stonekutter

Hi folks - I'm a first timer to Porsche and this forum. I'm a newbie to this brand and looking for advice from the group to buy my first Cayman with the following requirements:

1. Budget of ~$15K
2. Will drive <6K miles per year
3. Want to try out occasional tracking, thinking 3-4 times per year

I have the following deal available to me currently:

• 2008 987.1 S with 183K miles on it
• Single owner
• Clean CarFax with zero accidents or damage reported
• Dealer serviced every ~20K miles at a single dealer its entire life
• 6-sp manual
• PCM 2.1 with Nav, full leather, Chrono package, Sports package
• Brown color, clean inside out
• Carfax and KBB values this at $13K
• Dealer asking price is $12K

For this car, I will be doing a PPI for this and the dealer has agreed to it. I intend to get the following checked out at PPI - cylinder bore scoring, IMS bearing, rear main oil seal, power steering pump, track rod ends, CV axels, struts, and checking for metal flakes in the oil.

Questions to the group:

1. Should I even bother or walk away prior to the PPI?
2. What are additional things to look for during the PPI if I go forward with it?
3. Finally is this a "good" buy or not? My main worry is getting this car and then then needing a new engine, clutch, etc. and basically having a ghost in a shell for a car

Appreciate the advice and many thanks in advance!

RWPinNC

There are a lot of variables in your questions. At age 72, I'm in my first Porsche, a 987.1 Cayman S. But I do have many years of car experience, including SCCA racing. I'll try to cover some of my opinions, with the thought that others will chime in.

First, there's nothing inherently wrong with high mileage cars. Although my Cayman has only 50k, I bought a BMW 530 with 150k and it's been great for 3 years. That said, however, if you are planning to do any DE events, I would hesitate to start with a car with this mileage. For a fun car, it could very well be reliable for many years. There are some caveats:
1) If the service intervals have been 20K with no oil changes in the interim, that's not enough. At one time Porsche recommended 20k intervals, but amended that. Most people who have vulnerable IMS bearings change oil at 5,000 mile intervals and examine the filter (and maybe do a Blackstone analysis). One of the ways to improve the life of IMSB's is to have lots of fresh oil.
2) A PPI for this car would be a must. However, it may be expensive to do a bore scoping, and regarding the IMSB, the only way to assess would be to drop the transmission, and then all a tech can to is look for any seepage...i.e. not practical. Dropping the filter and inspecting that would help.
3) Given that you are on a limited budget with not a lot of wiggle room, you are definitely running a high risk of clutch, water pump, or other wear items, unless the service records show them to be replaced.
4) Pricewise, it sounds like a reasonable price as long as an owner is prepared for the risks. If the car is nice, and ate its motor, you could put in a used motor and still not be too far underwater.

Some considerations:
1) I can understand why people love the Cayman. But you might consider a base model, rather than an S, as the base motors are less stressed and generally accepted to be a bit more reliable.
2) You might consider a Boxster. They are somewhat less expensive, more common, and can be had with the 996 motor (in the 986's and early 2005 987's), which has a replaceable IMSB.

Sorry for the random thoughts. These are great cars, but you need to fit the specific car to your planned use. Best luck.

stonekutter

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! Some follow-up comments:

1. The service internal included oil changes at least as mentioned in the CarFax report where it simply lists as "Vehicle serviced" or "Brake fluid flushed/changed" or "120,000 mile service performed"
2. I will add Blackstone analysis to the PPI
3. The water pump was replaced presumably around 70K miles (unclear from CarFax which simply lists "Water pump replaced")
4. The dealer mentioned the clutch has been replaced but I need to verify that including when the work was done

On your other considerations:

1. Good tip on the Base model reliability, I am being advised its underpowered for the track. Is that not the case?
2. Re: Boxster my understanding is that HPDE events don't allow convertibles due to rollover risk without a roll cage, hence looking at a couple

Thanks!

RWPinNC

Just some additional thoughts:

As I mentioned, if the oil change intervals were 20,000 miles, that's not sufficient. If the car was babied, it's likely OK. The one good positive of the mileage is that the car was driven, not allowed to sit for long periods.

Oil analysis takes a week or so to mail in and get results. Not easy to add to a PPI.

If replaced at 70k, your water pump will need replacement at some point. As I understand the "typical' life is 60k to 80k. There are always exceptions.

Clutch life depends on usage. If replaced at some point, you may be OK.

As far as base model power, It will depend on your level of track experience and your expectations. My Cayman S is faster in every respect than the Formula Fords I raced for five years. A base Cayman would be faster as well. So speed is relative. With a limited budget, you are not going to be the "fastest" car on the track in any case. At this point, I'm assuming you don't have a lot of track experience, so you will have a great time and learn a lot with any solid Cayman/Boxster.

As to the HDPE eligibility of the Boxster, you will need to ask folks who know. It is my understanding that PCA will accept Boxsters as long as you fit under the roll bar. There was a post on one of the boards yesterday or today discussing this issue and that some non-PCA tracks/promoters requrired the Brey-Krause rollbar extension. You would have to do some homework on that.

Again pardon my random answers. I am far from knowledgeable, but I do understand that some reasonable feedback on a timely basis can at least stimulate your thinking.

shus2006croc

Couple of things.

Check the rev range the car has if it truly had beem babied. With that many miles, I suspect it has. Do your best you can.

What is the worst that can happen? You drive a really cool car have a great time for 3 or 4 years.....what is that worth?

stonekutter

Thanks @RWPinNC and @shus2006croc! I have zero track experience so the first thing I was going to do is start with the basic DE courses.
Didn't realize the one week turnaround for oil analysis, good to know.

I will be checking out the car on Wednesday, hope all goes well.

stonekutter

Thanks everyone for the advise, really appreciate it! I followed folks' suggestions and ended up getting the following:

• 2007 Cayman base
• 100K miles on it
• $15.5K ($3K over the 08 CS with 183K)
• 19" 911 wheels with new brakes and tires
• 2 owners, PO had it for 10yrs and drove 6k miles a year
• Overall a pretty clean car

shus2006croc

Congrats! You won.t be sorry. Put some dual exhuast tips on it so it doesnt look like a Honda and your good to go for another 100k.

post some pics or it didn.t happen.

stonekutter

Thanks!