Advice on buying an early Cayman

cueman · Apr 22, 2013

Hi to all, i've owned quite a few Porsches, but never a Cayman.

A very good friend of mine is looking to buy an early Cayman so i wanted to ask what the obvious things are to look out for when buying second hand.

He's looking at spending up to £20k which probably means something like 2006/7 (probably a 2.7)

Any help/advice would be much appreciated and if anyone know of a really well looked after Cayman for sale that could also be really useful.

Many thanks

Nick

Motorhead · Apr 22, 2013

Nick, As always with any used Porsche, condition and a full service history (PC or a recognised Independent) are very important. Caymans, like Boxsters, are pretty robust and the well-documented RMS and IMS issues had been mainly addressed by the time the Cayman came along. Your friend could do worse than getting a copy of Peter Morgan's book: Porsche Boxster and Cayman: All Models 1996 to 2007. Available on Amazon from Â£5.40. A pre-purchase inspection would be money well spent to pick up things like wear in the lower suspension arms, steering racks leaks, radiator leaks, etc, much the same as for your 997TT. By the way, I'd go for a Cayman S myself. At that age there's not going to be much difference in price compared with the base Cayman, and often they have a superior spec. There are plenty of good cars out there and I hope that your friend finds one. It's a great driver's car and he won't be disappointed. Jeff

Buddy · Apr 22, 2013

Hi Nick, I'll support everything Jeff has said especially that he should be getting into a good private buy on a Cayman S for around Â£20K if he finds a car which has a Porsche warranty then it will have passed a 111 point check for the renewal whenever that was and it is transferable on a private sale.[

] You could even put an entry in the buying section of this forum for him[

]

John H · Apr 22, 2013

Agreed with the above, buy on condition and history, rather than get hung up on colour or spec. Check the tyres and brakes ... do all 4 tyres match?, are they N rated? are they cheapo budget? ... how much life is left in the disks and pads? ... replacing all the tyres and disks will be expensive, and Caymen have an appetite for both, especillay if driven hard. My car is a 2006, 53,000 miles, but still looks and drives pretty much like the day I bought it, which proves that these cars last well if looked after, but not all are. Better yet my car is still on a Porsche extended warranty, which is worth every penny. If you can find one with a Porsche warranty, it would be a good choice. Happy hunting, finding a good Cayman is worth the effort! Best car Porsche make. [

]

Buddy · Apr 23, 2013

If anyone is wanting to upgrade from a good Gen1 or even Gen2 then first try to sell through the members for sale part of the forum but don't forget to announce it on the Cayman section, not everyone combs the "for sales" all of the time.[

] Remember to put in as much info as possible as it saves a lot of to and froing.

Derek H · Apr 25, 2013

I had my car borescope inspected for signs of cylinder bore scoring before I purchased. Although this was done by the supplying dealer (non OPC) and I wasn't able to be present, he did provide a written report of the findings. If I was buying again, this is a potential concern I'd want to eliminate before taking the plunge - especially with a 3.4S.

cueman · Apr 29, 2013

That's really helpful, thanks very much for all the replies - i have passed them on. Hopefully he'll be converted to Porsche ownership! Thanks again, Nick