HiroY

Hello Folks!

My first official post! I've been lurking here recently, researching and contemplating purchase of a 987 Spyder (thanks everyone for the great info!). I am a former Lotus Elise owner and have the itch to get back in the saddle of a great mid-engined handling machine! I am scheduled to see/test drive one tomorrow at Gaudin Motor Company in Las Vegas, a 2011 model that looks very clean, at least online:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...93795836&Log=0

I thought I'd post here to see if anyone here by chance knows anything about the history of this Spyder, or has possibly seen it for themselves at Gaudin? I've read mostly good things about Gaudin here in my research to date. The DME report at certification is clean zeroes in all ranges except 110 at 644.97h in range 1.

Looking forward to possibly becoming a member of the 987 Spyder family! Thanks in advance for any insight! -Hiro

Marine Blue

I saw this one too and it looks good. CPO and great price to boot.

I'm not familiar with the car but if you can take some close up pictures of the car I would be happy to look and confirm if everything looks right.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the only Sport Bucket Manual available on Autotrader. That may change with the recent 981 Spyder release.....or maybe not.

HiroY

Thanks Marine Blue! Any Spyder specific qualities/watch-outs you can think of when I see/drive it? I've found plenty of general Porsche checklist items here (bringing that all with me) but I couldn't find anything that might be specific to the Spyder. Compared to my Elise, I presume there may not be much to look out for?

And yes, I'm curious what will happen to used inventory levels with the 981 Spyder release. There are a few other buckets out there but they either have the wrong transmission for me or aren't CPOd.

Marine Blue

The unique parts of the Spyder really haven't exhibited any type of unusual failure that buyers need to watch for. I would focus on the overall condition of the car and maintenance records. Hopefully the dealer serviced the car in the past and can offer some records.

Other than that, enjoy the test drive!

Zeus993

Test drive it. Good miles and the right options. It's not a leather interior but doesn't need to be. It's a hell of a car for 55K.
Just back from driving mine and loving it.

ForceReconTrojan

Buy it! Looks great!

HiroY

Thanks all for the feedback! Another thing I've found is that it seems quite a few of the units on sale have had numerous owners in their Autocheck/Carfax history, despite relatively low miles/age. This unit in particular has 3 owners in its linked Autocheck report. Do you think this is a point of concern? Do you think this trend is due to short lease returns or maybe people finding that they can't live with the manual roof or can't live without the creature comforts missing in a Spyder after all? Coming from the Lotus Elise, I imagine this car will feel luxurious in comparison Everything is relative, right?

ForceReconTrojan

Mine had 2 owners in 1400 miles. The stories were hilarious and all centered around the roof. No need to worry.

Marine Blue

I think the roof is a sticking point for many since it does require the driver to stop the car and put it on or take it off. But the Elise required similar steps for top removal and I rarely hear a complaint about it, likely because the buyers of those cars know exactly what they're getting into. The Spyder is somewhat deceiving in that it has carpeting, not so on the Elise!

jvmax

I think the consensus here is most current 987.2 Spyder owners wont be selling our cars for the new Spyder including myself. The car you are looking at ticks all the right boxes. Keep in mind these cars dont have any sqeaks or rattles like the Lotus elise has - I had one for a year myself.

Supagoat

I'm the third owner of mine and I picked it up with 11,700 on the clock, all 3 of us bought it from the same dealer. :-) I'm guessing FRT is right and it all had to do with the roof. The return dates on mine lined up with the seasons so the previous owners had driven it while it was nice and then decided they wanted to get rid of it when summer was over.

I also agree with jvmax's assessment that there won't be a flood of 987 spyders on the market. While I'm sure the new one is a great car, it loses enough character without bringing enough to the table for the $30k price difference.

Do I wish mine had a 3.8? Yeah. Does it actually make a difference to me even at autocross that I'm down 55hp to a measly 320 in a 2900lbs car? Nope.

This one looks nice, especially with the black wheels. Try it out, fall in love, and go for it!

wbgordon

I picked up a triple black 2011 Spyder new and had tremendous leverage power when I went to trade it on a 2012 Lotus Evora S. I've owned four 911s and various other cars. That little Spyder may have been my favorite.

Sven76

I started my sports car career with an Elise and then Evora S, but recently got the Spyders sibling, a Cayman R. Many pre-owners don't worry me, mine had 3. Porsche Italia S.P.A. car, then sold on to the managing director of a German company, who found it probably to hardcore and sold it on just 6 months later to an enthusiast and president of the local Porsche club who took the car on trackdays etc., then traded it in for a GT3. Got Porsche Approved (i.e. CPO) and runs ace.

Sven76

Ah, just noted that the rims are not original, they are resprayed black. Sense they came silver (which looks way batter on a black car IMHO, guess why I think so...) and got painted black. OEM black will always have a silver ring on the outside. Not a biggie really.

HiroY

Thanks everyone for all your help, feedback and support! I was able to strike a deal on this car and it is now mine! I spent the entire day at the dealership, test driving and inspecting and questioning the car. The folks at Gaudin were absolutely terrific in the entire process, allowing me to spend hours inspecting the car with my zillion line checklist (the engineer in me coming out). They also put the car up on the lift in their service bay without hesitation. Thanks to this forum, we checked the exhaust header bolts and one of them was indeed loose! Luckily none had fallen out. So definitely keep an eye on those bolts fellow Spyder owners!

I now have a new dilemma: I am actually from Boston, so how do I get her home? Ship? or fly back in a couple weeks and take a little road trip vacation? Thoughts? Enclosed shipping from the recommended shippers on this forum is pricing out to around $2K. The road trip vacation sounds intriguing. I can fly back to Vegas for free on miles and may be fun to see the cross country road like the Griswalds I am certainly no stranger to long road trips, particularly from my old Elise and S2000 days.

I hope to take some pictures of her today with some local scenery backdrops and will try to post them here when I get back home this weekend.

Thanks again everyone!