Cayman 2.7 987 - Questions before I buy.

[Lewis75]

I've been looking at getting an upgrade from a 1.4 GTC recently (I am early 20's) and I'm not the most "car savvy" person, as in I have no clue how to DIY anything.

 

I spotted a 2.7 987 - 2007 with 81k miles and full service history (including 7 dealer stamps and one porsche specialist) for £12,900 ish. - on sale at a very reputable dealer who sells "premium" cars (ferraris, bentlys, aston martin..)

 

I would be taking it out on a finance agreement most likely (or a bank loan, then buy the car) due to not having £13000 laying about. 

 

The conditiion of the car from the pictures looks extremely clean, and I saw it briefly on the forecourt when I drove past this morning, it looks pratically new from the outside. I will be viewing it tomorrow and just wanted to ask a few questions to see if I can get any information from people who know about porsches. 

 

I've never owned an "older" car, oldest I have had before now was probably a 5 year old corsa. So i'm not sure what to expect from am older vehicle.

 

• What is the running costs for a 2.7 2007 with 81k miles, will I be looking at thousands a year for repairs and so on or just the services evey 2 years, oil changes etc?
• What would be the cheapest option (but best of the cheap options) to setup the old CDR24 to allow my phone to connect, would it be worth just taking it to halfords and getting an entirely new head unit? 
• I'd be looking at having it as my daily driver, so I would not have another vehicle and I commute approximately 30 miles a day, and I average 10-11k miles a year, so I would be looking at hitting 100k miles in the next couple years, what kind of service/costs would doing that milage and hitting 100k entail?
• I'd also be fitting a dascham, how easy is that to do in a 2.7 987? 

Any help is appreicated, thanks!

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Lewis75

[GlosRich]

Have you had an insurance quote is it affordable at 20?

 

They aren't cars you can run on a low budget. You need to have some savings on standby, or a 0% credit card, for when you need to have some repairs done.

 

For example, my 2009 has required £1500 of work over the last 2 years, and 1 service.

 

When they get older, they need suspension bushes changing, coolant pipes can leak, aircon condensors leak, gear linkage cables, clutches.

 

Not all these problems happen of course at once, but you need to be prepared to pay for repairs or learn how to do it yourself.

 

Find a local Porsche specialist (not a main dealer), and maybe consider getting them to inspect it (usually around £200), to see what needs doing to it, then negotiate the price down accordingly.

 

Here are some of the common issues:

 

 

 

Dont get me wrong they are lovely cars and generally very reliable, but you need to be aware they cannot be run on a tight budget.

 

Where are you based, maybe we know a specialist around by you?

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

[Lewis75]

10 minutes ago, GlosRich said:

Have you had an insurance quote is it affordable at 20?

 

They aren't cars you can run on a low budget. You need to have some savings on standby, or a 0% credit card, for when you need to have some repairs done.

 

For example, my 2009 has required £1500 of work over the last 2 years, and 1 service.

 

When they get older, they need suspension bushes changing, coolant pipes can leak, aircon condensors leak, gear linkage cables, clutches.

 

Not all these problems happen of course at once, but you need to be prepared to pay for repairs or learn how to do it yourself.

 

Find a local Porsche specialist (not a main dealer), and maybe consider getting them to inspect it (usually around £200), to see what needs doing to it, then negotiate the price down accordingly.

 

Dont get me wrong they are lovely cars and generally very reliable, but you need to be aware they cannot be run on a tight budget.

 

Where are you based, maybe we know a specialist around by you?

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

Yes, i'm a little older than 20, insurance would be £710ish (I pay £660 for my astra..) - through confused.com that is.

 

I have a credit card and a small amount of savings (think a couple thousand) so if something needed urgent repairs I could do so, I could afford £1500 worth of repairs in 2 years I've just read some horror stories about things going horribly wrong, but that seems more on the 3.4 not the 2.7. But things like the IMS bearing does sound somewhat concerning. 

 

I'd love to learn how to do stuff on cars, but i'm just not very good at DIY things and worried i'd damage the car if I tried. (For example, doing my own oil change.)

 

I've got a list of things to ask the dealer when I see the car (such as part replacements, repairs, any previous damage) and see if the previous owners have "proof" of getting things fixed etc, but considering it has 7 dealer stamps and 1 porsche stamp, it seems to have been taken care of. Ontop of the fact the dealer is selling the car themselves, typically if a car they get isn't "great" they dont sell it to the public but sell it off elsewhere. Also will discuss about warranty or what not as the dealer has their own garage for services/repairs, see if I can get a discount there if they provide porsche services.

 

I had a google and the nearest specialist to me seems to be nottingham?. The dealer i'm looking at buying from has nothing but outstanding reviews (been around 30 years) so I'm somewhat confident they don't sell crap, but could always have faults that they are unaware of. I'm based around the Derbyshire area.

 

[Lennym1984]

Hi,

 

As the above poster has said, they are great cars but can be a little pricey to keep in top condition. The rule of thumb is to budget ~£1500 per year for maintenance.

 

Some years you may get lucky but other years you may get hit with a few large expenses (coolant pipes ~£1000 from a specialist, clutch ~£1000, suspension arms probably £400ish).

 

I have mine as a second car and do a few track days (so tend to change things around more often) and I'm probably on about £1.5k this year. However, I do all of the work myself so (for example) changing the engine and gearbox mounts only costs me time.If I were paying somebody else, this year may have been a big one.

 

I think Porsches in general are awesome cars but at your age, I'd probably recommend something like a Golf GTi. It'll be just as fast, can fit 4 of your mates in it, can stuff loads in the boot etc etc etc. That said, my dad talked me out of a £5k 964 in around 2010 (I ended up buying a Scirocco) and had I ignored his advice, that car would probably be worth £30k+ now. So in short, feel free to ignore my advice!

 

 

[Lennym1984]

Oh and I really wouldn't lose sleep over the IMS bearing. I have never actually met anybody whose IMS bearing packed in whereas I have met multiple people who have suffered bore scoring. I think the former has been blown out of proportion by internet fear mongering whereas the latter does appear to be a legitimate concern.

[GlosRich]

Hi Lewis,

 

Sounds like you've already made your mind up.

 

I guess they will only give a 3 month warranty which isnt worth a lot on a Porsche. Maybe ask for more?

 

If you or your family or friends know a mechanic I would ask them to come and have a look at it with you, as you really need someone who knows that they are looking at, and whether it is a good car.

 

Also do one of those cheap HPI car data checks, lots available for a few quid, check its not stolen or written off.

 

Also run the reg number through the MoT history, so you can see what its failed on in the past, or not hopefully. https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

Also check the road tax price.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

 

[Lewis75]

5 minutes ago, Lennym1984 said:

Oh and I really wouldn't lose sleep over the IMS bearing. I have never actually met anybody whose IMS bearing packed in whereas I have met multiple people who have suffered bore scoring. I think the former has been blown out of proportion by internet fear mongering whereas the latter does appear to be a legitimate concern.

 

9 minutes ago, Lennym1984 said:

Hi,

 

As the above poster has said, they are great cars but can be a little pricey to keep in top condition. The rule of thumb is to budget ~£1500 per year for maintenance.

 

Some years you may get lucky but other years you may get hit with a few large expenses (coolant pipes ~£1000 from a specialist, clutch ~£1000, suspension arms probably £400ish).

 

I have mine as a second car and do a few track days (so tend to change things around more often) and I'm probably on about £1.5k this year. However, I do all of the work myself so (for example) changing the engine and gearbox mounts only costs me time.If I were paying somebody else, this year may have been a big one.

 

I think Porsches in general are awesome cars but at your age, I'd probably recommend something like a Golf GTi. It'll be just as fast, can fit 4 of your mates in it, can stuff loads in the boot etc etc etc. That said, my dad talked me out of a £5k 964 in around 2010 (I ended up buying a Scirocco) and had I ignored his advice, that car would probably be worth £30k+ now. So in short, feel free to ignore my advice!

 

 

Is that £1500 including costs for services and so on or just for the general repairs etc. Im hoping to find out that things like coolant pipes or clutch has been replaced recently as the car was serviced in Jan 2020 on 75k, its now at 81k, so it's still been in pretty much constant use and the previous owner has hopefully found and fixed the problems (or sold it off as it has problems...but I hope that isn't the case!) 

 

I did have a look at other cars, it won't hurt to go and see it in person, test drive it and so on, it isn't a done deal until money changes hands! 

 

Yea, i read a lot about the bore scoring, which again seems to affect the 3.4/S much more than the standard 2.7. Is it still of concern for a 2.7? 

 

 

5 minutes ago, GlosRich said:

Hi Lewis,

 

Sounds like you've already made your mind up.

 

I guess they will only give a 3 month warranty which isnt worth a lot on a Porsche. Maybe ask for more?

 

If you or your family or friends know a mechanic I would ask them to come and have a look at it with you, as you really need someone who knows that they are looking at, and whether it is a good car.

 

Also do one of those cheap HPI car data checks, lots available for a few quid, check its not stolen or written off.

 

Also run the reg number through the MoT history, so you can see what its failed on in the past, or not hopefully. https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

 

Also check the road tax price.

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

 

I am definitely leaning towards the porsche, I am just.. not quite ready to bite the bullet yet without a bit more information and being 100% sure a slightly older car is worth it for a daily driver for the next few years. 

 

Okay, i'll keep that in mind and try to push for more if I end up purchasing it!

 

I don't personally know a mechanic, not sure if my family knows someone, but I can always ask the dealer if I can get the car privately inspected by a porsche specialist before I purchase it, just to be sure. I'll check the bits that you have in the video you linked in the first post, it's really helpful to physically see the bits I need to check. 

 

Yea, I was going to check it's MOT history and do a check on here: https://www.rapidcarcheck.co.uk/free-car-specs-by-entering-registration/ as that seems a decent enough site. - Once I get the REG, as their listing has that replaced with a dealer REG, when i view it i'll ask for the number so I can do a check at home. 

 

Autotrader says the roadtax is £330 PA, with my current GTC being £168 roughly. 

 

[GlosRich]

Looks pretty tidy, might even have a sports exhaust on it. Looks like Michelin pilot sport tyres also.

 

The price is right at the top end I think, it should be closer to £12k.

 

If they wont negotiate, maybe ask them to supply and fit a double din sat nav unit with bluetooth that you need?

[Lewis75]

7 minutes ago, GlosRich said:

Looks pretty tidy, might even have a sports exhaust on it. Looks like Michelin pilot sport tyres also.

 

The price is right at the top end I think, it should be closer to £12k.

 

If they wont negotiate, maybe ask them to supply and fit a double din sat nav unit with bluetooth that you need?

 

Yea, it looks in really good condition from the pictures, I couldn't quite make out the tyres though, but i'll see them up close tomorrow so I can see exactly what they are!

 

Yea, i was going to see if I could negoiate it down to 11.5/12k but asking them to do the Head Unit for me instead is a good idea if they won't budge, hadn't thought of that! I was just going to go to halfords and get them to supply and fit it for me as my friend used them before and it went well.

 

It seems like a good car to get, I'll do the checks and stuff tomorrow and might end up becoming a porsche owner! (I've owned vauxhalls up until now!)

[GlosRich]

The head unit install should be easy for them, you just need an adapter cable, keep the old unit to put back in when you sell the car.

 

So on the test drive get it warm and then check it brakes from speed in a straight line, doesnt pull to one side, check the clutch is smooth, not with a high bite point, and check the aircon works.

 

After the test check the oil level on the trip computer screen with the car idling:

 

 

[Lewis75]

4 minutes ago, GlosRich said:

The head unit install should be easy for them, you just need an adapter cable, keep the old unit to put back in when you sell the car.

 

So on the test drive get it warm and then check it brakes from speed in a straight line, doesnt pull to one side, check the clutch is smooth, not with a high bite point, and check the aircon works.

 

After the test check the oil level on the trip computer screen with the car idling:

 

Yea, i'll definitely keep the old unit.

 

Thank you for the tips on what to check for on the test drive! and after I've got a decent straight-ish A-Road just outside the dealer with roundabouts each end, I'll test it down there and check all the bits you said. Aircon is a definite need, especially with how the heat is currently! 

 

I'm just making a short list of things on my phone to check/ask about when I see it, going in prepared and all your help is greatly appreicated! 

[GlosRich]

Yeah let us know how you get on.

 

[Lennym1984]

The Gen1 oil level can only be checked with the engine off.

[Lewis75]

Bad news, they just rang and someone has put a deposit on the car so no viewing for me!

 

Back to hunting for cars. 

[GlosRich]

Oh no, oh well keep looking.