Cayman for under £15k - bad idea?
Cayman for under £15k - bad idea?
Author
Discussion

LunarLamp

Original Poster:

7 posts

168 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
So, I'm considering many options for cars at the moment, and am really tempted by a Cayman for a fun car as I no longer need to drive for work, so other than pottering to the shops and back nearly all my driving is for pleasure. Budget is somewhere in the £10-15k range, depending upon how much I like the car.

Obviously, it's not going to be the cheapest to run but I'm happy with the costs (and it's cheaper than some I've had previously). What I'm concerned about is that in this price range they tend to have done around the 100k. Is this just asking for trouble? Besides IMS replacement, what should I be looking out for?

DUBS73P

113 posts

156 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
My friend is a Porsche technician, he specifically said stay away until you can afford a Gen 2 model.

That was enough to put me off them as they aren't the cheapest things to run in general anyway!

anonymous-user

75 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
If you can find one with a reputable rebuild and warranty why not, otherwise be very careful.

Yipper

5,964 posts

111 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
SLK 55 AMG is a good alternative.

troika

2,063 posts

172 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
With this type of car, the rule I would apply is if you can’t afford to buy 2, you can’t afford to run 1.

Bampot

3 posts

221 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
troika said:
With this type of car, the rule I would apply is if you can’t afford to buy 2, you can’t afford to run 1.
Are Cayman's known to be unreliable or are they just expensive to fix?

Genuine question btw, I'm new to car ownership.

Integroo

11,589 posts

106 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
Bampot said:
troika said:
With this type of car, the rule I would apply is if you can’t afford to buy 2, you can’t afford to run 1.
Are Cayman's known to be unreliable or are they just expensive to fix?

Genuine question btw, I'm new to car ownership.
Premium brands tend to be expensive to run before you think about reliability - expensive parts, expensive labour, more high tech things to go wrong.

Certain Cayman and Boxster models have a reputation for fragile engines which can go pop and a replacement engine plus labour is not cheap.

troika

2,063 posts

172 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
Integroo said:
Bampot said:
troika said:
With this type of car, the rule I would apply is if you can’t afford to buy 2, you can’t afford to run 1.
Are Cayman's known to be unreliable or are they just expensive to fix?

Genuine question btw, I'm new to car ownership.
Premium brands tend to be expensive to run before you think about reliability - expensive parts, expensive labour, more high tech things to go wrong.

Certain Cayman and Boxster models have a reputation for fragile engines which can go pop and a replacement engine plus labour is not cheap.
Exactly this. A leggy Cayman could throw bigs bills easily and often. Everything just costs more than with a volume car. If the engine melts you are looking at mega money even from the respected Indys. I’ve had Porsche in the past and wouldn’t have one without an OPC warranty.

Trevor555

5,022 posts

105 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
I ran a 2006 Cayman S for a year, all it needed was a service, water pump, and a set of coil packs.

But people keep telling me I was lucky.

The advice I kept hearing was go for the Gen 2 model, like someone has already said.

It was my first Porsche experience and I loved the car, it felt special every time I drove it, that noise, the leather dash/doorcards, the clocks, the drive of it.

Save up a bit more and go Gen2.

Get a nice one for 20ish and it wont depreciate very much.


LunarLamp

Original Poster:

7 posts

168 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
Yeah, I've got more than £20k coming from the sale of my current car, but I've found that I just don't like having so much money tied up in a depreciating asset. I really just want a fun car for £10-15k and to pocket the rest of the cash!


SDarks

192 posts

113 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
I’ve owned my 2.7 986 for 3 years and I’ve covered 50,000 Miles, from 42,000 to 92,000. It has cost me about £1500.00 a year to maintain including tyres, Porsche servicing etc. In my opinion worth every penny, fantastic car and I can’t find anything in the price range that id rather have.

These type of posts always attract comments about how these cars are money pits, ‘my mate had one and it blew up’ etc... having spoken to other owners my experience is quite normal, I can’t speak for the cayman s variant but I would recommend a 2.7.

DUBS73P

113 posts

156 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
It’s probably worth test driving a 2.7 to be honest just to see what you think

I had my heart set on the Cayman S until I was warned off one, so I decided to try the 2.7, I really wasn’t impressed. The car felt like it needed more power to make things a little more interesting.

I had a Z4 Coupe at the time, I would highly recommend one as an alternative if it’s fun you’re after. I found the interior much nicer, especially the seats, and just generally more involving.

Buy a good one and the N52 engine will last forever and they’re depreciating extremely slowly, I sold mine for 1.5k less than what I paid after 2 years of ownership and most of that was just because it needed tyres and some suspension work. The car literally cost me servicing and a discs/pads in the time I owned it.

Integroo

11,589 posts

106 months

Monday 5th February 2018
quotequote all
LunarLamp said:
Yeah, I've got more than £20k coming from the sale of my current car, but I've found that I just don't like having so much money tied up in a depreciating asset. I really just want a fun car for £10-15k and to pocket the rest of the cash!
20k in a car that depreciates 5k in two years is better than 10k on a car that explodes and needs a 10k engine replacement within two years! (Not that a 15k Cayman will definitely explode or that a 20k Cayman will not, ofc).

AlexJWR

62 posts

118 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
I recently owned a 2008 Cayman 2.7 for a year and I would say go for it, as long as you set aside some money to account for maintenance along the way as it isn't cheap.

I bought it on 85k miles and did about 6k miles in that time, only sold it as I needed a more suitable car for the daily commute.

Maintenance in that year included front tyres, brake pads, servicing, new condensers and new coolant pipes.

Averaged about 25mpg in it, if you're doing a lot of motorway driving you should see 30mpg.

keo

2,756 posts

191 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
Just another idea If you are after a fun car that is cheap to run, how about a Lotus Elise? (I know everyone recommends what car they have sorry!)

I have had mine for 3 years, it is worth more than I paid for it looking at similar ones on auto trader. Cheap to run with it being so light.

Granted it is no where near the quality of a Porsche but as a second car it is good fun and I have done some long trips init not a problem. I understand they are not everyone’s cup of tea!


james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

212 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
For me hard to look past the 986 3.2 for much less money...

Torquey

1,942 posts

249 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
A Honda S2000 or Vx220 turbo may be more reliable, cheaper to fix and around the budget... Neither should depreciate too much either.

b19rak

389 posts

238 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
What year did they become Gen2 out of interest?

I’ve just bought a lovely Z4 Coupe, that would fit the bill and hopefully cheaper to run and more reliable.

WF36

627 posts

179 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
Torquey said:
A Honda S2000 or Vx220 turbo may be more reliable, cheaper to fix and around the budget... Neither should depreciate too much either.
But neither are a Porsche.

smith335I

31 posts

182 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
quotequote all
I have a gen 1 Cayman S and i love it.
Ive had mine 18 months and its cost nothing but servicing but i paid top money and found one in great condition that had been well maintained. Like many cars i think the issues are over played. If you buy a cheap one with high mileage then i think you can expect more things needing to be done.