Porsche Cayman?
 

I've owned an Rx-8 for the last 7 years and it's been a great car but it's starting to feel a bit dated and become extremely unreliable. (Rotaries) I've been looking at the 07-08 Cayman S, and I've watched many reviews, everyone praising the car, they seem very popular in the area, I tend to see them as dailys but I hear two different stories from people, bulletproof reliable, not bad to work on, not that expensive to maintain and then it's not reliable, get an 09+.

I'm aware of the IMS issues, but I heard there's an upgraded IMS that fixes the issue? Or are there other common issues?

Regarding reliability, I'm coming from an Rx-8 that has had 3 engines replaced in 88,000 miles, I'm not expecting a camry, but I don't want something that is going to blow up before I hit 100k miles.

The short answer is that '06 to '08 Caymans (987.1 generation) are very reliable engine-wise unless you pull high-Gs at a track or rev too high for too long.
Yes, the '06-'08 have an IMS bearing. It is larger/better than the earlier troublesome bearings and it cannot be easily replaced like the earlier bearing because it is physically larger and will not come out of the engine without splitting the engine case in two.
It has proven very reliable with only a tiny fraction of the failures that earlier engines have seen.

You really need to search the various forums for more info about reliability and weak spots, but compared to your RX8, these are bulletproof.

I've been told the IMS has been upgraded on certain 07-08 models? Is this true or just salesmen trying to swindle me into buying :roflmao:

That's good news.

It's been upgraded compared to the M96 engine, but the M97 engine (MY '06-'08) still has issues like IMS bearing, bore scoring, oil starvation and a couple other annoying, but not too expensive problems.

As Spokayman says, with no track time, 987.1's are solid cars. Even more solid is 987.1 2.7L (base - MY '07-08).

And the most solid is the 09+ due to design elimination of the IMS, more oil scavenger pumps/baffles, improved AOS and a couple other improvements.

All MT cars have an unusually high percentage of shifter linkage breaking. This breakage could be problematic if it occurs at the wrong time.

All 06+ seem to have water pumps that fail in the 30,000-60,000 mile range. This will usually give plenty of warning and can be replaced as a maintenance item.

Good luck,

Eddie

I'm looking at an '07 CS with 50k miles for around $25k (hope thats a good price)

I do not plan on tracking the car, just looking for a reliable daily, that's fun to drive.

Sounds like a good price yes. Get a PPI if you're serious about it, so you can see what it needs.

increase your budget and look for an 09 and up . a light optioned base sounds like it will fit your bill.....you may be looking for a spell but....

I've been debating on that as well but I've heard only 1-5% of 987.1's have had IMS failures?

I bought an '06 Cayman S with 23,000 miles, and went through this process a few months ago. I have heard it was 1% on M97 engines compared to ~10% of M96 Boxsters.

I am not tracking my car, and will be rigorous about proper synthetic oil management.

I am putting in a Magnetic drain plug, and analyzing the oil filter every change. But, really, if the bearing fails, it will be chunks in the pan, not fuzz on a magnet.

I also wanted to wait for an '09+ with the 9A1 engine. I couldn't help myself. I found one I liked now, and might be dead in a year. ;-) Yes, a 987.2 would be a "better" choice to escape the oil and IMSB issues. The surplus of pre-recession 987.1 cars means it is a sweet spot for low cost purchasing. In '09, Caymans were imported to only a fraction of the numbers of pre-'08.

I could have waited. I chose not to. Now I will live with the outcome. Like Jeremy Clarkson might say, "All I know is, I have a sweet 3.4L Cayman S for less than thirty grand."

And speaking to the supposed reliability of a Camry, my girlfriend's '07 Camry 3.5L XLE has been quoted out at over $4000 worth of repairs at the dealer, in the last year. By sourcing my own parts and doing what I could, i got it to half of that. But still, my 1986 944 is more reliable.

That's a good price and with a thorough PPI, should give you miles of smiles. Car usage (not tracked being real important) and good maintenance history should factor into finding the right Cayman.

Copy and paste the below into your favorite browser and append your VIN after the equal sign to see the options the '07 CS has.

https://admin.porschedealer.com/repo...print.php?vin=


Good luck,


Eddie

Well, I've been looking at an 09 Cayman S, manual, with 45k miles, 1 very minor accident, 3 owners, pretty local, but he wants $34,000 and won't budge on the price despite the price of $29-30k on KBB or Edmunds true value...

Anyone know another source to find caymans? I've been trying craigslist, autotrader and cars.com to no avail, unless it's a 2006-2008 which seem to be for sale everywhere.

Kbb is low on these cars, without the accident that car is worth closer to $40k than $30k. The 987.2 has very low production numbers compared to the 987.1.

I thought that, but I've seen them in the 30k range pretty consistent, without the PDK. I've seen 2014's go for around 44-45k.

There are only a few on cars dot com and they are in the $40k+ range.

That have been listed for weeks/months.

I've found plenty in the 34-36 range.