Gen 2 Stiff clutch on Test Drive?

[racer]

Hi Guys

New to the forum.

Having recently driven a mates Boxster I'm now totally smitten with the 987 and cant wait to sell my M3 V8.

I'm in the market for a Gen 2 Cayman S and recently went to test drive one at a dealers.

 

I enjoyed the test drive but I noticed that the clutch was really heavy.

This isn't the case in my mates 987 Boxster although his is a 2.7 not an S.

 

Is a heavy clutch the norm on an S or could it be just that car?

The one I drove at the dealers was not a good example and hadn't been looked after.

 

Cheers 

Matt

 

 

 

[GlosRich]

Hi and welcome,

 

How many miles has the car done? It might be the clutch is on the way out or the hydraulics are leaking a bit. Usually they need a new clutch around 50k miles.

 

I've got a 2.9 Gen2, the clutch isnt light, like a modern supermini, but its not really heavy either.

 

I'd be careful buying a really cheap one, as the costs to put it right might actually mean you could have bought a good one in the first place. If its cheaper it needs to be maybe £3k-4k cheaper to cover any recon costs.

 

Its not uncommon to buy one, put it through a service and then have maybe £1k work required, so it does pay to buy one with a pile of bills showing the common problems have been fixed.

 

Even the youngest Gen2 models are 11 years old now, so they need maintenance.

 

Some of the common problems are:

 

Worn suspension - especially front top mounts and control arm bushes, budget around £600 to sort these.

Coolant hose connectors rusty and leaking, these are behind the front wheels, will be almost £1k to fix at a garage.

Clutch and flywheel - if its done over 50k miles it should have been changed, or budget on it needing one soon.

Gear shift cables - they can snap or cause imprecise changes - £400 for the parts alone.

Rust - check the front of the sill and wheel arch, the stone chips cause rusting here, also the top edge of the hatch on the Cayman rusts.

Wheels and tyres - you want to see alloys in good condition with good quality tyres - Michelin or Pirelli etc. no ditch finders.

Aircon radiators - check the aircon works well - look through the bumper grilles and check for rust, stone damage or wet patches - new rads are about £250 plus a regas.

Brakes - check the condition - not hugely expensive, approx £60 a disk and £110 for a set of pads.

Exhaust clamps around the tailpipe excessively rusty - maybe £150 to sort.

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Rich

 

 

 

[racer]

Hi Rich

Many thanks for the advise.

The car in question was a 2011 with an indicated mileage of 59k.

The overall condition of the car was poor so I walked away. I’m happy to pay the going rate for a good example, my search will continue.

Thanks again for the information, much appreciated.

Matt..

[Andrea]

31 minutes ago, racer said:

Hi Rich

Many thanks for the advise.

The car in question was a 2011 with an indicated mileage of 59k.

The overall condition of the car was poor so I walked away. I’m happy to pay the going rate for a good example, my search will continue.

Thanks again for the information, much appreciated.

Matt..

 

 

Hi, any link of the car in question please? Also, by poor conditions what exactly do you refer to? Would be good for other users/who is looking for one to get an idea I think.

 

Cheers

[Beanoir™]

23 hours ago, racer said:

Hi Guys

New to the forum.

Having recently driven a mates Boxster I'm now totally smitten with the 987 and cant wait to sell my M3 V8.

I'm in the market for a Gen 2 Cayman S and recently went to test drive one at a dealers.

 

I enjoyed the test drive but I noticed that the clutch was really heavy.

This isn't the case in my mates 987 Boxster although his is a 2.7 not an S.

 

Is a heavy clutch the norm on an S or could it be just that car?

The one I drove at the dealers was not a good example and hadn't been looked after.

 

Cheers 

Matt

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the OC Matt! 

 

Some good advice from others above, and I'd agree on the clutch.  A heavy clutch is quite often a sign it is on it's way out.  If the car has done over 45-50k miles and hasn't had one, then it could well be time for a new one.  They can last longer than that, but really only if it's seen mainly motorway miles for most of it's life, and generally these cars don't tend to live their lives doing that although there will be exceptions.  

 

 

[racer]

Thanks for the reply's guys.

I'm glad the heavy clutch is not typical of the 987.

 

The car I looked at was very scruffy, and had lots of dents and scratches all over it. Also the interior had been cleaned in a hurry and you could still see the dirt and marks everywhere.

looking at the brake discs they were all totally shot. Clearly the car had lived a very hard life. I didn't even bother to look at the paperwork.

 

 

Matt

[Windymiller]

Welcome to the COC! 🤪

 

Where are you based?

 

i echo all the above, having had my clutch replaced last year at around 55k miles, it was never heavy and actually mine became super light when it ‘went’, because some of the sprung ‘tangs’ on the pressure release plate had snapped, thus providing less resistance to pedal pressure. 
 

even with the new clutch and DMF its not as light as my wife’s 2018 Mini, but it’s certainly not a heavy labour to actuate the pedal. 
 

There seem to be a few 987.2 S around with ‘lower‘ miles (<60k) for between £22-25k, autotrader lists 14 currently. 
 

are you looking for manual or PDK?

 

These are a car that will have been owned and cared for mainly by people that love them (of course there will be some exceptions like the one you just saw), so do hold out for a cherished / pampered example that is clearly presented nicely and has lots of paperwork to back it up. 

Good luck with your search. 👍🏻

[racer]

11 hours ago, Windymiller said:

Welcome to the COC! 🤪

 

Where are you based?

 

i echo all the above, having had my clutch replaced last year at around 55k miles, it was never heavy and actually mine became super light when it ‘went’, because some of the sprung ‘tangs’ on the pressure release plate had snapped, thus providing less resistance to pedal pressure. 
 

even with the new clutch and DMF its not as light as my wife’s 2018 Mini, but it’s certainly not a heavy labour to actuate the pedal. 
 

There seem to be a few 987.2 S around with ‘lower‘ miles (<60k) for between £22-25k, autotrader lists 14 currently. 
 

are you looking for manual or PDK?

 

These are a car that will have been owned and cared for mainly by people that love them (of course there will be some exceptions like the one you just saw), so do hold out for a cherished / pampered example that is clearly presented nicely and has lots of paperwork to back it up. 

Good luck with your search. 👍🏻

 

 Hi Mate

I'm based in Langdon Hills Essex near Billericay.

That's useful information thanks. I'm surprised about the relatively short life of the clutches, but the cost of a replacement while not cheap doesn't seem too outrageous.

I'm only interested in Manual cars, and I have been looking on auto trader and the usual places.

 

The car will be used all year round so heated seats are a must and an LSD is right up there on my list.

I'm not over fussed about PASM, Nav etc. My current M3 is grey so I fancy something a bit brighter this time, although am still undecided.

I've been chopping and changing cars for a few years now, but I have a feeling the Cayman will be a longer term car.

I had a MK1 Mr2 years ago. I loved the handling of that car and the Cayman feels like a more groan up version of it.

I'll keep searching cheers

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by racer

[GlosRich]

Good luck with the search and feel free to ask any questions on here.

 

Just bear those items in mind I mentioned, or your wallet will take a bashing.

 

[Andrea]

I wouldn't be waiting for a car with the LSD to show up for 3 simple reasons:

 

- They are rare, like incredible rare! 

 

- Stock LSD needs a rebuild every 30K miles (depends on driving style of course) 

 

-Simply buy a Wavetrack LSD and have it fitted. Much better than the stock one. 

 

 

You'll spend years waiting for a car with LSD, I was lucky to find it by pure chance! 

 

 

Hope this helps....

[racer]

57 minutes ago, Andrea said:

I wouldn't be waiting for a car with the LSD to show up for 3 simple reasons:

 

- They are rare, like incredible rare! 

 

- Stock LSD needs a rebuild every 30K miles (depends on driving style of course) 

 

-Simply buy a Wavetrack LSD and have it fitted. Much better than the stock one. 

 

 

You'll spend years waiting for a car with LSD, I was lucky to find it by pure chance! 

 

 

Hope this helps....

 

That's very handy to know, thankyou for the info.

That should help with the search. I see Quaife do a ATB as well.

[GlosRich]

Quite a few Porsche specialists around you in Essex, Design911 is one.

 

[MiloD]

Interested in the comment above about stock LSD needing a rebuild after 30k... seems crazy to me. Also I’ve just bought an 09 Gen 2 S with 33k on the clock (and factory LSD)  - no signs of the diff going (noises or whines) so here’s hoping it’s good for a while. 🤞

[MiloD]

That’s interesting. The test makes sense. Yep it was the one at EVO motors, nice chap to deal with and an ideal drivers spec 

[Woodhouse]

I'm sure this car has been for sale for a year or more at Evo but not sure why as it's low mileage and not a bad driver's spec.  I guess it comes down to price.