A few questions from a potential buyer

[malakiuk]

Hi all,

I'm looking for my next toy, one of options i'm looking at is a Cayman. As with most cars of this sort its not the cost of buying them but rather the cost of maintaining them, so if anyone could help me with an average cost of the following, it would be appreciated:

Clutch:
Service:
Tyres:
Brakes:
Cambelt (i'm assuming it has one)
Anything else that is likely to go on these?

And most importantly, what are they like to live with? the past few cars I've had have been most troublesome

 

Any help you guys can give would be awesome

[richjar]

Firstly good choice I thinking of a Cayman... they are fantastic cars

I had my 2010 Cayman S serviced last year. This was the third service "6 year" service so was a minor service + bits eg PDK oil

 

The following itemised actions were completed...

I had the work completed by a specialist- Precision Porsche whom I cannot recommend highly enough as they were ace.

The price was £650+ VAT (I did have PSE retrofitted as well so that was extra... but worth it)

 

 987/C G2 DFI 20K/Minor service
Vehicle service as per manufacturers requirements.
System scan and function check, reset service light.
Inclusive of all service parts and lubricants.
Includes clean water drain tubes and radiator ducts.
Parts
9A110702400 Oil filter
90012310630 Drain plug seal
99757121901 Pollen Filter
Oil Mobil-1 0W/40 Fully Synthetic
98711013301 Air filter 6 years.
Brake fluid change
Changed brake fluid.
Includes DOT4 Brake fluid
987/C G2 Replace alternator belt
Replaced alternator belt.
9A110221601 Drive belt, alternator
987/C Gen 2 PDK transmission fluid change
Drain PDK hydraulic oil and refill with new.
9G132180500 Oil level/fill plug PDK transmission
9G132182501 Oil drain plug PDK transmission
00004330513 Gear oil PDK transmission

 

£652

 

What previous cars have you had troubles with?

[Andy]

Hello and welcome to the club

Not owning one myself I can't really comment on the ins and outs of daily costs, so will let a more qualified owner fill in the blanks for you. 

 

Do you have a preference to either a Cayman or Cayman S? 

[briggy]

Official Porsche Centre Tewkesbury are now doing fixed price servicing at under £500 incl VAT. Considering that's only every two years, then that's not too bad. Just had my brake fluid changed by them at £95 incl VAT.

 

There are lots of horror stories about bore scoring, IMS & RMS failure. You'll have to make your own mind up about how likely this is, but remember that you're likely to find tales of woe, but not many postings saying "another day without any catastrophic failure". The later 987 engines (>= 2009) don't even have an IMS.

 

If you're going to take the plunge, buy from a reputable indy such 911 Virgin, RPM Technic, Dove House etc. They will explain anything to you, rather than just sell you what they have.

 

This forum is a great place to ask questions.

 

Cheers,

Bryan

[Porker]

3 hours ago, malakiuk said:

Hi all,

I'm looking for my next toy, one of options i'm looking at is a Cayman. As with most cars of this sort its not the cost of buying them but rather the cost of maintaining them, so if anyone could help me with an average cost of the following, it would be appreciated:

Clutch:
Service:
Tyres:
Brakes:
Cambelt (i'm assuming it has one)
Anything else that is likely to go on these?

And most importantly, what are they like to live with? the past few cars I've had have been most troublesome

 

Any help you guys can give would be awesome

No cam belt, its a timing chain so piston shaking hands with the valves should not be an issue. Not something that should ever need changing under normal ownership. 

[Beanoir™]

Welcome!

 

As for the items you've listed; 

 

Clutch: depends how it's driven, but at 40k miles I'd start thinking it might in my experience
Service: generally fixed priced services, plus extras such as brakes and aux belts etc 
Tyres: depends on wheel size and quality of tyres.  Fronts don't wear very quick, but rears can.  The latest Michelin tyres do last a while though and worth investing in
Brakes: if you're happy with a spanner then OE brakes can be bought from the likes of EuroCarParts at a fraction of the cost and fitted quite easily.  These IMO are the biggest rip off part at any dealer to have fitted.  
Cambelt: doesn't have one, but aux belt needs changing at 6 year interval, costs about £100.  

 

Make sure you check the condition of the front radiators/condensers (seen behind front bumper) as these are a known part that needs replacing if not looked after. 

 

Are you looking at a gen1 or gen2?

[PorscheGT4]

Cheaper than a Ferrari, Macca, Merc, or BMW M car

More expensive than a Ford or a Vauxhall

 

So depends what you are expecting.

if you say £500 min service, £1000 for the bigger one, £1k for tyres and 25 mpg you are about there.

[Graham]

Servicing costs can be reduced by finding a good independent. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=394669

Additionally, front brake disks corrode quite quickly (2-3 years) - can by £600-£800 fitted or £300 parts only for diy.

[Beanoir™]

So mine went in to RPM Technik today, first time I've used them as I now live too far away from Paragon (who I still recommend).  

 

Car has done 24k miles but some items were required for age reasons.  So the following was done; 

 

Major service (exc. plugs) including 

- oil change 

- air filter

- pollen filter 

- oil filter 

Aux. Drive belt supplied and changed 

Brake fluid change 

MOT 

 

total bill came to £782 which I didn't think was too bad, bearing in mind it was a major service and only a 2 yearly occurrence 

 

[Bushman]

I got a service quote today from Nick at Auto 2000, Bedford, inc spark plugs at £370 + vat, minus £30 if by then Ive put a Pipercross of K&N air filer in.

 

[PorscheGT4]

On ‎27‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 10:04, Graham said:

Servicing costs can be reduced by finding a good independent. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=394669

Additionally, front brake disks corrode quite quickly (2-3 years) - can by £600-£800 fitted or £300 parts only for diy.

I have had 4 Caymans never had front disks corrode !  My Car is 5 years old the front disks are still ok. As are most peoples.
Strange info there imo  as for front disks prices you can buy a front disk and fit it for a lot less than £300, you can buy a pair of Bremo disks for £170, or OEM reps which are the same unit for £120.

Edited January 28, 2017 by PorscheGT4

[Graham]

On ‎28‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 13:04, PorscheGT4 said:

I have had 4 Caymans never had front disks corrode !  My Car is 5 years old the front disks are still ok. As are most peoples.
Strange info there imo  as for front disks prices you can buy a front disk and fit it for a lot less than £300, you can buy a pair of Bremo disks for £170, or OEM reps which are the same unit for £120.

Hi Porsche GT4,

I assume that you must drive your cars harder than my wife will allow. My local specialist showed me the disks before replacement and the inside faces were corroded for 1-2cm from the outside edge. Apparently, if used as a weekend pride and joy, the disks don't get hot enough to keep clear given the cold air blasted at the back face by the cooling ducts.

If I used the cars for track days then this would not be a problem, but at 2,500 miles per year it becomes a maintenance cost.

As ever, YMMV

[PorscheGT4]

I think a lot of people wash their cars and put them away wet.

 

A used car is a happy car.

[crafty1]

On 26 January 2017 at 16:09, malakiuk said:

Hi all,

I'm looking for my next toy, one of options i'm looking at is a Cayman. As with most cars of this sort its not the cost of buying them but rather the cost of maintaining them, so if anyone could help me with an average cost of the following, it would be appreciated:

Clutch:
Service:
Tyres:
Brakes:
Cambelt (i'm assuming it has one)
Anything else that is likely to go on these?

And most importantly, what are they like to live with? the past few cars I've had have been most troublesome

 

Any help you guys can give would be awesome

Hi

 

I've just signed up because I took the plunge and bought a Gen 2 Cayman S (2009) with 58,000 miles on the clock, it is currently at the independent dealer having a new clutch and flywheel fitted at a cost of £1300, these are not OEM parts but sachs and Luks which im told are on a par quality wise, so if you buy a car around this mileage and it has not been done I think it's worth budgeting for.

 

Service cost I think best shop around with the Porsche specialists, but I will do annual oil changes and I just bought 10 litres of Mobil 1 for approx £80 and a OEM oil filter for £20.

 

Tyres I will be switching to Michelin super sports next, my car has 19 inch wheels and they came in at £850 from Camskill (unfitted)  I will do 3 or 4 track days and about 5,000 miles per year so I expect this will be an annual cost.

 

Brakes I just bought 2 rear Brembo discs for the car at cost of £170 so not bad imo.

 

So whilst these aren't cheap cars to run I don't think they are much worse than many others, there seems a good amount of specialist dealers and if you don't mind doing a bit of labour youself then it shouldn't be too bad. A lot is written about gen1 and gen2 engines, I went for gen 2 for piece of mind but a properly checked (bore scoped) gen 1 car I would have been happy with if it was properly checked and for road use only. 

 

By the way it's actually a lot of car for the money, I am pretty impressed so far and thats from someone who has had a 996 GT3 in the past ( gt3 engine aside ) these are not as far behind as 911 owners would have you believe ! 

[crafty1]

Ref above just found out I am wrong regarding the dual mass flywheel for Gen 2 cars, dealer only changed the clutch in the end because DMF was ok and actually there is no OE supplier for them on the Gen 2 cars so it's a Porsche only part which is £820 plus vat ! 

 

 

[PorscheGT4]

PS4s is the new MPSS and is a better tyre now btw.