Future newbie - i hope!

[heyho]

Hi All.

I am on another journey, and another registration to a different forum!!

After owning a couple of TT's, then a BWM Z4 i am now going one better and today i am looking at a 2006 Cayman S with 60000 Kilometres

I was pretty handy with the TT's as quite a few things went wrong, coil packs a number of times, various sensors just packing up etc, and with the Beemer, well lets not go there!

So i am looking at a CS this afternoon, and having never owned a Porsche i am completely in the dark as to what to look at and what are the common problems or issues you should need to know before test driving a buying a CS, this is where you guys come in :notworthy:

Would you be able to point me in the right direction of what to look for or listen out for when looking at the car today?

Hopefully there is nothing wrong, i negotiate a good price and i will re-join you guys for a long Cayman relationship! :cheers:

Edited August 28, 2010 by heyho

[AaronButler]

Hey heyho,

The 1st generation is a pretty robust car. However, when you start reading about issues with the vehicles you're sure to come across discussion about the IMS (Intermediate Shaft - or more specifically, the bearing that supports it). The 986 generation Boxster engines had many issues with these bearings. When they fail, they take the rest of the engine with them. The 987 generation, including the 06-08 Cayman, has a more robust design but it's still less than ideal. Failures are rare, but they do happen. The conventional wisdom is to change your oil often, check for debris in the oil filter, and drive the car like it was meant to be driven (really - there is some anecdotal evidence that a higher mileage car is less prone to an IMS failure than a lower mileage car of the same vintage). The only true fix is an upgraded bearing, but you have to drop the engine and split the crankcase to install it in a 987's M97 engine.

That's about it. If you're going to track a 1st generation Cayman, you may also wish to add some oiling enhancements.