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Hello - I am new to this site so apologies if this is the wrong place for this question. I'm evaluating a 2010 987.2 and the PPI was very good except the technician noted oxidation and rust on the undercarriage. The car has spent some time in the northeast and is now in the south, so I'm guessing it's a year or two of road salt. My question for this group is whether this will be a long term problem or is superficial. Thanks in advance for any help!
It doesn’t look like any of the rust is on the actual chassis, just the nuts, bolts and other parts. If you buy it I would expect to spend more on labor to free up seized nuts/bolts and I would also anticipate replacing all of those rusted parts when they do come apart.
There's a lot of corrosion on both the steel and aluminum parts. The shock absorbers and front struts will most likely need replacing. All the bolts will need to be replaced over time when you get to work; many will break. The brakes are also in poor condition. I would only buy it if the price were very low compared to the market.
It's really nothing except for those rotors. It looks like the holes are packed full of rust? Is that right?
Otherwise, it's all surficial rust. These cars don't rust out. Some of those nuts will be annoying to remove though. When removing some of the rusty ones, I'd hit the nut/bolt/exposed thread with a superior penetrant like Kroil for a few hours, then clean everything with a wire brush to knock off the rust, then hit it again with Kroil and let is soak for a day or so ahead of doing the work. Most of the fasters will come off not problem. I had a few rusty fasteners on my 987.2 and they were no issue to remove after doing as I described.
I would pass on it, I think there will be many unforeseen hassles ahead. Many parts will need premature replacement and repair jobs will take longer. I don't think I've ever seen that much corrosion on a 987.2 before and there are too many good cars out there.
I would pass on it, I think there will be many unforeseen hassles ahead. Many parts will need premature replacement and repair jobs will take longer. I don't think I've ever seen that much corrosion on a 987.2 before and there are too many good cars out there.
None of the parts are being affected, structurally or posing any sort of driving risk. Most of what is depicted is oxidation of the aluminum suspension and other aluminum components. There's nothing wrong, structurally, with the struts, nuts, bolts, etc. having some surficial rust. With that said, I would certainly use the condition to negoitate down the price to account for the common 987 issues any new owner will likely have to contend with in year 1 or 2 of ownership (see below).
The real expense with this car, as will be for ANY 987, will be maintenance and repairs. The suspension will likely need to be refreshed and the big cost outside of the labor, isn't just the struts/shocks, it's the other stuff like mounts, strut bearings, bumps stops, bellows, insulators, etc. The engine mount, transmission mount, rotors and pads are likely done too. It it's a 6MT, shifter cables and the bushings inside the shifter assembly are perished. Anyone buying a typical condition 987 should plan for spending $3K-6K in work soon after purchase and WAY more than that if they aren't capable of doing the work themselves. These are old cars now and many haven't been maintained well by the 2nd and later owners. My 2011 Cayman was in decent shape when I got it over 3 years ago; however, I've had to put $6K+ into it for what's noted above plus a clutch and flywheel (I got Porsche Colorado Springs to cover the clutch, flywheel, and install). If I didn't do all the work myself, it would have been $12K+.
None of the parts are being affected, structurally or posing any sort of driving risk. Most of what is depicted is oxidation of the aluminum suspension and other aluminum components. There's nothing wrong, structurally, with the struts, nuts, bolts, etc. having some surficial rust. With that said, I would certainly use the condition to negoitate down the price to account for the common 987 issues any new owner will likely have to contend with in year 1 or 2 of ownership (see below).
The real expense with this car, as will be for ANY 987, will be maintenance and repairs. The suspension will likely need to be refreshed and the big cost outside of the labor, isn't just the struts/shocks, it's the other stuff like mounts, strut bearings, bumps stops, bellows, insulators, etc. The engine mount, transmission mount, rotors and pads are likely done too. It it's a 6MT, shifter cables and the bushings inside the shifter assembly are perished. Anyone buying a typical condition 987 should plan for spending $3K-6K in work soon after purchase and WAY more than that if they aren't capable of doing the work themselves. These are old cars now and many haven't been maintained well by the 2nd and later owners. My 2011 Cayman was in decent shape when I got it over 3 years ago; however, I've had to put $6K+ into it for what's noted above plus a clutch and flywheel (I got Porsche Colorado Springs to cover the clutch, flywheel, and install). If I didn't do all the work myself, it would have been $12K+.
A variety of opinions makes this forum great. I do agree that when these cars have deferred maintenance or other unexpected issues, they can be very expensive to own. That's why it's good that the OP had a PPI done and is getting opinions here. Too many people buy these cars blind and end up with costly problems. I've been pretty lucky with my 2010 Cayman so far, just $500 in routine service: spark plugs, two oil changes, serpentine belt. I'm about to do FF Quiet shift cables and AOS preemptively before they fail, so another $900-ish in parts costs and my own labor, but these components could actually be years from failure. I've put about 6k miles on my car in 2.5 years, so it isn't driven as much as some others here. It's also garaged, which helps.
The front coolant crossover pipes are known to corrode and that's a big job, requiring subframe removal. Given corrosion elsewhere, I suspect that may be an issue soon if it isn't already on this car. I'm also not so optimistic about the condition of struts and strut tops.
OP, did the shop that did the PPI have an opinion one way or the other? You might ask them what they think if they haven't volunteered it.
Thanks all for the input! I’m really glad to have put this question on here.
As for the original tech, the overall PPI was very good but he flagged this oxidation/corrosion as an issue. He is in Texas and hadn’t seen a car with road salt issues before so his initial reaction was very negative. I wanted to get some more opinions though because road salt is common elsewhere and so I thought it might be more superficial and not that big of an issue. I appreciate here some of the comments around how this might be indicative of overall care and future problems.
Ultimately this is a good car but I’m not in a hurry and may just wait a little longer.
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Rust and Corrosion Undercarriage
