Cayman 981 2.7 Advice for a n00b
Discussion
Dear All,
To set the scene, I'm both new to this forum and to the world of Porsche. I'm 27, a doctor and live a fairly boring life that's now starting to get me depressed. I spend about 70 hours a week at work, and after I finish come home to revise for post graduate exams.
I've been car mad ever since I was a child, and six years ago bought a 4 year old 2.2 z3. But that's now very rickety, very noisy and is starting to leak when it rains. In essence, it's starting to make me sad. To bring some joy back into my life, I've decided that to buy a 981 Cayman - i've saved for a while, and do not spend my money on anything other than the mortgage, and food, bills etc.
Of course, my parents and friends do not approve, but at the end of the day it is my life and I guess only people into cars will understand. And this is why I turn to this here forum.
I basically need some advice where it comes to optioning up the car, and how to financially go about stuff (as I'll admit I'm relatively inexperienced in the real world).
I cannot afford anything more than the 2.7 981. I do not like the look of the last gen Cayman, and I really for once want something I'll be proud of (my dad bought me the z3 and although I like it, it's not something I am entirely proud of being a man and all).
I was thinking of going down the route of Porsche Finance, who offer the 2.7 with an £8K deposit and roughly £500 per month. At the end of the 3 years, I would then in essence hand the car back. I have saved up enough for the deposit, and can stump up the monthly amount. I do not however have any vast amounts of saved up cash to burn.
I have also found out that there is an NHS Lease scheme going about, which works by giving me an all inclusive amount to pay per month for three years. This includes insurance, servicing costs, tax and tyres. The flip is that this amount will be deducted from my gross salary and and I will also need to pay benefits in kind (company car tax).
This saves the hospital money as they declare that I have a lower income, and therefore pay less national insurance, less pension contribution and go not have to pay for any of the journeys that I have to make in between different hospital sites.
In this scheme, I am limited to 10K miles a year, which is about reasonable.
A base 2.7 981 falls at roughly £750 per month with this all inclusive lease deal. Does that sound like a good price?
The flip is that the insurance excess is a lot (i don't know how much) plus I do not have any clue about this scheme at all, and do not know anyone who's ever used it.
And secondly, regardless of whichever route I go down, how should I go about specc'ing the car, whilst keeping costs to a minimum?
I wanted to go for the PDK plus paddles - but does this significantly add to the driving experience in the 2.7?
And what about the PCM? Is this strictly a bonus? I would like to be able to connect my iphone to the car to play music and stuff, but would only really use the sat nav on my phone. Bluetooth connection would be handy, but hey I guess I can't have everything.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks guys, and I hope to be an active participant on this site for a long time into the future!
To set the scene, I'm both new to this forum and to the world of Porsche. I'm 27, a doctor and live a fairly boring life that's now starting to get me depressed. I spend about 70 hours a week at work, and after I finish come home to revise for post graduate exams.
I've been car mad ever since I was a child, and six years ago bought a 4 year old 2.2 z3. But that's now very rickety, very noisy and is starting to leak when it rains. In essence, it's starting to make me sad. To bring some joy back into my life, I've decided that to buy a 981 Cayman - i've saved for a while, and do not spend my money on anything other than the mortgage, and food, bills etc.
Of course, my parents and friends do not approve, but at the end of the day it is my life and I guess only people into cars will understand. And this is why I turn to this here forum.
I basically need some advice where it comes to optioning up the car, and how to financially go about stuff (as I'll admit I'm relatively inexperienced in the real world).
I cannot afford anything more than the 2.7 981. I do not like the look of the last gen Cayman, and I really for once want something I'll be proud of (my dad bought me the z3 and although I like it, it's not something I am entirely proud of being a man and all).
I was thinking of going down the route of Porsche Finance, who offer the 2.7 with an £8K deposit and roughly £500 per month. At the end of the 3 years, I would then in essence hand the car back. I have saved up enough for the deposit, and can stump up the monthly amount. I do not however have any vast amounts of saved up cash to burn.
I have also found out that there is an NHS Lease scheme going about, which works by giving me an all inclusive amount to pay per month for three years. This includes insurance, servicing costs, tax and tyres. The flip is that this amount will be deducted from my gross salary and and I will also need to pay benefits in kind (company car tax).
This saves the hospital money as they declare that I have a lower income, and therefore pay less national insurance, less pension contribution and go not have to pay for any of the journeys that I have to make in between different hospital sites.
In this scheme, I am limited to 10K miles a year, which is about reasonable.
A base 2.7 981 falls at roughly £750 per month with this all inclusive lease deal. Does that sound like a good price?
The flip is that the insurance excess is a lot (i don't know how much) plus I do not have any clue about this scheme at all, and do not know anyone who's ever used it.
And secondly, regardless of whichever route I go down, how should I go about specc'ing the car, whilst keeping costs to a minimum?
I wanted to go for the PDK plus paddles - but does this significantly add to the driving experience in the 2.7?
And what about the PCM? Is this strictly a bonus? I would like to be able to connect my iphone to the car to play music and stuff, but would only really use the sat nav on my phone. Bluetooth connection would be handy, but hey I guess I can't have everything.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks guys, and I hope to be an active participant on this site for a long time into the future!
Hello and welcome to Porsche land.
I am also a recent convert to Porsche having just for-filled a long held dream of owning a Porsche. My car is a new Boxster 981 2.7 PDK and I was budget constrained in the options I could have.
Like you I was attracted to the PCP route in having a reasonable monthly payment and ordered on this basis in June. At the time there was a promotion by Porsche of putting £2000 towards the deposit on a PCP deal although only £750 actually came from PCGB, the rest was from the dealer's margin.
So I was going to put £8k deposit, £2k from Porsche and c£400pm.
I did shop around seriously as I wanted a 10% discount, eventually I did get the discount. I then placed the order.
However in the waiting time I started to have reservations that after 3 years I would not own the car, in effect I was just renting it and would have to find another £23000 for the option to purchase.
I could get money from my bank much cheaper 5.1% but not for the full balance.
Because part of the deal by the dealer was being subsidised by finance commission they would not let me provide my own finance and keep the 10% discount deal.
So in the end I used their (VW) finance on a 5 year Hire Purchase deal at £424pm and £19k deposit (dipped into my mortgage for this)
After one month I will use my bank loan facility for £15k to make a capital repayment to VW. This will reduce the monthly to £380 approx saving about £1700 over the 60 months.
I feel much happier with this as I know the car will be mine.
If you go down the PCP route bear in mind that any options other than PDK will not increase the residual value so in effect all options have to be paid
for in the monthly payment. Caymans do have a very high residual in the Porsche configurator which keeps the monthly down if you intend just to hand the car back at the end of the term.
I am also a recent convert to Porsche having just for-filled a long held dream of owning a Porsche. My car is a new Boxster 981 2.7 PDK and I was budget constrained in the options I could have.
Like you I was attracted to the PCP route in having a reasonable monthly payment and ordered on this basis in June. At the time there was a promotion by Porsche of putting £2000 towards the deposit on a PCP deal although only £750 actually came from PCGB, the rest was from the dealer's margin.
So I was going to put £8k deposit, £2k from Porsche and c£400pm.
I did shop around seriously as I wanted a 10% discount, eventually I did get the discount. I then placed the order.
However in the waiting time I started to have reservations that after 3 years I would not own the car, in effect I was just renting it and would have to find another £23000 for the option to purchase.
I could get money from my bank much cheaper 5.1% but not for the full balance.
Because part of the deal by the dealer was being subsidised by finance commission they would not let me provide my own finance and keep the 10% discount deal.
So in the end I used their (VW) finance on a 5 year Hire Purchase deal at £424pm and £19k deposit (dipped into my mortgage for this)
After one month I will use my bank loan facility for £15k to make a capital repayment to VW. This will reduce the monthly to £380 approx saving about £1700 over the 60 months.
I feel much happier with this as I know the car will be mine.
If you go down the PCP route bear in mind that any options other than PDK will not increase the residual value so in effect all options have to be paid
for in the monthly payment. Caymans do have a very high residual in the Porsche configurator which keeps the monthly down if you intend just to hand the car back at the end of the term.
only you know if paying £6k (+8k) PA per year for the next 3 years is worth it for a base model Cayman.
that's £26k + every thing else on top to then have to hand the car back.
then what ? lost deposit and 26k out of pocket.
it's the single most expensive way to fund a car, but if that's ok with you buy one.
lease at £750 a month comes to the same amount 27k.
that's £26k + every thing else on top to then have to hand the car back.
then what ? lost deposit and 26k out of pocket.
it's the single most expensive way to fund a car, but if that's ok with you buy one.
lease at £750 a month comes to the same amount 27k.
Thanks powermalc that's a nice detailed example. I'm basically flitting through exactly the same thought processes. It is in essence me renting the car, and it doesn't feel the same as just owning one outright. At times i say to myself that if i can't afford, I shouldn't pretend that i can. Your idea of financing through an outside loan I hadn't thought of however, and is exactly the kind of inspiration I wanted from here so thanks! The point about the extras bar PDK is vaild, but i'm in the thinking that if I am to keep a car for three years, I may as well spec to my minimum wants, but just try and be relatively frugal at the same time.
And I agree mrdemon, it also sometimes feels like an utter waste of money. I'm throwing away £27K and in the end will have nothing to show for it. My problem is that I don't think I'll ever accrue enough money to afford even the deposit on a new Porsche.
If I did buy say a second hand 981 say in Feb 2014 how much would i need, and if I sell that say three years down the line how much would i sell it for? If i lose roughly £20K in depreciation then surely the leasing options kind of make sense? Or do I have some sort of skewed thinking here?
And I agree mrdemon, it also sometimes feels like an utter waste of money. I'm throwing away £27K and in the end will have nothing to show for it. My problem is that I don't think I'll ever accrue enough money to afford even the deposit on a new Porsche.
If I did buy say a second hand 981 say in Feb 2014 how much would i need, and if I sell that say three years down the line how much would i sell it for? If i lose roughly £20K in depreciation then surely the leasing options kind of make sense? Or do I have some sort of skewed thinking here?
johnphiladelphia said:
And I agree mrdemon, it also sometimes feels like an utter waste of money. I'm throwing away £27K and in the end will have nothing to show for it. My problem is that I don't think I'll ever accrue enough money to afford even the deposit on a new Porsche.
not if you keep throwing money away :-)you must earn 3x my wage and I own my cars out right.
leasing and PCP means never ever being able to upgrade, you pay your £750 a month and that's that.
I have worked my way up from a 1.6k car when I was 16 to owning my cars out right at 44.
buying brand new is a mugs game for the rich only imo. But I need these people to buy new so I can by 2 year old cars :-)
I like to keep my loss at sub 5k PA other wise you can never buy better cars, you need to be able to save more than the car is losing money to be able to upgrade.
At one time I would never have dreamed of anything other than a manual but then I bought an Audi TT DSG - the drive was a revelation, a seamless flow of power. I now have a Cayman 981 PDK and it's even better.
By the way, unless you're a leather fetishist, the standard dash is fine. As to finance, I haven't a clue what is best for you.
By the way, unless you're a leather fetishist, the standard dash is fine. As to finance, I haven't a clue what is best for you.
I am with cmoose needs leather dash and manual :-)
but this can go on for 25 pages, only the OP can make that choice.
Both my cars have leather dash it's a must have option on a 50/60k car other wise it feels and looks cheap imo.
Also you get a reflection in the windscreen off the plastic.
but this can go on for 25 pages, only the OP can make that choice.
Both my cars have leather dash it's a must have option on a 50/60k car other wise it feels and looks cheap imo.
Also you get a reflection in the windscreen off the plastic.
OP
With reference to your NHS lease deal. Is the £750 cost per month including the benefit in kind for the car. I doubt it and due to the list price of the car emissions. Car benefit will reduce your take home by about £400 a month, so it seems an expensive way to run the car.
What spec are you looking at ?
I am in the middle of negotiating a deal and can share where I am. Hard to make a call on yours without seeing your spec.
I'd have thought other Drs. could advise on the car scheme - if anygood would be popular option..? For any such scheme I'd look out for early redemption penalties if you decided to sell etc.
For a 2.7 I'd keep it all standard and just go with just chrono, sports steering wheel, matts and metallic. (Chrono for the motorsport derived throttle blipper which I think is really neat and an interesting alt. to pdk.)
(Assume if you've qualified as a Dr. but still taking exams there's a backup GP route if all doesn't go to plan /personally in your shoes I'd look to hire Caterhams on the weekend/buy or lease a Fiesta ST and keep saving up/or go the lightly used route..)
For a 2.7 I'd keep it all standard and just go with just chrono, sports steering wheel, matts and metallic. (Chrono for the motorsport derived throttle blipper which I think is really neat and an interesting alt. to pdk.)
(Assume if you've qualified as a Dr. but still taking exams there's a backup GP route if all doesn't go to plan /personally in your shoes I'd look to hire Caterhams on the weekend/buy or lease a Fiesta ST and keep saving up/or go the lightly used route..)
Honestly from the sounds of this you can not afford to be buying a brand new porsche.
I would suggest you buy something like this
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
If you remap it it will be MUCH faster then the cayman, better spec and will cost you half as much.
Take a 15k loan and you will own the car after 3 years and it will probably be worth £12k ish in 3 years.
BTW I feel your pain I quid after FY1 as I just could not stand the life style.
I would suggest you buy something like this
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
If you remap it it will be MUCH faster then the cayman, better spec and will cost you half as much.
Take a 15k loan and you will own the car after 3 years and it will probably be worth £12k ish in 3 years.
BTW I feel your pain I quid after FY1 as I just could not stand the life style.
Welcome to the Porsche arena. As you've worked out already, from the moment you buy a Porsche you've discovered a completely new way of spending your money, but that's fine as long as you do it with your eyes open. When I got into Porsche ownership the things that I noticed most (after buying the car) were the cost of fuel, tyres and of course servicing. For a newish car most people will take it to the dealer and there's only so much wriggle room on servicing.
How you buy your cars is up to you but you can see can't you, that by leasing a car and giving it back after 3yrs
Can I correct you on the NHS leasing scheme. They won't deduct the leasing cost to calculate your liability to Tax and National Insurance as they will your Pension contrubutions. Nice thought, but running a car is not yet a tax-free activity, although if you'd like to start the campaign, I'm with you all the way. In fact it's worse than that, if you do less than a certain mileage, they'll cane you on the tax benefit.
Why not consider an older car rather than a brand new one? 981's are holding their price reasonably well, but it really depends on when you actually buy.
How you buy your cars is up to you but you can see can't you, that by leasing a car and giving it back after 3yrs
Can I correct you on the NHS leasing scheme. They won't deduct the leasing cost to calculate your liability to Tax and National Insurance as they will your Pension contrubutions. Nice thought, but running a car is not yet a tax-free activity, although if you'd like to start the campaign, I'm with you all the way. In fact it's worse than that, if you do less than a certain mileage, they'll cane you on the tax benefit.
Why not consider an older car rather than a brand new one? 981's are holding their price reasonably well, but it really depends on when you actually buy.
TheBMWDriver said:
Honestly from the sounds of this you can not afford to be buying a brand new porsche.
I would suggest you buy something like this
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
If you remap it it will be MUCH faster then the cayman, better spec and will cost you half as much.
Take a 15k loan and you will own the car after 3 years and it will probably be worth £12k ish in 3 years.
BTW I feel your pain I quid after FY1 as I just could not stand the life style.
why on earth would he want to buy that over a new Cayman ?I would suggest you buy something like this
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...
If you remap it it will be MUCH faster then the cayman, better spec and will cost you half as much.
Take a 15k loan and you will own the car after 3 years and it will probably be worth £12k ish in 3 years.
BTW I feel your pain I quid after FY1 as I just could not stand the life style.
Actus Reus said:
He's given up medicine and become a hairdresser?
I'd personally say look at used gen.2 987 cars for the OP.
OP isn't a fan of the previous gen car. Neither am I. I'm in a similar position to OP. Mid 20s professional making good money. Not really spending it on anything flash at all. I looked into a Cayman and ultimately decided against it. I'd personally say look at used gen.2 987 cars for the OP.
I can afford the deposit and the monthly payments but I can't stomach the depreciation. I concluded that to loose c. 20k in depreciation over 3 years you have to have a lot more money saved and secure, rather than financing and paying month to month.
I bought a mk6 golf gti which really is great and I'm so happy I did, as I drive it around happy that I can comfortably afford the running costs and the depreciation. I'm going to run this for a couple of years and keep my eyes on the used caymans until I see one in the right spec at the right price. There should be some good deals to be had in 2/3 year old ones at around the 25k mark. Which with the golf as deposit should leave a bank loan of less than £400/month to cover the balance and buy the car outright in 36 months.
So in 60 months time you would own your cayman outright at a cost of c. 25k + loan interest + having to drive a cheaper intermediate car for 24 months + the 2 yr depreciation on a c. 15k hot hatch. For eg.
You have a z3 at the moment, if you like the BMWs have a look at a 130i coupe. Cracking little car and the updated cabin compared to the z3 will be nice. A recommend the mk6 gti, get a 60 plate or later and a 500 squid map puts it at the same bhp as your z3, fwd tho. you could have an almost brand new fiesta st, I can confirm they are a riot and the ladies love them for some reason. (I think it's the bright colours) a Megane with a titanium exhaust was on my list too as the pops and bangs are fantastic and they go like stink.
With the 981 Cayman you are getting one of the best sports cars in the world at any price and it now has the looks to match the drive.
It's expensive but you get what you pay for.
I have no regrets at all about buying my 987 Boxster new, it cost a fortune but the memories it gave me would not been possible in a lesser car.
Carl_Docklands said:
With the 981 Cayman it now has the looks to match the drive.
.
I have to confess I don't like the new looks, the angles, the metal creese marks in the front and rear wings the 911 look etc etc..
the 987 is a much nicer shape in my eyes, the rear of a 987 is night and day nicer over the 981 (which looks like a MR2 if you are honest)
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