Porsche

[scott133]

My dad is looking at getting a Porsche since he has finished paying his mortgage

He's looking at either a cayman s or a Carrera of some sort

I'm just wondering if anyone on here has any experience of these type of cars and knows what to look for?

 

[Araf]

Yes, we've had a few Boxsters. Without knowing your dad's reason for having one, it's difficult to say what he should get. If he wants the Porsche to cross it from his bucket list, then only a 911/Carrera will do. If he wants a very accomplished 2 seater (with more luggage room than a 911) then a Cayman or Boxster will be the better bet.

Personally, if I was spending £20k, then I would go for a 996 Turbo. It will be 10 years old now, but still a ballistic car to drive. For the same money, you could get a 997 Carrera 2, a slightly newer 987 Cayman or a 987.2 Boxster.

Service parts are about double of what you'd pay for BMW parts, but labour costs are not a lot more than any main dealer charges.

www.boxa.net is a good resource, as is www.forums.rennlist.com for 911s. Stay away from Pistonheads. Lots of the frequent posters in the Porsche area used to be dicks, and I doubt it has changed.

 

[scott133]

Yes, we've had a few Boxsters. Without knowing your dad's reason for having one, it's difficult to say what he should get. If he wants the Porsche to cross it from his bucket list, then only a 911/Carrera will do. If he wants a very accomplished 2 seater (with more luggage room than a 911) then a Cayman or Boxster will be the better bet.

Personally, if I was spending £20k, then I would go for a 996 Turbo. It will be 10 years old now, but still a ballistic car to drive. For the same money, you could get a 997 Carrera 2, a slightly newer 987 Cayman or a 987.2 Boxster.

Service parts are about double of what you'd pay for BMW parts, but labour costs are not a lot more than any main dealer charges.

www.boxa.net is a good resource, as is www.forums.rennlist.com for 911s. Stay away from Pistonheads. Lots of the frequent posters in the Porsche area used to be dicks, and I doubt it has changed.

Thanks for that I'll get a look at those sites

He's leaning towards the 911/Carrera but for the same money he can get a newer cayman. He only wants a hardtop so a boxter is out of the question. He just wants something to use at the weekends really I think

 

[waitey]

My dad was in a similar situation, he was looking at new boxter S or a base 911 but he test drove a Z4M and said it was a much better car to drive because it felt like a proper animal and sounded so much better but that was a daily.

If I was going to get a weekend car for around the same price as a newish cayman and weekend alone a lotus exige would put a bigger smile on my face and would perform much better overall.

Owning a Porsche is just a status thing IMHO as there's a lot of other cars out there that give more thrills.

 

[scott133]

He's always wanted on so it is really just a status thing for him anyway

 

[Nick3814]

The main thing to look out for on any cayman or similar age 911 is the RMS (rear main seal) its between the engine and gear box and there were a lot of failures which were sorted under warranty as its an expensive job (upto 1.5k) I've had many Porsches in the past, great cars but don't loose fact that they're VERY expensive to maintain!

 

[Araf]

The main thing to look out for on any cayman or similar age 911 is the RMS (rear main seal) its between the engine and gear box and there were a lot of failures which were sorted under warranty as its an expensive job (upto 1.5k) I've had many Porsches in the past, great cars but don't loose fact that they're VERY expensive to maintain!

The RMS is just a seal. Replacing it costs around the £500 mark at a good Indy, and most people leave it until they need a new clutch. All it will do is leave a few drops of oil on your drive - we ran one of ours with a weeping seal for over 30k miles.
The real problem is the intermediate shaft bearing. If this goes, then it trashes the engine. Luckily, it doesn't happen very often.

As I said before, if a 911 is on the wish list of the OP's dad, then a Cayman isn't going to be good enough.

 

[scott133]

The main thing to look out for on any cayman or similar age 911 is the RMS (rear main seal) its between the engine and gear box and there were a lot of failures which were sorted under warranty as its an expensive job (upto 1.5k) I've had many Porsches in the past, great cars but don't loose fact that they're VERY expensive to maintain!

Cheers forth at I'll let him know

 

[Nick3814]

The main thing to look out for on any cayman or similar age 911 is the RMS (rear main seal) its between the engine and gear box and there were a lot of failures which were sorted under warranty as its an expensive job (upto 1.5k) I've had many Porsches in the past, great cars but don't loose fact that they're VERY expensive to maintain!

Cheers forth at I'll let him know

No problem Scott, I've got many years experience with Porsches, owned several and worked on many if your dads got any questions by all means drop me a line and if I don't know the answer I know a man who definitely will!

 

[MovingShadow]

My dad owned a Porsche Carrera 3.0 SC from 1979.

For him, the old Porsches are the real Porsches, the newer versions aren't the same anymore he says.

It was an old car maybe but in excellent condition.. the sound it made gave me a chill across my spine.

Didn't even had a radio but you didn't really need one as the music it made was nice enough. It was a summer and/or weekend car only, wasn't driven when it was raining or winter.

 

[scott133]

No problem Scott, I've got many years experience with Porsches, owned several and worked on many if your dads got any questions by all means drop me a line and if I don't know the answer I know a man who definitely will!

I will do nick thanks

 

[Araf]

No problem Scott, I've got many years experience with Porsches, owned several and worked on many if your dads got any questions by all means drop me a line and if I don't know the answer I know a man who definitely will!

I will do nick thanks

I would also add that when he goes to seriously look at a car, then having someone (like Nick maybe?) with him that knows what to look for would be a very good idea. £1000 for a set of brakes could easily be negotiated into a deal, if you have someone to point out the problems.

 

[scott133]

I would also add that when he goes to seriously look at a car, then having someone (like Nick maybe?) with him that knows what to look for would be a very good idea. £1000 for a set of brakes could easily be negotiated into a deal, if you have someone to point out the problems.

He's considering taking a specialist with him when he sees one he likes because he really wants a good one