944Cup

I am thinking about buying a Cayman S. Looking for some amswers to a few questions I have about the model.

First, does the 3.4L Cayman S have the same issues as with the 996 3.4L IMS bearing?

Second, any reliability issues with the Tiptronic?

Third, will a golf bag fit in the trunk?

Thanks

racer

Well, what kind of golf bag do you use? I was able to fit my light walking bag with my (old) woods in the trunk just fine (width wise). The cayam should be able to fit it as well.. you could bring your bag as part of the Test Drive (or PPI)

The motor has IMS issues.. unless you get a GenII (2009+) version, which seems to be improved.

Its been my experience that the Tips are fairly reliable.. which is good, because they are also very expensive to repair/replace.

944Cup

Thank you sir. Very useful.

KS-CS

The 987 motors do not have the same issues with IMS as the 996; IMS/RMS issues have been much rarer in 987s (including 987.1).

My Tip has been completely reliable (at 45K miles now with over 35 track days) - Porsche doesn't even recommend changing the ATF until over 100K miles. What kind of issues were you concerned about?

You can fit a golf bag in the back, though many people have to take their driver out and fit it in separately.

944Cup

Great info, thanks.

My only experience with Porsche Tiptronics was with a 968 which was a nightmare, and so I asked the question. Understand P cars has come along way since then, but the memories linger.

And I have no knowledge of the 987 and IMS issues, but with the 987 being a 3.4L the question occurred to me. Already sweating bullets with my 1999 996 , and dont want to double my risk if the Caymen is equipped with the same engine. One is enough for now. Think the improved 3.4 in the 997 arrived in 2008 some time and wondered if I was risking the same issue with an early Cayman.

Really good news on the golf bag, no problem storing the driver separately.

Max77

I think some of the older Porsche brochures actually pictured the Cayman trunk filled with 1 or 2 golf bags. I remember seeing it when I bought my '08, but I'd have to dig around to see if I still have the brochure.

Depending on what you're looking for, I'd probably look at a PDK Cayman instead of the tip. Worlds of difference.

944Cup

Car being shared with a non manual shifter person, aka wife, so comprise in play, or instead I will be driving a Lexus.

Max77

PDK has a full auto mode as well that doesn't require the paddles.

racer

I've autcrossed a well prepped local boxster.. with a TIP and it was much nicer than expected. While the PDK may be even nicer, I imagine there is quite a price delta between a TIP '06 cayman and an '09-11 PDK .

It was my (false?) understanding that it wasn't until the GENII 987/997 motors that there were improvement to the IMS issue. and btw, its been shown that GenII motors are NOT immune to failure.

saeyedoc

I believe the Gen II motors don't have an IMS.
There have been some reports of HPFP problems with the DFI engine in the Gen II S

Chris from Cali

Get a CPO 2009 w/PDK for the reasons stated above. You can't go wrong...

saeyedoc

Unfortunately, there's very few out there right now. There's only 4 CPO 09+ S's with PDK, only one is a 2009 and it's listed for $59k, way too much IMO.
The 09's should start coming off lease in a few months.

flintworks

I have seen several IMS failures on 987s. They are more rare but the cars are also newer and typically have fewer miles. Also Porsche redesigned the bearing in these engine to a larger size which may help longevity. The con is that the new bearing can not be upgraded like the older cars can without a complete engine tear down.