qwe

I am in the market for a Porsche. I owned a 911 in the past but am currently driving an E46 M3 which is getting too old. Time for a new (to me) car.
I have found 2 cars; a 2012 Cayman S and a 2007 911. Both are about the same price, both manual, both well equipped, both serviced at Porsche Dealers and both with about 30K miles. The Cayman is a one owner, with a DME readout that shows the red line being hit once in its lifetime (very lightly used!) The 911 is a 2 owner, former CPO car. No PPI for the 911 - that will come if I move forward with it. I am aware of the IMS issues, but my research tells me the 2007 would have the larger bearing that drops the failure rate to the 1% level, which I can live with.
The 911 has the advantage of a rear seat; although I can count on one hand the number of times I have used the back seat in the last 10 years.
My past experience with a 911 it was expensive to run, although it was an air cooled and quite old when I had it. I am told that the water cooled models are not as expensive to run.
I am torn as to which one to pursue and would like your thoughts on the cost of ownership over the next 5+ years (I keep my cars for a long time). Anyone with experience or comments?

Code

The 2012 will have the lower cost of ownership from a mechanical maintenance perspective, and also wont have potential IMS issues.

CaymanSinAR

The 987.2 Cayman S is one of my favorite cars of all time, so I'd go with that. Small, light, perfectly balanced, just the right amount of power/torque, sublime hydraulic steering, makes a wonderful noise, and handles like a dream. Plus great storage between the frunk and trunk.

If you decide not to go with the Cayman S please post a link to it. I'd love to see it.

(FWIW, I also own a 2017 911. But if I could only own one Porsche it would, hands-down, be a Boxster/Cayman.)

kiznarsh

Seeing how you've already experienced a 911, I'd go with the Cayman for something different. Have you driven one yet?

It's the better handling and lighter car with objectively less potential for costly repairs. Plus it seems like the lack of back seats isn't really an issue.

saabin

I would probably lean toward the Cayman, all other things being equal, but I bet if this question was posed in the 997 forum you would get 3 answers to get the 911, so consider that as well..

Marine Blue

Fined

Having both a 911 and a Cayman, I'd have a 911 over a Cayman every time.
Take the answers you get here with a grain of salt, as this section is for discussion on Cayman/Boxster so answers will skew towards those cars. The same question asked on a 911 section of the forum will skew towards that. Plenty of seat time in a few different of each should tell you.

Hyper911

skillz1318

+1 I would take a 987.2 over a 997.1, but a 997.2 over a 987.2. I'm going to be purchasing a 987.2 in the next few months once I find the right one.

Rick-A-Shay

Well, I have both and find the Cayman S an all season fun ride for any application. Of course, the other car that meets that expectation is my '96 Carrera 4S........but that's not part of his discussion!

Kayman

Drive both and buy what feels right