Qs on Cayman R

[FFM]

Hi guys,

I have few qs on the Cayman R and dont want to add these questions on the "Cayman R chat" 3d, I did some research already but would like to capture your opinions too as I am potentially consider an add/swap

1) General opinion on reliability? Maintenance cost for 3k miles/year (i.e. assume no track-use)?

2) what are the must have options? PCCB or steel brakes? sport chrono on manual? Leather vs alcantara? short-shifter on manual? PCCM/aircon or nothing? any input is appreciated

3) £values: To recap, a manual car was approx £51k list, say £55k with the "must-haves" listed above?
Do you remember the price range it has been selling for over the past, say, 2 years? is stock moving or sat at dealers?

4) anyone else considered it but then decided to go for something similar (i.e. car&budget-wise)

Thanks a lot,
F

[V800MJH]

FFM said:

Hi guys,

I have few qs on the Cayman R and dont want to add these questions on the "Cayman R chat" 3d, I did some research already but would like to capture your opinions too as I am potentially consider an add/swap

1) General opinion on reliability? Maintenance cost for 3k miles/year (i.e. assume no track-use)?

2) what are the must have options? PCCB or steel brakes? sport chrono on manual? Leather vs alcantara? short-shifter on manual? PCCM/aircon or nothing? any input is appreciated

3) £values: To recap, a manual car was approx £51k list, say £55k with the "must-haves" listed above?
Do you remember the price range it has been selling for over the past, say, 2 years? is stock moving or sat at dealers?

4) anyone else considered it but then decided to go for something similar (i.e. car&budget-wise)

Thanks a lot,
F

1) Very reliable, not worth worrying about. I've had mine for pretty much two years now and not a single expense apart from servicing, MOT and insurance/tax/petrol obviously.


2) I have steel brakes, I'd like PCCBs but I think you'd be lucky to find one in the spec you want with PCCBS.

I don't have sports on my manual, I did consider getting it fitted (£500 from memory), for the increased rev limit and extra slip angle but never got round to it and don't think it's essential.

The must have seats are the buckets. I wouldn't personally consider one without these. The buckets are leather and alcantara combined

Short shift is a must for a manual in my opinion. It's a relatively cheap retro fit at the dealer if the car doesn't have it.

I don't have the Nav in mine but I don't like Navs in cars as they date very quickly, plus I'd never use it.

A/C is a must for me. I use it on every drive even in the winter. Helps clear the windows and I've heard encourages air flow through the rads.

Sports exhaust is also a must for me. I wouldn't have considered one without this. But then you can get an aftermarket system fitted if you don't have a warranty.

Xenons are also important to me. All sports cars should have these and looks odd to me if they don't. Even my 12 year old TT does!

Oh and also Spyder wheels. These are essential!

So to summarize from my point of view. Essentials are Spyder wheels, Carbon Buckets, PSE, A/C, Xenons. Nice to have options with you can add after are Short Shift, Sports Chrono and an alcantara steering wheel


3) From what I've seen (I only look/follow the manual cars). Manuals with the must have don't hang around at all and prices are on the up each year. The same could probably be said about the PDK (which is a great box too), but I don't follow the PDKs so I don't know for sure. (I have email alerts set up for manuals).


4) Before I bought mine I also looked at BMW Z4s, specifically the Z4M. Realised the R was a much better car all round.

[Fizzbomb]

I have had 6 CRs, I would aim for a manual version with the sport chrono package, sport exhaust and carbon seats.

FFM said:

Hi guys,

I have few qs on the Cayman R and dont want to add these questions on the "Cayman R chat" 3d, I did some research already but would like to capture your opinions too as I am potentially consider an add/swap

1) General opinion on reliability? Maintenance cost for 3k miles/year (i.e. assume no track-use)?

2) what are the must have options? PCCB or steel brakes? sport chrono on manual? Leather vs alcantara? short-shifter on manual? PCCM/aircon or nothing? any input is appreciated

3) £values: To recap, a manual car was approx £51k list, say £55k with the "must-haves" listed above?
Do you remember the price range it has been selling for over the past, say, 2 years? is stock moving or sat at dealers?

4) anyone else considered it but then decided to go for something similar (i.e. car&budget-wise)

Thanks a lot,
F

[FFM]

thank you guys for the inputs. Just to understand how does work on Porsches re Full service history and mileage as I have experience with a different brand (Aston)

1) Does a full OPC service history command a premium over specialist-serviced cars?

2) how much does, approximately, an yearly (?) service cost for Cayman R (OPC vs independent)? When are the big services needed mileage-wise

3) Are there psicological levels after which an R will be valued at a "discount"/potential pool of buyers dimishes on this particular car?

thank a lot
F

[boxsey]

I would be surprised if you found one without a full OPC history at the moment. Most owners are keeping the full OPC history so that they can have the extended warranty. As many R owners do a low annual mileage this means putting the car in for an OPC service every two years. A minor service in year 2 and a major service in year 4 and so on. Personally I'm not keen on only changing the oil every two years so I also get an oil change service in the years in between.

[Fizzbomb]

All of mine were serviced by Porsche Centre only, that also included tyre changes.

FFM said:

thank you guys for the inputs. Just to understand how does work on Porsches re Full service history and mileage as I have experience with a different brand (Aston)

1) Does a full OPC service history command a premium over specialist-serviced cars?

2) how much does, approximately, an yearly (?) service cost for Cayman R (OPC vs independent)? When are the big services needed mileage-wise

3) Are there psicological levels after which an R will be valued at a "discount"/potential pool of buyers dimishes on this particular car?

thank a lot
F

[FFM]

Thank you guys. Assuming £400 for a normal yearly service at OPC is fair, then?

To recap, assuming your are looking for a "purer" experience/occasional fun car rather than a daily/more "liquid" spec in case of re-sale (on a relative-basis)

MORE DESIRABLE options: Manual with Buckets with Spyder wheels
DESIRABLE (but possible to retrofit at reasonable cost): Short-shift, Sport Chrono, Sport Exhaust system
BETTER TO HAVE: PCCBs or Steel (?)

What about PCCM, Radio, and A/C? I assume there are lightweight specced cars, are these most difficult, eventually, come re-sale?

Before I forgot: having a MY2011 or MY2012 does make any difference?

Lastly, the million dollar question is, would you swap a Vantage 4.7 Manual Sports-pack against the R?

Although they are not directly comparable, both are special, not very common, and analogue cars in their own field at a similar price point, representing the end of an era (NAs etc.)..so that's why I am asking

Edited by FFM on Tuesday 24th January 23:03

[FFM]

hutch2196 said:

OP

Can I suggest you consider the three inputs offering views as 'desirable' options rather than 'must have'. Frankly the options list is subjective and will depend upon your priorities and how much premium you want to pay for you car and will depend upon your intended usage. If you're wider than average or suffer from back pains and want to adjust your seat and heat your bum you might want sports seats with heating. Perfect in this weather! If you're an R purest you'll ensue all options in favour of lightness. Horses for courses, not right or wrong, which is why there's so many differnt Spect'd Rs.

Absolutely, fair point! Edited above, as suggested

Thanks
F

[V800MJH]

FFM said:

Thank you guys. Assuming £400 for a normal yearly service at OPC is fair, then?

To recap, assuming your are looking for a "purer" experience/occasional fun car rather than a daily/more "liquid" spec in case of re-sale (on a relative-basis)

MORE DESIRABLE options: Manual with Buckets with Spyder wheels
DESIRABLE (but possible to retrofit at reasonable cost): Short-shift, Sport Chrono, Sport Exhaust system
BETTER TO HAVE: PCCBs or Steel (?)

What about PCCM, Radio, and A/C? I assume there are lightweight specced cars, are these most difficult, eventually, come re-sale?

Before I forgot: having a MY2011 or MY2012 does make any difference?

Lastly, the million dollar question is, would you swap a Vantage 4.7 Manual Sports-pack against the R?

Although they are not directly comparable, both are special, not very common, and analogue cars in their own field at a similar price point, representing the end of an era (NAs etc.)..so that's why I am asking

Edited by FFM on Tuesday 24th January 23:03

As above, the service is every x amount of miles or two years, which ever comes soonest. And it's done alternatively between minor and major every two years.

-2 years of age (or after x amount of miles) = minor service (£375 ish + brake fluid change £95)
-4 years of age (or after x amount of miles) = major (BIG) service (£475 ish + brake fluid change £95 + Spark plug replacement £191.95 + Puncture repair sealant replacement £59.60 + Airbag Service £57.60 + Auxillary Drive belt check £57.60
-6 years of age (or after x amount of miles) = minor service (£375 ish + brake fluid change £95)

Those are OPC prices from last summer when I had the big 4 year service.

I don't know of any difference between MY11 and MY12, apart from the fact the MY12 will probably have the upgraded black wheel bolts like mine does. They were redesigned to fix the corrosion issues according to Porsche.

I like the Vantage 4.7 very much. Whether I'd swap one for an R, probably yes. But then I wanted something very exclusive that I could own and enjoy for many years without worrying about depreciation. I said to myself If I could own for 5 years and not lose too much on it then I'd be happy. And it seems the good ones are not only not losing money, they are actually slowly going up in price.

[Hamperman]

OP, I wouldn't rule out a PDK before you have tried it. I chose a PDK over a manual and mine is an occasional car only and I know others have done the same. Having said that I wouldn't have ruled out a manual either.

My spec is PDK, sport chrono plus, spyders, buckets, PSE and air con and to me they were all essential. I have a few other things like alcantara trim which I like. I then have PCM which I wish I didn't - in a couple of years it will be very dated indeed.

[n17ves]

Desirable options: -

Manual
Buckets (standard fit)
Spyder wheels (Standrad fit)
AC (No cost option)
Short-shift
sports Chrono
Sound package plus
Sports Exhaust

Nice to have options: -

Alcantara wheel
Extended leather
Bluetooth
Climate control
Xenons
Nav (for some it would seem)

Steel vs PCCB is a difficult one. I personally don't like the feel of ceramics on the GT4, but the Cayman R would benefit from the increase in disc size alone with the ceramics. Personally I wouldn't lose any sleep over choosing, but if you track you car lots than Id suggest avoiding ceramics due to the cost of replacements

Servicing is 2 years or 24k miles (from memory). Costs are actually fairly reasonably from an OPC.

Its also worth knowing that a Cayman R with all the desirable options would have been around £70k new, not the £55k as alluded to at the beginning.

[Fokker]

I think you've probably worked out what options are good by now. To give you an idea my old car is at Brooklands Porsche now and has been there for quite some time, maybe 4 months now.
I bought it as I was desperate for a car having hit ice and written my existing car off. Its not a great spec with no leather, no buckets and no sports exhaust plus its a PDK.
The PDK in those isn't great, no rev blipping and for me a manual would have been much better.

Couple of things to add. Even in the spec I had, it was a great little car. They are solid, very well built and handle so well with delcious steering . I'm 6ft and had to have the seat right back pressed against the bulkhead but perhaps there could be more room with the buckets? Its a small cabin, I did feel it was a bit small for me but did 7k miles in it without any issues.

On a PSE note, I didn't have one but the standard exhaust on a CR is different to a normal Cayman S standard exhaust. It has a larger diameter pipe on the rear section which gives more of a rasp and better flow People still upgrade them to PSE's but from memory its hard to do as Porsche will supply you with a PSE from a Cayman S which is apparently a smaller diameter than the CR factory one for whatever reason? I didn't bother in the end, this is why I think people go down the Carnwal route. Have you driven one? They have a really loud howl in the cabin even with a standard exhaust because its coming from the engine which is right behind you! Way way louder than my old GT4. They have a proper howl!

Prices for your info when I sold mine in 2015 were a little lower than they are now at about 42-43k for a decent spec car. Mine only had 11k miles on it and I sold for 39k to a dealer. They seem really strong value wise now but remember, they are a rare little beast. Only about 230 in the UK compared to over 600 GT4's.

Superb cars and relatively cheap to run. Find a good one and also for what its worth I think they look superb in blue, white and black with silver spyder wheels.

[FFM]

great points, thank you

You touched upon another important topic: colors!

I know it is very subjective, although have you noticed of any particular difficulties when selling certain colors? Do you think those brights or stealths' suit the car best? I would imagine Brights, what do you think?

Peridot, Yellow, Red, Black, White, Blue (?) I guess most of them were either painted in White, with Blue or Yellow being the rarest..how's Peridot compare?

thanks a lot again
F

[Fokker]

FFM said:

great points, thank you

You touched upon another important topic: colors!

I know it is very subjective, although have you noticed of any particular difficulties when selling certain colors? Do you think those brights or stealths' suit the car best? I would imagine Brights, what do you think?

Peridot, Yellow, Red, Black, White, Blue (?) I guess most of them were either painted in White, with Blue or Yellow being the rarest..how's Peridot compare?

thanks a lot again
F

I'd buy a yellow one in a heart beat, very rare. peridot isn't for me although lots do like it. Its an odd green! Theres a peridot car with a good spec at JZM isn't there? Been there for a while?

Probably not moved because the carbon discs have done 23k miles. You could always put steels on it and box the PCCB's. The PCCB's will do 150k miles if not tracked, possibly more - http://www.jzmporsche.com/porsche-for-sale/cayman/...

This is a great colour for a CR http://www.jzmporsche.com/porsche-for-sale/cayman/...

Edited by Fokker on Wednesday 25th January 14:05

[Hamperman]

I have PDK and it blips on the downshifts and sounds great, I do have PSE though so that could be a difference.
Colourwise is just a personal preference. I bought mine purely on the car itself and it happens to be meteor grey with black wheels and silver mirrors and spoilers which I really like. I would have chosen yellow, peridot or red ahead of my colour. Plenty like white too.

[squirdan]

dont disagree with previous posts

the 3 that JZM have in stock they have had for a while. In the mean time they have sold 2 white manuals with buckets, spyders, sport chrono etc.

the peridot green one is the ex Porsche press car and looks nice in the metal. In the v long term I could see it being a positive that its in all the mags. But in the shorter term perception perhaps that its been thrashed. It also has no stereo or a/c

there is a chap on here (David!) with various usernames who has a lovely white manual car he might be persuaded to sell

there is another chap on here (also David) who has an absolute minter in viper green if you fancy a ballsy colour

I have just bought one and i'm no aston expert but apart from the noise (aston win) i would wager the CR is more satisfying and feels a lot more modern

HTH

[squirdan]

ps

you cant retrofit sports chrono exactly you can just pay for sports mode to be retrofitted

PCCB have a bad rep for cracking discs and people tend to take them off and run steel discs instead

in my view prices bottomed at c. £40k ish, £48k is the current price for a low miles good spec car, and I cant see any reason why they wont go up from here

PH ran a story the other day about a 100k miles GT3 bemoaning the fact there are no good value Porsches any more and you have to buy a mega mileage one to find value

my answer is: Cayman R

[J-P]

I think carbon buckets, spyder wheels, aircon, PSE are essential. Interestingly, a good Porsche specialist told me that they would include sports chrono as essential to the above list or certainly an easier sell.

[Slippydiff]

J-P said:

I think carbon buckets, spyder wheels, aircon, PSE are essential. Interestingly, a good Porsche specialist told me that they would include sports chrono as essential to the above list or certainly an easier sell.

Got to disagree with you there JP, the Sports exhaust is not an "essential" (after all, what does it bring to the party ?) manual, Spyder wheels, buckets and xenons are however. But if the PSE is an essential, it's easily and cheaply retrofitted, whereas none of the other options I've listed are

[V800MJH]

Slippydiff said:

Got to disagree with you there JP, the Sports exhaust is not an "essential" (after all, what does it bring to the party ?) manual, Spyder wheels, buckets and xenons are however. But if the PSE is an essential, it's easily and cheaply retrofitted, whereas none of the other options I've listed are

How is the PSE easily and cheaply retrofitted? It costs around £2,000.

PSE was an essential for me when buying.