Cayman 3.4 s gen 1 buying advice

[shaunwest]

Hi, Need some advice on buying 2006 cayman s. The car I would like to buy is a 2006 3.4 s in dark grey with 43000 miles on clock (reg no. wa56mvo).It has a full service history some OPC and 1 specialist independent. The car is pretty standard apart from cruise control, 18'' wheels with new tyres. The car seems in good condition overalL with the odd mark here and there, seens to drive o.k, the present owner has only had it 3 months and is selling due to a change of plan. There is no PASM, sat nav, or anything extra apart from cruise, If I buy it I will be the 6th owner , will this effect the value if I try and sell in future ?.

This is my first Porsche and I do have concerns but love the car. I have agreed a price of £15500.00. The car checks out for HPI check.It does have tax and MOT.
I have looked at about 5 other caymans, was going to buy a 2.7 2008 that is mint with 23k on clock but love the power of the 3.4s !

Should I do it ?
Any thoughts Cheers Shaun.

[DRH986]

I'd recommend you get the cylinders borescoped before committing to buy as cylinder scoring affects a small percentage of the Gen 1 3.4S engines.

[mrdemon]

Get a 05 model as the tax will be £470 other wise, making it hard to sell.
Also £470 on tax on a £15k car s painfull.

[griffter]

A diligent prospective buyer will ask the same questions you are, which might answer your question... I'd be more concerned about 6 owners in 7 years and the last for only 3 months. Not necessarily a problem of course but do all you can to be sure.

Eta: give the independent a call and ask their opinion of the car.

Edited by griffter on Sunday 3rd November 22:18

[griffter]

A diligent prospective buyer will ask the same questions you are, which might answer your question... I'd be more concerned about 6 owners in 7 years and the last for only 3 months. Not necessarily a problem of course but do all you can to be sure.

Eta: give the independent a call and ask their opinion of the car.

Edited by griffter on Sunday 3rd November 22:19

[BIRMA]

mrdemon said:

Get a 05 model as the tax will be £470 other wise, making it hard to sell.
Also £470 on tax on a £15k car s painfull.

That's about the only negative thing I've found with the Boxster?Cayman is the road tax at £475 which is a right royal shafting on behalf of the government.
I did have a master plan and that was to buy a Cayenne Turbo S and run it for six months in the winter whilst my Boxster is SORN'd then SORN the Cayenne for six months in the summer. It turned out to be quite an expensive idea which I have sort of adopted with buying an old 4X4 I owned in the past.

[mrdemon]

hence buy old ie 05 or buy new 09 onwards both only £270 tax.

cars in between will be much harder to move.

[Trev450]

mrdemon said:

hence buy old ie 05 or buy new 09 onwards both only £270 tax.

cars in between will be much harder to move.

I find it hard to fathom why people who are spending upwards of £15k will quibble over £200 a year. If you drive the car as a daily you are likely to use more than that in fuel every month.

[BillTheButcher]

Trev450 said:

I find it hard to fathom why people who are spending upwards of £15k will quibble over £200 a year. If you drive the car as a daily you are likely to use more than that in fuel every month.

^ This.

Road tax has never been a factor in my choice of car. £200 a year is insignificant when compared to the other costs involved in running a performance car.

[BIRMA]

Trev450 said:

mrdemon said:

hence buy old ie 05 or buy new 09 onwards both only £270 tax.

cars in between will be much harder to move.

I find it hard to fathom why people who are spending upwards of £15k will quibble over £200 a year. If you drive the car as a daily you are likely to use more than that in fuel every month.

I know it's being picky but it's just the fact that someone in Government implemented this daft idea and despite the fact I can afford to pay it it doesn't stop me having a moan about it.

[ChipsAndCheese]

mrdemon said:

Get a 05 model as the tax will be £470 other wise, making it hard to sell.
Also £470 on tax on a £15k car s painfull.

The first Caymans were 55 plates I think, not 05. 55 plate cars and early 06 (registered before 22nd of March 2006 or some time around then) are much cheaper to tax (~£200 cheaper) but that needn't be a deal breaker if you are happy to pay the higher tax rate.

griffter said:

A diligent prospective buyer will ask the same questions you are, which might answer your question... I'd be more concerned about 6 owners in 7 years and the last for only 3 months. Not necessarily a problem of course but do all you can to be sure.

High owners wouldn't worry me if the most recent owner had had the car for a while, and the car has a good service history and plenty of invoices for maintenance. Porsches and other premium sports cars can get traded fairly frequently as people buy them for a bit of summer fun, upgrade to a more powerful model or under estimate the costs of ownership. I would agree with griffter though that the most recent owner only having the car for 3 months could be suspicious. If the owner before also only had it a short time then it may suggest that each buyer has found something wrong and tried to shift it on to the next person.

[mrdemon]

Trev450 said:

I find it hard to fathom why people who are spending upwards of £15k will quibble over £200 a year. If you drive the car as a daily you are likely to use more than that in fuel every month.

Close to £500 for a 15k car puts people off its that simple, killed the price on the m coupe and v6 Clio.

Paying £500 on a 458 yes who cares it's a small % if you are rich.

But on a £15k car paying another £40/Month on tax seems crazy.

I own 3 cars all low tax band so quite a big saving over 3 hi banded cars. £62 a month Infact :-).
Or £100k from my 20’s to retirement age if saved.
But then I look at all my outgoings and try to keep them low as possible.
£100k is better in my pocket.


Also if you look at most hi tax band cars you are looking at 17mpg in the real world.
Just seems daft to buy a cayman just out the band if you are looking at a few months in between them.

[thegoose]

mrdemon said:

Also £470 on tax on a £15k car s painfull.

But not as bad as on a £2-3k car like an RX8!