porsche 928 daily driver----?asking for trouble?

[carspath]

i have been sorely tempted by a 928 as a daily driver for ages now, but have been concerned about both reliability and mpg

are these fears unfounded?
does anyone have real -life experience of this car (s4/gt/gts )that they can share?

[Cheburator mk2]

carspath said:

i have been sorely tempted by a 928 as a daily driver for ages now, but have been concerned about both reliability and mpg

are these fears unfounded?
does anyone have real -life experience of this car (s4/gt/gts )that they can share?

If you buy wisely, NOT CHEAPLY, you will have no problems whatsoever. Built quality is proper Porsche of old. Most of the early S2s will have woolen carpets and full leather interiors, which are hewn from granite. The later S4/GT/GTS have a mixture of vinyl and leather, but the quality is still great. The cars are ladden with toys; provided they work, you will have everything electric, including heated and memory seats, mirrors, sunroof, cruise etc.

Mechanically the cars are bullet proof. The engines will do 200k miles and more without needing anything. The Mercedes sourced 4-spd auto was the best available at the time and can easily take up to 750bhp, while the Porsche designed/made 5spd manual is good for up to 700bhp. Clutches easily last 50k miles and more. The brakes were good enough to be fitted on the 928, 944T SE, 968CS, 964 and 993. The suspension lasts around 80k...

Where these cars suffer is the electrics. The more they are stood, the more goes wrong. Conventional perception is that the electrics are complex. This is not the case, when compared to a modern car with CAN BUS. In fact, the electrics are really simple - any auto electrician worth his money will be able to resolve any problem with the help of the wireing diagrams and a multimeter. There is just lots of electric bits.

I run my 928 S2 as a daily for 3 years in Central London and loved every minute. MPG in London traffic was around 15-17mpg and 22mpg on the Motorways. The car is very easy to drive and is a true GT. In terms of reliability - I had one non-start due to bad earth and one wheel bearing go bad in 30k miles. On my GT, I had one fuel pump seizing in the middle of the Karussell in 40k miles before it was rebuilt into a full blown race car...

Buy the most expensive one you can afford. Mileage is almost irrelevant as well as early service history - present condion and what was done/needs doing is everything.

The last GTSs in 1995 were a £70k car, the fact that you can pick them up for £15k is irrelevant. The running costs today are still of a £100k + car in today's money...

Edited by Cheburator mk2 on Thursday 20th January 15:40

[DH01]

Interesting. Same fuel consumption as my Cayenne roughly but a much less electronically complicated car to run. I`ve been toying with the idea of a cheap 996 as a fun third car but maybe one of these will make sense for £10k outlay and 5 to 8 thou miles a year.

[drmark]

I covered 25,000 miles in an 87 S4 and an 95 GTS in 2007/ 8 and loved both. Running costs are not too bad if you have a local expert (Paul Anderson, Sroud lives a few miles from me and is the authority on 928s and operates from what looks like a scrap yard!). Don't even think of letting a OPC near a 928.
The electrics can be a pain on a little used cars but, as above, are easy to fix and normally due to earthing problems. The mechanicals are hewn from rock and will go on for ever. Only dark cloud is thrust bearing failure on autos - can kill an engine if car is not serviced by someone who knows what to look for and adjust accordingly. Not an issue with manuals as far as I know. Safest money is in manual S4 GT and GTS - but these are also the priciest.
Good luck

Mark

Edited by drmark on Thursday 20th January 16:57

[JM1962]

Had a 928S2 years ago and can confirm what Cheburator says, 17mpg urban driving and a bit more on a run.

[Conian]

I used my 928S daily until my mechanic broke it
4.7l, couple of light mods giving an extra 20bhp or so
18mpg in general which was light town use and a and b road commuting
once on a 500 mile run I got 20.75mpg out of it despite covering much of the journey in ban-territory speeds.

[melv]

Fine, but you will need:

www.928spares.co.uk

and

www.flyingbluedog.co.uk

[Markymark69]

Dont buy a manual, i had an S4 many many moons ago with dog leg box as my first ever Porsche and it was horrible, get an auto.

[Cheburator mk2]

Markymark69 said:

Dont buy a manual, i had an S4 many many moons ago with dog leg box as my first ever Porsche and it was horrible, get an auto.

Depends on what the OP wants the car for. Pootling in Central London - S4 auto makes a lot of sense. Continental touring, a mixture of A and B roads - get a GT which has a superb 5spd box.

[williamp]

An adage which applies to old Astons, and I think, old Porshe cars too:

if you can afford to run a new one, you can afford to run an old one


Remember they were new once- designed to be driven in inner cities every day, cross whole continents in a single day too. There is no reason why they cannot still do this. Providing the previous owners have kept on top of servicing, and you do too. And now they need preventative maintenance as well as scheduled maintenance, hence the extra cost

[deadslow]

Ran an S4 as a daily driver around 10 years ago. Super reliable. MPG as stated above. These cars are actually better driven every day.

They may have been advanced for the 1980s, but probably more stuff to go wrong in a new Skoda Fabia today.

Epic cars. Still fancy another to this day.

[Cavey]

As long as you can stomach the fuel bills and have a sensible budget for running costs just go for it. I hardly see any 928s on the road and its a great shame as they still look fresh and original, and they sound fantastic. Life's too short. Do it!

[Cavey]

As long as you can stomach the fuel bills and have a sensible budget for running costs just go for it. I hardly see any 928s on the road and its a great shame as they still look fresh and original, and they sound fantastic. Life's too short. Do it!

[Angelus]

No reason why not, I'd run mine as a daily if I didn't do so many miles. I've got a 1991 S4, not getting used every day is the worst thing happening to it. Join the 928 uk site, and someone like TIPEC or PCGB. You will need some research to get the right car, but you'll love it when you do.

[barchetta_boy]

Just do it.

[carspath]

thank-you for all this info
that 928 itch keeps recurring

[BlueMR2]

Mine is my only car.

[TVRMARK500]

I ran a 928 as a everyday car in the early/mid 90s for about 4 years, never had any big problems and it's a bloody fantastic car.

[melv]

TVRMARK500 said:

I ran a 928 as a everyday car in the early/mid 90s for about 4 years, never had any big problems and it's a bloody fantastic car.

And now you've bought a TVR!! You're a braver man than me!!!

[aycee]

Markymark69 said:

Dont buy a manual, i had an S4 many many moons ago with dog leg box as my first ever Porsche and it was horrible, get an auto.

I had the exact opposite experiance.My Mrs drove one daily for 3 years 10 years ago.It was our only car so she had no choice.Shame the kids got to big.I missed that car so much when it went.She was the same.It is funny how the dogleg becomes second nature so quickly and inspite of driving other conventional gboxs you just adjust automatically.
I drove a few autos before buying the manual.Autos felt so sluggish and I didnt have control like you do with a manual.I also drove a few manuals and found that they were all pigs gbox wise until I found the one that had a decent clutch.
I have a gts now with a good drivetrain and new clutch and its so easy to drive its a pleasure.It kind of envelops you.
They are reliable if you look after them as with any aging car.
With the new 928 imminant, I dont think they will drop in value!
Thats my experiance anyway.

Edited by aycee on Friday 28th January 10:00