17 replies to this topic

[e7 jmc]

If at some point in the future I find a deserving new owner for my VX I am considering a Cayman 3.4s as a replacement for my daily and vx.  Do any .org people have experience, owned one ?

 

Realise it will be a different driving experience but looking for some feedback good, bad indifferent.

 

T.I.A

[CocoPops]

Pete.

[Sutol]

I have a 2015 Cayman S. Great car, drove it at Spa last year. But wished I was driving the VX. However getting there and back was far more comfortable. Love the car though, build quality and attention to detail second to none. Went for the PDK and no regrets, albeit so easy to drive. Any questions you've got, fire away, I'll be as honest as I can. C

[pete-r]

I had a manual 987.2 S I sold just before the winter. Was my third Porsche and the best of the bunch, it's superbly balanced from the factory and the perfect size.

Good pace, nice build and a great soundtrack were the good points. Harsh ride (no PASM), boot lid creaking and a lack of mod cons on a 2009 car were the only negatives.

I'd recommend a warranty though. My car had a broken horn which neither an Indy or Porsche could diagnose quickly. Changing some control modules with labour the warranty claim was close to £3000!

Also I wouldn't track it with any regularity, because it's too much money for me to fix and I think it would eat consumables.

I sold it because I only used it for fun and it always lost out to the VX when deciding which car to take for a blast.

If you want one car to do everything the Cayman S is a great choice.

Edited by pete-r, 02 January 2020 - 09:02 PM.

[e7 jmc]

Thanks guys good feedback

[fiveoclock]

Are there any engines/years/models to avoid with regard to engine failures?

[pete-r]

Short answer Mark is yes, but I suspect the internet has made the issues seem bigger than they are.

987.1 from 2006-09 share the engine design with the 9x6 cars and have reported IMS failures and bore scoring. When I had my car inspected the first question they asked was if it was a .1 as the inspection costs are higher needing a visual bore inspection.

Engine rebuilds are £4-8k depending on who does it, or for about £14k you get an LS3 V8 shoehorned in to the back of it!

987.2 cars from 2009-12 have a much better reputation. They have the DFI engine and are easy to spot with a different intake manifold. Outside there are changes but some .1 cars have the .2 bumpers so check the engine. There are no IMS or scoring issue on these engines to my knowledge. They sound a lot rougher than the older engines though, even when in perfect health.

In all cases S models seem to suffer more than 2.7/2.9's. Assume it's compression and thinner cylinder walls to blame.

Other general stuff is that they can plume smoke on start up which puts people off but it's often oil seep into the the horizontal cylinder being burnt off and it clears in seconds. If not its more than likely an oil/air separator.

981 cars from 2012-15 I'm not sure about exact differences but I've not heard of any engine issues, the only 981 issue I know of is strut tower failures on GT4 cars.

[Sutol]

Thinking of getting one Mark?

One of the other things that seems to be a problem is the ignition coils. Being directly above the exhaust manifold does seem to accelerate the failure rate. I've had 2 go.

[fiveoclock]

Maybe. So any 2010 on car will have the less problematic engine?

[pete-r]

Yes, they are much more reliable.

[fiveoclock]

👍

[e7 jmc]

Short answer Mark is yes, but I suspect the internet has made the issues seem bigger than they are.

987.1 from 2006-09 share the engine design with the 9x6 cars and have reported IMS failures and bore scoring. When I had my car inspected the first question they asked was if it was a .1 as the inspection costs are higher needing a visual bore inspection.

Engine rebuilds are £4-8k depending on who does it, or for about £14k you get an LS3 V8 shoehorned in to the back of it!

987.2 cars from 2009-12 have a much better reputation. They have the DFI engine and are easy to spot with a different intake manifold. Outside there are changes but some .1 cars have the .2 bumpers so check the engine. There are no IMS or scoring issue on these engines to my knowledge. They sound a lot rougher than the older engines though, even when in perfect health.

In all cases S models seem to suffer more than 2.7/2.9's. Assume it's compression and thinner cylinder walls to blame.

Other general stuff is that they can plume smoke on start up which puts people off but it's often oil seep into the the horizontal cylinder being burnt off and it clears in seconds. If not its more than likely an oil/air separator.

981 cars from 2012-15 I'm not sure about exact differences but I've not heard of any engine issues, the only 981 issue I know of is strut tower failures on GT4 cars.

 

[e7 jmc]

great info Pete answered a few questions I had

[siztenboots]

I have the 3.2S M96 engine in my 986 , it has the thicker casting block between cylinders , which later got bored out to the bigger displacement. The heads and cams are same in the later 3.4L which makes easy bits to upgrade to. The stock 3.2 is very detuned.

[jonnyboy]

I had a 2010 3.4 S PDK fantastic car they are hard to find a decent spec as the options list is very expensive when they are new. My old one had PDK/Sports exhaust/LSD/Buckets/Carbon brakes it was a mega car loved it. Knocking on now agewise though and they can be expensive to look after (anything will be after the VX to be fair) the 987 variant up to 2012/13 was the last of the cars to have hydraulic steering so I would rather one of those than a 981 personally. 

 

They are very harsh on suspension components and I found with mine we seemed to be chasing steering and suspension faults quite often. It required a steering rack at 30k which was about £700 and that was done with a used rack. Exhaust was also replaced at a cost of £1500. I had a bad year with it that did about £4000 but you tend to get that with Porkers they will destroy you then you'll get 2/3 years where it's not ruining you.  

[ChippyFA]

I have a 987.1 cayman s a totally different car to the Vx. The Vx is raw were as the cayman is luxury coming from a stage 2 Vxt it at first seemed slow and I did not jell with the car at all to focused on the problems ims bore scoring. I’ve got past all of that now and love the dam thing, parts and labour are expensive but that’s part of owning one. Mine has most of the toys chrono pasm cruise control and carbon brakes.
I’ve Hooned in her last year and had a amazing time the handling is sublime feels more planted than the Vx ever did get it above 5k and it’s a different car and sounds amazing. I’m out in the peaks with fellow Vx owners it still gives them a run for the money.

[e7 jmc]

Guess its a lottery as with all cars, good bad and expensive. I was looking at a Gen2 3.4s low miles low owners around £15k 

[jonnyboy]

Gen 2 S kick off at low 20s for decent spec 25 for something with good resellable spec up to 30 for a late black edition or super high soec