Thaddeus

Hi,

I am talking to a seller of an 84 928, which he says is a Euro car, with the following VIN:

WP0ZZZ92ZES841308

Is that a Euro model?

Any insights on what to look for (or look out for) on such a car?

Thanks

Thaddeus

Bryan

That's the VIN for a 1984 European 928S with the dual-distributor/LH-jet 310 hp engine. Nice cars.

Bryan

Thaddeus

Cool.... thanks

shaaark89

make sure he's taking the vin from the right place. at least all the s4 and later cars have the "euro" vin stamped on the passenger fender in the engine bay and the us vin is added later with stickers elsewhere (on all the body panels in the early s4's anyway)

Jim bailey - 928 International

perhaps most significant is that during the required federalization process the speedometer odometer should have been changed to miles so the odometer reading means NOTHING . TMU true mileage unknown . Also confirm that the engine is still the Euro block since several euro engine have been replaced with USA short blocks . Euro cars tend to have been used and driven harder than the typical USA car . If someone goes to the expense and trouble importing an S to have 300-310 hp they quite often planned to use that power . Some states like California you can not easily register a Euro from out of state . Banks and Insurance companies may have issues with lending , insuring and may value the car at much less than a USA car . The cars are now so old that the condition is so important to determine value . A very detailed prepurchase including a compression test will help determine how well cared for the car has been and what items need immediate attention .

Thaddeus

About the odometer... would the thing be showing higher, or lower, than true miles, if a US speedo was put in?

sweanders

Probably lower, since the original one has been replaced. Depending on how old the car was when this was done this really doesn't matter to much.

I've seen 928's with full service history to prove a relatively low ODO settings with pretty ratty interiors and engine compartments. Then on the other hand we have Niels Jørensens 928 S4 with 320.000 km's on the ODO that looks like new on the inside and it runs really strong.

So don't worry to much about the ODO, check out the condition of the car instead.

Thaddeus

I was thinking in terms of the mathematics of the thing. If you have an odometer that registers one mile per rotation of the speedo cable, and another odometer that registers 1 km per rotation of the cable, it would imply that a car that was built to supply cable rotation to a km based odo would register more miles on a mile based odo than the car had actually driven... I think?

Although the point that the speedo could have been replaced at any time in the car's life, and likely wouldn't have had its odo set to reflect the actual miles the car has been driven, is a really good one.

Jim bailey - 928 International

the speedometer is driven electrically by a small switch on the differential housing which counts magnets as they pass by . The usa and Euro use the same switch and same number of magnets . The conversion miles or km is in the head unit . No way of knowing what the replacement speedo/odo was reading when changed . But the odometer would count miles correctly from that point forward .

Thaddeus

That's good info. But you are right, there's no way of telling the true mileage...

Of course, if I run a carfax and it reveals the car was imported early in its life, that would imply the speedo was changed then, and might weight the odds towards a more correct reading.

Sometimes odds are all you have to go on...

Thaddeus

Hm.

Seller says the car has 130K miles.

Carfax said it had 123K in 1995.

No comment.

Mark

YESIREE! Ditto on the '85 EURO!

Thaddeus

How would one check this? I've almost crossed this car off the list, but if it seems like it's in exceptional, and unmodified, condition it might not be out. Is there an easily identifiable visual cue that will tell me if it is a Euro block or a US one? A stamp, a maker's mark, a characteristic bolt flange or something?

thanks for all the help...

Mark

TWIN DISTRIBUTORS with a coil on each side of the car.

Thaddeus

That would be hard to miss....

Thanks to all!