drew01182

For the same money, would you get an older 987 Cayman S or a newer 987 Cayman (non-S) and why? For example, a 2008 Cayman S vs. 2011 Cayman?

JC Lacayo

Older means you will need to fix or replace some parts: Water pump, oil separator, plugs, belts. Just factor that in. Most people would recommend the newer version to save some of those headaches. I personally would get the best example of either and enjoy it.

RWPinNC

As a first Porsche, I bought a 2006 Cayman S (43,000 miles with service records, 5k oil changes, and a PPI). I paid a bit of a premium ($30,000) but have a well-maintained, cosmetically exceptional car that should be reliable. To be truthful, I would have opted for a 987.2 S, but affordable cars seemed to have a story, and cars comparable to mine were appropriately priced higher. As a new Porsche owner, I wanted the S for the bigger brakes and 6-speed manual as well as PASM. Additional power is nice but not critical.

I'm fortunate to have a Z3 and a Cooper S that I'm keeping for various reasons, so I set a self-imposed budget. Had I decided to sell one or more of the others, I likely would have moved up to a 987.2 S. In retrospect, I believe the 987.2 base model now has 6-speed, same brakes as S, and increased power, so that now would be an attractive and affordable option.

I guess with all of the extraneous information above, I would suggest looking at a 987.2 base Cayman.

dgrobs

Comparable mileage on both cars?
If so, I would get the newer one and hope for less in repair bills in the near future. That's just me though. YMMV.
Assuming you have 2 particular cars in mind, what is the mileage on both cars? Is there a big difference in the mileage? I would think that should play a BIG role in your decision.

billwot

How important to you is the extra performance?

I spent over a year searching for my Cayman, and concluded a newer, nicer car was more important the extra HP.

TMc993

If you listen to every piece of purchase advice offered on this or any other board, you'll never get around to purchasing a car.......Buy what you like and drive it.

Dom991.1

This

dgrobs

Yup. This. Buy the one you like most and drive it like ya stole it.
Report back on your decision for us inquiring minds.

987cs

Are you going to track it? If so most would recommend the 2009+ 987.2