Thinking of buying a Cayman, advice please

[Trevor]

Hi All,
Thinking of getting a Cayman as 2nd car. I am aware of IMS issues on the 996 and wanted advice on which Caymans were most likely to be 'safe' or are all part of the small percentage at risk?

Don't get the product codes, or engine sizes yet either. Is there a quick guide/reference somewhere, as I am sure this will have been asked many times before.

Not new to pork, as I had a 964 and have a 996T at the moment.

Car won't be tracked but will have some spirited use across A and B roads.
Thanks,
Trevor

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

987 Gen 2 dfi onwards would be my advice

 

[ChrisW]

And mine ...

 

[Trevor]

Think budget might need to grow a bit too much for that. What would you think would be the bottom/lower end for a Gen 2. Don't forget, I already have a 996 Turbo.

 

[Dylan1]

Lower end gen2 about £20k I would think for a good one up to £30k

good luck

 

[Motorhead]

Hi Trevor,

I'd agree with the others that if the funds are available go for a Gen2 car; maybe a high mileage 2.9, although I'd recommend the 3.4 myself. However, I think that you should remember that the Gen1 Caymans will have benefited from the engine development programme during which there were a significant number of IMS bearing updates, the last of which was incorporated in all Caymans.

You might want to take a look at this buying guide for some useful info:

[link=http://www.pistonheads.com/news/buyingguide/ph/28004?utm_source=pistonheads.com&utm_medium=Internal&utm_content=Forum%20Link&utm_campaign=Buying%20Guide%20Porsche%20Cayman%20987]http://www.pistonheads.com/news/buyingguide/ph/28004?utm_source=pistonheads.com&utm_medium=Internal&utm_content=Forum%20Link&utm_campaign=Buying%20Guide%20Porsche%20Cayman%20987[/link]

Whatever you choose, you'll find it a very entertaining car to own and drive.

Good luck!

Jeff

 

[stephenbailey]

Hi Trevor

Im sure a lot of peaple will disagree but don't rule out the gen 1 cayman

I'm fully aware of issues (!), but if everyone decided not to purchase one of the models with possible problems then no one would buy certain boxsters, caymans, 996's & 997's

Ive run a 2006 Cayman S for a while now with no problems, its never let me down, dose not use any oil & makes me smile everytime i drive it

When I was looking, for me personally I wanted a full service history to know the car had been well looked after

You tend not to hear of all the owners who have not had problems with there cars !!!!!

Have a look at the link Jeff sent & good luck with your search

cheers

Steve

2006 Cayman S -49k miles

 

[dpoynton]

I have to agree with everything that Stephen says above.

Ours is a September 2006 (56 plate) Gen 1 3.4s Tip. Bought for £30k at 3 years old with 10k on clock, now has 41k worth c, £19k(?).

So far (!), has never let us down, again, smiles on faces when we get to drive it.

Go for it! You know you want to.

Just get a pre-purchase inspection done for peace of mind.

David

 

[Buddy]

If going to an OPC for one of their approved cars you get two years warranty and not all non-franchised dealers drop their prices enough to make the difference in service or confidence in my view.

Last summer when I was looking for my Gen2 PDK, I saw some in OPC's with low prices and low mileage, both of those I saw were manuals, PDK's at that time tended to be more expensive but this can change from time to time be patient and search over a wide area, be mindful of the must have options as some are rare.

If going for a Gen1 as Jeff said it had the later iteration of the IMS, & also the RMS, bore scoring issues you will be aware of but engine rebuilds although much publicised on the internet are much rarer than people expect and the worst case I have seen in a poll was less than 10% although generally thought to be around 5% as Trevor says those who have no problems tend less to talk about them...

 

[Trevor]

So, sounds like a 2.7 is the preferred option if Gen1.

What are the options that I should be looking for and is it worth me getting a bore scope done on a 2007 car.

Seen one with this spec.

Doesn't say a lot about the car, e.g. tyres, owners, etc. so a few questions to be asked. Price seems ok for 70k miles.

2 seats, Meteor Grey, Full Blue Leather Sports Interior, Porsche CDR24 CD Player, Digital Climate Control, Cruise Control, Electric Mirrors, Air Conditioning, Porsche Coloured Centre Wheel Crests, Windshield with Graduated Tint, Porsche Genuine, Full Service History, 2 Keys, Very Clean Car.., THIS CAR COMES WITH 3 MONTHS RAC WARRANTY AND 12 MONTHS FREE RAC BREAKDOWN CARE, £14,000

 

[Motorhead]

Trevor,

Many 2.7 cars come with a lower spec than the 3.4s but the one you've found sounds OK and worth a look I'd think. As always, buy on condition and service history and a PPI by a reputable Porsche specialist should throw up any faults and is worth considering for peace of mind (this might include a bore check).

I'm always dubious about warranties and it would be worth checking to see what is actually covered in this case as Porsche repairs can be expensive - as you'll know from your 964/996T experience.

Jeff

 

[keiththo]

This sounds expensive to me, I part exchanged my 2008 2.7 for £11500 in October. It had 52k miles with full OPC history and lots of the expensive jobs done last summer (aircon condensors replaced, water pipes connecting both front radiators replaced and a new alternator)

Having owned several Porsches I am very aware of the considerable repair bills so would be tempted by a car with official Porsche warranty if the price was vaguely competitive.

 

[JustinC]

I bought my 2008 2.7 in July 2015 for £18k from a Jaguar dealer, it was by some margin the cheapest I could find and was over £5k cheaper than something (hard to find) similar at an OPC. I did however manage to convince the dealer to service it at the local OPC (at their expense) and I went along to chat to them while the service was carried out. It was a local car with 25k miles from new and one owner with every MOT even done at the local OPC. Only two options from new (parking sensors and something called a 'CD Changer'). £14k seems reasonable money to me but 70k seems high. No idea if that really matter though.

On the whole gen1 vs gen2 debate. You'll hear a lot of opinions of both sides and I agonised over the choice. In the end I found the car that had a history etc that I liked at a price I thought was fair. I've driven it for 6k miles now and it hasn't skipped a beat. The stereo would have seemed old in the 90s though.

 

[Brian_Innes]

Trevor, my advice would be to sell your 996 Turbo and buy a Cayman R manual with all the keen driver's options on it.

The CR is a more practical car as daily driver than a 996 911 Turbo IMO. You won't need both.

My 2012 CR has done 27K absolutely trouble free miles, both touring and on occasional track days.

You'll never own a better Cayman than an R manual.

Brian

 

[ChrisW]

If you choose a Gen1 you need to ask yourself how lucky you are ...

It's that simple ...

When (if) the engine goes, it can virtually write the car off.

There is no way as a buyer that you can protect yourself, other than with a warranty that will cover the rebuild cost ....

 

[dpoynton]

If you choose a Gen1 ... when (if) the engine goes, it can virtually write the car off.

I thought that the Cayman engines benefitted from upgrades on the 986 type engines that failed?

David

 

[ChrisW]

Everything Gen 1 can and may fail. Yes the IMS was improved but this did nothing for D chunking or bore scoring, and the multitude of ways the oil could find it's way into the coolant or the coolant could find it's way out of the cooling system ...

I ran a 2007 Cayman S in the PCChampionship and gen 1 engines in racing were being rebuilt mid season (at 10 hours ... ?) --- despite being fitted with every known improvement for the race spec build. Mine did 1800 miles before it lunched itself and I had been very careful with it. The rebuild included a crankshaft, and the engine failed again 500 miles later ... thankfully just a main bearing which I caught very early ... I repaired it and then sold it.

Yes the Gen 1's are cheap, but you should factor in the cost of a warranty that will pay to replace the engine if needs be ...

 

[ChrisW]

[h1]thought you might find this interesting, all Gen 1 (with the exception of Nathalie's PDK car ... )[/h1][h1] [/h1][h1]Hartech Podium Awards Scheme[/h1]It has been pointed out to me that my last post about the rewards scheme for competitors using Hartech engines was ambiguous - in that it wasn't clear if the rewards earnings to set against the labour costs of an engine rebuild are for each race or the Championship overall. The Rewards are for each race - 1st £200, 2nd £100, 3rd £50 and winning the Championship doubles the reward. With 14 races - this should accumulate enough to pay for (or contribute a lot towards) the labour for a mid or end of season rebuild for regular podium finishers. Eligibility requires registration which is just to discuss the engine in question and to be sure it has Hartech modification to critical areas like the valved racing sump, secure core plugs, support rings (Boxster S) or Hartech Nikasil cylinders (996), LTT, increased coolant flow to cylinders etc. and that we have rebuilt the engine. Competitors considering their first rebuild at Hartech will receive a discount on any racing parts and modifications. For eligibility please contact Rob Carnson (motor sport manager) (rob@hartech.org), for booking in please contact Tobias and for prices/estimates please contact Grant (01204 302809). I am no longer directly involved in Racing (apart from technical input). Good luck everyone, Baz (Barry Hart)