BrooksBier

I am looking at a used Cayman S that has less than 10k miles on it.
I generally would want a car with lower miles but have heard that some of the IMS issues actually occurred on cars that were babied more so than ones that were driven.
From what I understand the oil starvation issues are associated with driving hard and tracking.
Should I be concerned about purchasing a first generation Cayman S with really low miles on it?

extanker

i am sure there are plenty of gen 1 cars out there still running around quite strong high and low mileage. the threat of ims failure was enough to sway me into a gen2. have a healthy reserve fund and take a shot.

Spokayman

Under 10K miles for an '06-'08 is "ultra-low" miles and I would look into the maintenance and driving history as much as possible.
On one hand, with that few miles not much damage to an IMS bearing would be likely even if operating conditions were not optimal.
On the other hand, if the miles were put on the car 3-5 miles at a time, and/or oil was not changed at least yearly then the conditions for moisture accumulation in the oil and possible damage or accelerated wear to interior components is possible.
If the car has had regular oil changes (once a year at least), and especially if you can be reasonably certain the car wasn't mostly driven short distances (which doesn't allow the engine oil to warm up properly) then there is much less likelihood of any problems.

I personally would pursue such a car taking diligence to find out past history and performing inspections when prudent.

My '06 CS has 26K miles on it at this point which is about 2,500 per year, but it has accumulated the miles at mostly regular intervals and is rarely driven on short duration trips. Maintenance is always early and proactive.
We do have a significant winter where I live and it does sit for 6-8 weeks at a time over a 4 month period per year.

Frank 993 C4S

^^^^ This

Emo993

I bought a 2007 Cayman S last fall with 17,000, all service two owner etc. Had Napleton Porsche (Chicago) do a full PPI, checked filter for metal. All good. If I understand the IMS issue, the Caymans are a second generation of the engine with the larger bearing. Low miles not as much of an issue and very little failure reported. I very happy with my purchase. Best, Mark

BrooksBier

Thanks all!

GingerPowered

My indy almost laughed at me when I told him what I paid for my after market warranty when I bought my 987.1 CS. He's been in business long before the 987 existed, does work exclusively on P-cars and said he's never had a 987 come in for IMS failure... After that, I got a refund for the time/miles remaining on my warranty and put it in my "oh $#!T" fund. So far, so good.

Point being, I'd think the IMS would be the least if your worries. Look at all the boots real close for cracking; look for weird fluids sitting in nooks and crannies where they shouldn't be; if they're original, maybe consider changing the tires with them being a decade old... or, just get a PPI from a reputable indy shop. Just my $.02. Happy hunting!

golfnutintib

i saw that silver cs on sf bay craiglist too

very nice build, clearly well taken care of...but do an indie ppi as others have suggested... cars that sit that much can have some things go awry

price is fair too

ims failure is way overrated on cayman 987 gen unless u are going to make it into a track car... for regular use the risk in minimal imo