Wanted - Cayman 987.2 manual.

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

First post as so many before me.


I’m just waiting on the sale of my Caterham to complete (I’ve been told a week) and I’m looking for my first Porsche.

I owned the Caterham for 4 years, driven it at Brands many times, it’s such a fantastic car to drive but wanted something equally capable but a little more refined, if you’ve driven one you’ll know what I mean.

I’m in no major rush, anyone who can help, any advice would be much appreciated.

What must haves should I be looking for? What options should I steer clear of? Ceramics? Presumably extremely expensive to replace!

There are many more PDK’s than manuals available, my intuition is to hold out for a manual but should I? Is the PDK less of a "drivers car”?

As a minimum I’d like a 2010 with PSM, PASM & Chrono with around 50k, with FSH.
I love the 19” Turbo Alloys but will accept others. I know what I’d like to spend but what do you think I’m realistically looking at spending (private sale)?

Thanks in advance for any help, if you have something you’re looking to sell or trade in please do let me know.

 

[Briggy]

I was in the same boat as you, 4 years ago. I was certain I wanted a manual, but people told me to try a PDK before I made my mind up. I'm glad I did as it's very good indeed. Just remember that it's not a slush box. Just test drive both as ultimately, it comes down to personal preference, rather than which is better.

For an 'S', I think you'd be looking at 22k private or 25k from a reputable dealer for the spec you want, perhaps a touch less. Not sure where prices are for non-S at the moment.

Cheers,

Bryan

 

[arpage]

I bought a manual Cayman S 987.2 2011 35k miles in June.

It's great. I definitely wanted manual as all my recent cars I've owned have been auto/paddle and I wanted to get back to a manual shift. Purely personal preference and I'm sure the PDK is great (and better at shifting than me) but I love the engagement and control of manual.

When looking I was unsure of whether to get the PASM but went for one without after reading in a few places that on a traditional UK B-road it is too much - I live in the cotswolds and that is most of my driving. I have to say it is great without, I'm sure when I make it on to a track it would have come in to its own, but for 90% of my driving I feel the standard setup is fine.

Whatever you choose you'll love it I'm sure.

And as for price, depending on the exact spec you end up with and where you get it from, I'd agree you're looking between 22-25k.

 

[Motorhead]

Hi Alex,

Welcome to the forum.

I’ve had a 987.2 CS with the manual ‘box for more than 11-years now. It’s a high spec, low mileage car with all the ‘sports’ options, including LSD, and was valued at £26k by the Club back in April. Values appear to be holding firm right now; maybe even increasing a little bit.

I can’t think of any options which you should avoid and it just comes down to individual preferences and what’s available, although I’d be a bit cautious of a high-mileage car with PCCB’s.

I’ve driven a few PDK cars ... it’s an excellent gearbox, but I’m a bit old-school and just prefer the additional engagement that the manual ‘box and extra pedal provide. Again, it’s down to personal preference and planned usage and only you can decide what suits you best. As Bryan recommends, try both if you can. Just note that the paddle-shifts weren’t available initially, although they’re available as a retrofit. The only other thing to consider is that although problems with the PDK transmission are rare, a major snag will require a complete replacement, of the order £12k I believe. You may want to think about taking out the Porsche Extended Warranty for which the car needs to pass the 111-point check. This in itself means that every component on the car - including tyres and battery - must be Porsche approved.

As always, buy on condition and a reputable service history and I’d advise you to get a PPI, especially if you’re buying privately rather than from an established Porsche specialist.

Good luck in your search. I’m sure that you won’t be disappointed if you find the right car.

Jeff

Edit: Re Anthony’s comment about PASM, I have that option with 19” wheels. With PASM the ride height is lowered by 10mm but the damping is slightly softer than standard in the normal setting and adapts to your driving style, so I find the ride quality very good even on poorer-quality surfaces. However, the Sport setting really is only suitable for very smooth road surfaces and I only use it on the track.

One other thing that I forgot to mention is that Sport Chrono really only comes into its own with PDK. On a manual car it just gives you a more aggressive throttle and engine mapping.

Jeff

 

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

Thanks for all your replies, some useful information to ponder, especially the extended warranty criteria.

 

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

Can someone enlighten me as to the difference between these two PDK steering wheels please?

The first picture seems to me, to be the "better" option for paddles!?

 

[Motorhead]

Alex,

The first picture shows the paddle-shift which has the conventional right to change up and left to change down arrangement and the second shows the original button-shift arrangement carried-over from the Tiptronic gearbox. I think each button has +/- to perform the shift, so you can use either. Some people quite like it.

As I mentioned in my previous post the paddle-shift can be retrofitted, but I think that you may need the sports steering wheel too so it’s not cheap unless you can source a used unit.

Shift-stick operation is the same for both - push to change up and pull to change down [the usual silly counter-intuitive convention!].

Jeff

 

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

Thanks Jeff, very helpful.

 

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

What do you guys think this is worth?

On the money, too high or low?

https://www.autotrader.co...ne-size=3.0&page=1

 

[Motorhead]

That looks like a very nice example of a well-spec’d 987.2 CS Alex, although 5 owners in 10 years might raise a minor concern, and although the service record looks mainly to have been Official Porsche and Revolution Porsche are a recognised Porsche Independent, I don’t recognise HiQ so I’d question that.

The price looks OK to me, subject to a satisfactory PPI since it’s a private sale unless you feel confident to do this yourself, and you’d probably be able to haggle if the seller is anxious to move-on the car before the winter.

Porsche Inspections are in the Market Harborough area:

https://www.porscheinspections.com/index.html

Worth a look I would say.

Jeff

 

[ForTheLoveOfCars]

Hmmm, I'm in two minds about the amount of owners.

Also having two minor services in a row isn't ideal.

Last major was at 31,885miles,

Last service was a minor at 52,034miles (May 2017).

Last change of keeper was June 2017, so he's owned it for 3.5 years driven 6k miles and not serviced it once!!

He has said it's had anything needing doing done, but hasn't gone into specifics.

If it gets a new MOT, then this will confirm suspension is in order and is road worthy.

I do like the look of it and I think I can spot any big ticket faults, so the question is do I budget for a major service (£1k), save £410 on a PPI and try and get it for £21k?

I'm in a dilemma?

 

[Craiglm68]

I'd always go for a PPI irrespective....with the best will in the world, a problem can be lurking with the current owner blissfully unaware. And there are always plenty of other fish in the sea...good ones always come up, no harm in test driving a few more!

 

[Motorhead]

Rather odd him saying that it’s had everything done that’s been needed but he hasn't bothered to have an oil and filter change just as a minimum?

If you’re confident that you can spot any potential problems [have a look at the buyer’s guide on this site for some good advice] then you’ll be saving on a PPI, but like Craig I’d recommend it for a private purchase. One thing they’ll be able to do is to check the DME for engine over-ranges; ranges 1 and 2 are OK but anything higher will indicate that the engine has been over-revved, always a possibility with a manual gearbox with missed down-changes. You could of course request that he gets the check done at his expense but if the PPI flags-up some issues it’s a good bargaining chip and you could save the cost of the inspection as a result.

Jeff

 

[Motorhead]

Alex,

You may want to take a look at the car’s MOT history. Not much to be bothered about - rusting brake discs on the inner surfaces is very common and it would be worthwhile asking if the oil leak and ball joint wear have been fixed. Although it was 6 years ago the fact that a front disc was in a dangerously worn condition doesn’t indicate particularly careful ownership, especially when you consider the number of owners.

I should mention also that in addition to the engine over-range check a diagnostic check will also indicate engine hours which can be used to validate approximately the mileage. Other than the previous link, if you’re looking for someone else for a PPI or maybe just a diagnostic check you may want to contact Dove House in Rushden who are in the locality and whose labour rates are very reasonable. Quite a few members in R10 and R24 use their services, so they’re a reliable outfit.

https://www.dovehousecars.com/

Jeff

 

[AndrewT]

In some of those pictures the front end looks a different shade to the bonnet, some parts may have been resprayed due to stone chips?

Not essential, but it doesn’t have heated seats. A lot of people prefer a full leather dash too.

The number of owners, mileage, and service history might indicate that people have owned it for the “Porsche Experience” but at minimal maintenance expense.

I’d want to be sure that all disks/pads have plenty of life, and check that it has 4 tyres of the same brand and with good tread and relatively recent date codes.

If you were buying a PDK car you wouldn’t have to worry about over revs.

I‘m not very informed about prices, but it seams reasonable, you might even get it for £20k?