Hunting for my first Porsche

[fxn]

Hey all,

 

New here, considered a Boxster and 911 and finally now settled on a Cayman so have in earnest began my search. I was hoping you guys could sanity check what I'm after with a budget of £25,000

 

Must be:

- Cayman S

- Gen2

- Black in and out

- Manual

- Sub 75,000 miles

- Full Porsche or specialist history

 

Hopefully have:

- PASM

- PCM

- Parking sensors

- Heated seats

- Seats with crest

- Sport Chrono

- LSD

- Sports exhaust

 

Not fussed:

- Wheels

- Decals

- Sound package

 

Is that realistic on my budget and am I likely to find something like this in a really good condition?

 

Searching about having all of that in place from a dealer will probably push my budget over the limit? Anything in that 2nd list that doesn't make sense or should be dropped? For instance did they make heated seats with the crest?

 

Finally as I understand the Gen2 is unlikely to have serious problems provided it's been well serviced and looked after, would you still recommend getting an independent inspection on the car and if so is it likely the seller is happy to pay for that or would it be up to me or not bother?

 

Happy to wait a bit and travel for the right car (I'm in Surrey) but want to make sure what I'm after is reasonable and likely to be found

 

Thanks,

.FxN

[Porker]

Mine was $27k with PASM, heated seats are standard i think. Had 47000 at purchase and a major service with points, plugs, brake fluid change, front disks and drive belt from Dove House. It's one year on so you should be bale to squeeze what you want in. I was also looking for LSD but few had it, or perhaps didn't know it was there so not advertised. Go with a reputable Indy and you could risk no inspection. Dove house and a few others are also Indy garages so bit more insurance there. Ask for a rev report, they should be able to get one in a couple of mins. Any in the high bands walk away.

[Nis200K]

Don't think heated seats are standard, mine is a 2010 Cayman S and doesn't have them, wasn't a deal breaker for me as it had everything else on my wish list.

 

My advice would be to be realistic about what options you want, which it looks like you have been as plenty are on your Hopefully have list.

 

For peace of mind I would recommend buying from a reputable independent garage or getting an inspection done, you may have to pay for the inspection but providing the seller is prepared to put right anything wrong you should /could recoup that money & have piece of mind.

 

Theres also the option of an Porsche warranty, I'm sure others will be able to advise but I'm pretty sure that subject to an inspection (which you'll have to pay for) Porsche will offer (at cost) a warranty on cars up to 13 years old. You may also be required to replace any parts that are non OEM Porsche should there be any.

 

Good luck keep us posted on your search

[Idlewild]

Sport Chrono is a bit pointless without PDK

 

LSD is usually regarded as not making a tangible difference on this car as it doesn't have enough power and the chassis is so good. 

 

Black in and out is very boring and dark; be a pretty crappy place to be imo

 

Mine has heated seats with the crest.

[Woodhouse]

Mine is a Gen 1 manual but I really like the Sport Chrono for the more responsive throttle.  We have two Gen 1 S cars, the other one doesn't have SC so I am able to do back to back comparisons.  You can get this retrofitted (without the clock but I've never used that) or there are aftermarket versions.

 

Another option I really rate  is zenon headlights, especially as I get older!  That said, the aftermarket conversions seem to be quite good these days from what I've read.

 

[fxn]

Thanks for all the replies and the heads up to check the rev report! I'll keep you guys posted as to how I get on  Meanwhile if anyone is looking to part with their Gen2 matching above spec