Cayman Engine Reliability?
Discussion
Hi.
Just wondered, is the 3.4 engine out of the Cayman's as hellishly un-predictable as the 996/997 engines, is there any variants to go for that are proven to be reliable? I was always put off buying a 996 C2 w/ Aerokit due to the engine problems and as much as I love the Cayman find myself avoiding it for the same reason.
I believe the DFI engine is the one to go for, were these only fitted from 2009+? My only down side with this is I see 2009+ cars are still in the depreciations free-fall and I don't plan on loosing loads, wanted a stop-gap car that was at the base of its depreciation curve.
Thanks.
Just wondered, is the 3.4 engine out of the Cayman's as hellishly un-predictable as the 996/997 engines, is there any variants to go for that are proven to be reliable? I was always put off buying a 996 C2 w/ Aerokit due to the engine problems and as much as I love the Cayman find myself avoiding it for the same reason.
I believe the DFI engine is the one to go for, were these only fitted from 2009+? My only down side with this is I see 2009+ cars are still in the depreciations free-fall and I don't plan on loosing loads, wanted a stop-gap car that was at the base of its depreciation curve.
Thanks.
Craig! said:
Hi.
Just wondered, is the 3.4 engine out of the Cayman's as hellishly un-predictable as the 996/997 engines, is there any variants to go for that are proven to be reliable? I was always put off buying a 996 C2 w/ Aerokit due to the engine problems and as much as I love the Cayman find myself avoiding it for the same reason.
I believe the DFI engine is the one to go for, were these only fitted from 2009+? My only down side with this is I see 2009+ cars are still in the depreciations free-fall and I don't plan on loosing loads, wanted a stop-gap car that was at the base of its depreciation curve.
Thanks.
First if all i'd say that "hellishly un-predictable" is probably a bit of an overstatement, it's still only a small percentage that have suffered the bore issues but I accept that it's still a percentage. Just wondered, is the 3.4 engine out of the Cayman's as hellishly un-predictable as the 996/997 engines, is there any variants to go for that are proven to be reliable? I was always put off buying a 996 C2 w/ Aerokit due to the engine problems and as much as I love the Cayman find myself avoiding it for the same reason.
I believe the DFI engine is the one to go for, were these only fitted from 2009+? My only down side with this is I see 2009+ cars are still in the depreciations free-fall and I don't plan on loosing loads, wanted a stop-gap car that was at the base of its depreciation curve.
Thanks.
Secondly, the DFI engines are not uber reliable themselves, there are reports of similar issues if you google about a bit or search the various forms including PH.
I chose to buy an earlier car for about £7k less than a newer car with a DFI engine. I stuck the cash in the bank i'd saved and with that I know that if it goes pop I can fix it, if it doesn't I've had just as much fun and saved £3k plus less depreciation - or you could buy a newer one and buy a Porsche warranty every year to cover your ass.
Pretty much every variant of Porsches have some issues or another (as do most cars), the fact is they are an expensive sports car that comes with risks...but with risks...comes reward
the gen1 is a great car and i dont believe prices are in freeall imho i think they are quiet stable.yes the gen1 has bore score issues which are pretty rare but can happen,the ims is pretty much sorted on later cars and less likely to fail,just get a car with the opc warranty for piece of mind.
as for the gen 2 the jury is still out on borescoring on the dfi just dont believe all the internet ball you read as no proven cases due to same reasons as gen1,and only isolated cases on the early 2.9 which porsche made upgrades to. yet again if worried get a car with warranty!imho gen2 prices are firm and will remain firm not a lot of cars were imported in the last 3 years so good cars are thin on the ground.
best car to go for is the brilliant caymanR.
good luck in your search
as for the gen 2 the jury is still out on borescoring on the dfi just dont believe all the internet ball you read as no proven cases due to same reasons as gen1,and only isolated cases on the early 2.9 which porsche made upgrades to. yet again if worried get a car with warranty!imho gen2 prices are firm and will remain firm not a lot of cars were imported in the last 3 years so good cars are thin on the ground.
best car to go for is the brilliant caymanR.
good luck in your search
As someone also looking at a gen 1 Cayman, it all depends on your comfort zone I think. Firstly, it has to be accepted there are potential IMS and bore score issues with the M96/M97 engine. You will hear lots of horror stories on the net about these, which is always going to sway people, as you don't get posts from owners who have had no issues whatsoever. Of which there are many.
Do I think it's ridiculous a marque such as Porsche have these potential issues? Yes. But I do know about them and I can't complain if and when something goes wrong. So I have some options here - walk away and never know just how much fun these cars could be is the first one. Or choose to purchase and stick an OPC warranty on it for piece of mind is the second one. Yes, I might end up forking out £1,500 for 2 years warranty and nothing goes wrong. Yes, I might end up paying £3k more for an OPC purchase and much higher servicing costs. That's piece of mind and money well spent for me - if it bothered me, I wouldn't do it.
General consensus is the DFI engine is far less prone to such failures and if you hunt about they are dropping in price...
http://www.westsidetc.com.razsor.autotrader.co.uk/...
...seems too good to be true that a gen 2 with that spec is under £25k, even if a bit high on miles so not a fair comparison as such. Personally, whilst there are independent warranties available with some well respected outfits, in my opinion they aren't for me. They only cover the labour and not the parts in the event of a problem (albeit most include servicing). For real piece of mind I will be going down the OPC warranty road. If your comfort zone differs, that might not be your choice.
Do I think it's ridiculous a marque such as Porsche have these potential issues? Yes. But I do know about them and I can't complain if and when something goes wrong. So I have some options here - walk away and never know just how much fun these cars could be is the first one. Or choose to purchase and stick an OPC warranty on it for piece of mind is the second one. Yes, I might end up forking out £1,500 for 2 years warranty and nothing goes wrong. Yes, I might end up paying £3k more for an OPC purchase and much higher servicing costs. That's piece of mind and money well spent for me - if it bothered me, I wouldn't do it.
General consensus is the DFI engine is far less prone to such failures and if you hunt about they are dropping in price...
http://www.westsidetc.com.razsor.autotrader.co.uk/...
...seems too good to be true that a gen 2 with that spec is under £25k, even if a bit high on miles so not a fair comparison as such. Personally, whilst there are independent warranties available with some well respected outfits, in my opinion they aren't for me. They only cover the labour and not the parts in the event of a problem (albeit most include servicing). For real piece of mind I will be going down the OPC warranty road. If your comfort zone differs, that might not be your choice.
The hellishly un-reliable comment was based on a friends two cars (both M96) both had IMS issues, this kinda puts me off them.
I do love the Cayman R, but think ultimately if I go for one I may as well just wait and go for a 997 GT3.
Some good advice here, any ideas on how much a rebuild costs if you just drop a bare engine off at a specialist? I'd be doing all the work to the car myself, so totally capable of dropping them off a bare engine for rebuild.
I do love the Cayman R, but think ultimately if I go for one I may as well just wait and go for a 997 GT3.
Some good advice here, any ideas on how much a rebuild costs if you just drop a bare engine off at a specialist? I'd be doing all the work to the car myself, so totally capable of dropping them off a bare engine for rebuild.
Gen 2 cars are thin on the ground as you have found , which keeps prices firm.
As for saying wait and get a GT3, well there are many posts on that of which I have made myself clear, so dare not post ever again on that subject lol.
All I can say is if you are scared about a engine fail buy from a OPC or have 5k tucked away incase.
RSJ also offer a warranty, and so does 911v but there's is not very clear cut on the site, so you would have to ask face to face what you get if you buy a car from them and pay for a warranty.
I have had 3 cars with those engine, 1 gen 1 , 2 dfi, the dfi cars are a much nicer up to date cars, and a lot faster.
The R being the car with the most BHP even vs the new gen 3 cars.
also the R does not seem in free fall, some are still at 50k.
It's def in my top 3 cars I have owned out of 50 I have had.
As for saying wait and get a GT3, well there are many posts on that of which I have made myself clear, so dare not post ever again on that subject lol.
All I can say is if you are scared about a engine fail buy from a OPC or have 5k tucked away incase.
RSJ also offer a warranty, and so does 911v but there's is not very clear cut on the site, so you would have to ask face to face what you get if you buy a car from them and pay for a warranty.
I have had 3 cars with those engine, 1 gen 1 , 2 dfi, the dfi cars are a much nicer up to date cars, and a lot faster.
The R being the car with the most BHP even vs the new gen 3 cars.
also the R does not seem in free fall, some are still at 50k.
It's def in my top 3 cars I have owned out of 50 I have had.
Craig! said:
I do love the Cayman R, but think ultimately if I go for one I may as well just wait and go for a 997 GT3.
Currently Cayman R`s to be had for early £40K . 997 GT3`s are still mid £50k`s and Clubsports a touch more.CR is 98% the drive of a 7.1GT3 for a lot less £££`s and the CR is 4 years newer which the interior & equipment reflects.
The reason I love the Cayman is a friend owned an S Sport and I thought as a road car and light track use car it was perfect, really good balance and felt positive. The TVR T350 I had at the time was a polar opposite it wanted to kill you, but was certainly raw.
The Cayman was like my Exige S just a lot more refined, sure the steering feel wasn't the same but I was impressed with the car. In a way it was like my CSL, good road car, good track car yet has an edge of refinement. For me the Cayman R is on the same level as the CSL was, and it would be awesome I'm just not sure if at that price I'd go 996 GT3 or hold out for a 997... age doesn't bother me.
Speaking of the engine, as mentioned above my friends two car had issues and the other friend with the S Sport I noticed that smoked on start up even though it was a 9000 mile car, this added to the worry. Although that car never went wrong, surely it shouldn't smoke at that mileage?
The Cayman was like my Exige S just a lot more refined, sure the steering feel wasn't the same but I was impressed with the car. In a way it was like my CSL, good road car, good track car yet has an edge of refinement. For me the Cayman R is on the same level as the CSL was, and it would be awesome I'm just not sure if at that price I'd go 996 GT3 or hold out for a 997... age doesn't bother me.
Speaking of the engine, as mentioned above my friends two car had issues and the other friend with the S Sport I noticed that smoked on start up even though it was a 9000 mile car, this added to the worry. Although that car never went wrong, surely it shouldn't smoke at that mileage?
They all puff out smoke at start up, now and again,
Watch tracking a gen 1 car though, without oil mods.
Had em all, GT3, CSL, Exiges, Spyer, Cayamn R
Cayman R is awesome with a few very minor tweeks very underrated car in the public, even though it wins drivers car of the year at launch, there seems not many about, very strange.
I just love driving it as much as possable, done 2k in he last 4 weeks.
Watch tracking a gen 1 car though, without oil mods.
Had em all, GT3, CSL, Exiges, Spyer, Cayamn R
Cayman R is awesome with a few very minor tweeks very underrated car in the public, even though it wins drivers car of the year at launch, there seems not many about, very strange.
I just love driving it as much as possable, done 2k in he last 4 weeks.
Craig smoke on start up common from oil running down into cylinder nothing to worry about. I'm one of the friends he mentions who was affected by IMS failure. I wouldn't go near the old engine with a barge pole it's over complicated and not a patch on the new DFI lump which is far more simple in design and streets ahead in how it feels under your foot. Loads will say later gen 1 cars won't go wrong well my answer to that is give me the money to purchase the car then if your that sure. The engine was that sorted by the end Porsche dropped it all together and replaced it with a far better design, the newer engine feels much more torquey and my Spyder when I still had it :-( returned some frankly astonishing fuel economy figures on a run.
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