987.1 Cayman S - Dream Car Daily Driver
Discussion
After lurking here for a couple of years and following some great ownership threads, I thought I'd contribute my own.
Several years ago, I made the mistake of renting a 911 for a day with a friend, and became obsessed with getting some kind of Porsche eventually - it was the best car I'd ever driven by far and felt so right. I became interested in Caymans due to the beautiful design and seeing them at US autocross events. Eventually someone at one of those was nice enough to let me take his Cayman S for a spin and I fell in love - perfect size, great power, excellent feedback, beautiful looks, and relatively practical to own. I couldn't resist the possibility of owning a mid-engine car with styling inspired by 60's prototype racers. I ruled out getting an S because the 987.1's have bore-scoring and the 987.2's are out of my budget. I settled on getting a base 987.1 Cayman with the 2.7 and 5-speed transmission (there is something deeply wrong about a mid-engine sports car with a slushbox auto).
Moving to the UK and selling the house in the US freed up enough cash to make this a viable proposition. There were saved searches on Autotrader, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace with plenty of overpriced and neglected cars. But then a miracle - a 987.1 S with a Hartech rebuild appeared for sale on eBay and it was in my budget! (For those who don't know, Hartech is the most well-known Porsche engine rebuilder in the UK - making a mint off of Hans Mezger's sins of scored bores, blown IMS bearings, and oiling systems insufficient for track use) Why was the car in my budget? It had 120k miles on the chassis and 70k miles on the engine since the rebuild, had 13 owners, and was extensively modified. This car had seen some things. There were two immediately concerning things with the sale - the current owner had only purchased the car six months ago and was now selling it in the middle of summer. He claimed it was too low and stiff for him, and because he couldn't take his kids in the car it just sat. Even more concerning, it was for sale near Birmingham (I've been told to never buy a Birmingham car?).
On the plus side, the modifications were not exclusively for the worse, and the service history shared by the current owner showed that many of its 13 owners had cared for the car - the "big jobs" like the coolant crossover pipes and clutch had been done, along with engine and trans mounts, upgraded coil packs, and brake hard lines. Between the good maintenance history, the engine rebuild, and the current owner seeming upstanding, I decided to give it a shot. I gave the car a good looking over and the owner was kind enough to give us a cold start - not so much as a single puff of smoke on start-up. There was the odd bit of surface corrosion underneath the car but nothing too concerning. The car ran well and the owner took me out for a test drive - the H&R coilovers with the 19" OEM wheels were nothing short of punishing, and Birmingham's rough roads didn't help. Despite that, there were no knocks, bangs, or vibrations out of the ordinary, and when I took my turn to drive, the engine was smooth and pulled through the gears without issue. The main issue was the A/C was blowing nothing but hot air, which is a great problem to have with these cars, relatively speaking.
With no perceivable dealbreakers (no damp in the car, no signs of undeclared damage, and no signs of engine issues), I couldn't not pull the trigger on the car. I negotiated 300 pounds off for the bad A/C, and with a call to SWMBO and the bank, I had bought a MY2006 987.1 Cayman S. First stop was Caffeine and Machine with my friend who had driven me in his NA Miata - and the car drove there, and then the 2+ hours home almost without fault. The only hiccup was the cheap old carplay head unit lost connection to my phone, and the aftermarket USB hookup stopped charging my phone. That was resolved by finding a gas station and getting a cigarette lighter phone charger. That and a rock chipping the windshield were the only issues the car gave me on the way home, which is about as good as you can hope for with a 20 year old heavily modified sports car.
Next post will be a look at what exactly I've gotten myself into with this car, including digitizing the service history and a trip to the local independent Porsche specialist for the dreaded post-purchase inspection!
Several years ago, I made the mistake of renting a 911 for a day with a friend, and became obsessed with getting some kind of Porsche eventually - it was the best car I'd ever driven by far and felt so right. I became interested in Caymans due to the beautiful design and seeing them at US autocross events. Eventually someone at one of those was nice enough to let me take his Cayman S for a spin and I fell in love - perfect size, great power, excellent feedback, beautiful looks, and relatively practical to own. I couldn't resist the possibility of owning a mid-engine car with styling inspired by 60's prototype racers. I ruled out getting an S because the 987.1's have bore-scoring and the 987.2's are out of my budget. I settled on getting a base 987.1 Cayman with the 2.7 and 5-speed transmission (there is something deeply wrong about a mid-engine sports car with a slushbox auto).
Moving to the UK and selling the house in the US freed up enough cash to make this a viable proposition. There were saved searches on Autotrader, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace with plenty of overpriced and neglected cars. But then a miracle - a 987.1 S with a Hartech rebuild appeared for sale on eBay and it was in my budget! (For those who don't know, Hartech is the most well-known Porsche engine rebuilder in the UK - making a mint off of Hans Mezger's sins of scored bores, blown IMS bearings, and oiling systems insufficient for track use) Why was the car in my budget? It had 120k miles on the chassis and 70k miles on the engine since the rebuild, had 13 owners, and was extensively modified. This car had seen some things. There were two immediately concerning things with the sale - the current owner had only purchased the car six months ago and was now selling it in the middle of summer. He claimed it was too low and stiff for him, and because he couldn't take his kids in the car it just sat. Even more concerning, it was for sale near Birmingham (I've been told to never buy a Birmingham car?).
On the plus side, the modifications were not exclusively for the worse, and the service history shared by the current owner showed that many of its 13 owners had cared for the car - the "big jobs" like the coolant crossover pipes and clutch had been done, along with engine and trans mounts, upgraded coil packs, and brake hard lines. Between the good maintenance history, the engine rebuild, and the current owner seeming upstanding, I decided to give it a shot. I gave the car a good looking over and the owner was kind enough to give us a cold start - not so much as a single puff of smoke on start-up. There was the odd bit of surface corrosion underneath the car but nothing too concerning. The car ran well and the owner took me out for a test drive - the H&R coilovers with the 19" OEM wheels were nothing short of punishing, and Birmingham's rough roads didn't help. Despite that, there were no knocks, bangs, or vibrations out of the ordinary, and when I took my turn to drive, the engine was smooth and pulled through the gears without issue. The main issue was the A/C was blowing nothing but hot air, which is a great problem to have with these cars, relatively speaking.
With no perceivable dealbreakers (no damp in the car, no signs of undeclared damage, and no signs of engine issues), I couldn't not pull the trigger on the car. I negotiated 300 pounds off for the bad A/C, and with a call to SWMBO and the bank, I had bought a MY2006 987.1 Cayman S. First stop was Caffeine and Machine with my friend who had driven me in his NA Miata - and the car drove there, and then the 2+ hours home almost without fault. The only hiccup was the cheap old carplay head unit lost connection to my phone, and the aftermarket USB hookup stopped charging my phone. That was resolved by finding a gas station and getting a cigarette lighter phone charger. That and a rock chipping the windshield were the only issues the car gave me on the way home, which is about as good as you can hope for with a 20 year old heavily modified sports car.
Next post will be a look at what exactly I've gotten myself into with this car, including digitizing the service history and a trip to the local independent Porsche specialist for the dreaded post-purchase inspection!
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