There’s much written about enthusiasts spending too much money at the height of the pandemic on “fun” vehicles, especially recreational assets that begged owners to become overnight overlanders. We’ve seen a fairly dramatic price correction in most instances, but we’ve also witnessed plenty of cars continue to accelerate price-wise. The Porsche 928 is one of those cars that will not be growing in value much past where they landed in the pandemic phase, and the seller of this 5-speed manual-equipped 1982 Porsche 928 listed here on eBay is letting it go for peanuts after not getting very far in its restoration.
It really is amazing how people turned themselves into passionate stewards of a hobby or some outdoor activity as soon as the “lockdown” hit. Chances are if you weren’t into camping before your social movement was limited, you wouldn’t be into camping after your first road trip. In the same vein, if restoring a needy European car in your garage wasn’t all that enticing when you had the option to meet a buddy for a beer at the local pub, just sticking it in your garage wasn’t going to change your passion for mechanical repair. The 928 is also a fairly significant undertaking for a casual project, especially as parts become harder to find.
Now, the seller made a good move in buying a 5-speed version of Porsche’s front-engined GT car, but this alone is not enough to drive a strong sale price. At the moment, bidding is sitting at $600 with no reserve, so someone is going home with this car. The fact that the seller couldn’t even put the wheels back on and drop the car to the ground tells you a lot about where he’s at with this project; he’s done. The 928 needs to have its timing belt and water pump changed if the last service date is unknown, and that’s either a chunk of your time or a bite out of your wallet if you have your shop tackle the job.
Recently, a story began circulating around the internet about how a collection of 928s was discovered rotting in the California desert. This gives you some indication as to the value of these cars when found in project-grade shape, which is to say not much. In checking recent auction results, a similar 928 with a 5-speed in running condition was a no-sale at around $12,000, and you likely have at least $10,000 in work to get this 928 to reliable condition. The numbers don’t lie, which is why it’s always smarter to buy a car like this in decent shape. Yes, you can some out on top with a needy air-cooled 911, but not a water-cooled 928. What do you think is a fair final bid for this no reserve project?
Based on a projected 5-6k for timing belt/water pump service….Nah, go park it in the gully with the other ones – they can hang around the campfire at night and talk about the good ‘ol days…
More likely, they can hang around the campfire like in Blazing Saddles, trading gas flareups.
The cars were dead in the water just after they were introduced. Too big, too heavy. and all sorts niggle electronics problems. When I was service managing for the Porsche dealer and service outfit we’d get two to three of the cars in a week with problems that shouldn’t be on cars that new. This one will be a parts car at best.
With the exception of certain years and models, this is the best place for a Porsche. In the garage on jack stands.
A better place would be in the crusher. These cars wrote the book on “money pit” even while they were running.
It was unfortunate because the 928 had very good qualities and as a design was about as good as the 1970s got. But (1) it wasn’t a 911 and (2) its problems damned its name. By the time values depreciated to the point where it became associated with low-level drug dealers and people with maxed-out credit cards, the final nail was in the reputational coffin. The late-build GTS models seem still to have a following.