First Porsche decision - 981 Cayman S vs 2021 GTS 4.0
 

Hello all, excited to post here for the first time! I am looking to purchase my first Porsche as a second car and I've always had my mind set on a Cayman with a NA flat-6. Now I was very keen on custom ordering a 2021 GTS 4.0 which has a lead time of about 4-6 months these days, no way to test drive it until your custom car arrives and seems like a fantastic car but still pricey. The other option is to look for a used 981 (perhaps a 2013-2014) Cayman S which won't have all the benefits of the current generation but still has a flat six and must be pretty great to drive. These seem pretty rare as well but I am in no hurry.

I wanted to see if the experienced minds at Renn list have some tips for this Porsche newbie - based on what you know or if you have been lucky enough to drive both!

I owned a used '14 981S for about a year...It was a lot of fun to drive with 6MT, but the tech was dated (no backup camera etc.) and the interior a bit small for what I wanted. I ended up selling it for a '17 CPO 991.2. That engine though...like ripping silk.

From what I've read, the new GTS 4.0 is going to be light years ahead of a '14 Cayman, which what would be an 8 year old car by next year. Having said that, they are both mid-engine NA Cayman's. I would defer to current GTS owners or later model 718 S drivers and the track guys here for driving impressions; I run out of talent way before the car does.

Well, you're talking a big difference in price there. Bang for the buck the 981 CS wins hands down: it's a great driving car and has everything you need for the street. Price being no object I'd take the GTS.

‘14 Cayman S
 

I have never driven a 2021 GTS, so cant comment on a comparison. However, I can say that my 981 with 10.5K miles brings a smile to my face every time I drive it. The motor is like silk, and for normal driving I find it has more than adequate power, especially with Sport and Sport Chrono. Yes, the electronics are not modern day, built everything works! I do miss a backups camera, so am having one installed that hooks directly in to the factory PCM. For me, this car checks off all the boxes.

I love my 14 Cayman S. I just spent a day at Sebring Raceway this past weekend after recently buying the car. It is absolute driving nirvana. I also drive it on the street, and it just doesn’t get much better as a dual purpose car.

I traded in a 2016 Cayman S PDK which I bought new in 2015 for my GTS 4.0 6M. Cars are very similar in terms of driving. The 4.0 is more powerful, but the 3.4 is no slouch. My buttometer indicates that they are pretty much the same in straight line acceleration, probably due to the PDK/manual difference between my two cars.

A couple of points:

• Both engines sound wonderful, but at 4,000 RPM the 3.4 had a moan that turned into a wail as the revs climbed. 4.0 doesn't have it, probably due to the GPF filters. My 4.0 has PSE, the 981 didn't.
• Tech is better in the 718 but I am pretty much a Philistine and I don't care for backup cameras, parking sensors, lane warnings etc. in a sporstcar. I would get rid of it all except for Carplay which allows me to use Waze and listen to music without touching my phone.
• 718 has PASM as opposed to the stock suspension on my 981. I left it in comfort setting all winter so no real data to compare yet.
• I would say grab a 981 but they are very rare, and the prices are rising steadily.
• The GTS 4.0 is almost certainly going to be the last non-GT NA flat 6 Porsche. One of the two reasons I made the move (other is to have a manual again - they are disappearing too).

Whatever your decision, you can't lose.

The price difference will be absurd, but if you plan on keeping the car for a long time, the 4.0 will be an instant classic (especially with a manual).

I had a 981 Cayman S for four years. I loved the car but had several problems all fixed under warranty. Bad rear strut, squeaky gas tank due to misplaced/improper mounting pads, PDK replaced due to leak and both cats replaced due to failure causing the car to not run. (Just barely made it home from Lime Rock) I enjoyed the car including many DE days. Due to all the problems and many days in the shop I sold it in 2018. In December 2020 I took deliver of my 2021 718 GT4. There is no comparison! The GT4 is an absolute animal compared to the S. No surprise as it has 89 more HP and a much better suspension. I did two days at NJMP Thunderbolt last month and was amazed. I am installing a roll bar, seats and harness before Watkins Glen in June. I also purchased Garmin Catalyst and I love it. Excellent video and lap timing and I am looking forward to learning to use the coaching features.

I am in the exact situation! Weighing the same decisions. The lack of allocations for the GTS 4.0 seems to be a challenge and I am starting to lean towards an S and maybe try and get on a list for sometime down the road on the 4.0.

Good luck on your search and decision!

Agreed. What to do what to do???
No sudden moves considering the engine (and other) recalls on the GTS 4.0 ..wait and see.:corn:

'No sudden moves' is for sure! ha ha Not any available to make! You are right about that.......

It's virtually impossible to rationalize the ~$70k+ delta between the two cars. One is new. One is old. The rest does not equate to $70k from a sheer value position, not even close.

The story gets worse for the 718 GTS if you don't plan to drive it every day.

So TL;DR, get a 981 unless you literally have money you're ok with setting on fire.

Not disagreeing that the 981 makes some financial sense but $70K Delta? Mine was about $50K CDN and that was for a dealer trade-in last summer. 981 used prices have been rising since then

Not sure about the Canadian market, but I find it hard to believe that prices have risen THAT much. My $70k figure came from the expectation you could get a 981 for $40k, and a well-optioned 718 GTS (GTS interior package, buckets, nav, etc.) would run about $110k brand new. That's $70k by my math.

DOn't think you can find a 981 S for 40k, I'd say they're more around 50-55k these days, and depending on options, you can get a GTS for 95-105k (higher taxes/fees as well b/c new car)

I'm not sure it's worth the price difference either though.

A 981 GTS, if you could find one, would be about $70 to 75K CDN, and an S in the sixties. There are none available at any dealer in the county. My car was a little over $100K CDN before discount.

This is true, I just validated with a quick search... you can get a base 981 for $40k but the S's fetch around a $10k premium. That's pretty crazy. I just traded my 981 GTS back in October; I had a guy who was interested in buying at $55k but got cold feet and backed out last second. Looks like it wouldn't be a problem getting that value from it now 6 months later... but then again I couldn't find my 991.2 for what I paid for it then now anyway... kind of like the housing market. You get more but you pay more.

But still, to your point and my original point- that's still a huge delta, even for a "stripper" 718 GTS 4.0 (I priced out what I would order, comes to $111k but I know you "can" get them cheaper...). To me, not worth the difference but different strokes for different folks.

Like all Porsches, the newer cars will be technically, mechanically, and performance-wise, superior to the older cars. It's up to you how much value you place on that. I recently bought a 981 GTS and considered a GTS 4.0, but couldn't justify the price delta of $40-50K. Plus the wait time to get one is several months, but I am impatient by nature. Best thing you can do is first go out and test drive a 981 S/GTS and see what you think. You will likely enjoy the drive and it may convince you that a 981 is for you. I suspect the 981 will give you 90%+ the experience of a GTS 4.0. Based on that, the financial math doesn't work out to buy a 4.0 as the value prop is not there, at least for me.

Like someone else wrote, if you don't mind spending the extra money, want the latest and greatest, and plan on keeping the car for awhile, get the 4.0. I imagine it is an amazing car and will likely retain value since it will probably be the last flat six Cayman Porsche will sell. Aesthetically, I prefer the 981 over the 718, but both are lookers. Plus, you can spec the 4.0 with carbon buckets, which would be a big differentiator. Good luck with your search and let us know what you decide to do.

As others said, huge delta. If money was no object well then, that 4 liter (drool), however a 718 GTS is lightly used 981 GT4 pricing as well. It's a fortunate pickle to be in. The logical thing would be to get a nicely optioned Cayman S.

I do wonder how the 4L will do value wise in the future over regular 981 S/GTS with the 3.4

Yeah agreed, 111k is insane, I guess it's the 4.0L? Same motor as the GT4

I looked into 718 GTS's but ended up just getting a 981 GT4, I felt it was the better buy for the price.

LOL And it's because of the experiences that you just related, as to why I have never bought a used car. :)

I have a 2013 981 BS, and I love it as much today as I did 8 years ago. The only change I've made is a software change which boosted HP.
About the only new sports car that I would consider is the C8. A neighbor got a red C8 in March, and it is a blast to drive. He bought it at MSRP which was a tad over $80K. I only drove it for about 10 miles, but I'd have to believe that it would be as fast on most tracks as a $150K+ 992S. I'm not a Vette expert, but I believe he ordered the 3LT package which has an upgraded interior, which looked great to me.

Glad I bought my 2013 Boxster S with GT light options in Nov 2019 for $40K. It has a dirty CARFAX from a rear end accident when it was six months old. Original owner repaired and kept the car. Rear bumper and left quarter have been resprayed. PPI found no evidence of any other damage. It has all of the GTS options except Alcantara, 3rd radiator and the extra HP. I added the third radiator and adjustable front LCAs. Did five DE weekends last year and one so far this year. Well optioned S are out there, but rare. PTV seems to be the rarest S option. If I upgraded I'd look for a 981 GT4 or Spyder. Taking a $100+ 718 GT4 with the extra HP as the only plus doesn't make sense for me.

4-6 months on the 718 might be optimistic. I spent the early part of last year trying to secure an at-MSRP allocation for a GTS 4.0 or GT4, and was told almost by at least half a dozen dealerships that they were looking at spring/summer 2021 (i.e. now), best case. As far as I know, the supply/demand equation hasn't improved at all (might even be worse) and the 4.0 stop sale isn't helping matters. This has cascaded into additional pressure on the used car market and pricing reflects that. But that's all strictly anecdotal.

Even so, if you're dead set on buying a car under these circumstances, I'd go with the greedy approach (which is what I did): put your name down for the 718 now, and then start looking for a suitable used 981 in the interim. Go with whichever comes up first. You can even continue to ride out the waiting period on the 718, since there's a good chance you'll be able to get back out of it at a minimal loss (mostly just TTL) if you so choose...but then you might find, as I did, that the 981 (once you have one) is actually enough.

Edit: should add that I bought a GT4, so there's much less of a performance delta between it and the 718 GTS/GT4 than there would be for e.g. a 981S.

I bought my very well optioned 981 Boxster S (had a 987 Cayman prior) with MT and 17,000 miles last August for $40k, clean title. It looks brand new and now has 21,000 miles on it and I could not ask for more from a car. Not one single issue, no rattles, squeaks, nothing. It's been brilliant. And because of the reasonable price, I upgraded to Apple Car Play with a larger screen, better sound and backup camera which has been a vast improvement from the old PCM. I have not driven the new 4.0L car, but I cannot imagine for a second that it would bring me $50-$70k more enjoyment.

Good luck with your decision/hunt!

Disregarding the enormous cost diff, as others have pointed out, consider how you're going to use the car. For daily driving and the occasional autocross or track day, there would not be a big difference between the two. If you want to get serious at the track the GTS would be the way to go. But that then raises the question of why not a GT4, new or used. That would boost your track performance even more...

The current stop sale on the GTS due to engine problems has lowered my love for that engine a bit....time will tell if it's a longer term issue.

The affected 2021 cars are all getting new motors.

I've been looking at 981s for awhile. A 2015 Cayman S manual with a few options sold for $69k at Kelowna Porsche a couple weeks ago. I called the day after the ad went up and it sold already. I'm currently looking at another 2015 Cayman S but with only 10k km on it and it's selling for 72k.

It's a interesting dilemma...I have a 2014 Cayman S that I am swapping out for a new 2021 Cayman GTS 4.0. I love the Cayman S and the wail at high revs is something I know I will miss. It has not dropped a beat over the two years I have owned it, but my wife offered me the opportunity to get a new Porsche and I could not pass up the offer. Hence, getting another Cayman.

As for prices, people are right. They are climbing. I was worried about the depreciation on my vehicle while I wait for the new car with its engine replacement (con rod recall), but pricing is actually moving in my favor. I would have been happy with $45k a few months ago, but now I expect $48-50k. Crazy days, but these cars are now highly desired.

Also, note...due to the recall on the 2021s, cars are few and far between here, too. People are scrambling for 2022 allocations, so move quickly.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I have been actively looking for a few weeks (and somewhat looking for months) and the problem is just the lack of inventory available. I would gladly take a 981 GTS or GT4 but there are very few available and the prices are not far off of a brand new GTS 4.0. Of course there are very few of those available as well!

So I am taking the path recommended. I am trying to get an allocation for a GTS 4.0 and continue to look for a 2015 or 2016 981 model. Will see what comes up first.

Just as a data point, I drove a 2019 718 Cayman GTS today. Lease return with about 13,000 miles. In great shape. MSRP of about $92,000. Dealer was asking $90,000. Was not CPO. lol

One thing to consider, there is a 200 to 250 pound difference between a 2013-2016 981S and a 2021 718 GTS. The question is are you buying a 0 to 60 time or a light mid-engine sports car?