Buying a Cayman - what to look for?
Discussion
Hi
I would like ask the members of this parish if the is anything in particular I should look for when looking to buy a Cayman? are there any known concerns or trouble areas? Milage wise it would be around 50 < 60k with FSH and I don't mind if it's a 2.7 or 3.4.
MANY thanks in advance
Regards
Ian
If you're looking at a Gen 1 Cayman S then I'd recommend a borescope inspection of the cylinders for possible scoring. That seems to be the biggest weak spot on these engines. There have been one or two IMS bearing failures but these seem to be very few and far between so it's the bore scoring/high oil consumption that would be top of my worry list.
Other than that, look for suspension knocks/sloppiness, brake condition (look particularly at the inside faces of the discs for corrosion), check everything works as it should. Radiators and condensors can give problems due to build up of leaves and crud causing corrosion - very difficult to see without bumper removal.
If you're not confident mechanically then an independent inspection is a really good idea.
Other than that, look for suspension knocks/sloppiness, brake condition (look particularly at the inside faces of the discs for corrosion), check everything works as it should. Radiators and condensors can give problems due to build up of leaves and crud causing corrosion - very difficult to see without bumper removal.
If you're not confident mechanically then an independent inspection is a really good idea.
It's a design fault, caused, I think, by lack of cooling. It presents itself at all different stages of an engine's life. Lots of conjecture on it, but one of the tips is let the car warm up properly, and don't use the torque to accelerate - i.e. keep it above 1500rpm or more when accelerating and don't let it haul from very low rpms.
Seems to be less of a problem with Gen.2 DFI engined cars. Have a search for 'bore scoring' and you'll find millions of threads on it. I've had two 3.4 987s and neither has had a problem in nearly 4 years total ownership. Nevertheless, I've always kept them under warranty as repair bills can be scary. You can buy used warranties from Porsche once you've owned a car for 3 months (if it's under 10 years and 100k miles IIRC). Hope that helps!
Seems to be less of a problem with Gen.2 DFI engined cars. Have a search for 'bore scoring' and you'll find millions of threads on it. I've had two 3.4 987s and neither has had a problem in nearly 4 years total ownership. Nevertheless, I've always kept them under warranty as repair bills can be scary. You can buy used warranties from Porsche once you've owned a car for 3 months (if it's under 10 years and 100k miles IIRC). Hope that helps!
Actus Reus said:
It's a design fault, caused, I think, by lack of cooling. It presents itself at all different stages of an engine's life. Lots of conjecture on it, but one of the tips is let the car warm up properly, and don't use the torque to accelerate - i.e. keep it above 1500rpm or more when accelerating and don't let it haul from very low rpms.
Seems to be less of a problem with Gen.2 DFI engined cars. Have a search for 'bore scoring' and you'll find millions of threads on it. I've had two 3.4 987s and neither has had a problem in nearly 4 years total ownership. Nevertheless, I've always kept them under warranty as repair bills can be scary. You can buy used warranties from Porsche once you've owned a car for 3 months (if it's under 10 years and 100k miles IIRC). Hope that helps!
I thought bore scoring wasn't an issue with the DFI engines. Have there been many reports of scoring?Seems to be less of a problem with Gen.2 DFI engined cars. Have a search for 'bore scoring' and you'll find millions of threads on it. I've had two 3.4 987s and neither has had a problem in nearly 4 years total ownership. Nevertheless, I've always kept them under warranty as repair bills can be scary. You can buy used warranties from Porsche once you've owned a car for 3 months (if it's under 10 years and 100k miles IIRC). Hope that helps!
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 25th September 20:28
Greg66 said:
I thought bore scoring wasn't an issue with the DFI engines. Have there been many reports of scoring?
Its generally thought to be less of an issue than with the earlier engines but given that they've not been around anywhere as near as long, it could be that the issue hasn't yet manifested itself fully. Edited by Greg66 on Wednesday 25th September 20:28
ianqv said:
Hi
Many thanks for the info.
What is the problem behind the bore scoring? is it a design fault, or a lack of servicing concern?
At what sort of mileage does this start to occur?
Many thanks
I'm certainly no engineer, but I'd concur with MrDemon on this - my 997.1 was bought from an OPC, but was drinking oil for the first few months - had scored bored despite passing OPC checks etc. £££££' rebuilt, fortunately at the expense of the warantee folks @ around 40k miles.Many thanks for the info.
What is the problem behind the bore scoring? is it a design fault, or a lack of servicing concern?
At what sort of mileage does this start to occur?
Many thanks
I did originally look at buying from non-opc, with inspection, but the inspection guy I spoke to wouldn't do a boroscopy, which put me off the idea.
Had a good few other bugs with the car, it's been in 3 times @ opc rates over 20k of work has been done, but it all seems solid and sorted now. It's been pretty painless - always been picked up by porsche assist & a reasonable courtesy car provided. OPC have always been great - kept me up to date and fixed several things that I wasn't even aware of.
Maybe I've been unlucky, I doubt we'll ever know the true failure rate of these engines, but from my own experience, I wouldn't touch another without an OPC warantee.
Big thanks to this forum really (especially the nay-sayers that get such a hard rap on here)- if I hadn't spent so much time reading it and being aware of the issues, I probably would have bought the non-opc one and could well have been saddled with heart-breaking bills.
Actus Reus said:
nickfrog said:
Wouldn't the sweetspot be a 2.9 (non-IMS non-DI)?
Yeah, I think there's a fair bit to said for that point of view. That said, these cars could handle 350hp+ I reckon, so wanting the extra power of an 'S' is understandable...
What I like about the small engines, apart from being cheaper, is that you need to rev them hard, which is how those engines sound their best. They also have as much lat grip and traction than the big engines (maybe more as they are lighter?) so on the road, I couldn't see much of a benefit in a S apart from losing my licence quicker but I tend to slow down in the straights anyway, straigh line speed bores me! Those cars are about handling really.
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff