It is a 31 year old, high end sports car. About as far away from and ideal first car as you can get. Repairs would be outrageously expensive.
Either your son is trying a con job on you or you are a troll.
How did I get sucked in to this old post? When I replied I did not see ANY other replies
Hey everyone OP here, thanks for all the feedback!
Sorry for not responding all this time, completely forgot that I even posted this.
So hereās the truth, I was actually 15 years old when I posted this so I donāt have a son.
At the time I was in love with the car and was just curious to see what others thought about it, I knew I wanted a project car as my first car but didnāt know what I was getting myself into and turned to this forum.
But after doing research (still 15) I concluded that yes, it would be ridiculous to buy at my age.
I wasnāt trying to troll anyone, so my apologies.
Again, thanks for all the the feedback. Didnāt think a post that was 5 years old would still get some love.
Drive safe out there!
Longevity ā Reliability
If youāre willing to pour more money into repairs than your car is worth, any car can last more than 600,000 miles. That doesnāt make it a reliable car for a road trip.
We rarely get complaints here about problems with Porsche products. I donāt know if thatās b/c they are more reliable than most makes (I expect they are quite reliable for the most part), or that there just arenāt many Porsche owners who post here. I think Consumer Reports has given good reliability ratings for the Boxster, not sure about the 928. If a youngster wants a Porsche for their first car I wouldnāt discourage it. Just b/c it is a Porsche I mean. However, Iād advise them to look up the cost of a waterpump replacement compared to a Honda Civic. For the 1987 Porsche 928 S4, Iām seeing $150 for the part, plus 9 hours labor. Pretty steep compared to a Civic Iād guess.
Yes, because new drivers who lack common sense should be handed the keys to a high performance sports carā¦
After five years we finally find out. Weāve been waiting all this time.
Heh heh. Itās an old story but my first car was a 1960 Morris Minor. It was advertised for $175. I knew a local rock band member had owned it but found out later how much he abused it before he bought his Rambler. At any rate I wanted it and right away the dealer dropped the price to $150. Then when I got my check book out, they dropped the price again to $125. I was a tough negotiator at 16. Went to pick it up after work that night and they had aired the tires up for me but had trouble getting it started.
At any rate, yeah it was a project all right. I focused on the looks and painted it mellow yellow for $20. Then did the interior. Then tires. The budget I had given myself was $250 and then I would sell it. Well at $250, I still needed brakes, a transmission overhaul, a new carb or at least a lot of carb parts and who knows what else. I sold it to a guy at work for $250 who was heading off to college and told him everything I knew that needed to be done yet. When he came back to work during break I thought he was going to kill me for selling him that car. I still think it would be fun to own one again but Iād want one that someone already did everything to it.
Kids.
you are right, but this does not just apply to Porsche, it applys to each single car ever made. remember the 928 S4 was made in the late 1980s, it is 30+ year old, can you name a car that is 30+ yr old and does not need extensive maintaince?
I assume you have never actually own a 928 yourself? ANY car, at this age will require works done. I am driving a 1985 Toyota Van Wagon with 394k miles on it, the Original Owner has poured a lot of effort in it for it to last and runs good, when i bought it, i still needs to do a lot of work to it.
928 is no exception. Not a single car out there is exception, they all need A LOT of work done when they reached 30 years old. if you buy a brand new camry at the showroom floor today, 30 years later, the works it needs, will be the same work a 928 needs today (if no maintenance history at all).
The only difference is the cost of parts, again, same thing apply to any car that is more than 30.
and i assume you have not checked the 928 s4 markets lately? if you can afford one, prob take 5-10% of the asking price into maintaince and upgrade, you will have a dead reliable car for road trip.
one last thing, friend of my couple years ago drove his 1982 928 with 130k miles from new york to CA without a single issue.
now civic is a 4 bangers with very simple technologiesā¦ 928 S4 is a massive v8 DOHC 32v, the work of replacing the TB and WP surely will be different, but hey like you said, it is a porsche, you rare see them on the street, iāve only seem prob 3 928 on the street in the last 5 years (except going to the 928 meets, you will be suprised how many are out there.)
also pre-1982 928 if i am not mistaken, they used the non-interference 16v v8.
it is not a performance car by any means nowadaysā¦ it is heavy, it is slowā¦ a v6 accord or camry will likely to gap a 928 on a pullā¦
chill out man, we have all done that, this post will help ppl who are new into the 928
A 5 liter V-8 rated at 320hp is considered massive? So many larger engines even back in 1987. The 3.5 liter V-6 in my Camry is rated at only 60hp less. I guess the 5 liter V-6 I had in a 1963 suburban was gargantuan then.
5.0 v8 vs 1.8 l4, 2x more cylinders, 2x+ displacement, not massive compare to the civic? of course there are more ridiculously big motors back in the days and out there now, but if you go on i guess you can compare the v10 viper engine to a industrial CAT engine. also you need to take in consideration of the space in the engine bay. a lot of american cars not only have a massive engine but also massive engine bay to make it much more easier to work on. it is not the case for 928.
While this is almost true, (theyāre actually just about even) that V6 Accord or Camry also has modern safety design built into it, so when you wrap it around a tree doing something dumb, you might just walk away from the wreck with minor injuries instead of lifelong disabilities.
Also, people are more likely to want to street race you in a Porsche than in a Camry, and teen drivers are more likely to respond to such challenges, so you are more likely to be in performance driving situations that you shouldnāt be in when youāre driving a Porsche.
And all that aside, I never advocate giving a teenager a V6 Accord either, for the same reason that I think itās dumb to give them a Porsche. Youāre entirely right that V6 Accords are quite fast, and way too much car for a new driver to handle safely.
I remember all too well almost killing myself on a dirt road with an unanticipated 90 degree corner in my dadās 4-banger Caravan that could barely get out of its own way. I involuntarily learned to drift around corners that day. If Iād had access to a Porsche, or even an Accord, I might not be here today.
I always used to joke that if I had a kid Iād hunt up a 4 cylinder Civic and disable one cylinder. And that was back in the days when Civics hovered right around 100hp. Or less. 
you are right, forgot about the safety side of things. i guess from my experience, I personally dont mind gettinga performance car. but the same time, i was a professional drifter in japan when i just got into highschool, my first car was a s15 with 400hp to the wheel, all gutted and caged, i was on the track on a daily basis back then, i guess because of that, i do not race on the street for any reason (maybe couple of times ;)), and i learned to just cruise around in town or on twisties minding my own business. but you are right, it is crazy how reckless teens are, or even full grown adults
Was only saying that a 5.0 liter is NOT a massive engine by any rationale.
Actually, there are many professional mechanics here. and many gave solid advice to the OP.
How in the world did you surmise that from one post about the OPās non-existent son wanting a Porsche?
How about you NEVER do it . . .
Even if you only do it a few times, somebody saw you, and maybe thought it was okay
Innocent bystanders, whoāre just going home after work or otherwise minding their own business, DIE because of illegal street races
Iām no angel . . . Iāve done some really dumb and dangerous things in my time
But I wouldnāt use a āwinkā emoji when Iām talking about it
I know what I did was wrong, and I would never encourage anybody to do what I did. I didnāt say YOU did that, but when you use a āwinkā emoji when talking about the street racing you apparently still do, it makes me wonder
How about you stop slamming us and stop defending the OP . . . who admitted he was a 15 year old liar when when he first posted
As for you thinking it sounds like the guy knows his way around cars . . . think again
Thereās many seasoned professionals on this website. So, no matter if the lying OP was somehow āborn with motor oil in his veinsā . . . he could attempt to get his a game on, and still not hold a candle to the guys who actually do this for a living
zhonghuihe
5h
But you did misrepresent yourself
chill out man, we have all done that, this post will help ppl who are new into the 928
Well OK. Sorry folks but Iām not 70 and retired but Iām really a 13 year old female and I hope to some day get my drivers license, but whatās the rush? And I said I didnāt like horses, but really have several for transportation, and Iām really in Argentina.
Yeah sure everybody does it, the new normal, huh? Hippies of the 60ās had kids, went into politics, business, and education, so Iām glad Iām in Costa Rica oh I mean Argentina. Bye.
I dont doubt that. but i am sure you know that being a machanic and being a 928 specialist is different. A profession master machanic of toyota or honda would know his ways around 911 or 928? I highly doubt that. same goes to the opposite. professional machanic or not, a person who ACTUALLY worked on a specific car is what matters. imagine if you pull in a shop with you 928, and the machanic told you heās only seen a few of these, never own, driven and work on one before, would you trust him? I know I wouldnāt.
please note that when i posted that reply, the OP had not comment saying that he was making his situation up. āI am not an expert when it comes to Porschesā, thats what he said, on a normal day, i would assume by saying this, he at least know something about cars, but just not porsche.