Cayman 3.4, Boxster 3.4 or 2003 911 Targa

[gogsboy]

As the title says, yet to own a Porsche and appreciate views on the above, where would your money be and why?

[djo69]

Ive owned a boxster, I own a cayman. Go for 911

Even though the cayman is the best sports car I have ever owned I keep wish it was a 911

[jakesmith]

I think a 2003 996 Targa will be rattly, dated looks inside & out, and old tech. If you have to have a 911 I would consider a basic 997 or C2S. The Boxster 3.4 is the sweetest for me - lovely handling, more than enough power, designed as a softtop, great drivers car, cheaper than the cayman + it's a convertible

[craigjm]

Depends what you want it for. Having driven all 3 and currently owning a 10 CS I would go for the Cayman as its more of the car I was looking for. If you require wind in your hair or partial wind in your hair go for one of the other two.

[mrdemon]

how on earth do we know if you want a soft top or a hard top car ?

[jimmyone]

2 seats ?
4 seats ?
Soft top ?
Budget ?
Only you know

[gogsboy]

Not looking to spend more than 16-17k

Windswept hair is not a requirement but doesnt bother me, 2 or 4 seats.

The cars I mentioned were ones that happened to come up fairly local so was interested in views from people who have owned them.

[craigjm]

The Cayman feels a bit more focused than the Boxster and is more noisy inside due to engine being in the cabin, also gives you a bit more storage space over the Boxster. Personally (and I will probably get murdered for saying this in here) I dont think the 911 drives as well as the Cayman and is less practical unless you really need the rear seats for people as it has less luggage space where things can be hidden from prying eyes. I also think the Targa looks a bit odd.

[jimmyone]

All the usual stuff then, service history etc
one thing to note is when major servive due.
when i got mine it just had the 48000 service done at a london Porshe dealers (£2500)
so next major service is 60000. and im only doing about 4k a year
just a thought

[gogsboy]

The 3.4s servicing doesnt seem crazy, was that for a 911 and what did it include exactly?

[craigjm]

jimmyone said:

All the usual stuff then, service history etc
one thing to note is when major servive due.
when i got mine it just had the 48000 service done at a london Porshe dealers (£2500)
so next major service is 60000. and im only doing about 4k a year
just a thought

Doesnt mean you dont have to get it serviced for 5 years!

[jimmyone]

craigjm said:

Doesnt mean you dont have to get it serviced for 5 years!

No, didnt say that...but wouldnt buy one with a major service imminent

[RudeDog]

Try and buy one with a warranty Gogsboy. A £16-17k Porsche will be just about at that point where it will be about to cost a shed load of money.

All IMHO of course.

[gogsboy]

Thats what was thinking, seems to be a few caymans about will really low miles for the money, the 911 was pondering was quite leggy but with a decent history

[jakesmith]

RudeDog said:

Try and buy one with a warranty Gogsboy. A £16-17k Porsche will be just about at that point where it will be about to cost a shed load of money.

All IMHO of course.

Bit of a generalisation, a 10 year old 996 for £16k will probably need a lot more spending on it than a 5 year old Boxster over a few years of ownership.

[RudeDog]

jakesmith said:

RudeDog said:

Try and buy one with a warranty Gogsboy. A £16-17k Porsche will be just about at that point where it will be about to cost a shed load of money.

All IMHO of course.

Bit of a generalisation, a 10 year old 996 for £16k will probably need a lot more spending on it than a 5 year old Boxster over a few years of ownership.

3 years ago I bought a 4 year old Cayman. Read about how much it cost me on the "My garage" page on my profile. Nothing major went wrong but lots of little things all cost a daft amount of money. Therefore I stand by my comment.

[gogsboy]

I read your costs there, sounds like you had some bad luck on that one

[RudeDog]

gogsboy said:

I read your costs there, sounds like you had some bad luck on that one

Don't get me wrong gogsboy, its a fantastic car and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone but go into ownership with your eyes open. They are not as reliable as their legend would have you believe.

[jakesmith]

I can't disagree to be honest - I've had 3 over the last 7 years and the older ones do need parts changing, the newer one was perfect really:

1 - an 8 year old 986 2.5 that I had for 18 months & put 30,000 on
Needed a new shock & a new rad in that time, cost about £1k

2 - a 3 year old 987 2.7 that I kept for 4 years and put 53,000 miles on
Needed a new gear linkage (£300) and that was all

3 - a 7 year old 997 C4S that I've had for 10 months and put 12,000 on
So far the 997 has had a gearbox rebuild with new gear cogs & synchros on 5th & 6th gear, a sticking exhaust valve was replaced, a leaking headlamp washer pump replaced, a broken exhaust bracket welded, a rusted heat shield replaced and I think that's it, all done under warranty & bloody glad too, must be well into £3000+ worth of work

Numbers 1 & 3 were older low milage cars when I bought them, go figure.

[Hungrymc]

I've ran a 2002 911 C4S for nearly four years now. Nothing has broken, had one painful service where brakes, tyres, coils etc all coincided and cost thick end of 3K. Otherwise servicing has been reasonable, its fairly good on tyres and other consumables (compared to the M3 I had before). Is incredibly practical for me and my two kids. It's a wonderful car, maybe not as balanced as a cayman, but it makes up for balance in other ways, driving a 911 hard is very different to anything else I've owned (front and mid engined).

I thnk you need to workout which car will deliver best for you. And then buy a good sample from a reputable source. I bought from 911 virgin and I'm fairly sure their knowledge of the cars and the fact they have to trade on reputation makes them a good safe source.