Base 718 Cayman - perfect daily driver?

[Hitch]

I used to run a 987 Boxster S as a daily and was looking at picking one up as a weekend car. The inevitable scope creep found me looking at 2.0 Caymans and thinking that perhaps it's a perfect daily driver?

I don't care for gadgets and gizmos so am not particularly spec crazy but £35-37k for a 300bhp coupe that rides well, is moderately efficient and still in (extendable) warranty has my interest piqued. I get the noise thing but if my mindset is that this is a daily not a 'special' car will I really care? It'll spend as much time running on the motorway as it will on the twisties.

I have a test drive booked in but wanted to know if anyone is living with one day to day and doing circa 20k a year? What are your experiences? Anything to look out for?

[overunder12g]

On my second 718 and cover about 20k each year.
I find them just about perfect. Enough fun factor but good for busines tracel.

Had all previous incarnations of the Cayman but really prefer the 718

[jimbo761]

The easily accessible turbo power matched with the PDK makes them great for commuting IMO, that and being able to park it in tight spaces.

Also good fun to take out on the weekends if you don't have two cars !

[anonymous-user]

I agree that a base 718 with PDK is a fantastic car for the money.

[Coxey]

I have a 718 as a daily - it's perfect

[neilf]

As above. Used my 2.0 as a daily for the last 2.5 years and 23k miles. Loved every mile.

An offer I couldn’t refuse on a new T is the only reason I’m about to change it.

[Xfe]

Yes, they are perfect. The best thing about the base model is the small wheels. As with the 911, the 718 suffers from a lot of tyre noise at speed

[Geoffrey 321]

Coxey said:

I have a 718 as a daily - it's perfect

+1

[Richard-3pdyn]

neilf said:

As above. Used my 2.0 as a daily for the last 2.5 years and 23k miles. Loved every mile.

An offer I couldn’t refuse on a new T is the only reason I’m about to change it.

would you mind sharing details of the offer (via PM if preferred) keen on a T but not much info around.

Cheers

[Geoffrey 321]

Richard-3pdyn said:

neilf said:

As above. Used my 2.0 as a daily for the last 2.5 years and 23k miles. Loved every mile.

An offer I couldn’t refuse on a new T is the only reason I’m about to change it.

would you mind sharing details of the offer (via PM if preferred) keen on a T but not much info around.

Cheers

Yes PM me also please

[bcr5784]

Frankly as a daily the Alpine A110 has it comfortably beat. Much nicer engine, quieter, better ride, far better (Focal) sound system, better equipped and cheaper spec for spec. More economical, better residuals.. Only the badge (if that matters to you) and the lack of dealers are downsides. Why not at least try one.

[Prospective]

Great daily driver loved every mile👍
With regards to Neil’s post good luck with any deal I tried my local OPC no build slots for a T and couldn’t give me a expected delivery date if I paid a deposit.
Nottingham were more helpful !

[993rsr]

bcr5784 said:

Frankly as a daily the Alpine A110 has it comfortably beat. Much nicer engine, quieter, better ride, far better (Focal) sound system, better equipped and cheaper spec for spec. More economical, better residuals.. Only the badge (if that matters to you) and the lack of dealers are downsides. Why not at least try one.

And importantly significantly lighter at just over 1100kgs.

Edited by 993rsr on Saturday 22 June 21:51

[Prestonese]

993rsr said:

And importantly significantly lighter at just over 1100kgs.

Edited by 993rsr on Saturday 22 June 21:51

I suspect the Alpine has a better image than the base 718 as well since there are fewer on the road. The infotainment on the Alpine isn't great though.

[HelenT]

Run a 9 year old Cayman great car and with low depreciation makes great sense but difficult if you work in a customer facing role, I also have a shed Subaru Legacy which I take to work and I'm an Optician who some home visits sort of feel with the Cayman people don't understand their new Fiesta cost more on list price than my car is worth but they are on PCP. Cayman makes way more financial sense if you don't do big miles and it puts a smile on my face each time I drive it which is worth a lot.

Edited by HelenT on Sunday 23 June 00:17

[LasseV]

Prestonese said:

I suspect the Alpine has a better image than the base 718 as well since there are fewer on the road. The infotainment on the Alpine isn't great though.

Well, who cares about image but i think Alpine is more exiting car.

Anyway, what about new Supra? It has better engine (sounds good), decent amount of bells and whistles as standard (LSD etc) and goes very well ( 4 sec to 60). And press people did like it a lot, if that matters. Will be a very rare car with a good resale value.

[anonymous-user]

LasseV said:

Prestonese said:

I suspect the Alpine has a better image than the base 718 as well since there are fewer on the road. The infotainment on the Alpine isn't great though.

Well, who cares about image but i think Alpine is more exiting car.

Anyway, what about new Supra? It has better engine (sounds good), decent amount of bells and whistles as standard (LSD etc) and goes very well ( 4 sec to 60). And press people did like it a lot, if that matters. Will be a very rare car with a good resale value.

Whilst the supra looks great, I think you’re missing the point of his original post.

[LasseV]

bulldong said:

Whilst the supra looks great, I think you’re missing the point of his original post.

Well, yeah. You are right.

[anonymous-user]

bcr5784 said:

Frankly as a daily the Alpine A110 has it comfortably beat. Much nicer engine, quieter, better ride, far better (Focal) sound system, better equipped and cheaper spec for spec. More economical, better residuals.. Only the badge (if that matters to you) and the lack of dealers are downsides. Why not at least try one.

always on the Porsche threads, BCR - I suppose at least your loyalty to the brand does you credit.

Perhaps there is an advantage to the Alpine badge in that everyone recognises a Porsche but park a Renault Alpine in the company car park and most are unlikely to know what it is, as it looks a bit quirky and, well, French and so fairly inoffensive?

Personally I’d be cautious quoting residuals though. Although they are carefully managing the supply chain and have clearly paid off Auto Express , others can be particularly harsh about future Alpine values vs the Porsche, e.g. historically a 70% 3 year residual on a Porsche would not be considered unusual.

For me I admit the styling is not to my taste, but then again I really like the new Supra so make of that what you will. Hopefully that doesn’t offend all my new friends in the Alpine Mafia..

[neilf]

Prospective said:

Great daily driver loved every mile??
With regards to Neil’s post good luck with any deal I tried my local OPC no build slots for a T and couldn’t give me a expected delivery date if I paid a deposit.
Nottingham were more helpful !

Keith’s right. I think I did drop lucky on a T.

For those of you who enquired about the deal. Managed a discount of about 8%. The clincher was the finance residuals. Much stronger on a T making it cheaper than a base Cayman! The list of my new T is roughly the same as my base 2.0 was in 2016. My monthly’s are the same, in 2016 I put a £4K deposit in. Today I only had to put in £1k. As I was about to drop £900 on new tyres it was a no brainier to change. The reason I was lucky... when I enquired in March several OPCs I spoke to had T build slots available only weeks away. Demand for the T appeared low, had my pick. Fast forward one week and Porsche shut down all T builds until November. Only the cars already ordered would be built. No idea why.