Drove a new Cayman today. dilemma!

[Ali_Z4C]

Having driven my mother in laws 2006 cayman S a good few times it would be the Porsche for me too.... well until something went wrong with it anyway!

All I can say is make sure you take a warranty out on an older one! She has owned hers since 5 months old and it only has 30k on the clock, full porsche service history even down to getting the MOT's and tyres changed there, started smoking a bit earlier in the year and turns out is has suffered from the well documented bore scoring issue and 3 of bores were shot. New block later and they are presented with a bill for £12k Porsche were nice though and chipped in £3k good will! She's that p*ssed off she has just bought a Audi A1! So Cayman will be up for sale soon and somebody is going to get a bargain with the new engine and warranty etc I wonder if she will do a family discount

 

[tomscott]

I think the rear of the new Cayman is awful, almost like a beetle... that line with the spoiler and lights ruins the dynamic of the car.

The whole car looks a bit bland if you ask me...

Unlike the Z4M where every line has been agonised over


BMW Z4M Coupe with CSL wheels by TomScottPhoto, on Flickr

I havent driven the new Cayman, but drove the 997/2 GTS and that is a huge improvement over the 997 Cs.

 

[inkey$]

I would think the only negative of the Cayman are the maintenance issues. Or more precisely, The access issue for even the most mundane of engine bay issues. I imagine that one could about double the labor hours for the same task on the mid engine Porsche as a BMW setup.

+1 This would be my concern too.

 

[Maniac]

I think you can pick fault with any car. For me, the nose of the e85/e86 isn't right. The coupe Tom I agree with 90%, from almost any angle, its a superb looking car. But that nose, with the nostrils that don't take their line from anywhere, aren't in flow with the lights etc. spoil it. If you could get a more updated nose for the e85/e86 like that of the e89 then the e86 would be almost perfect.

I really like the styling of the new Porsche, if it had two more seats I'd have one tomorrow. As it is, paying another 20-30K for those two seats (911) is a bit too much.

 

[mcbeee]

I would think the only negative of the Cayman are the maintenance issues. Or more precisely, The access issue for even the most mundane of engine bay issues. I imagine that one could about double the labor hours for the same task on the mid engine Porsche as a BMW setup.

+1 This would be my concern too.

Not sure about that, my Boxster S just had inspections, clutch, IMS bearing done. It's all done on a hoist from below.
It only takes a couple of minutes to get the covers off the top of the engine in my Boxster S. and oil and coolant levels/top up are in the boot. Here, Porsche parts are marked up a huge amount (200% in some cases) but they can be acquired from indies for much less....
eg: My Indy can do an entire brake job using OEM mfg parts on the Box S for less than the dealer will sell me the parts for.

Audi, BMW, Porsche, even my Volvo's.... they all cost more :thumbsdown:

 

[inkey$]

I would think the only negative of the Cayman are the maintenance issues. Or more precisely, The access issue for even the most mundane of engine bay issues. I imagine that one could about double the labor hours for the same task on the mid engine Porsche as a BMW setup.

+1 This would be my concern too.

Not sure about that, my Boxster S just had inspections, clutch, IMS bearing done. It's all done on a hoist from below.
It only takes a couple of minutes to get the covers off the top of the engine in my Boxster S. and oil and coolant levels/top up are in the boot. Here, Porsche parts are marked up a huge amount (200% in some cases) but they can be acquired from indies for much less....
eg: My Indy can do an entire brake job using OEM mfg parts on the Box S for less than the dealer will sell me the parts for.

Audi, BMW, Porsche, even my Volvo's.... they all cost more :thumbsdown:

Really? Thats positive to hear. Wonder what the experience is like here in the UK.

 

[Mowflow]

Design truly is subjective. For me the E85/86 is a little over designed in some aspects. The nose is ugly and the swage lines echo the flow lines of a concept far too much. For me all of Bangles designs focus too much on carrying pointless lines across bodywork. His Fiat coupe design was another good example of typical Bangle design language. The shut line of the bonnet following to the line of the side skirt and in particular the wing line intersected by the indicator following the angle of the windscreen (only it doesn't, it's slightly out) are examples of Bangles over obsession with this.

Anyway. Cayman. 100% Cayman. The new one is brilliant, the old one was okay but would have been a harder decision. I can't think on a better option than the new Cayman S in that class at that price or even for bit more money.

 

[tomscott]

The kidney grills are a BMW design classic, but I agree they don't fit perfectly. Thing with the Cayman is, I don't know seeing them in the flesh they don't look like they have much presence, less Kudos. All down to the 911. Until they decide to sort out the lineup properly the Cayman will be a strange car, its almost a discarded love child but protected. Until they allow it full potential then it will be a great car. But will they ever kill off the 911.. nope. The 997/2 is def worth looking at tho, much much better car, and still has all the purist features everyone removed in the newer one.

So far the 911 has cost less than the M to service. The 911 has had more problems had two seals go was leaking oil which were 50p each, but the labour was about £300.

Many Porsche indies are approved by Porsche and are seen as equal unlike the BMW indies. They are incredibly efficient, we use Strasse and they are fantastic. Showed us round the shop and had the car up on the ramps showed us all the underside and went through a huge inspection list to ensure the car was fine, although the last was just an oil and brake fluid change.

They also send oil samples away for inspection with IMS problems etc

 

[mcbeee]

I spent a fair bit of time (too much if you ask the better half) in Porsche dealers and indies in the last year, the basics that I got are that the best handling car is the Boxster/Cayman, the Cayman S is the best bang for the buck (watch out for depreciation, it may be high), the Boxster or Cayman will never have the power output of a 911 as it would negatively impact 911 sales. (big surprise there :wink: )

I can positively say that after 2 Z3's , a 2003 Z4 , an E89 and an M3, the Boxster is way better handling,
my 911 seems to have a better engineered cabin. By that I mean that things just seem easier to do ..... ( the Cayman/Boxster cabin is almost identical). The 911 handling is a bit less than the Box but it is winter so the sport buttons aren't pressed much.. :roll: :roll:

and my Golden Retriever can sit in the back of the 911 on a platform of HD foam that I installed on the back seats.

Choosing between a Z and a Cayman, i'd get the Cayman ...

 

[Paul c]

Price I'm afraid you won't get a new Cayman for the price of a good spec Z4 I paid 34k for my 35imsport LCI brand spanking, add to that service charges,extended warrenty, anything that goes wrong etc,etc and its got to be the Z4 having said all that if all the prices were the same who would'ent want a Porsche.

 

[Zed Five]

Price I'm afraid you won't get a new Cayman for the price of a good spec Z4 I paid 34k for my 35imsport LCI brand spanking, add to that service charges,extended warrenty, anything that goes wrong etc,etc and its got to be the Z4 having said all that if all the prices were the same who would'ent want a Porsche.

Looking at a 2013 car in both cases, there is only about £2500 in it. - Porsche is a smidge more expensive.

 

[tomscott]

Ye and service/extended warranties are about the same...

I wouldn't call a 35 and a Cayman S comparable anyway, the 35 is a cruiser rather than an all out sports car. Which why in this category the Cayman wins.

 

[MickJ]

I've come from a Cayman S and a Boxster S to the 35is (both were 2006 models) both great cars, both will out handle a 35is though the 35is would just have the edge in a straight line, the Cayman in the right hands will out handle a 911 according to my Porsche dealer, the Cayman and Boxster both have very useable boot space more so than the 35is, the 35is is slightly better on fuel and only needs unleaded, you have to run the Porsches on Super Unleaded, Porsches smoke on start up (they all do it sir it's due to the engine configuration) I found that hard to live with, Porsches are surprisingly comfortable but so is the 35is, Cayman has a great induction sound behind your head on hard acceleration, Boxster exhaust aint bad, 35is exhaust is superb, I found that any Porsche with full leather looked awful (unless black) as it is full on in the cabin its everywhere where as the 35is is more tastefully done. The Porsches also had lots of little niggles even down to things like leaves getting into the air intakes and rotting the rads, have a look at this forum: http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?act=idx there are some 981 owners on there.

I prefer the 35is as said it's more of a cruiser which suits my driving style, it's better equipped, having said that the new 981 Cayman is a lovely looking car (but you can't put the roof down in the summer) and they drive like they are on rails, good luck and enjoy whatever you do.

 

[Zed Five]

Mickj, great info. - thanks v much!

 

[original guvnor]

The new Cayman is much better looking than the old one, if a bit sterile, if you know what I mean. Looks a really good car but how in the hell it costs more than a Boxster I'll never know. It's too expensive, as is the 991, which is why the latter is tanking on the used-car market.

Great buy nearly new though, or ex-demo with plenty of kit.

I'd take one over the E89 because I found the E89 had moved away from what i wanted in a car, which was a rawer, more exciting drive. I don't want cosseting, fancy interiors, boulevard cruising etc and I don't want a turbo.

 

[mad4slalom]

i agree with maniac that the coupe is very slightly let down by the front end, it is the worst feature of the car, but like you say its 95% right .