X08KL8NDX

Hello. still a very new member here. I've been shopping for a while now for either a '09+ Cayman S or a 997.1 C2S and would really appreciate some advice/opinions on one I may have found. (It will be my first Porsche -- with a budget of around $35k.)

The car I found is a 2005 C2S with 77k for around $35k (memory seats, HID lights, no nav, no chrono). I had a chance to drive it and check it out today and it's in very good shape. drives great, although granted I don't have much experience in this particular model/year. interior looks like a 20k car at most and aesthetically, everything is great looking. It's a 3 owner car that hasn't left the Southern California area. no modifications, with a clean Carfax. It was inspected at 72k (I saw the report) with no issues, no signs of IMS failure, and of course I would plan to get a PPI if I decided to move to that step.


So my main concerns are whether a C2S with this high mileage is a good move, given that it will be my daily (although I don't drive more than 8k a year) -- and whether it's a good price (it does seem to be cheaper than most of the other high mileage C2S's i've seen by a few grand). anything I should watch out for that the PPI won't cover?

thank you!

Little Green

You will hear a lot of "don't buy an 05" due to IMS. Not sure what the build date is on it so it may be a later 05 which would be fine(I have an early 05 model BTW). Price may be a tick high with 77K on it but if it's otherwise cherry and the PPI looks good go for it. I have seen 07 non S for 38 with similar miles but if it checks all the right boxes for you in color and options and the PPI comes back clean I say go for it.

Eurotrs

Don't sweat the IMS bearing issue if the car is an S. All S cars have HIDs BTW, see if you can get them down in price.

X08KL8NDX

Thank you! Not sure the build date, first entry on the Carfax is a pre-delivery registration on 5/31/2005 (not sure if that means anything). thank you again!

X08KL8NDX

much appreciated. I'm not too too worried about IMS, after a little research it seems I'm in a little better shape with a car that's high miles, but not very high miles (for a 10yr old car).

and yes, I should be able to get him down a bit on price, especially because it looks like It will need new tires soon.

j beede

Build date is usually on a sticker on the end of the driver door below your line of sight. FYI: There is not great correlation between build date and IMSB style. Only dropping the transmission gives the definitive answer.

A proper PPI will take several hours and should include dropping the oil pan, leak-down test, and bore scoping. Your service provider will tell you these are unnecessary tests. That's true, but remember that they will not be paying to repair IMSB, cracked heads, or cylinder sleeves. These are legitimate potential failures that are rare but do occur and are crazy expensive to fix. $300 insurance seems cheap by comparison.

If your candidate car is claimed to be accident free make sure the PPI includes a paint thickness test to confirm this. DME testing is quick and easy to perform... but interpretation of the over rev data varies from place to place.

RMS and IMSB leaks usually manifest themselves the same way viewed from below. RMS is a fairly easy fix, IMSB maybe not.

Good luck.

OKB

just make sure you get it inspected NOW, things can change in a day, so yesterdays inspection doesnt mater. I would use the dealer, he can see if theres anything up on the porsche system

Gewgaw

Make sure you budget in enough money for maintenance and upkeep, if you aren't going to do your own garage work. And that's not counting the rare failures like IMS Bearing type stuff. Given the car is over 10 years old, you won't be able to buy a Fidelity aftermarket warranty (if that was a consideration).

If you can stretch your budget to $39-40k, you might be able to find a deal on an '06 or even '07 S. At that point the IMSB failure rate goes to practically nil, from what I've seen on the forums.

X08KL8NDX

thank you! yes, I will. I have a friend who owns a '06 CS2 and has had it serviced at a shop he trusts since it was new. I will likely go there and should be able to spend some time with the mechanic and get all details -- including his opinions on whether or not it's a good buy entirely hopefully.

absolutely -- won't think of buying anything without a very thorough PPI.

thank you, very smart words. that has definitely occurred to me, and i'm certainly not equipped to do any garage work myself. is the jump from '05 to '06 that big of a difference for IMS risk? I've poked around a lot and understand the fix if needed (and caught in time) is easier on the '05 -- but the problem is less prevalent on the newer (>'05) models -- just haven't been able to get a good idea of just how much difference there is.

If so, I'm really in no rush, there are a pretty good number of used 997.1's around the country, just a matter of finding the right one. again, much appreciated.

OKB

look on ebay, theres alot of good ones

j beede

IMSB retrofit may or may not apply to MY05. PPI will not answer this question. The difference in IMSB retrofit cost is huge between a "small bearing" and "large bearing" 997.

If your 997 has a replacement engine ("AT" embedded in the engine number) then you likely to have the large IMSB.

Gewgaw

Take a look at this thread, one of MANY about the IMS Bearing. However, this pretty much sums it up. Jake Raby "Flat6 Innovations" is an engine and tuning god around these parts. Read what he says about failure rates of the IMSB for 2006+ 997's:
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...upgrade-2.html

TL;DR -- failures of the 2006+ larger IMSB, in normal road use and if the oil is properly maintained, is basically non-existent.

If Jake Raby is confident about it, I would be too.

X08KL8NDX

thank you! but sounds like I can't see the engine number without dropping the transmission? is that right? or will a mechanic during the PPI be able to tell?

X08KL8NDX

thanks for this, very interesting read. sounds like I need to figure out which engine (which bearing) is in the 2005 -- then if it's the smaller one, either plan to fix it with the LN bearing, or just bail and shoot for a 2006.

boconnor811

I recently was in the same boat considering a low mileage '05 C2S, some schools of thought think the older lower mileage car has a higher risk to experience IMSB failure. I'm someone that would read about the topic and worry non-stop, so had to do something.

I was able to get a Fidelity Platinum Warranty for the car for similar out of pocket to what the IMSB retrofit would've cost. My logic was the warranty will protect against not only IMS, but many other issues that could surface over my ownership of the car, and also would be a nice selling point should I want to part ways with the car down the road.