Mathelo

I'm looking at a 2006 Cayman S today. 13,000 miles and private sale. Anything I should be on the lookout for in terms of potential problems?

Thanks!

Louis

Pnug

The is a good website for overall porsche knowledge base but you really need to check out www.planet-9.com. If you want to track the car and/or use R compound tires you need to upgrade the oil system pickups & starvation issues @ long high G turns. There aren't the issues with the IMS that the boxsters and 986 engines have. 987s engines have an upgraded IMS.

Mathelo

Thanks for the direction. I have no plans to track this car. Glad to hear that IMS is not an issue. I currently have a 2003 Boxster and I worry about this.

Macster

The car is just a used car so a thorough used car check out is paramount.

The best advice I can give you is to visit the car cold and with the A/C off turn on the key and verify the CEL and other warning lights come on then go off as the engine starts.

Let the engine idle a while -- 10 minutes or so -- and listen to the engine as it warms up. Listen for any scary noises.

Then have the seller take you on a test ride. Have him demo the car in a variety of scenarios. You want to verify the engine can idle, accelerate from idle to redline and then with an upshift keep pulling hard with no untoward behavior. Braking, handling, ride, shifting, etc. all need to observed too.

The route should cover 15 miles.

Back at the starting point you take the car out over the same route, driving the car the same way as the seller.

If after this you still like the car then do a full used car checkout. Check everything works.

If you believe you can buy the car then have a PPI done. This will have someone under the car looking for fluid leaks, and other things. A dump of the engine's oil filter housing oil is a good other thing, looking for scary bits of debris in the oil. A qualified PPI'er will know what this means.

Have the DME overrev counters read along with the engine run time. Divide engine run time into odometer for average speed. Around 30mph is well, about average. A real low average speed might suggest the odo's been tampered with.

If you can see paperwork/CarFax that shows the car's been in for various things and the low miles look real that's one thing. If there is no record of any servicing... the car should have had regular, yearly servicing and this includes oil/filter services, 2 year brake fluid flush/bleeds. Plugs might be due on time. With low miles battery is probably close to its end of life.

Check tire dates. Orignal tires will probably need to be replaced due to age. An budget for an alignment. It's out. If the tires are not original...

The car has low miles. It is still a new car, or close to one based on miles. New car problems can surface. There is probably no warranty so you have to factor this into your offer price.

Trouble is the seller will believe low miles warrants a premium price.

Remember: Price is not fact only an opinion. There is always another car.

Happy shopping!

Sincerely,

Macster.

gsruff

Excellent tips, Macster. I am on the hunt for a used Cayman S as well. I will keep all of this in mind. Thank you.