-point belts in the rear? Perhaps I should also have considered the bone hard ride on the test drive and how that would play out daily on my C-road commute through Hertfordshire's pot hole ridden back roads? At least I'll look good on my drive to the chiropractor."
...and it's delivering on the promise so far
"The V8 noise. Especially since I binned the standard silencer and went with a rear muffler bypass. The looks: It balances modern and retro so well, and shows what happens when designers win out over the engineers and health and safety divisions. The air-con works, which is rare in these cars. Will it still be working by summer? Who knows? The build quality of the thing compared to other cars from the era. The dash design and driving position are spot on. The performance: It's a heavy old thing but once up to motorway speeds it gets from 70mph to naughty speeds quicker than anything else I've owned before. That the original 80s car phone is still installed. The fact that the car's first registered owner was an Earl and lived in a Scottish castle. The social scene - some great fellow enthusiasts, many of whom are a little bit eccentric for making such a brave purchase."
Intact period features add to the appeal
"The ride and tyre noise on bad road surfaces: bad on all cars, but not helped by 17-inch Cup alloys over the standard 16-inch slots I guess. The thirst (16 - 20mpg), which is not a surprise of course but made more painful by the digital dash laughing at me on each trip my right foot makes towards the carpet. The constant fear of one of its myriad of gizmos going south for winter."
Costs:
"£100 only gets me 300 miles. Insurance is OK when on a classic policy. Most owners are paying less than £300 for what was the fastest German production car of its time. Whilst I haven't had it long I am led to believe that if you can find a good 928 specialist, they can service it for sensible money. Unfortunately they are few and far between as many mainstream Porsche specialists don't want to touch them, having made mistakes in the past and faced angry owners. These cars require specialist knowledge. I plan to continue to use Paul Sage near Gatwick. Parts prices can vary, however I already have a few contacts thanks to the list who have a plentiful supply of bits and bobs, and I have already sourced a replacement luggage net, a part Porsche stopped manufacturing ages ago."
Bigger wheels don't do ride any favours
"So far just one pub meet, where I met three other 928 owners and their cars, plus a few weekend drives when the weather has cleared."
What next?
"No mods planned with a car like this, but I am trying to convince the wife to let me buy a Shed Of The Week candidate to get me through winter, as this car will be about as bad in snow as is possible. Might repair some light kerbing of the alloys in spring ready for a few summer shows but that's about it."
His weapon of choice was a Lotus Esprit.
Always remember him saying that he had sold 3 928's and the company covering the warranty on each vehicle got back to him and said they were the cars on which they had to pay out most for on warranty claims in the last couple of years.
Probably very unlucky as I know of people who have own edit hem and never had a problem.
I guess it's the same as any car, some are well serviced and maintained, and never have a problem, some are always going to be money pits.
I used mine as a every day commuter over 3 years in Dubai and then shipped it back to the UK this summer.
It needs use, otherwise (as I am finding out) the small issues begin to creep in.
However, it has been fanastic as it has done long distance high speed runs(averaging 120mph over 800 miles)through the desert in 40c heat to tight british potholed back roads in 1 to 2c temps without issue.
Enjoy.
You have got yourself one of the greats here; many owners or former owners, including myself, will claim that this is the best car Porsche has ever designed and built. I bought mine as a five year old with 35K miles on in 1995 and ran it as my daily driver for the next 8+1/2 years, which is the longest period I have kept any car so far. It had 137K on it when sold as a 13.5 year old.
They do like to be used regularly. My own independent Porsche specialist always reckoned mine was the least troublesome of the 928's he serviced because it got regular use. The owners group is a great bunch and you certainly need to be in it - a wealth of knowledge resides there.
I'd recommend having an "ouch" fund of about £2.5K squirreled away in a separate account. A 928 can throw that sort of bill at you once in a while.
My two main "ouch" moments in 8.5 years were an ECU that dropped the V8 in to limp-home mode and 4 cylinders only, then the LSD (which has an ancient computer CPU controlling it's activation) lost the ability to switch the LSD activation in and out. Cue a permanently open diff and a red light on the dashboard. That fix involved sourcing the required part from a scrapper.
Consumables? - they like rear tyres and brake pads. The electrics can throw up a few wobblies, but in general they are built like a Panzer tank. Indeed, mine would get across Germany at speeds that implied you were going to invade Poland...
Does yours have the tyre pressures warning system? Great feature - just make sure it works. You can run the tyres at +4 or +5 PSI over recommended pressures all round to avoid spurious warning messages. I have two high speed punctures in mine during my time with G36 UFM. The second one was at 135MPH+ on an autobahn and I reckon the warning as to which wheel had the problem was instrumental in my still being here to type this. Get yours working if it is u/s; it could be of significant help to you one day....
Enjoy it and use it - they are great, great, long-haul GT cars.
When you seen the prices of some older 911 models, this has surely got to follow, there's not many cars that will devour a continent in one sitting without breaking a sweat even today, surely.
I always remember smiling to myself when I pretended to be Olga Korbut (or the male equivalent..!) and performed some gymnastic contortion to get into the rear of one, and upon looking up,and ever so slightly forward, so that Porsche had fitted sun isles for the REAR passengers. The rear! Amazing.
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