QUOTE(skjl47 @ Jun 22 2019, 05:00 PM)
Hello; The Cayman is indeed a nice car. I know this will not help but a problem with the year models older than 2009 is the intermediate shaft bearing failures that plagued the flat six.
As I understand it models older than 2009 do not bring as much because of this issue. There was a class action against Porsche over this. Too late for current owners now.
I looked at a 2008 base cayman a couple weeks ago but passed as the dealer was just too high when I factored in the risk of a total engine failure.
There is a so so patch that is not too onerous if the car is a manual. That being to replaced that bearing when a clutch is replaced. Not a real fix but I guess will give some peace of mind.
Good luck to your friend.
All of the above is mis-information and mostly incorrect statistically.
WAAAY over discussed ad-nauseum on the other P-car forums.
First the base model has the 2.7 which on the 987.1 statistically to have an IMS failure is like being struck by lightening.
Second, the IMS on the 987.1 is non-serviceable and can only be replaced by splitting the case. L&N advises to pull the seal of the IMS out when the clutch is service to "lengthen" the service life. The bearing CAN be replaced only on the M96 motors.....the Cayman has the M97.
Most of the issues are on the 3.4 on the 987.1 and relate more to rods and bore-scoring than IMS issues.
The Cayman models are 987.1 -987.2 and 981 and finally the 718. Only the 987.1 has the IMS bearing and the M97.21 was redesigned by Porsche after the now infamous 986 M96 motors for which the poster mentions the class action.
I have a 987.1 and it has 85K miles on it. They are great cars at a bargain price because of all the hubabalu about IMS issues.
Any engine that just sits....even a TYPE IV will have issues if not maintained and driven. To my knowledge most Cayman that have been driven sanely and maintained regulary have had almost no IMS failures.
If anything, I'd stay away from a car 987.1 or 986 with super low miles. Garage Queens are most susceptible to IMS failure as already discussed....over and over again.
Edit:
I looked at Caymans for some time, and generally they fall into three classes:
1. Base model- Owner- I could barely afford it but I wanted a Porsche and love the car.
2. S- model with as many options as I can get- Owner- I love to go to Starbucks and talk about how many options it has. Low miles barely driven.
3. S-model bare options- Owner- Loves to drive it whenever they can, medium to higher miles for the age.
Clearly, this car is number 2.