lonewolfsx

Hey all, I know it seems presumptuous as a brand new member to start off with a new thread, but I've already scoured the search function (both here and elsewhere) and couldn't find the answer I wanted, so I figured I'd ask it here.

I'm looking at 996's and first generation Caymans. I've already done tons of research and I know I can live with either car in my day to day life. However, I'm in a situation where I can only have one car at a time - basically I had a garage and a driveway parking space, but my girlfriend moved in with me and I can't park anything on the street without it being towed (my HOA is very serious about it). There isn't really a time where I need to take more than the two of us anywhere, and if I did she has a regular sedan we can fit luggage and people in. So that's all sorted out. There is only one nagging question in my mind that I haven't been able to test yet is whether or not either of these two possible cars will fit both my hockey bag *and* my hockey sticks. I usually have games late at night and after work so I couldn't always borrow her car just for taking gear to hockey.
My hockey bag alone will definitely fit, but will my sticks fit without sticking them out of the window? They measure about 65 inches long, and obviously have a blade at the end about 9-10 inches long curved 70° or so from the shaft itself. Any hockey players here that have tried to do it on either car? Should I just go look at these models and bring my gear with me and try to load it up as part of my test drive? I've already driven the base Cayman but didn't have my hockey stuff with me.

Thanks.

Dave in Chicago

I had a similar "go / no go" test regarding my fencing gear. I did exactly what you suggested and brought my gear and bags with me to look at an actual car at a dealer, complete with test fitment (which took a few mins to figure out). My club bag with weapons fits just fine in the rear trunk, perfect for weekly club practices and local compeititions. My huge "tournament" bag won't fit in the car at all, but I can live with that. The bigger bag serves mostly for larger travel events on the North American Cup circuit (flights required). All in all, one more green light for the Boxster I drive daily today.

Luckily, I subsequently found the car is equally adept at hauling my entire keyboard rig as well. Picture an 88-key stage piano in it's case in passenger seat (top closed is fine), two-tier keyboard stand, mics, cables, and misc in rear trunk, plus a keyboard amp in the frunk. What a car!

Yup, haul your gear over there and you will entertain a sales person or seller with your "fitment" experiment. But, you'll be sure.

Dave

'05 987S
'92 968 SP3
'88 944 NA (gone)

daylorb

I am pretty sure your stick will fit in a Cayman. I had an RS60 and a stick fit in the passenger compartment - I believe it is more snug than a Cayman. Basically angled with the blade up by my neck/shoulders. My bag was more of a headache in that car than the stick. In any case, not a bad idea to try it out just to be sure.

lonewolfsx

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure I could get my gear bag to fit... right now it's a pretty large one but I've heard of people putting the stand up bags in the front trunk so if it comes down to it, I'll buy a different bag. The stick is the main concern because of the length. I had the 996 on my list because the back seats fold down and it looks like I could fit the bag across the rear deck, but then I have no idea where my sticks would go.

If you both were able to fit large items into Boxsters then I think the Cayman will be able to handle it. Just recently a Cayman came up at my local carmax, it's a bit overpriced but I'm going to go there and get my current car appraised anyway as a fallback to use against other dealership trade in values so I'll take my bag with me and do a test fit. It'll be entertaining at least. I'll post the results when I get back, just in case anyone else searches for this information in the future.

daylorb

Good call! You can definitely fit in a 996. Good luck.

lonewolfsx

So I went to Carmax to look at a 2007 base Cayman this weekend that was about $8,000 overpriced haha. What a joke it was - they were courteous enough and set me up to appraise my previous car (I wasn't going to sell it to them but I figured having a baseline offer printed out wouldn't hurt if I ever had to negotiate a trade at another dealership).

Anyway we go out to the car, and it's right in the front alongside a few other Porsche and BMW coupes. I can't pop the trunks, so I put the key in and the battery is completely dead. I had to explain to the salesman where the battery was located and how you had to jump the fuse to open the front hood to get to it. So after some hesitation he goes inside and gets a portable jumper, which I hook up myself to the fuse and get the hood open. Then I pop off the plastic cover (which was already halfway off, obviously this has happened before) and there's the battery. So the salesmen says he'll hook up to it and for me to hop in and try to start it. Seems like a basic task, so hop in and turn the key and nothing... I wait a few seconds before trying again, look up, and I see smoke coming off the front. He's got the positive plugged into negative and the negative into positive and the battery jumper unit is melting itself and smoking! So I jump out and I'm like "get it off unplug it quick!" and he basically drops it on the ground in front of the car.

So then he walks me down the row a little and he's like "this one is the same, the dimensions should be the same to see if your bag will fit" gesturing towards a 997 that is about triple the price I'm looking at spending. I explain that it's a rear engined 911, not mid engined, and the backseats are a dead giveaway that it's not what I have in mind. He gripes a little but then he goes inside to get another jumper unit, and his boss apparently tells him that we have to jump it from the fuse box (wrong..) but I try anyway to humor him. It doesn't work, so I look at the battery and explain that the positive is on the left side, opposite from how he plugged in originally. I tell him to connect the negative to the bare metal piece (in this case the shock tower) and it sparks. He kind of freaks out and won't let me try to start it... I'm not being pushy because I'm clearly not buying this car.

We go back inside (I never got to test if my hockey bag fits, it was laying on the ground next to the car the whole time) and he prints out my trade in paperwork (first he gives me a sheet from Kelly Blue Book offering about $2,000 less than their offer, which is already about $2,000 less than KBB's own trade-in value price, not surprised though). I make a comment about how the Cayman is listed far over the value for a base model, and he responds with a canned response about how Carmax is so great because they don't haggle and all vehicles are inspected (dead battery not a priority then?), plus each vehicle comes with a 30 day free maintenance policy. Now I know this was just one salesman but based on my experience, I wouldn't trust their inspection or their mechanics if I did have a problem, so that's kind of a mute point.

On the plus side, I did have some time alone waiting for the salesman to get the battery and I had my girlfriend sit in it with me. It helped win her over some. I'm positive my hockey bag will fit now... my stick will definitely fit with the blade into the passenger footwell and the bag can either lay across the engine or in the back, even if I have to take my skates out of the end pouch and put them in the front trunk (which is much deeper than I realized).

So that was quite the experience. Oh, and I looked today and the car isn't listed on the carmax website anymore. I'm not sure if they took it down while it's being "repaired" but if they sent it to auction rather than make a deal with me that's a bit annoying, although I'm a little wary of buying a car with the battery dead at least twice in the last month (electrical problems or careless carmax employees? I don't know and I'm not paying to find out). It was in great physical condition though.

daylorb

Very interesting - I've been a pretty big fan of Carmax through 2013 when I bought my last ride from the - but my last visit was sort of like yours. Went in to look at a really nicely optioned/low mile Cayenne S a couple weeks ago - had it transferred in - it was awful. The local GM wouldn't even let me see it. They showed me pictures of it and said they were shocked another location took it in - it had multiple CEL's, the dash was flaking, leather was dirty - he said he'd never allow something like that on the floor of South Austin and that it was going to auction.... Does make you wonder if they are getting more desperate for inventory these days given how low their trade-in offers are.

Climarepair.com

mmm.. interesting.

Archimedes

My hockey sticks fit fine in my 981 Cayman. I had to downsize to a smaller carry bag for gear so it would fit in the frunk though, and had to carry my pants.