From 981 CS to Base 987.2, The Story Continues
 

Last summer I sold my 2016 Sapphire Blue CS to a fellow Rennlist member and shifted my priorities towards home ownership. Picked up a 2003 Miata to fill the void and serve as a fun daily driver with the M5 reserved for weekend fun.

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It only took 2 months after moving into my new place that the itch started to come back, and a month later I found myself back in a Cayman.

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It's a 2009 Base with 71k miles, manual, and lightly optioned with highlights being the 18" Cayman S II wheels and floor mats in interior color. :) Meteor Gray Metallic over Black Standard Leather. No frills, no fuss, just a pure sports car that needs no explanation.

Found it at a non-Porsche dealer which took care of an oil change and complete detail after it was traded in. While the overall purchase went fairly smoothly, there was some drama associated with it.

Knowing 987.2s aren't that common, I took PTO the next day after finding it and emailed the internet service manager and said I was coming to see it. I debated whether or not to get a PPI somewhere else but the Carfax looked pretty good, these engines are quite reliable, and figured I'll take my laptop & Durametric cable with me to check for over-revs.

On my way home to pick up my gear, I got a call from the dealer, confirming my interest and told them I'll be there in an hour. 10 minutes later as I'm about to decide which car to take, I get another call, except this time I was told there's someone already there, and that I should wait in case the car's no longer available. Mkay.

12 minutes later, another call saying the customer wasn't able to secure a loan. So I decide to take the M5 since I know they'll lowball me on the Miata. Leave the house and the car didn't feel right, but my mind was a bit preoccupied and couldn't tell what was going on until a nice gentleman in a 997 caught my attention.

Oh... :(

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Fortunately I was within half a mile from home, so after pumping it back up, swapped cars and got back on the road. Arrived at my destination and while waiting for the car to be brought out from the lot, I was told 2 other people were also interested in it, but 1 couldn't get his loan secured either, and the other guy had to go home and ask his wife. :rolleyes:

#mindgames

Test drive was fine, no surprises, the car felt solid yet broken in at the same time compared with my 981. The hydraulic steering was a welcomed sensation, though the lack of the exhaust noise was disappointing. Just means I need to rev it more to hear the glorious flat-6 again. :thumbup:

Unsurprisingly, I really didn't need much convincing to pull the trigger so once we agreed on a price but before signing any paperwork, I asked if I could check for over-revs. Salesman had no idea what I was talking about but hey, he provided shade and eliminated glare, which was nice.

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As you can see, this car was babied throughout its life that started in Georgia, then South Carolina, then Texas, and ultimately SoCal.

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With an hour of daylight left, took the canyons back home, and while the day was getting darker, my night was getting brighter.

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There are more details that I'll share in this thread as I modify & maintain this magnificent machine. She's not too clean right now but I did a quick & dirty photo shoot a few nights ago.

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I too moved from a Sapphire Blue Cayman, mine was a GTS, to a 987. Started with a 987.1 Boxster S that I got while I still had the CGTS and continued into the Cayman R that essentially replaced the CGTS. Congrats on your new ride, it looks great.

On another note, how difficult is using the Durametric tool and where do you get it? I'd like to be able to do what you did with the codes.

Congrats, enjoy in good health!

Thanks! Looking forward to heading back to the hills near Julian and Borrego Springs. I think you also mentioned a certain road around Palomar that I missed my last trip down there...need to look that up again.

Appreciate it. You can download the software at www.durametric.com but you still have to buy the specific OBD-II cable for it. I bought the enthusiast version which is limited to 3 VINs, and mainly use it for resetting service reminders, checking over-revs, and general health of the car. It's fairly easy to use and I'd recommend it for any DIYer. However I discovered the service reminder reset command doesn't work on the 987s and you need to pull the fuse for the instrument cluster to reset it. Kinda annoying but not the worst thing in the world.

Will do!

As a point of ref., the reset works on my Pro version, maybe call them and see if it's an issue with yours because I thought the Pro only added coding and unlimited cars.

Interesting. I downloaded the latest version just in case but yeah, I'll contact them before I need to reset it. Thanks.

Congrats! Best of luck with it!! Look forward to seeing your new adventures here.

Very nice! It looks to be in great condition. Also love the E39 M5. Did I read that correctly that you traded the E39 for the Cayman and kept the Miata? Of course financially you did what you had to do, but man, that E39/Cayman combo would be about perfect.

The Cayman is such a great car in all model years. I've driven the 987.1S, 987.2 Base and the 981 Base. All are just great cars. I'm realizing that even more since I (stupidly) decided to put my 981 up for "sale" this weekend. Already about to take it off the market.

Definitely agree on the fun/$ when it comes to a 987.2. I can't say the power of the 981 was ever "too much" but the 2.9L engine is so well balanced that it makes you forget about it. I do remember reading about the sprint booster and will add it to my list of mods as throttle response isn't that great. I'm thinking of doing the Numeric Racing shifter cables as a preventative measure and starting to wonder if I should get a SSK. That's something I usually do but right now it fits the character of the car.

Negative, I sold the Cayman and picked up the Miata; the M5 isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I've been restoring it for the past 2 years and really enjoy the car, but not as a daily. Even though most people would drive that as a daily and have the Cayman as the weekend car, the M5 is more meaningful to me and technically it's the more expensive car when comparing new to new. The M5 just eats highway miles but my commute is 100% city and less than 2 miles so it'd never get to stretch its legs.

Why did you put yours on the market?

Oh good. I have no idea if E39s are a maintenance nightmare now that they are 20yrs old, but they sure look and drive great. Glad you're keeping it alongside your beautiful new 987.

I was thinking of selling my car to actually get a higher mileage and cheaper 987 that I would track because I decided my 981 was too nice and too expensive for me to track. I have young kids and my wife doesnt drive a manual transmission, so it seemed a bit excessive for a toy that only I was enjoying. Ever since I posted that up, I've been having second thoughts. Even my wife doesn't want me to sell it. So I'm 95% sure I'm just going to keep the 981 for at least another year and enjoy it a little while longer.

Yes, definite yes.

Gotcha. One option would be to hold onto the 981 until the right 987.2 comes up (unless you're open to 987.1s too). But for me personally, I wouldn't be able to truly enjoy a car if I'm considering another one down the road though. And while I'm a die-hard manual fan, the PDK is clearly the better option for track duties, with the added benefit of your wife enjoying it too.

Sure the E39s require maintenance but by means are they are a "nightmare." Mine's at 114k miles and the major items I've addressed are the cooling system, fuel pump, and timing chain guide tensioner. I've also done oil analysis to look for the health of the rod bearings which seem to be fine. As long as your properly warm up the oil before stepping on it, they're quite reliable and pretty easy to work on. The car still feels solid and gets respect from those who know what it is (mine's debadged).