1991 Porsche 928 S4 from Sweden - Comments

The steering rack leaks a bit. Common on these cars. Will fix this during the winter.

A faulty front alignment messed up my tires. This has know been taken care of. The alignment is a crucial detail with this car. The car is equipped with a "bump steer" function. This makes it impossible to lift the car during alignment and still get correct values. Whatever you do, find a shop that will do the alignment without lifting.

The car is frighteningly quick in acceleration above 140km/h. It keeps on accelerating very hard up to 270km/h.

It feels like the car handles better and better the faster you go. When cruising around town the wonderful V8-sound make you feel like you are driving a big powerful "V8 muscle" kind of car.

Under spirited driving through twisty roads the car clearly shows that this is not your everyday V8-cruiser. The handling outperforms most of the modern day cars and the car sticks to the road like you have put glue on your tires.

The car do perform very well on the race track and outperforms even some of the new Porsches, especially on the straights. If you want to be serious about track racing, just take out the interior and save about 300kg.

Worst things about owning this car:

I get challenged to road race some teenager about once a week.

A constant fear of that something very very expensive would brake around the next corner.

Sometimes people are making the mistake thinking they are looking at a 944 or 924. They usually come to there senses when they hear the V8 rumble.

Best things about owning this car:

That the car outperforms me. I have never ever even dared to try the top speed of the car. Maybe sometime in the future I will have the chance to try it out on the Autobahn.

The lines on this car is classic. The car is thirteen years old and still have the looks. People often get a surprise when I tell them the age of the car.

You will get some attention when owning this car. People often walk up to the car admiring it and asking questions when I am filling it up at the gas station or similar.

Thank you for this review.

I too was about to buy a 928S4 due to its desirable combination of low (initial) price, performance and prestige.

However, I was swayed away when reading sad reports about possible high maintenance costs and bought a late model high performance Japanese car (WRX) instead.

Has anybody analysed how much more, on average, a 928S4 would cost compared to a late model Japanese car when taking depreciation, repairs and other running costs into account (assuming similar levels of every day usage)?

It would be an interesting article/story for a motoring journalist to pick up on wouldn't it?

I have owned a 928GT (1990 model) for 3 years

I bought it from a guy who spent fortunes on it so

it needed nothing.

Depreciation is Zero, in fact I think they are going up in

price!

This is my 3rd 928, and has proved the most reliable.

I agree that not many people know how to fix them, silly things like adjustment of the clutch pedal and the remote tail gate release have left mechanics baffled!

Its not too thirsty if you dive sensibly 21MPG, however drive

in stop start traffic you will down to 14MPG.

Main expense has been 3 (yes 3!) radiators, the ride height very low, and if you take speed humps too fast, you damage oil cooler and radiator.

My tire pressure monitors work absolutely fine!

I have covered 50K miles in three years, and I still love driving it!

Hello again!

Thanks for your comments.

The maintenance figures for the car probably varies a lot between different cars. When buying one of these beaties, the condition is everything. A poor maintained car may cost a lot to get up to shape and at the same time the quality is very, very good. So miles isn't as important as condition.

A rule of thumb when buying a 928. Look at the market and take a good look at the prices. In Sweden most of the good examples (In this case a 1991 S4) cost about 15-17.500 US$. If you should find an a car for lets say 7.500US$ you will have to pay at least 7.500 US$ or more in maintanace until you have the car in mint condition again.

I drive the car as an enthusiast car only (about 100km/week.) and in the first year of ownership the car has cost me exactly 2.100US$. This excludes; gas, ensurance, garage rent etc... and includes; new front tires, new brake pads (front), brake fluid and the big service (Timing belt, waterpump, various belts in front, etc...).

I count on that the maintanance costs will be somewhat lower the second year now that I have completed the big service.

When it comes to everyday driving (and comparision with a WRX) it probably looses big time when it comes to costs:)

The comparsion are not that easy though. Its somewhat like comparing a Lamborghini Countach as a daily driver with a Nissan 200SX... Its just that most things on a 928 is not made with economics in mind, but quality and performance... then add that the WRX is a new vehicle... the 928 is not.

Don't get me wrong though. You could drive a good 928 as a daily driver without problems, but if I had a WRX I probably would have kept it as an exciting daily driver and have the 928 for the thrills:)

Ps. I re-read what I just wrote and one could be mistaken that I was kind of pessimistic... I'm totally in love with this car. Its just that people often due to the low initial price makes the mistake of thinking the car is an ordinary car. It is not. This is a "Super Car" and have the maintanance costs of one. If properly maintained however, it will give you thrills down your spine everytime you drive it :D.DS

/

Original writer of the review.

I own 2 Mustang Convertibles and a 1990 928S4, with 57,000 miles. One Mustang is an '01 V6, the other an '03 GT. While they are nice to drive, nothing compares with driving the 928.

It gets attention everywhere, yet it's profile is relatively low. I drives like a Formula One on the highway, and a heavy

muscle car in the city. I am blessed with a great mechanic who saves me money on everything. The only maintenance complaint is that the engineering is sensitive. The car needs to be driven with respect. Abuse results in a sulking car, that won't perform as Dr. Porsche intended. The dash pod cracks and warps if left in the sun, my Mustangs don't.Whatever the shortcomings, the car makes up for in thrilling performance.I've also owned turbo Z, 911, 'Vette

and nothing really compares to a well sorted out 928S4.

As said above its Kinda Hard to compare a WRX to a 928. However. I have had a 928 and a WRX lol. I found that the wrx (stock) wasnt cheap at all to maintain. So I bought a 1991 928 GT. The WRX only had 30k miles when I got rid of it. I have been driving the 928 for 1 year. I've only spent money on upgrades :p. In terms of costs of repairs. I don't think the 928 is more than newer cars. I've Owned 2002 mercedes c32 (still own), wrx, and a nissan 350z. I'm actually shocked that the 928 doesn't rape my wallet and I take it to the porsche dealer!.Even if it did cost a lot id be happy to spend it on it. It's an excelent. But take note that If you drive the car daily and not hard and then one day decide to sink your foot without exercising the motor you will break something. Two of my friends have damaged their 928's by doing that A 1986 928 s and a 1989 928 s4. However they really pushed. So take caution. I've taken my 928 auto crossing and pushed it pretty hard. Still pulling strong :p.

I have now owned my '89 928 S4 for about three years and must state I love this vehicle. I bought it with 114,000 miles on it and it is now just at 170,000. I have bought the service manuals and learned that this vehicle is not hard to work on at all if you aren't dealing with the wiring that is. Replacement of the timing belt and WP for example is not to difficult for the do-it-yourself person. A basic metric tool set and a set of ramps and it isn't quite that hard to get done yet it is time consuming. I have replaced my TB/WP twice now and can get the front of the motor apart in about 3-4 hours... and back together in about the same.

The vehicle is special and takes time to learn to work on as all vehicles do. This isn't a '66 Mustang with a 289 ci... it is a vehicle made to travel safely at higher than normal speeds the American public aren't accustomed to. Treat it with repsect, and the vehicle will reward you with great satisfaction and not to mention many on-lookers will constantly ask you for a ride... happy motoring...Patrick.