vader1

I have been hanging onto my S2000 for 11 or 12 years now. I like the car and just hit 40k on it but it is just time to start thinking about something new(er). I will probably drive my S2000 for one more summer, and maybe even two which means I will start looking for the next toy in the fall of this year at the earliest. I have Porsches on the brain and have essentially have my choices narrowed to 4 models, 2 911's and 2 Caymans. Anyone with feedback on recent Caymans and 911's please chime in.

The car will essentially be a summer semi-daily, maybe a couple long trips, fun car, maybe someday a track day or two but that is not a priority. Since I am only going to put about 3,000 miles a year on the car, I would look for a car with 30,000 or less on it and hopefully get to 60,000 without too much repair bill drama. Pretty much want to set my limit at about $50k, but hey, less is better.

My choices will be listed in no particular order, because each has a plus and minus.

2009-2010 Cayman S. Now when compared to the newer model, I like this car a lot less than I used to, but I still really like the car and by fall of this year would expect to be able to find examples at less than $40k, maybe as low as $35k. The price is the big plus, the older styling is the big minus. I love the style of the new model and the interior much more. When they are next to each other it is not really close, but when this car is viewed by itself I still really like it, they are relatively cheap at this point and still offers a great driving experience and still has hydraulic steering but also gets the DI engine. I buy this one and have a low payment and more money to travel, but it would be the "hoopty" of the bunch.

2014+ Cayman S or GTS This is my favorite of all four cars, but it is so new that I will have to wait a little longer and maybe drive the S for an extra year. I really have no real demerits for the car except that they have not been able to depreciate much yet and will do so slowly for a while. But truth be told, I lust after a blue GTS model.

2009-10 997.2 Carrera S The downside of this car is the older interior and does not have the new chasis, but it still an awesome car, the interior is not too bad, and it has the DI 3.8 engine. The price of this car should be in my range for a nice model by next winter. I like the looks of the 911 less than the new Cayman, but it would be a nearly $100,000k machine at about half price and I really don't know much about how they compare. I have NEVER driven a 911.

2012 Carrera or Carrera S I would have to wait a little longer than the 997.2 model to fall into my price range but it has the newer chasis, and a HUGE interior upgrade. The car is bigger, has huge cartoony wheels, and electric steer, but it still looks and supposedly drives fantastically. The 911 hasone small advantage over the Caymans as well in that I can take a weekend trip in one and take my dog.

Any thoughts or experience with these models appreciated. This will be my toy for about ten years and then I retire and re-assess my car needs. I am really leaning towards the 2014 Cayman or 2009 C2s because the first is my favorite and the second is the best value for the dollar it seems. But I kind of think I should just get the 2009 Cayman, go the cheaper route and have more cash for the other things in life.

I also should throw in, waiting drives me nuts but I also will most likely find one somewhere across the country from me in Minnesota. Most models seem to be near Miami, Dallas, or SoCal. My dad loves to take road trips and my wish is to buy one and fly both of us out to pick it up and have a cross country trip with my dad. He is now 75. I know I will have to wait for my price, but you never know what will happen to your parents when they get old and I don't want to lose the chance to do this with my dad.

TheDonEffect

Can't provide any ownership experience, but I was enamored with getting a Cayman as well given that it was a Porsche and depreciation made them favorable to me, I was worried about working on one/maitenance costs but after some research found them to be not bad, timing belts were astoundingly easy. But then I started reading about the IMS and D chunk issues and was quickly turned away. So for that alone I'd go with the newer cars as apparently they've remedied that issue.

vader1

None of the cars I am looking at have an IMS bearing and are the newer engine design. Anything 2009 or newer is in the clear. Not sure what D chunk is.

King Tut

The IMS should not be a concern with any of the Porsches he listed. I got my Porsche fix when I ordered my dream blue Cayman R. I enjoyed it a bunch, but the constant worry of putting miles on it and reducing its value really bothered me. I also installed some Fabspeed Race parts that made it much less of an enjoy on the drive to work. In the end it was still a great experience, and I wish I hadn't sold it as quickly as I did. The way newer Porsche values seem to drop after they get 10,000 miles on them was a driving factor. I will give you the advice I was given when researching Caymans. Buy the newest and lowest mile one you can afford. I would say shoot for a more depreciated 987.2 and see how you like it. If you like the experience and lust after the newer looks but similar power of the 981, then you can always easily upgrade and the newer 981 will have depreciated even more. I would go after a Cayman as your first Porsche. Remember, they didn't put the engine in the wrong place in the Cayman.

CosmosMpower

Should have just named this thread....help me pick a porsche.

My vote is the new Cayman GT4 for high $ or the 09 Cayman S for low money. If you're about to retire I wouldn't be flushing money in depreciation on the new car right now. We had an 06 Cayman S and enjoyed it quite a bit, can't go wrong with a Cayman. I'm not a fan of the 911 in general except the GTx variants.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...spied-no-camo/

vader1

GT4 will be too rich for my blood, and don't really need more performance than a Cayman S or GTS. I am not retiring for another 10-12 years, (unless POWERBALL!) so this will be the "Mid-life crisis bridge" to retirement.

If anyone has pointers on how to spot a heavily tracked car I'd like to know that too. Except for really worn brake pads on a low mile car, I am not sure what to look for. Spongy clutch? Porsches are more likely to be tracked over any other brand of car, (or so says Porsche) and a couple track days might not bother me, but I don't want to find a car with low miles that has had the crap beat out of it as primarily a track only car.

King Tut

The newer Porsches use the rear brakes as their form of traction control so a tracked car will generally have more worn rear pads/rotors than fronts if they leave the nannies on. I would hope that most Porsche owners would be honest about whether the car has been tracked. While Porsches might be more likely to be tracked that is because for many years they only sold performance cars. It is very rare to see a Cayman at the track and you are more likely to see older air cooled 911s or 944s at the track.

mosesbotbol

I can comment on the 2014 Porsche Cayman S with PDK; a good friend of mine has one and I have driven it several times. I see the car weekly.

Solid car, engine has nice bark, best fog lights I have ever seen, great Navigation and electronics layout. The 2nd navigation in the gauge cluster is just wicked. When you disable the car at night, the interior lights up like a stadium. His car has a crazy set of 20" wheels, basic interior, upgraded stereo. He bought off the lot, so it was a car someone ordered and backed out of. Head room okay. PDK is a dream, can go up or down on either toggle switch, has a nice mechanical feel through the car when downshifting quick. Brakes really solid.

I do not find the steering to be lively or connected compared to the Evora (my car). I think they changed the steering on 2014??? Brakes are not as nice on Cayman. Cayman has a very immediate torque response, really puts down the hatchet; the Evora's is more linear to red line. Cayman is louder at idle from the outside and sound more "the business" when just rolling off. Porsche has better rear visibility, more more storage space, and easier to get in and out of. Wheel-tire sets are less money for winter driving on Cayman. Both are fine in the snow with snow tires.


According to him, he "sees the interior and general build quality as the same or as the Cayman". These are his words... In the big picture I agree, they are very close and equal competitors in many respects. Point is, Lotus loses money on each car and Porsche makes money at their respective price points. Equals out to similar quality car.


We go back and forth ad nauseam between our two cars as we got them within 2 weeks of each other. He was close on leasing an Evora, but what Lotus and Porsche can offer on lease rates are not equal and the Porsche dealer gave him like 5K more on his M5 than Lotus. That being said, to him, "it's either Evora or Cayman S as two pure sports cars available for under 100K (new)". Sure, there's the Vette, but neither of us are Vette guys and I think Viper's gas mileage was too low for him. The M5 has among the lowest gas mileage of any car and did not want a repeat...

For your list, don't wait to drive them used; drive them new or as new as you can go from there. If I bought a Cayman S or Boxster S, I'd order it new; especially with lease rates Porsche Financial offers at several points of the year. A no-brainer for care free 2-3 year experience. Paint to sample some ridiculous color combo and not have to worry about selling the car at the end.

All the ones you picked are solid cars, but if you want that of mid engine purpose built sports car, you would be fool hardy not to at least drive an Evora or Evora S.

CosmosMpower

Rock chips behind the rear wheels, balled up chunks of rubber in the wheel wells, rotors with cracks or heat spots, discolored calipers (red calipers turning brown etc), non OEM brake fluid (ATE super blue etc), wheels with a lot of wear by the lug holes indicating taken on/off a lot. If you buy a regular Cayman S or GTS chances are low it's been tracked hard.

mosesbotbol

If you do a PPI, you should be able to get an ECU dump of all the over rev's etc.. Look at the tire receipts and mileage between changes.