Buying Advice - 987.1 2.7 Cayman

Buying Advice - 987.1 2.7 Cayman

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2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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Guys,

I'm getting closer to the point of buying a 987.1 2.7 Cayman. I have a much-loved 944 S2 at the mo but live in central London so the ULEZ will hit me hard and I need to change. Most of my travel is by bike, the car is used a couple of times a week for short journeys but also has occasional very long journeys out of town and across Europe. Other options considered were the MX5 (bit small), GT86 (struggling to love it, bit slow) and the BMW i3 (limited for longer journeys, marmite looks).

I've done the research and it seems that the 2.7 Cayman is the sweet spot; lower tax, less risk of RMS failure, bore score or IMS bearing giving up, slightly better MPG and a lovely engine to boot (I'll add that I have yet to drive one). It is likely that whatever car I buy I will own for the coming 10 years and probably do 100,000+ miles in, so I am happy to hunt long and hard for a good one. I maintain my cars myself and will be getting the spanners out when necessary, so have questions about self-maintenance and the practicalities of this.

I have a couple of questions, regarding things as disparate as maintenance and options and colours - the latter as I am struggling to find information about what was available when new on t'interweb. They are as follows;

- Cars around my budget (£10-14k) seem to be around the 70-90k mile mark. I know this is a stupidly vague question but how long could a clutch be expected to last on a car like this? And is changing one a realistic DIY option without a garage? (I did the clutch on my 944 myself but that was a bit beyond what I was comfortable with and wouldn't choose to do it again).

- The other biggie that gets mentioned is suspension. I am picky about how my cars drive so I would consider something that is tired and putting new suspension parts on. It seems that this is a fairly easy DIY job although there is no single good source of maintenance guides around. Where do people go for instructions on doing this sort of thing?

- Seats. I understand the difference between sports seats and standard seats but sometimes I see cars with alcantara(-alike) squabs, like this;



Was this an optional extra or was it the base-option and people would have had to pay more to have the full-leather seat?

- Dashboards. Some 987's seem to have a screen and some number keys in their dashboard, like this;



Am I right in thinking this is a sat-nav and telephone-connection option from new? If so I presume it is very dated now and maybe one to avoid.

- HiFi. Some cars seem to have a few different audio options - '2.1' and 'Bose' being mentioned occasionally. Are these any good and worth paying for? My initial thought is to replace any existing HiFi with a more modern bluetooth device, a decent amp and some better speakers but if some of the factory-fit stuff is good then I'll save the hassle. Alternatively, if the factory-fit stuff is universally pants then I won't seek out a car with it on. If I did put aftermarket stuff in then I would end up with something like this:



... which seems to be fairly common so can't be that hard to do.

- PASM. I believe this stands for Porsche Active Suspension Management (i.e. trick dampers). I'll probably be running small wheels as everyone tells me the cars are better to drive on 17's and see PASM as being an expense I can do without in the long-term as it makes new dampers more expensive. Is this short-sighted?

- PSM. Porsche Stability Management. All I know about this is that I had a Boxster with this option on as a courtesy car for 6 weeks about 10 years ago and it had PSM on, and the garage who loaned me the car asked me very politely never to turn it off as I would be sure to crash and die. I also know that the car nannied me more than I liked; if you pushed it hard into a bend you could feel the inside rear brake coming on to bring everything back to where it should be, for example. I presume this was the PSM doing its stuff? I also presume that I wouldn't have crashed and died had I turned it off, although I didn't do so (I stuck to the old-fashioned notion that if the owner of a car asks you nicely not to do something then you shouldn't.)

If both of these assumptions are true then I'll probably give the PSM a miss in the same way as I'll give the PASM a miss. Again, is this foolish?

- Colours. I want a car with some colour but everything (everything!) is black or silver, and almost always with a black interior. Why did everyone specify their Cayman's to be such boring colours? I know all the advice about not choosing a second-hand car on the basis of colour but I will NOT buy a black-on-black car if I can possibly help it ....

Are there any other options I should be considering? I am aware of the desirability of the extended leather option but this seems to be rare in the 987.1 non-S Caymans. It would be nice to have this but I suspect that holding out for it would mean I could be waiting a LONG time for my ideal car to be available. Other things like red seat belts, colour-coded interior bits, crests on the headrests, coloured dial faces and so on I am happy to take or leave.

Additionally, I have come across a number of buyers guides to these cars but none seem to be very detailed. If you good folks know of a really good one then do let me know.

All help, advice and comments very welcome - thanks. And if these questions are easily answered with some links to threads where it has all been covered before then please do let me know.

2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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cmoose,

Thanks for your answer. As resident Boxster/Cayman guru I was hoping you'd chip in!

- Alcantara seats - interesting, thanks. I prefer the look of them, but if the sides are pleather then I guess they are to be avoided. Hmmm.

- Factory nav. I guess I could simply remove it if I was to put a new double-din stereo in, as you suggest. Thanks - that's got to be the simplest option, although I bet any vendor is going to see fitment of this as being a selling point!

- Extended leather. I'd like it, but I think I've seen two cars listed second-hand in the last month which have it. I think pragmatism may have to win the day with this one.

- PASM. Standard set-up is soft? Alas, that's a shame; I like more taught-feeling cars. If I change the shocks then are there firmer options? I put Bilstein B6's on my 944 which are simply SUPERB (better than the much-vaunted KWv3's by some margin); if there is a similar option for Caymans then I'd be very interested in pursuing it. Thanks for your help on this one.

- PSM. Interesting - I've seen it advertised as a "valuable option specc'd when new" for some cars. I guess that's a load of horse-sh t then? smile

- Other options. I've never had a car with Xenons so didn't think about them. Thanks for the LED suggestion, maybe it's one to follow-up.

- Clutch life. Again, thanks - that's helpful.

Still just a shame that there are so many black and silver cars around with dull dull dull black leather interiors. Bah!


Mogul

2,925 posts

222 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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Clutch life is an interesting one. I let my car go at 180k kms (110 miles) all driven by me on the original clutch. When I let the buyer test drive it, he managed to slip it so much you could smell it (I hid my tears but I wouldn't be surprised if some kittens actually died somewhere).

I'm convinced that you can feel when your brake pads need replacing long before they are done. There is just that much less pad material available to cushion/damp the forces involved (although in practice, the deformation must be practically impossible to measure).

I'm thinking the same could/should be true with clutch friction plate material. You 'should' be able to detect a difference with a new clutch in terms of the sensation of bite (I'm ignoring the clutch action here as I have never quite understood how the weight of pedals regularly appears to increase towards the end of life as I have only ever killed two clutches; the first was on a '79 Fiesta and the other a '71 Herald (which I then replaced myself).

Mogul

2,925 posts

222 months

Monday 17th September 2018
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Was your 40k clutch plate anywhere near end of life though? So many variables at play here including the hydraulics (there will be more fluid in the system when friction material has been used up) and not directly related, but still having a noticeable impact on shift quality) the condition of engine and gearbox mounts.

Any effect is marginal though and I wasn’t about to spring for a preemptive clutch replacement to test the theory.

P.S. on some cars, the clutch bellhousing is ventilated and you can stick a probe in and measure the friction plate wear in situ.



Edited by Mogul on Monday 17th September 13:53

greenamex2

509 posts

254 months

Monday 17th September 2018
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The main benefit of PASM on a 987 2.7 is you also get the six speed box.

However good luck finding a 2.7 with PASM, I looked for months and ended getting a 2.9 with PASM.

I wouldn't be without six speed and PASM on my 2.9.

drjdog

345 posts

69 months

Thursday 20th September 2018
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Clutch is much, much cheaper than a grand, probably around £500 fitted, and the RMS is an extra £30 on top at the same time.

I find the ride OK in mine on the 17" wheels, wouldn't want to go far in either direction.

Make sure the aircon is working or budget around £700 to get it shipshape.

Apart from that, it's all the usual second hand stuff, even tyre wear, pipes look good, you name it.

I bought mine pretty cheap with a 3k contingency to sort stuff out and I've spent most of that on radiator hoses, air con condensers, a new window mechanism(!)

I have the bits to install a new radio, but if you can get one without the BOSE optical amp I think this would be a far more straightforward proposition.

jagr

37 posts

199 months

Friday 21st September 2018
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Not sure if it concerns you but I nearly bought an '08 Boxster 2.7 with a 6speed box last month but bought my current '58 2.7 with a 5speed box instead because of road tax.
6speed and auto/tiptronics are £550 and 5speeds are £305.

2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Friday 21st September 2018
quotequote all
Chaps,

Thanks for the comments. FWIW, 'around the £1000 mark' is the rough price I've been given from my local indie for a clutch on a 987 Cayman. London prices, natch.

Jagr, I'd heard that the 6-speed cars were subject to higher road tax as well, thanks for the figures. I presume it relates to some peculiarity in the testing process that makes a car with the 6-sp 'box produce a fractional amount more nasties and thus tips it over some arbitrary cut-off point for tax. £250/year more on tax is enough to make me happy with a 5-sp car!

evojam

560 posts

159 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
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I'd echo what others have said about the 6-speed box,having lived with my 987 2.7 for 5 years now and travelled all over Europe it's the one feature I'd love to have for those long motorway drives,rare option though! I even find the old navi not as bad as some say,with map updates it provides a useful reference for me working alongside a modern phone with Googlemaps.

2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Saturday 22nd September 2018
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Interesting to hear the love for the 6-speed cars. Thanks. I'm not going to put it on the top of my list of 'must haves' but maybe I won't avoid it quite as much as I was planning to.

triang

8 posts

103 months

Sunday 23rd September 2018
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Interesting read as I'm now in the market for a 987 but in Boxster flavour.

I have to agree about colour choice - I was looking at a 2.5 / 3.0 BMW Z4 as an alternative and one advantage they have is colour choice...much more interior colour options and some subtle shades of dark greens, blues and reds for the paintwork.

Personally I to have limited my choice by not going for black/black 987s...far too sombre and funereal for my choice - I thought performace "sports" cars were all about fun, free spirit and "carefreeness" which is why a sports car in a hearse like colour seems odd to me. Mind you I understand that the original owners wanted to avoid looking flashy and loud so black and dark silver may have been the obvious choice but surely a very dark green metallic or metallic burgundy would have been acceptable?

Silver/black will have to be my compromise due to lack of choice...mind you the red interiors do seem a bit too "red" to me and the sand interiors seem to be hen's teeth...again BMW seem to have got the right idea ...Oxblood (dark red) interiors and "accents" where bright colours are used sparingly seem much better that Porsche's efforts...

...hey ho Once I have the thing I guess I won't notice anyway!

jagr

37 posts

199 months

Sunday 23rd September 2018
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triang said:
Interesting read as I'm now in the market for a 987 but in Boxster flavour.

Personally I to have limited my choice by not going for black/black 987s...far too sombre and funereal for my choice - I thought performace "sports" cars were all about fun, free spirit and "carefreeness" which is why a sports car in a hearse like colour seems odd to me.
Does this look like a funeral car?



but my previous sportscar was a little brighter:


triang

8 posts

103 months

Tuesday 25th September 2018
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Ha!

Don't want to upset anyone - I can see that in someways a black/black Boxster makes it less conspicuous which has distinct advantages...when I had a "Norfolk Mustard" Elise I had a couple of 2am encounters on the A11 with people in M3s and Scoobys wanting to race that I could have done without, being knackered and just wanting to get home.

When I swapped it for a BRG Elise this problem disappeared.

Mind you a black Boxster is an excellent sportscar that doesn't need to shout.

But a rainbow hearse is still a hearse! biglaugh


2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Wednesday 10th October 2018
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Coming back to this one, particularly on the colour front. I've now looked at enough pictures of 987 Caymans to make my eyes spin. (I'm still 6 months to a year off actually buying one but the process is all-important, right?) However the common factor is that 80% of them are in colour schemes that I find terminally dull. The most common exterior colour is black, as is the most common interior colour. And black-on-black cars seem to be modally very common indeed, but the very antithesis of what I want. I know I need to buy something that is mechanically excellent and condition is more important than colour etc etc etc but I want to own something that I actually like.

Does anyone have a definitive list of the exterior and interior colours that were available on the 987 2.7 Cayman? I am deciding that I am more fussy about interior colour than exterior and could tolerate a black car if it had a good colour for the interior. (There is a black one with a lovely red interior in the classifieds at the moment which has quite captured my imagination!) However interior colours I have seen for sale thus far have been as follows;

- Black
- Grey (looks like black)
- Blue (looks like black)
- 'Sand'. Looked better than black.
- Red. Yes. I think I like this.

What other options were there?

For what it's worth, the list of exterior colours as far as I can deduce is very similar;

- Black
- Various greys which look quite like black.
- Dark blue.
- Mid blue metallic. These look good.
- Red. Love it, but my wife thinks it looks far too attention-seeking smile
- White.
- Silver.

I guess my dream combination would probably be blue with a red interior (although this may look a bit too bright), or possibly blue with a sand interior. With the extended leather, natch. Silver with red would be nice too. However I guess I am looking for something of which there were not more than half a dozen sold so the odds of finding one for sale with a history I like are pretty long. For what it's worth my much-loved old 944 has the linen interior which has quite convinced me of the advantages of a pale interior in a small car.

All observations welcome. Even if it is just that I will be looking for a very long time if I am this picky about what I buy!

jimmy p

960 posts

165 months

Thursday 11th October 2018
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If I was buying a cayman I would be looking for a guards red with black interior. Black goes well with red. I would then have the alloys refurbed black and possibly the wing mirrors similar to the r. I know cmoose doesnt like black alloys but they always look better in the flesh than photos. Its personal choice anyway.
Full extended leather would be fab but rare. Condition more important than options but you need to be happy with colour and wheels imo otherwise you will never be quite happy.
Good luck.

sagarich

1,210 posts

148 months

Thursday 11th October 2018
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Speed yellow would be my choice, I’m bored of owning sensible coloured cards. There is a 2.7 close to me... very tempted.

2Btoo

Original Poster:

3,410 posts

202 months

Thursday 11th October 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies chaps.

cmoose - that's the 'mid blue metallic' I mentioned, and it looks very good. That would almost certainly be my ideal colour for the outside, but it's a rare one to find. It looks cracking in that picture though.

JimmyP - No, I think a black interior is about the only absolute non starter for me in terms of spec. Really, no no no. I know this rules out a lot of cars. A red exterior would be OK but the Mrs says it's too ostentatious!

Ironically there is one in the classifieds at the moment with a black exterior and red interior (i.e. the opposite of what you suggest) which I think looks pretty good as a combination. It's here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Here's the interior:



It looks quite 'bright' or 'sudden' - are they really this colour in real life? I'd think about changing the wheel for a black one (can't be hard, or expensive) to perhaps tone it down a little but it looks great to me in that photo - quote the most attractive interior colour I've seen.

Sagarich - I've not seen a speed yellow one advertised in 2.7 spec. Yes, I'd love one!

jimmy p

960 posts

165 months

Thursday 11th October 2018
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The first interior picture i.e the one you have posted is a good representation of the colour. The close up ones are brighter due to the flash i imagine. Think with a black sports steering wheel and floor mats that would be ok.
Coloured interiors are definitely harder to sell. I used to have a 987 S with stone grey interior with Sports seats. I really liked it as it lifted the interior however a lot of people say they dont like the grey, took a while to sell that one despite it being in really good condition.