First Porsche purchase, sight unseen: Cayman 987
Discussion
Over the moon to have just reserved a Porsche Cayman! An absolute dream come true and I cannot wait to collect it and actually see it in the metal… I haven’t actually seen it yet.
I began searching in earnest about 6 months ago but have been set on getting a Porsche for years now, flittering between 996’s and Caymans, all the while knowing that the latter was the more suitable bet for my needs. Previous cars have been fun: a few fast hatchbacks and convertibles, but nothing like a Porsche. As many people have, I also honed in on the 2.7 variant of the Gen 1 987 due to the lower risk associated with it over the 3.2 S model. I was also keeping an eye out for gen 2 2.9 cars but for my budget, I was pushing it.
Having viewed a few very average cars that seemed to fit the bill I was a little bit underwhelmed; high mileages, shabby paint, mechanical bits and pieces that needed sorting… But I carried on searching and the promise of spring over the last month seems to be bringing out some much nicer cars and more to choose from. I was excited to find a car crop up from a reputable Porsche specialist which had a remarkable history, very low mileage and only 2 owners from new! The specialist were selling on behalf of the owner and have looked after it for the past 8 years of its life. It was also said to be finished in dark metallic blue - a rare colour and one which I was really hoping to get but had low expectations. No images had been taken and details/spec in the listing were scarce. The car was a long way from me, but luckily only a quick trip down the road from my Dad who promptly went to take a look at it on my behalf. I soon got a handful of shaky, thumb-over-the-lens photos and some details about a comprehensive service history and recent invoices for all of the known bits and pieces (coolant crossover pipes, AC condensers etc). It was all adding up! But then I got some clearer pictures… uh oh.
The one owner who’d owned it for 14 years of its 15 year life had made a number of “embellishments” from the get-go - silver painted grills, rear vents and splitter were just the start… he’d had additional Porsche emblems added to the boot lid and front wings - prancing horse style - as well as placing the Cayman logo on the rear bumper. Sadly, he’d taken a professional approach to this and had holes drilled and fitted as per the frunk badge with nuts.
I put my vanity aside though and decided I couldn’t let the opportunity for such a well-looked after, 38k mile, 2 owner car in a great colour pass me by… this thing was otherwise ideal, so I came to an agreement with the seller to have a body shop return the painted parts to factory spec and remove the Cayman badge as part of the preparation. For now, the extra badges are going to have to stay put; unfortunately to have them properly gone, holes filled and panels painted, plus nearby panels blended, it’ll be a good £1,500 and just not something I can stomach immediately.
So, here we have it, my new Porsche that I’ve yet to see for myself, let alone test drive! Not long now…
A quick question for anyone in the know: spec sheets I saw from the first sales advertisement mentioned “18” Turbo S polished alloys” - is there any easy way of telling if these are original or not? I’m more of a fan of a slightly more subtle wheel choice and would happily sell them if there was any value to be had from them. Any ideas on this?
thanks for reading and look forward to sharing more upon collection!
I began searching in earnest about 6 months ago but have been set on getting a Porsche for years now, flittering between 996’s and Caymans, all the while knowing that the latter was the more suitable bet for my needs. Previous cars have been fun: a few fast hatchbacks and convertibles, but nothing like a Porsche. As many people have, I also honed in on the 2.7 variant of the Gen 1 987 due to the lower risk associated with it over the 3.2 S model. I was also keeping an eye out for gen 2 2.9 cars but for my budget, I was pushing it.
Having viewed a few very average cars that seemed to fit the bill I was a little bit underwhelmed; high mileages, shabby paint, mechanical bits and pieces that needed sorting… But I carried on searching and the promise of spring over the last month seems to be bringing out some much nicer cars and more to choose from. I was excited to find a car crop up from a reputable Porsche specialist which had a remarkable history, very low mileage and only 2 owners from new! The specialist were selling on behalf of the owner and have looked after it for the past 8 years of its life. It was also said to be finished in dark metallic blue - a rare colour and one which I was really hoping to get but had low expectations. No images had been taken and details/spec in the listing were scarce. The car was a long way from me, but luckily only a quick trip down the road from my Dad who promptly went to take a look at it on my behalf. I soon got a handful of shaky, thumb-over-the-lens photos and some details about a comprehensive service history and recent invoices for all of the known bits and pieces (coolant crossover pipes, AC condensers etc). It was all adding up! But then I got some clearer pictures… uh oh.
The one owner who’d owned it for 14 years of its 15 year life had made a number of “embellishments” from the get-go - silver painted grills, rear vents and splitter were just the start… he’d had additional Porsche emblems added to the boot lid and front wings - prancing horse style - as well as placing the Cayman logo on the rear bumper. Sadly, he’d taken a professional approach to this and had holes drilled and fitted as per the frunk badge with nuts.
I put my vanity aside though and decided I couldn’t let the opportunity for such a well-looked after, 38k mile, 2 owner car in a great colour pass me by… this thing was otherwise ideal, so I came to an agreement with the seller to have a body shop return the painted parts to factory spec and remove the Cayman badge as part of the preparation. For now, the extra badges are going to have to stay put; unfortunately to have them properly gone, holes filled and panels painted, plus nearby panels blended, it’ll be a good £1,500 and just not something I can stomach immediately.
So, here we have it, my new Porsche that I’ve yet to see for myself, let alone test drive! Not long now…
A quick question for anyone in the know: spec sheets I saw from the first sales advertisement mentioned “18” Turbo S polished alloys” - is there any easy way of telling if these are original or not? I’m more of a fan of a slightly more subtle wheel choice and would happily sell them if there was any value to be had from them. Any ideas on this?
thanks for reading and look forward to sharing more upon collection!
Edited by FieldAtlanta on Friday 3rd June 21:57
Edited by FieldAtlanta on Monday 10th April 18:00
Niall0tdi said:
Hi all, absolutely over the moon to say that today I’ve reserved my Porsche Cayman 987 2.7! An absolute dream come true and I cannot wait to collect it and actually see it in the metal… oh, yes - I haven’t actually seen it yet.
I began searching in earnest about 6 months ago but have been set on getting a Porsche for years now, flittering between 996’s and Caymans, all the while knowing that the latter was the more suitable bet for my needs. Previous cars have been fun: a few fast hatchbacks and convertibles, but nothing like a Porsche. As many people have, I also honed in on the 2.7 variant of the Gen 1 987 due to the lower risk associated with it over the 3.2 S model. I was also keeping an eye out for gen 2 2.9 cars but for my budget, I was pushing it.
Having viewed a few very average cars that seemed to fit the bill I was a little bit underwhelmed; high mileages, shabby paint, mechanical bits and pieces that needed sorting… But I carried on searching and the promise of spring over the last month seems to be bringing out some much nicer cars and more to choose from. I was excited to find a car crop up from a reputable Porsche specialist which had a remarkable history, very low mileage and only 2 owners from new! The specialist were selling on behalf of the owner and have looked after it for the past 8 years of its life. It was also said to be finished in dark metallic blue - a rare colour and one which I was really hoping to get but had low expectations. No images had been taken and details/spec in the listing were scarce. The car was a long way from me, but luckily only a quick trip down the road from my Dad who promptly went to take a look at it on my behalf. I soon got a handful of shaky, thumb-over-the-lens photos and some details about a comprehensive service history and recent invoices for all of the known bits and pieces (coolant crossover pipes, AC condensers etc). It was all adding up! But then I got some clearer pictures… uh oh.
The one owner who’d owned it for 14 years of its 15 year life had made a number of “embellishments” from the get-go - silver painted grills, rear vents and splitter were just the start… he’d had additional Porsche emblems added to the boot lid and front wings - prancing horse style - as well as placing the Cayman logo on the rear bumper. Sadly, he’d taken a professional approach to this and had holes drilled and fitted as per the frunk badge with nuts.
I put my vanity aside though and decided I couldn’t let the opportunity for such a well-looked after, 38k mile, 2 owner car in a great colour pass me by… this thing was otherwise ideal, so I came to an agreement with the seller to have a body shop return the painted parts to factory spec and remove the Cayman badge as part of the preparation. For now, the extra badges are going to have to stay put; unfortunately to have them properly gone, holes filled and panels painted, plus nearby panels blended, it’ll be a good £1,500 and just not something I can stomach immediately.
So, here we have it, my new Porsche that I’ve yet to see for myself, let alone test drive! Not long now…
A quick question for anyone in the know: spec sheets I saw from the first sales advertisement mentioned “18” Turbo S polished alloys” - is there any easy way of telling if these are original or not? I’m more of a fan of a slightly more subtle wheel choice and would happily sell them if there was any value to be had from them. Any ideas on this?
thanks for reading and look forward to sharing more upon collection!
Stunning motor. I agree with you the wheels are slightly too much a subtle set would be a whole lot better. Still that’s just splitting hairs it’s very nice. I began searching in earnest about 6 months ago but have been set on getting a Porsche for years now, flittering between 996’s and Caymans, all the while knowing that the latter was the more suitable bet for my needs. Previous cars have been fun: a few fast hatchbacks and convertibles, but nothing like a Porsche. As many people have, I also honed in on the 2.7 variant of the Gen 1 987 due to the lower risk associated with it over the 3.2 S model. I was also keeping an eye out for gen 2 2.9 cars but for my budget, I was pushing it.
Having viewed a few very average cars that seemed to fit the bill I was a little bit underwhelmed; high mileages, shabby paint, mechanical bits and pieces that needed sorting… But I carried on searching and the promise of spring over the last month seems to be bringing out some much nicer cars and more to choose from. I was excited to find a car crop up from a reputable Porsche specialist which had a remarkable history, very low mileage and only 2 owners from new! The specialist were selling on behalf of the owner and have looked after it for the past 8 years of its life. It was also said to be finished in dark metallic blue - a rare colour and one which I was really hoping to get but had low expectations. No images had been taken and details/spec in the listing were scarce. The car was a long way from me, but luckily only a quick trip down the road from my Dad who promptly went to take a look at it on my behalf. I soon got a handful of shaky, thumb-over-the-lens photos and some details about a comprehensive service history and recent invoices for all of the known bits and pieces (coolant crossover pipes, AC condensers etc). It was all adding up! But then I got some clearer pictures… uh oh.
The one owner who’d owned it for 14 years of its 15 year life had made a number of “embellishments” from the get-go - silver painted grills, rear vents and splitter were just the start… he’d had additional Porsche emblems added to the boot lid and front wings - prancing horse style - as well as placing the Cayman logo on the rear bumper. Sadly, he’d taken a professional approach to this and had holes drilled and fitted as per the frunk badge with nuts.
I put my vanity aside though and decided I couldn’t let the opportunity for such a well-looked after, 38k mile, 2 owner car in a great colour pass me by… this thing was otherwise ideal, so I came to an agreement with the seller to have a body shop return the painted parts to factory spec and remove the Cayman badge as part of the preparation. For now, the extra badges are going to have to stay put; unfortunately to have them properly gone, holes filled and panels painted, plus nearby panels blended, it’ll be a good £1,500 and just not something I can stomach immediately.
So, here we have it, my new Porsche that I’ve yet to see for myself, let alone test drive! Not long now…
A quick question for anyone in the know: spec sheets I saw from the first sales advertisement mentioned “18” Turbo S polished alloys” - is there any easy way of telling if these are original or not? I’m more of a fan of a slightly more subtle wheel choice and would happily sell them if there was any value to be had from them. Any ideas on this?
thanks for reading and look forward to sharing more upon collection!
Regarding your wheels question, they don't quite look right to be genuine Turbo ones. They appear a little too small and don't fill out the arches as I would expect genuine wheels to, but I may be wrong as not clear from these photos. Even if they are not genuine, they do appear to be in good condition so will be worth something.
Under the cosmetic vajazzle there appears to be a very good Cayman. Low mileage and the more reliable engine. With a few changes to get rid of some of the bling it will be a cracking car. I owned a 986 2.7 for 5 years and the noise and way they rev is addictive. Budget for maintenance (suspension parts will need doing at some point as the bushes do wear) and I'm sure you'll love it. A car you can enjoy pushing and driving enthusiastically without doing 3 digit speeds (although it will do that very easily too if you want to!).
Under the cosmetic vajazzle there appears to be a very good Cayman. Low mileage and the more reliable engine. With a few changes to get rid of some of the bling it will be a cracking car. I owned a 986 2.7 for 5 years and the noise and way they rev is addictive. Budget for maintenance (suspension parts will need doing at some point as the bushes do wear) and I'm sure you'll love it. A car you can enjoy pushing and driving enthusiastically without doing 3 digit speeds (although it will do that very easily too if you want to!).
DanG355 said:
Regarding your wheels question, they don't quite look right to be genuine Turbo ones. They appear a little too small and don't fill out the arches as I would expect genuine wheels to, but I may be wrong as not clear from these photos. Even if they are not genuine, they do appear to be in good condition so will be worth something.
Under the cosmetic vajazzle there appears to be a very good Cayman. Low mileage and the more reliable engine. With a few changes to get rid of some of the bling it will be a cracking car. I owned a 986 2.7 for 5 years and the noise and way they rev is addictive. Budget for maintenance (suspension parts will need doing at some point as the bushes do wear) and I'm sure you'll love it. A car you can enjoy pushing and driving enthusiastically without doing 3 digit speeds (although it will do that very easily too if you want to!).
Cheers Dan, that what I’m hoping! Fingers crossed, thanks to the low mileage and regular service history at a good place, I’ll be avoiding any of the big bills for a little while. Discs and pads all recently done, tyres are 6mm etc… but yep, good call on suspension parts - it’s still not a young car!Under the cosmetic vajazzle there appears to be a very good Cayman. Low mileage and the more reliable engine. With a few changes to get rid of some of the bling it will be a cracking car. I owned a 986 2.7 for 5 years and the noise and way they rev is addictive. Budget for maintenance (suspension parts will need doing at some point as the bushes do wear) and I'm sure you'll love it. A car you can enjoy pushing and driving enthusiastically without doing 3 digit speeds (although it will do that very easily too if you want to!).
And yes, I thought the same RE wheels… something not quite right about them. It looks like they might have had a respray and faces re-cut at some point as they appear to be a bit darker than normal. Either way, they don’t offend me but would be great to switch them out for something a bit more ‘classic’ looking in the future. Any suggestions on where to find / what to look for would be ace.
That looks good op.
Other than some of the ‘enhancements’ it sounds like a really really good car. The silver side vents aren’t that offensive but I’m not sure about the bits on the bumper. The wing badges though….someone deserves beating with a stick for them!
It’ll be a lovely car though, good luck.
Other than some of the ‘enhancements’ it sounds like a really really good car. The silver side vents aren’t that offensive but I’m not sure about the bits on the bumper. The wing badges though….someone deserves beating with a stick for them!
It’ll be a lovely car though, good luck.
Edited by Court_S on Monday 10th April 19:33
looks a good buy, I have bought well loved cars before with questionable additions ! proof they cared I suppose ?
when you get the splitters painted blue, take the badges off and also paint them blue ! back on and your eye wont go to them
not a permanant fix but would be an easy inbetween
you'll love it there excellent cars the 987's
when you get the splitters painted blue, take the badges off and also paint them blue ! back on and your eye wont go to them
not a permanant fix but would be an easy inbetween
you'll love it there excellent cars the 987's
Mogsmex said:
when you get the splitters painted blue, take the badges off and also paint them blue ! back on and your eye wont go to them
not a permanant fix but would be an easy inbetween
you'll love it there excellent cars the 987's
Not a bad call, that! I was half wondering if the 3x badges would have some resale value that might offset a bit of the cost to get them off, given that they’re legit Porsche OEM badges. Probably being a bit too tight there though. not a permanant fix but would be an easy inbetween
you'll love it there excellent cars the 987's
Hi all, a couple of months into owning my first Porsche and can’t say that the experience has worn off! Absolutely loving every minute with the car. I’ve never driven anything so communicative and direct feeling - absolutely dreamy. It’s hard to do it justice in words but the car just turns in and follows exactly the line you want it to at whatever speed you choose. I’ve enjoyed countless “just going for a drive” evening spins on local B roads and it never gets less special - the car is just made for them… mixing between 2nd and 3rd gear, 4-7k rpm the car feels like it’s in its element. The brakes are nice and strong - they feel like a good example to the tone for the rest of the elements this car: you need to push them harder than you think you should, and the car delivers when you do. It just all comes alive when you’re giving it some!
I’ve taken a couple of big trips in and it’s been ace - the girlfriend and dog are both quite happy on longer journeys too which is a relief. First was to France on the Eurotunnel (parked up among plenty of lovely other Porsches that somewhat showed me up!) and a buzz over to Belgium. No interesting roads but lovely to roll around in little cobbled streets and chance to stretch the legs on smooth French toll roads:
As you’ll see in the first few photos in this thread, my car had a bunch of silver painted parts from the previous owner which I have had returned to blue / black as per factory. My goal is to get it back to the original look and enjoy the lovely Midnight Blue colour in all its subtle glory!
The previous owner had had the brake callipers painted in yellow - presumably to mimic Porsche’s carbon ceramic colour… not my cuppa. I decided to try painting them myself in grey, thinking that if it looked awful I could just get them done at a paint shop anyway. They’re not perfect, but given where they are, that lack of perfection isn’t very obvious! Im happy with them as they are and certainly less in-your-face than the previous look.
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/rL5dm622[/url]
Mechanically everything feels good but there are a couple of occasional rattles & knocks which could be a number of possible things. I’m quite keen to take AMS (or elsewhere) up on their Saturday sessions where they put the car on a ramp and spend an hour or two going over your car to diagnose any issues and discuss areas too keep an eye on. Has anyone done one of these or have any other recommendations for places that do them around the SE / Essex area?
I’ve got a couple of small jobs to do and I’m still unable to ignore the annoying “extra” badge that was fitted to the bootlid but otherwise very content spending my time cleaning and driving it. I’d really like to swap the Turbo style alloys still for a standard Cayman wheel (if anyone is up for a swap?)
Next stop, Le Mans! I’ll be heading down on Thursday afternoon next week - it’s my first trip and I’m absolutely buzzing with excitement. I’ll be loading the Porsche up with a tent, sleeping bag and as much beer as it can fit.
I’ve taken a couple of big trips in and it’s been ace - the girlfriend and dog are both quite happy on longer journeys too which is a relief. First was to France on the Eurotunnel (parked up among plenty of lovely other Porsches that somewhat showed me up!) and a buzz over to Belgium. No interesting roads but lovely to roll around in little cobbled streets and chance to stretch the legs on smooth French toll roads:
As you’ll see in the first few photos in this thread, my car had a bunch of silver painted parts from the previous owner which I have had returned to blue / black as per factory. My goal is to get it back to the original look and enjoy the lovely Midnight Blue colour in all its subtle glory!
The previous owner had had the brake callipers painted in yellow - presumably to mimic Porsche’s carbon ceramic colour… not my cuppa. I decided to try painting them myself in grey, thinking that if it looked awful I could just get them done at a paint shop anyway. They’re not perfect, but given where they are, that lack of perfection isn’t very obvious! Im happy with them as they are and certainly less in-your-face than the previous look.
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/rL5dm622[/url]Mechanically everything feels good but there are a couple of occasional rattles & knocks which could be a number of possible things. I’m quite keen to take AMS (or elsewhere) up on their Saturday sessions where they put the car on a ramp and spend an hour or two going over your car to diagnose any issues and discuss areas too keep an eye on. Has anyone done one of these or have any other recommendations for places that do them around the SE / Essex area?
I’ve got a couple of small jobs to do and I’m still unable to ignore the annoying “extra” badge that was fitted to the bootlid but otherwise very content spending my time cleaning and driving it. I’d really like to swap the Turbo style alloys still for a standard Cayman wheel (if anyone is up for a swap?)
Next stop, Le Mans! I’ll be heading down on Thursday afternoon next week - it’s my first trip and I’m absolutely buzzing with excitement. I’ll be loading the Porsche up with a tent, sleeping bag and as much beer as it can fit.
Edited by FieldAtlanta on Friday 3rd June 21:58
FieldAtlanta said:
993kimbo said:
Where does the girlfriend go when the dog’s in the footwell?
Is that a good idea putting the dog there?
In the passenger seat. And, yep - seems to be. Should it not be?Is that a good idea putting the dog there?
Our mutt goes on the back seats in a harness that the seat belt goes through.
993kimbo said:
FieldAtlanta said:
In the passenger seat. And, yep - seems to be. Should it not be?
Is your girlfriend very small? Got any pictures of the two of them travelling next to you? I'm intrigued.I have a Cayman too and they're not the biggest cars.
Of course, a 911 would be ideal to pop the dog on the back seats but…
Court_S said:
Are they not supposed to be secured?
Our mutt goes on the back seats in a harness that the seat belt goes through.
Yep, they’re supposed to be so I make sure she is secured. Obviously don’t have the luxury of rear seats in a cayman but still enough room for the journeys that the dogs joins on and she is secured safely.Our mutt goes on the back seats in a harness that the seat belt goes through.
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