I know there are other members that have owned or do own Cayman's-
Very seriously looking at a 2 owner 2008 base , manual with 140,000 miles
Have carfax history , trying to get dealer to let me get ppi -
What ha been your experience with ownership maintence etc???
My experience only involves 914's and also I had a 2001S Boxster
So I know what the 3.2 motor is like- this car has the 2.7 5 speed manual

Thanks for advice and help in advance .

Dr. Phil

updated: 01/09/2017(Monday!)

talked with dealer today, would allow a PPI locally - they might have a name/contact info from a local shop the sales manager that I talked to was going to try and get that for me, but if any of you are in that area or know of someone that would be great. - send me a PM or call me @ 843-812-6653 or a text would be fine as well.

2008 Cayman Review

Car & Driver


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v6q-2YAC5c


Reddit postings

Isn't 09 the year they "fixed" the IMS bearing issue with the motors?

Yes. That's why the earlier cars are cheaper...

That's a lot of mileage on that car.

Hi,
I own a 2007 Cayman S from new. I love it. It now has 40K miles.
140K for a 2008 is a lot of miles. That having been said, if the car was well taken care of and maintained it should be ok. With 140K the price should be very low.
I have a couple of friends that have the standard Cayman and they love them. They rev easily and are a lot of fun to drive. But by all means, do get a PPI done.
If the price is cheap enough, you can put some money aside for a 3.4L later on.
Good luck with your hunt for a Cayman.
Bill.

I want to know the maintenance history during those 140K miles. It's my understanding any Porsche dealer can pull the cars service history with just the VIN ?

Lots of service records indicated on the carfax , car I am looking at is listed for $14,999.
And if that there were almost 90k miles in a 4 year period by one owner- lots of highway miles during that time, so otherwise pretty typical 10k miles per year for the rest of its life - I do want a ppi, waiting to hear back on that-!

My 2009 Base Cayman has been my daily driver since new. I have 94K miles on it and it's never had a major issue. Very reliable car that's incredibly fun to drive. The IMS bearing thing on the earlier cars is real. And expensive. I'd recommend going with a 2009 or later, since you can easily find one of those for less than 20K. BTW...the base is 90% as fun as the "S". The "S" is 10% faster 0-60, and handling on both are identical. Great car. The fact that I'm still daily driving it 8 years later is a testament. When I had a BMW 3 series I couldn't wait for the lease to end...

If dealer won't let you take it for a PPI....walk fast.....Also, hopefully the oil has not been changed, and with oil and filter change the filter can be inpected for metal/debis. Remember the later models like more miles, much lower failure rate. Best, Mark

back when I got my 2000 Boxster S, I had service history of 10 years from the shop that performed it , so I went with that, but I had alrealdy done a PPI 2x and glad I did they both kept me from buying a car I probably would have regretted.

now, if anyone up in NC near Smithfield NC or Raliegh(about 45 minutes away) knows of a shop that can do a PPI , please pass the information on asap thanks!!

Be sure to get an over-rev report as part of the PPI.

I was not aware of this so I appreciate the suggestion. Did a search in this on the Renlist site- well explained .

So...what's the latest?

I had an 2008 Cayman S and loved it! I put about 65k miles on the car and never had a minute's problem with it. It handled beautifully and revved fast and smooth. I really felt connected to the car. The trunks are very useful, just like on our 914's.

They say the ones to avoid is the low mileage cars because the prolonged sitting meant longer times with "dry" IMS bearings to wear on start-up, while the ones driven frequently kept the bearings "wet" more frequently.

Make sure the water pump has been replaced recently, and plan to have it done every 50k miles.

Why did I get out out it? Worry about the IMS and knowing that the 2009's were getting old enough that their value was dropping closer and closer to the 08's...and with the demand higher for the 09 and later, the earlier cars values were about to hit the tipping point downward.

Crazy logic. Probably, but it convinced my wife that a 2012 Carrera S Cab was a good idea...

Not crazy logic, same I used with selling my boxster - although later I wish I'd just kept it and did the ims while I was doing the clutch- in the end I paid $12.5k, put almost 30 k miles in it in 3 years and sold it for the same price after only doing ignition switch tires and brake pads, rotors- yes so the '09 and newer don't have the ims issue- so I might go that way,
To answer Bill the latest is that I was talk g with my local Porsche mechanic and his shop has a 08 Cayman with the motor apart - was a high mileage motor too- in those cars the bearing is too large to just take out easily - so I don't think I will get an early car- probably pass in this one .... Unless they take my $10,000 offer then I will take a chance on it. But probably some poor unsuspecting idiot that does not know better will buy it .... Better him than me! If I find a car that has the ims done like a 996 i will go that direction - the '99 had the same 3.4 motor that the 06 Cayman has except you can get the bearing out and swap it with out pulling the motor apart.
I appreciate the info this will help me and also anyone elms that maybe shopping a boxster or Cayman. Right now I have a line on an03 Boxster with only 37k miles - still want a Cayman though!-

by the way the mechanic's opinion based on having to replace a few o fthese 06-08 cars that supposedly had a better and more robust IMS , is that they are all still ticking time bombs. they may last longer, but will still eventually fail. so with those it might be better to actually have a low mileage car not a high mileage car...... fuel for thought....