blown 87

The title says it all, I am looking for a indy shop that really knows that Cayman.

I am a shop owner who works on a lot of other P-cars, but to date have not had a Cayman in my shop.

We do a few Boxsters, so there is some some knowledge there, but not enough for me to go out cold when looking for a Cayman S.

I have owned a 911SC, and currently own a 928S4, that I will keep.

Just thinking of talking to a Cayman mechanic that really knows these cars.

I am thinking of buying one in the next few months, or spend the money on a Champain interior and a blower for the S4.

To me, the Cayman has to timeless looks of cars such as the XKE, mid year Corvette and others.

Just a stunning car in the right color.

What about options?

Any thing bad about the cars that may be problematic?

Thanks folks.

Macster

The Cayman is just a used car and you must have considerable experience in evaluating used car, including Porsches though of course no Caymans (yet).

I always advise that you look at the car cold. Be sure the A/C is off.

Verify all warning lights come on when the key is turned to on then go off when the engine is started.

Let the engine idle and warm up as you listen to the engine. If possible you can arrange to have the engine exposed to allow any odd noises as clear a path to your ear as possible. Since you have a shop if you can arrange to let the car sit overnight and then start it as above and with the car on the lift so you can raise the car and listen from underneath the car that's even better.

Let the engine get close to full operating temperature and as it does you verify the engine remains quiet.

Then as a passenger have the owner/seller take you on a test ride. Route should be around 15 miles in length and involve all kinds of driving: city with stop/go, moderate highway speeds and of course highways speeds.

Ask the driver to once the engine warmed up to from idle or near idle accelerate the car moderately hard up to redline then grab another gear and keep on going.

If everything to your liking back at the starting point take the car out -- now as test driver -- along the same route and drive the car the same way.

The engine should alway idle smooth, free of any ticks/rattles/thunks/knocking/etc. The CEL should remain dark. The engine should pull smooth from very low rpm to redline.

The rest of the car's systems: brakes, steering, suspension, drivetrain, etc.; should also work just fine.

After the now 30 mile test ride/drive check out all the other systems to ensure they all work. Assume nothing works until you have verified it does work. Use a list. It can be several pages long.

Arrange if you can at the end of the test ride/drive to get the car in the air and with the engine running listen again. Look this time too for any fluid leaks. You know not only around the engine, RMS, FMS, camshaft covers, cam hole plugs, spark plug tubes, water pump, hoses, and these include all hoses/lines that run from the engine compartment to the A/C system and the radiators/condensors and power steering hardware at the extreme front of the car.

About the last thing would be using the appropriate Porsche diagnostics computer verify the Ecu flash is factory and the overrev counts and query the airbad system for any deployments.

Of course your visual inspection will have you looking for any signs of poor accident body/paint repairs.

If you have access to it, putting the car on a chassis dyno and verifying the engine's output is within spec is a good idea and using a 4-gas exhaust analyzer to verify the engine's exhaust gases are that of a healthy engine even more confidence building.

Sincerely,

Macster.

blown 87

Thank you Macster, sounds like there is no smoke and two way mirrors like on a 928, which is a good thing. (there are some really specific things to look at on a 928 that are big money if out of spec)

I have everything but the factory Porsche tool, maybe my Baum will tell me about the over revs and flash, no in house dyno, but there is one down the street.

The dyno is a really good idea, never thought of that on a PPI before.

I thought there might be some one in Atlanta who does a lot of them that is not the dealer.
Maybe that guy can be me in a year or two.

Thanks again for the information.

cannon1000

I have used them, Matt really knows his stuff. I can't speak directly to Cayman/Boxster experience.
http://www.motorwerksracing.com/

This place sounds good, I have not used them:
http://www.rsmotorwerks.com/

This place in Roswell:
http://www.germancarrepair.com/contact.htm

Google Porsche Specialist Atlanta and you will find a handful.

GL

blown 87

Thanks GL

I assume that the Cayman has the same water pump/power steering pump/ IMS and rear main seal issues that the Boxster seems to have.
No biggie really, except for the IMS.

I really think that the Cayman S is a world class automobile.
If ONLY Porsche would build it to it's fullest.
But Porsche has made crippleware before in various forms.

Many of my Porsche friends say WTF, get a 911 instead of a Cayman, but the only one that has really attracted me is the slant nose 930, and frankly that is more car than I am a driver.
Also, most are a little out of my price range when you add in all the DE it would take for me to learn to drive it well enough to not end up in the local paper.

GTgears

Steve Cosgrove at Goldcrest Motors is looking after a couple of the Interseries cars and some other PCA racers. He'd be a very good local to talk to about Caymans if you are in the market.

KS-CS

The PS pump failures have only been an issue with some tracked cars (fixes include: UDP, line shielding, aftermarket inline cooler). I have read of some occasional water pump failures, but these seem to be pretty random.

I believe the IMS and RMS issues have been very rare in the Caymans (as well as the 987 Boxsters).

Oil Ingestion/Starvation are the hot button issues for most people who track their cars aggressively.