Buying a 981 Base Cayman

[Mike_H91]

Hi all,

I am looking to purchase a 981 base cayman in the coming months with a budget up to £28k. I have yet to take one for a test drive but I am fairly sure that is the car I want. I will try some over the next few weeks.

My question is what options should I be looking for and what are nice to haves. Is there any missing off my list?

1. PSE (I would like this but I have seen people say it’s too loud at motorway speeds)
2. Climate control
3. Heated seats
4. Xenons - I read that standard headlights are poor?
5. Cruise control
6. Sports steering wheel
7. PDK

Any help/advise would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mike

[Lonely]

The search facility is your friend........but to help you get going - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=15... and https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=15...

Read and digest but please buy what YOU want, not what the internet tells you to want

Edited by Lonely on Wednesday 1st January 15:21

[Mike_H91]

Perfect - thanks for the quick reply

[DRH986]

As a 981s owner following many happy years with a gen 1 987S, I would happily go back to a 987.2 car (anyone want to swap a high spec 981 for a Cayman R??). The steering in the 981 is significantly worse, the PSE is a juvenile concocted racket and the PDK kills driver involvement.

The PASM is significantly better than my old 987 to be fair and the PDLS lights are good but the xenon's on my old car weren't bad. As for essential options, apart from the lights, full leather, Sports Plus seats and Cruise for me but the latter can be retrofitted. PCM Nav is ok but well outdated. Auto wipers/mirrors nice but not essential. Full climate in mine but many didn't spec this. Having only had full climate, I can't comment on the manual a/c set-up.

Front and rear parking sensors useful. 20" wheels look nice and surprisingly compliant with PASM. Flappy paddle steering wheel if you must have PDK. I use Sport mode all the time but never Sport Plus or the Sport Chrono clock. Mine also has PTV but not sure it makes any difference in my driving (road only).

[mr pg]

DRH986 said:

As a 981s owner following many happy years with a gen 1 987S, I would happily go back to a 987.2 car (anyone want to swap a high spec 981 for a Cayman R??). The steering in the 981 is significantly worse, the PSE is a juvenile concocted racket and the PDK kills driver involvement.

The PASM is significantly better than my old 987 to be fair and the PDLS lights are good but the xenon's on my old car weren't bad. As for essential options, apart from the lights, full leather, Sports Plus seats and Cruise for me but the latter can be retrofitted. PCM Nav is ok but well outdated. Auto wipers/mirrors nice but not essential. Full climate in mine but many didn't spec this. Having only had full climate, I can't comment on the manual a/c set-up.

Front and rear parking sensors useful. 20" wheels look nice and surprisingly compliant with PASM. Flappy paddle steering wheel if you must have PDK. I use Sport mode all the time but never Sport Plus or the Sport Chrono clock. Mine also has PTV but not sure it makes any difference in my driving (road only).

PDK, manual and sports plus (manual only) are used alot in my 981 CS. Don't just leave it in auto. Why would you not use sports plus? PASM is great, and sports plus seats a big improvement over standards.

[Paulr1980]

981 owner (manual though)

I’ve got PASM, Sports Chrono, an aftermarket designtek switchable exhaust, PTV, PDLS, sports steering wheel etc.. only normal non climate AC. No extended leather. Parking sensors on the rear only and the worlds crappest head unit with no Bluetooth, nav.

Honestly it’s horses for courses. Aside from Bluetooth the spec I have is perfect....for me.

If someone tells you that you must get x,y or z I’d advice to politely thank them and then ignore them.

I use Sports Plus all the time mostly in wker mode with the exhaust because being a child makes me happy. Long motorway drives I switch it all off and it’s absolutely fine. Again, subjective!

Whatever 981 you get is a wonderful thing. They really nailed it. Ok so EPAS isn’t quite as feelsome that’s a fair shout. To me that’s it for shortcomings.

Good luck finding one!

[DJMC]

Mike_H91 said:

Hi all,

I am looking to purchase a 981 base cayman in the coming months with a budget up to £28k. I have yet to take one for a test drive but I am fairly sure that is the car I want. I will try some over the next few weeks.

My question is what options should I be looking for and what are nice to haves. Is there any missing off my list?

1. PSE (I would like this but I have seen people say it’s too loud at motorway speeds)
2. Climate control
3. Heated seats
4. Xenons - I read that standard headlights are poor?
5. Cruise control
6. Sports steering wheel
7. PDK

Any help/advise would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mike

Try cars with and without PSE. I find it drones even when off at 70mph or so.
No climate shouldn't be a deal breaker.
Yes to heated seats with leather.
Standard headlamps are good.
Cruise is retro fittable under £500.
Sport Design wheel a must with PDK.
PDK good for daily driver. Manual has heavy clutch.
PASM would be no.1 on my list.
Standard seats better than Plus for me (though mine are 14 way electric). 14 or 18 way gives seat angle and thigh extension so no.2 on my list.

[OMV]

Multi function steering wheel

[bcr5784]

OMV said:

Multi function steering wheel

You can't have paddles and the multifuction wheel on the 981 unfortunately, so I'd take the paddles.

[deebs]

What are you going to use the car for? If it's more for fun and the odd commute then all you need is 3 pedals and preferably PSE or carnwahl.

If it's an every day car then all that other stuff makes more sense.

[Koln-RS]

Everyone has their own 'must haves', but on a 981 Boxster/Cayman, I think the usual niceties that most people expect these days are:
- Climate (standard aircon too fiddly)
- Heated Seats
- Cruise
- PDC F&R
- PDK with Paddles or 6spd Manual
- PSE - very nice but perhaps not 100% essential (and switchable)
- PCM despite better alternatives for Nav, most people expect it
- Headlights - all good but PDLS + are obviously an enhancement at night
- 19" or 20" wheels for aesthetics
- PASM is worthwhile but again not 100% essential

[Nyloc20]

A few general comments without getting too technical..
I had a quite sparsely equipped 987 manual for three months in early 2019 ( first Boxster after owning Lotuses and fast Fords since 1975). After a few weeks I liked it enough to do without my daily C Class Coupe so sold them both and bought a 981 PDK. It's very well specced and I wanted the PDK as it's now my daily driver and I'm often stuck in traffic. The 981 interior is a massive improvement in my opinion. I'm quite happy with the 'plain' steering wheel, I hate buttons and switches cluttering up steering wheels. I use the paddles quite a bit. The engine and box are very good. The much commented on graunching/juddering on full lock is far worse on the 981 than the 987. As per previous comments on this and other threads, the steering is dull and heavy, much more noticeable than on the 987. I never expected it to be as light and responsive as my Elise but it is a disappointment.

[Heathrow]

Here's my take:

1. PSE - unlike others, I never experienced any drone at any revs, but in any case the car sounds sweeter and less contrived with PSE off and is still plenty loud enough without it. Not essential IMO.
2. Climate control - not essential.
3. Heated seats - depends on you usage - if daily then useful, yes. Otherwise not essential.
4. Xenons - I read that standard headlights are poor? - haven't experienced the non-xenon cars but again it depends on your intended use, e.g. daily driving and lots of winter use then probably useful, yes.
5. Cruise control - never seen this as an essential in any car I have owned, but really down to personal preference.
6. Sports steering wheel - not essential, but Sport Design wheel gives the paddles if you're going PDK.
7. PDK - I had a manual. A few people have insisted on the car having a heavy clutch, which in my mind can only mean (a) they're used to driving Audis, or (b) there is genuinely a difference in clutch weight from vehicle-to-vehicle. I'm going with the former. Ultimately manual v PDK is similar to the choice between red vs white wine. They each bring a different character, so pick what you like best!

ETA - PASM is not essential so long as you have 19" wheels but non-PASM with 20" wheels is too crashy IME.

Edited by Heathrow on Monday 6th January 16:54

[Mike_H91]

Thanks for all the replies! Sorry I wasn’t ignoring them it stopped me commenting being a new user. Some helpful comments which I will bear in mind.

I will start the test drives and see if I have any questions from there

Any thoughts on buying through Porsche vrs a specialist? Does the extra £££ buying from a main dealer make it worthwhile with the 2 yr warranty etc?

[acme]

OP, how have you got on, any further thoughts?

[Mike_H91]

acme said:

OP, how have you got on, any further thoughts?

I picked up a 2014 Cayman 981 yesterday actually. I tried to post yesterday but the forum keeps blocking me!

Really happy with it. Thanks to everyone who commented on the post. Currently on route home as I picked it up from up north. I’ll post a picture when I’m back home.

[Mike_H91]

As promised here is the car. Really happy with it so far

[Paulr1980]

So after all of that spec chat, what did you get/go for?

Car looks great by the way. Guards red is a classic.

[acme]

Paulr1980 said:

So after all of that spec chat, what did you get/go for?

Car looks great by the way. Guards red is a classic.

Agreed, looks fantastic. What size wheels has it got?

I too would be interested in the spec, I rather fear it will be too easy for a search for one of these to turn into a 'unicorn hunt' looking for the right spec....

Given what I've been told so far about what to look out for spec wise, the reality in the market place especially for manuals is very thin at the moment.

[Mike_H91]

Thanks for the comments on the car. Once I took one for a test drive I had the bug and had to buy one! I did come to the conclusion that after all the spec talk you can’t really go wrong with a standard spec.

Mine has the following...

- 20 inch wheels
- PCM with phone prep
- Cruise control
- Folding mirrors
- Sports exhaust (twin pipes not the PSE)
- PDK

That’s enough to keep me happy