Second Hand Porsche Cayman!?

[act38]

I'm interested in buying a Porsche Cayman- on a strict budget so looking at cars that have done 50-70,000 miles. What do you think the running costs would be- is it worth it!? or better to go for a Z4 for the same price but with only about 30,000 miles on the clock?

Thanks!

[kev1387]

In the same boat mate not sure whether to buy a cayman s or z4 m coupe. The only thing worrying me about the cayman is the bore scoring issues.

[craigjm]

My 2010 CS PDK costs £400 minor service and £600 major. Does about 30mpg on a run and about 18 round town. Not had any costs other than that as any issue has been covered under warranty. Extended warranty is just over 2k for 2 years including roadside. Had to get a pair if 18s rear tyres and that was about 450 for the pair. Bore scoring isn't as much of an issue as it appears on forum and if you get an 09 onwards its not an issue at all in my understanding. What is your budget?

[kev1387]

My budget is around the 21k mark looking for 50,000 miles or below.

[FisiP1]

kev1387 said:

In the same boat mate not sure whether to buy a cayman s or z4 m coupe. The only thing worrying me about the cayman is the bore scoring issues.

The 2.7 doesn't suffer the scored bores issue unlike the Gen 1 3.4 and Gen 2 2.9.

The Cayman is a much better all-around car than the Z4M, far more comfortable and the handling is just different worlds. The Z4M engine is great, but the Cayman engine is pretty soulful too, and the Z4M has issues of its own.

If you absolutely must go for a 3.4 for some reason get one for 19k-ish and stick some Porsche approved warranty on it(make sure you check they'll cover it) if the issues worry you.

[FisiP1]

act38 said:

I'm interested in buying a Porsche Cayman- on a strict budget so looking at cars that have done 50-70,000 miles. What do you think the running costs would be- is it worth it!? or better to go for a Z4 for the same price but with only about 30,000 miles on the clock?

Thanks!

Potentially allow a bit of money for a clutch replacement if buying at higher mileages, otherwise it shouldn't cost any more than any other car, especially the 2.7.

My total maintenance/repair costs on a year of ownership of my 2.7 was 168 pounds, for front brakes&pads.

Apparently coil packs can go, radiators have to be cleaned before they block and corroded rads would need to be replaced, tyres depend what size wheels you get but 18s were 220gbp per corner or so for michelin PS2s when I checked. Side window seals can cause the side door carpets to get wet inside if they perish(mine did). Rear exhaust clips can corrode very rapidly(very cheap replacement just don't let them fail and destroy the exhaust). All I can think of right now.

[premio]

FisiP1 said:

The 2.7 doesn't suffer the scored bores issue unlike the Gen 1 3.4 and Gen 2 2.9.

.

It does I'm afraid, my engine was written off at 6k miles on a gen2 2.7

[craigjm]

premio said:

It does I'm afraid, my engine was written off at 6k miles on a gen2 2.7

Yeah the 2.7 does suffer. AFAIK all mk1 are susceptible and mk2 are fine.

[Chrisp5782]

premio said:

FisiP1 said:

The 2.7 doesn't suffer the scored bores issue unlike the Gen 1 3.4 and Gen 2 2.9.

.

It does I'm afraid, my engine was written off at 6k miles on a gen2 2.7

There wasn't a Gen 2 2.7 was there? I thought the Gen 2 was a 2.9 from 2008/9.

[cooldude00]

i went from a z4 3.0 convertible (owned for 6 yrs - 30k miles) to the cayman s couple of years ago... cayman s everytime..

other than servicing, only thing that went wrong with z4 was the rear springs which is a common issue.. definitely cheaper to service compared to OPC

re the bore scoring.. i'm concerned by it only because of all the talk on the internet.. have an extended warranty with Porsche to protect against it..

[FisiP1]

craigjm said:

premio said:

It does I'm afraid, my engine was written off at 6k miles on a gen2 2.7

Yeah the 2.7 does suffer. AFAIK all mk1 are susceptible and mk2 are fine.

Here's what hartech had to say on the topic the last time this came up:

hartech said:

"Stop worrying the 2.7 is unlikely to score bores.

The bore diameter is smaller than a 3.2, 3.4, 3.6 or 3.8 and the cylinder casting is different so the amount of coolant surounding the cylinder is greater while the loads on the smaller piston are much less - so overall (as it produces less torque).

It is difficult to know exactly under what conditions a score starts (as it happens in a few seconds) - except that it is a known phenomenon at low revs and high torque.

We get slightly more tiptronics though for repair than manuals - so if more manuals were sold (don't know the figures) that would support this opinion because the tiptronic starts off from standstill in second of 5 gears and the 3.6 and particularly the 3.8 produce massive torque at very low revs (which starting off in second occurs at very low revs compared to someone driving a manual from 1st).

So I think you are safe to ignore any worries and be glad you chose a more reliable version.

Baz"

As for the Gen2 2.9, it is definitely affected(although in what numbers I know not), a google search reveals plenty of affected cars, both boxsters and caymans. There was a thread on here a few months ago made by someone who had their boxster affected by it shortly after purchase.

Edited by FisiP1 on Tuesday 19th February 10:13

[ChipsAndCheese]

act38 said:

I'm interested in buying a Porsche Cayman- on a strict budget so looking at cars that have done 50-70,000 miles. What do you think the running costs would be- is it worth it!? or better to go for a Z4 for the same price but with only about 30,000 miles on the clock?

Thanks!

Have a look at the 'My Garage' area of my profile to see my running costs log. I use my 2006 S as a daily driver so probably run up more miles than most Caymans, but it should give you an idea of service and consumables costs. It's not a cheap car to run, but yes, IMO it is very much worth it. I love mine.

[Chrisp5782]

cooldude00 said:

i went from a z4 3.0 convertible (owned for 6 yrs - 30k miles) to the cayman s couple of years ago... cayman s everytime..

other than servicing, only thing that went wrong with z4 was the rear springs which is a common issue.. definitely cheaper to service compared to OPC

re the bore scoring.. i'm concerned by it only because of all the talk on the internet.. have an extended warranty with Porsche to protect against it..

If it's a 2.7 don't worry about bore scoring or IMS issues, the chances of a failure are very, very slim, as backed up by Baz at Hartech, speaking to him he told me they've not had to rebuild a 2.7 to date, I should say that alone should be enough to put your mind at rest.

Don't listen to the doom and gloom merchants, it's simply not as wide spread as the internet would have you believe and half the people posting about it are just passing on rumour they've read elsewhere.

Edited by Chrisp5782 on Tuesday 19th February 12:42

[nick997]

ChipsAndCheese said:

Have a look at the 'My Garage' area of my profile to see my running costs log. I use my 2006 S as a daily driver so probably run up more miles than most Caymans, but it should give you an idea of service and consumables costs. It's not a cheap car to run, but yes, IMO it is very much worth it. I love mine.

Blimey that's a good (b)log of costs spent, good reading for anyone considering a Cayman or Boxster.

[chrishumes]

911uk.com is a good site. i trolled that looking at info before buying mine.