Sergio Santos

Macster

The general rule of buying a used car is to buy the nicest example of the car you want that you can find and can afford.

While 148K miles is not too much a car with fewer miles might be a better choice. 'course, the car with fewer miles will cost more to buy.

If the car passes a thorough used car check out with flying colors this is a good sign the car has had the proper care and the impact of the miles has been minimized.

(I drove my 2002 Boxster for 317K miles with no serious internal engine issues. Things wore out to be sure.)

Below is something I've put together to help someone do a good Boxster/Cayman used car check out. Not the final or only word on the subject but it is a start.

Used Cayman checkout...

The 2007 Cayman S is just a used car so you should inspect/check everything.

My general advice is to visit the car cold. If you can check the engine oil level with the engine cold then do so. (With my Boxster I could. With my Turbo the engine had to be running and up to temperature.) In the car start the engine. Be sure all warning lights come on and then go off once the engine has started. Pay particular attention to the CEL. Be sure the A/C is off. You test the A/C later.

Let the engine idle from cold. You want to listen for any signs of ticking/noises or any other signs the engine may not be healthy. A rough idle, backfires, spitting back, anything out of the ordinary.

Get out of the car and walk around the car checking body panel finish, alignment, and gaps. Note the condition of the wheels, looking for any curb rash. Check the tires.

I prefer -- want actually -- to see factory sanctioned tires all the same brand, model, same "N" number on a used Porsche. Non factory sanctioned tires raise the question of what else might the owner skimped on.

Tire wear should be even across the tread faces. Heavy wear on the inside or outside edges of the tires -- I've only seen heavy wear on the inside edges of the rear tires -- is a sign the alignment is off.

Check the rotors. They should be free of any heavy scoring, signs of overheating, cracking. If the lip around the outer diameter of the rotor is 1mm or thereabouts that's a sign the rotor is near its end of service life and rotors and pads and other brake hardware are soon to be needed.

Check the hood and trunk hinges for any signs the fasteners have had wrenches on them. Check the bolts that hold the front fenders to the car for any signs they have had a wrench on them.

You can't check the front body water drains without a Torx tool bit -- the drains are located under the plastic covers on either side of the battery all of which are located under the front trunk lid.

But check the cabin carpets, cabin floor under the seats for any signs of dampness. Feel along the door bottoms for any signs of dampness.

Body water drains can get blocked with plant litter and this can have rain or wash water backing up and overflowing into the cabin. The car's security module happens to be located under the driver's seat on the cabin floor. Any water in the cabin ends up there and water will kill the security module.

After a time the door membranes can fail and let water from the wet side over into the dry side. This can affect door lock/window behavior but can also let water leak into the cabin.

Headlights and condensers — visible by getting down and peering inside the radiator ducts using a bright flash light — should have the same patina. A new headlight or new condenser could be a sign of accident damage repair.

After some few minutes -- the longer the better -- and with the engine still running ok and sounding ok have the seller take you on a test ride. The route should be around 15 miles long and chosen to give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it. What is wanted is a mix of city driving with stop and go, steady moderate speed cruising on like a boulevard, and some highway/freeway driving. Ideally there should be some opportunities -- once the engine is up to temperature -- for some rather hard acceleration with the driver starting out from a standstill or a slow roll and accelerating hard up through at least a couple of gears. No need to smoke the tires or try to duplicate the factory's 0 to 60mph time but you want to experience the engine under hard acceleration to verify it pulls good, runs right, and afterwards shows no ill effects from the hard acceleration.

If the car equipped with a Tip (or PDK) have the driver do a k-turn. You want to verify the transmission can handle rapid and repeated changes in direction with no untoward behavior. When you are behind the wheel with the transmission up to temperature you repeat this k-turn business.

As passenger of course pay attention to how the transmission shifts, how the car rides, feels. The car should not want to pull to one side or the other and the hard acceleration should give the driver a chance to perform a hard braking. No tire lock up but you want to verify the brakes have plenty of bite and the car tracks straight under hard braking.

After the 15 mile test ride then back at the starting point -- leaving the engine running -- get behind the wheel and drive the car over the same 15 mile test route and drive it pretty much the same way although since the car is unknown to you you can dial back on the hard acceleration test. You don't want to let the car get away from you and wrap it around a telephone pole.

Before you shut off the engine after the 15 mile test ride and 15 mile test drive it is not a bad idea to check if the readiness monitors are all set to complete. I have an OBD2 code reader/data viewer/logger than I can use to connect to the car and confirm all readiness monitor are set to complete. These being set to complete is a good sign the engine and its sensors are healthy.

After your 15 mile test drive then at the starting point if you still like the car confirm all systems work. From the head lights to the tail lights. From the horn to the back up camera (if fitted). The A/C. Check all the controls. The wipers. Everything.

At this point if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for a good price -- based on your market research -- it is good idea to arrange to have the car given a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) by a tech who is qualified to evaluate the car. A Porsche dealer tech can be used. These guys evaluate trade ins all the time.

This gets the car in the air so a check can be made for any leak sign. At the same time a check can be made for any signs of damage or damage repair.

You want to really experience the car in its natural state: engine running and on the road. All cars look good on the dealer’s lot. But it is how they look and run and feel and sound and smell on the road, or after being on the road, that really matters.

Be aware and adjust your price accordingly that the car probably needs some attention: Brake fluid flush/bleed is due every 2 years. engine oil/filter might be due. Tires at least rear ones with 15K miles could be close to needing replacement. I could get 20K miles out of a set of rear tires on both my Boxster and Turbo.

With the miles I have to stress the general rule is with a used car to have set aside 10% of the used car's purchase price for just in case. With my Boxster the fuel pump was just fine up until one morning it died (at 172K miles). Ditto the water pump. Just fine until one morning I heard a noise that proved to be coming from the water pump. (This at around 200K miles.)

The point is you should have some money set aside so if something does happen you can have it taken care of right away rather than have to let the car sit for a while. 10% is the general number. With these cars I'd offer 20% is a better number. While you might car the car for a fraction of its new car price the Cayman is still a rather expensive car and parts and labor costs are high. (Recently I was at a Porsche dealer and I overheard the SA telling a customer over the phone engine oil services now cost $500+ and take "3 hours".)

Some owners do their own servicing which can reduce costs some, but it would be no fun to just get your "new" Cayman only to then have to spend your first hours with it under the car replacing a water pump.

Remember these things: Price is not fact only an opinion. And there is always another car. If you find something negative about this car don't feel you have to buy it. There is another car out there you'll like just as much if not more than this one and it won't have any negatives.