Hi all...

I've recently been back and forth between a 2013 Boxster lease and a CPO Cayman/Cayman S. In the lease I'm looking at about 500/month for a 10k mi/yr lease and it doesn't seem like the dealers near me are willing to do that on a new Boxster.

My alternative is a 1st gen Cayman S...but since the new PDK wasn't around then, I wouldn't want an automatic. That said, if I were to get a manual, it would be my first ever manual car. From your experiences...would a Porsche as someone's first manual car serve to be a good thing or not? I'd be worried about damaging the transmission on a "delicate" used car that I'd be owning. Also, I don't think the "auto restart upon stall" feature was implemented until the 981 family (correct me if I'm wrong).

Just want peoples' thoughts on it

 

the tiptronic gearbox was not a bad transmission.
learning on a manual will have some affects, so just learn on somebody else's

 

09-11 Cayman w/ PDK might be your sweet spot if you want an automatic but don't want to pay for a 981. Would be tough to find one for $500/month, but you're not all that far off and used Porsches depreciate much slower than new- unlike that lease, you'll have a ton of equity when you're paid off.

 

I would say try to learn on something else, but the Porsche is pretty easy to drive. It can be very forgiving, but just know you will be shortening the life of the wear bits.

if you can find a car on craigslist that is a manual for under $1000. beat that up for a few weeks.

 

Bought my Cayman back in January - it was my first car with manual transmission. Prior to that, I had maybe 5-10 minutes total in cars w/ manual transmissions... Car is still in one piece and clutch is still working (and yes, I did stall a lot when I just got the car). I'm no master of manual transmission now by any means (still need to learn heel and toe shifting, still can stall on occassion and still would prefer PDK car over manual), but figured I will pitch in and say that you should not discount manual car just because it is manual.

In the end - lease new PDK or own CPO manual, I would go with manual. I'm tired of paying initial depreciation on cars... That said if I had to choose between lease/own new PDK or new manual, I would go with PDK.

 

Cayman S trans is pretty robust. You could toast the clutch and it's more costly than the average car. I'd still say go for it.

My first ever MT was a new Z/28 with a 4 speed. Got the basics down in a weekend. Compared to that rock crusher, a modern porsche is a piece of cake!

 

$500 payment on a $55k car is cheap. $500 x 36 month = $18k, plus your initial fees and tax, your total contribution for the next 3 years is what, around $22k? Bargain.

Lease the Boxster, and you don't have to worry much about beating it up.

When in doubt, clutch and brake.

Always better to give it too much gas, than not letting the clutch out. Replacement tires are cheaper than a replacement clutch.

 

Gee times are tough. My first manual was a '71 or '72 Datsun 510.

Buy the Cayman S.

Have one of the senior techs at the dealer show you the basics.

Should take you about 10 minutes to learn the basics of getting the car moving and shifting.

I have never heel/toed in my life and have owned only manual transmission cars.

With the proper technique the clutch and tranny should last a long time. My 02 Boxster's clutch is original, as it its 5-speed. Both have nearly 270K miles on them.

Just had the tranny out of my 03 Turbo (RMS leak) with 110K miles. The clutch measured zero wear.

Get the Cayman S and enjoy the heck out it, once you learn how to drive it properly. And like I said this shouldn't take you long at all.

 

Lol I learned on a 996tt. It was fine. Stalled at first a lot but after a year it became almost second nature. Fast starts I never mastered but I did have fun.

I did end up trading to a Cayman S with pdk when I could afford it.

 

Another vote for the manual.

 

Manual! If you don't do it now, you may soon lose the chance. It's so much more rewarding than PDK. Do it

 

Depending upon your level of dedication to learning how to drive a manual transmission, you might consider getting a beater/older something to learn on before making the "investment" into something fairly expensive such as a Cayman.
For me, it would be manual all the way. In fact I bought a 2007 Cayman S CPO MT just yesterday.
The only exceptions I might make for the PDK would be if I had to commute through a lot of heavy, stop-and-go traffic, or if I only had one foot.
In the end, just get what you like and really want - either way you'll love it.

 

Get the MT. Have someone experienced with a manual teach you properly for a few hours, then practice. You'd have to thrash the car pretty bad to really worry about killing the clutch. You should have it mastered in a couple of weeks. The reward and satisfaction you'll get will make you forget about the minimal wear you'll put on the clutch in those 2 or so weeks. Good luck.