Drove a Porch for the first time

I concur that PDK is awesome. I never thought I would consider giving up a manual transmission but I'm really enjoying the paddle shift car I have now.

I don't recall the years, but certain years the IMS is NOT a serviceable item. To replace, you have to rebuild the motor.

Beginning in 2005 through 2008, you have to split the case to replace the IMS.  However, these cars also have a very low IMS failure rate.

In reply to Groats :

I've never heard of the m97 having that issue with rods. I know about the oiling issue during track use though. 

Groats said:

In reply to Tyler H :

I was racking my brain for something else.  Maybe import a RHD NSX from Japan?  That would certainly be an adventure.

In reply to ace37 :

That's good to know about the connecting rods.  Was reading over at rennlist something about them being weak and that you shouldn't rev the engine past 6k.  The folks over there seem a bit cautious.

The 2006 Cayman S I drove today is really starting to grow on me.  It was listed at 22k with "room to work with" according to the salesman.  I'm starting to get over the yellow paintjob too.

This is the ad.  The automatic is a typo.  A reasonable plan would be to hope to knock 2k off the price and then use that for a new clutch/IMS and be good with it?  Maybe have it plasti-dipped another color? 

At 71k miles, I'd say the IMS is a none issue. And that yellow is pretty dope, DO IT! 

PCA has recently put out some very good videos detailing the IMS bearing issue.

Only p-car I ever drove, or even rode in for that matter, was an 83 911 of some flavor I can't remember. Convertible, whale tail, manual, N/A, white... That was probably the most fun car I've ever driven. Direct, light, reasonably fast and with the top down it was easily as ~involved~ as any bike I've been on. What a car. I can only imagine they've gotten better...

You guys are awesome enablers!  Got a quote for an extended warranty. 4 years, 48,000 miles at $4,100.  Was surprised that they'd cover a 2006, but it was the gold package and covered just about everything.  Probably not worth it though.

In reply to Groats :

Typically not a good value. Plus it’s only as good as the company offering the policy. 

I’d just get the car and enjoy it! $4k for a warranty is quite a bit. I love the Cayman platform. 

What's the dedictable on that warranty?

In reply to Woody :

I'll give that a try!  In my perusing of their regular listings it seems that the cars at the dealerships list prices are a good 5-10k over what I'm seeing on autotrader.  Maybe the good deals get scooped up by guys using the email thing.

I want to say the deductible was $0, but I'm not sure if I got that far after the price.

I thought you drove a porch first time I was driven into a porch it hurt

I have not driven a Porsche in years.  Even then it was for a very short time.  But the fact that a brand new 911 Turbo (at the time) would do 100 mph in second gear.  Be still my heart..   lol

That warranty might be a better value than you think.

My buddy's first shop visit for his 996 was $2500... for new coolant hoses and an oil leak.  If you're not going to work on it yourself, it won't take long to reach $4k if you need work done.

A Porsche is the perfect car for an extended warranty -- it would make a lot of sense if the warranty company is worth a hoot.  I guarantee you that you can find something worth $4k to replace over 4 years of P-car ownership...if the warranty company doesn't suck.

I recently bought a 996.  Nothing is technically broken, but I have spent $3k in the first month in parts for deferred maintenance. Porsche parts ain't cheap.  

Honestly, for the cars that you’re considering, I’d be looking at what Carmax has to offer, and buy their warranty. 

I paid 2800 for the top tier extended warranty through the GM dealer for my duramax Silverado.  It’s still a 3rd party warranty,  but the dealer supports it and it had good reviews,  so we’ll see how it plays out.  The deductible is $100,  but it’ll pay for itself if I just need injectors,  like my last duramax truck that had no warranty.  Mine is 6 year/60k (additional) miles.

Well it looks like that car sold!  Kind of relieved as I wasn't in love with the color.  So back to the drawing board. 

The warranty is from a company called Endurance.  They have good reviews online for the most part.  Out of the four aftermarket warranty companies I've called they've been the only one to cover the car.

Groats said:

My other car is a Crammit :)

Brilliant!

This needs to be on a t shirt.

Tyler H said:

I don't recall the years, but certain years the IMS is NOT a serviceable item. To replace, you have to rebuild the motor.

Beginning in 2005 through 2008, you have to split the case to replace the IMS.  However, these cars also have a very low IMS failure rate.

Thanks. I am currently debating what I am going to do with my 996 so this is good for future consideration.

In reply to Woody :

I hear ya, but Carmax is marked up by at least 5k!  I'm too cheap for that! :)  If you could haggle with them I'd be in like flynn.

At least if nothing else I've got this exercised to where I know what I'm looking for - Cayman S 987.1 or .2, white or grey or silver, with black interior, preferably manual.  Although I still need to try PDK since it got the rave reviews earlier.  Don't care too much about options.  Drove a car with the PASM and it was like riding on cobblestones on the crappy roads around here.  It might be preferable not to have it since it makes changing shocks more difficult.

In reply to paranoid_android :

:)

You want PASM, especially if the car has 19 inch wheels. You can change from street suspension to track suspension mid-corner with the press of a button. 19 inch wheels and tires are brutal on the street without PASM.

As for warranties, my local indy shop here says that Route 66 is a good company to deal with. 

He told me they've worked with many and the only ones that have problems are the ones that expect to pay $75/hr labor in a BMW shop.

So the current quandary is:

1- Boxster S vs Cayman S.  The Boxsters are a bit cheaper than the Cayman and I go back and forth as to which I like better.  Not sure if having a rag-top in a city that rains for half the year is the best idea too.

2-987.2 S vs 981 S.  The prices here are a bit closer so it comes down to preference.  After listening to lots of exhaust videos, the 981 sounds better to me.  I like the pops and gurgles from the exhaust, which seem harder to get in the 987. 

3-PDK vs manual.  Kind of leaning towards the PDK just for something different.  Traffic is lousy here and the PDK has amazing reviews.

4- All of the cheap M3's at Carmax.  You can get a 2008 M3 for the mid 20's there.  It's a lot of car and throwing in the warranty they have makes ownership hopefully less painful.

Went to Carmax today and drove a 2014 Cayman base with the PDK.  The PDK was great!  It did seem a little underpowered and kind of slow to speed up when I was crawling along.  It felt a little like turbo lag, without the turbo of course.  The Cayman S probably solves that problem with 50 more HP.  What I liked most was the black gauges and white numbers.  It reminded me of my mom's 1969 911 that started this whole journey.  So as it turns out, the Cayman S models normally came with a grey gauge instead of a black one.  Stupid.  You can get a 987.2 Cayman S "Black Edition" that has black gauges.  There are 3 of them for sale that I could find and they run about 50k.  Most of the 981 Cayman S models are running around 50k too.  And as it turns out that's also the price of the a 997.2 Carrera in the 2009 and 2010 vintage.  I think I'd rather have a 911 than a Cayman at the end of the day, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend that kind of money, at least for now.

Kind of back to the drawing board , but am also looking at the 987.2 Boxster S since they are a bit cheaper.  Not sure how great a convertible is going to be in Seattle, but you never know.