Problems with a recently bought a (2007) Cayman S

Hi, I decided to sign up and post about recent troubles with a recently purchased cayman and was wondering if anyone had any advice. So, the first day I drive the car home it’s magnificent but now a few days later I find out it’s leaking coolant, using up way too much gas, and having misfires. Im talking to the people who sold me the vehicle and they are cooperating but it feels like they want to put a band aid on it and not fix the root of the problemI believe I am entitled to repairs on the power train due to a state mandated warranty on used cars. ive been looking at quite a few threads on here and realize it could be a dirty maf or leaky hoses. It’s just very frustrating maybe I just needed a place to vent lol. But any advice would be appreciated.

Whatever you do, if you're going to keep driving it buy some pentosin and keep the coolant at level, if you overheat it you're really risking expensive damage, head gasket or worse. Finding the leak would be easier with all the bottom ground effects panels off, if it's not blatantly apparent then, place some paper underneath overnight to drill down on the location.

You ask for advice. Have it towed to your local independent Porsche garage and have them give you an estimate of whats wrong. Anything else is speculation, and someone is going to have to fix it. Driving it is a pretty big gamble based on your description. Make the call. Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Yea, I’m definitely not driving it around right now, I don’t want to damage it any further. Thank you for the advice. I’m planning on telling them to have a Porsche technician take a look it in order to find the specific problem in order to save time and money in the long run.

I understand why you are riled, but don't lose faith, you'll get it straightened out.

You really need to get a Porsche Dealer to go over the car and find out what is exactly wrong, I would pay the bill myself and sort out the responsibility after you have a report.

Since it appears as though you didn't get a Pre Purchase Inspection (PPI) by an experienced Porsche service mechanic, it would be in your best interest to do so now. Typically they cost about $300 or so and they go over the entire car to determine what if anything might be wrong. Money well spent. Then you can decide a repair sequence and facility to use in getting the car ready to enjoy. Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

You already know it's in disrepair, my two cents is spend the 300 as part of the remedy. Trust me if they find more to fix and bill for you'll know about it quickly, just ask them to look it over and contact you if needed. I had two tires replaced on my truck and they called me not once but twice claiming it needed a brake flush I had just completed thirty days prior. Tell the first tech, twenty minutes later another one calls with the same claim. What are you fellas basing this on? Does it taste funny? You have to watch yourself out there in the slipstream. One time on my company car a tech told me the tie rods have nothing to do with the steering. Hey buddy guess what I did before I wore this suit? Perhaps you'd like to share what their function is then Mr. Wizard.

Any chance you can just return the car to the seller? Seems like you bought a can of worms. It sounds like you bought from a non- Porsche used-car dealership. If so, I wouldn't trust their "service" guys to diagnose the problems. BTW, did you get a Carfax and/or get any maintenance history on the car?

^ This ^ is a good idea but it's likely to meet resistance. My last tip: If polite persistence yields no love for either monetary concession or refund, write a fact only, no emotion letter to your state Attorney General, I had to do it once for a boat and believe me they changed their position immediately.

Ya find a competent tech... Can you see where the leak is coming from? Using too much fuel? Compared to the first day you had it vs now? and now a misfire... hmmm, sounds like injectors sticking open and killing your spark (misfire)... find that leak... Smoking? White sludge in the oil? As said above it’s all speculation or... take it back... if that’s what you do don’t touch it... leave it as is

I took it to a local independent shop that specializes in Porsches for a pre purchase inspection and they said the only thing wrong was a cut in a tire and a rear light needed replacing. The car fax was clean. Seems like I should have taken to one now and if they don’t want to fix it or refuse the car return I’ll write the attorney general. I see no leaks of coolant on the ground. I remember hearing a hiss in the coolant cap like it was escaping but I don’t think it would lose litres of coolants that way in a day. Yeah I filled up Tuesday and drove it less than 50 miles and it’s already between the 2nd to last and last section. i was also looking at the manual and I found a receipt from the previous owner for a tire change. It has his name on it, do you guys think it would be weird if I tried to contact him?

You just proved what I've been preaching about PPI's since the internet fell deeply in love with them. As for the PO, that could go either way, that individual might tell you a lot or be happier to be left alone given where this might be going.

Wait... so it’s not leaking out anywhere? But your loosing coolant? That hissing cap is suck air into your coolant system... this is bad, get a new cap and fill it up .... start with that coolant lose: you could possibly have a HG issue (but I’m not there)... water loss and no puddle makes me wonder straight away PPI’s is a place to start especially if you don’t know what your looking for... I’ve never got one....

that sucks, yeah buying all used cars need to be careful. I bought an blown bmw E30 before but HG is easy on that car. Just get it checked out, quick coolant pressure test will show the leaks if nothing external then is the head......hope you can get some money back from the seller. you can try to contact previous owner just be nice about it, if they have nothing to hide will probably reply back.

My experience with rapid coolant loss was caused by a faulty water pump that failed. Replaced it and everything was good after that. Cayman S , 2007

In my state, private party sales with cars over 10 years old or 100k miles are sold "as is". Many states have the same rules for dealerships as well.

An idea you could try. Reach out to the local PCA chapter. Find the guys that handle the tech for the D/E programs. The chapters I frequent, these guys are usually mechanics and they might be able to get you going in the right direction. You can throw a can of Berryman in the fuel to try to clean up some of the gunk in the injectors pretty cheaply. If you assume the car to be relatively original replacing the coils and injectors is not a bad thing....but I would try to get the supporting info first. A good scanner for your car is a must. While the engine is not as accessible as most cars you can remove the top cover and the cover behind the seat rather easily to gain access to what you need. You can do it yourself if you have the time and patience, or you can use the novice tool box. Hammer, pliers, checkbook. Think it through, there is nothing magical in there. Best of luck!

I bought my 2004 BS on eBay from Cali unseen but with a PPI done by some shop out there. It was good for day or so then CEL lights came on. Probably they were cleared before sale and hadn't cycled thru enough to reappear on deliver. It ended up needing cats and o2 sensors replaced (2k + at Porsche ) which I got from a dismantlers with a guarantee & free shipping for $750. My point is you need to know if the shop you go to is any good. Speak to other Porsche owners in area or better still as noted above contact your PCA region tech director. They can tell who to use or may even often to check it out for you. Given your situation I would go back to this Porsche shop and say WTF, how did you miss all this. Plus I would contact the prior owner and ask if he can add anything that might help you get the car right. Also remember this car is 13 years old and unless it was well cared for it may need a lot of crap. I felt at the time that 04 would be my last Porsche for many years so I went thru it from top to bottom, front to back and basically built a new car putting $25k into the car. Would have been fine if I kept it. But a bought a new Spyder in 2016. So the guy who bought it for +4k more than I paid for it got 21k in free stuff and a super car for $17k. Good luck putting your car right.