Looking to purchase a 2009 Base Cayman - 64k miles @$28k

Hello, I am looking at this 2009 Cayman with PDK . Seller has agreed on $28k sale price. From the photos, car looks great. I haven't test driven nor have gotten it evaluated by a mechanic. I know that there is no straight answer but would you guys go for this car at the $28k asking price? Any major big ticket items i should be aware of on a car with this mileage? This would be my first Porsche and all my knowledge is from Youtube. So I am skeptical of making the move. Any Advice?

One thing is certain, at that age and mileage it should have new PDK fluid and filter change receipt.

Thank you for the response. If it is not done, How much would it cost to replace the PDK Fluid? Any ball park estimate?

Not sure, my mileage is low and the car shifts like a rifle bolt so I've delayed changing mine. It will 100% be less at an Indy wrench but they need PIWIS to make adjustments and any software updates. I'd suspect $1,500 might not be far off, the fluid itself is mad expensive.

Wow - Welcome to Porsche ownership i guess. I will check with the seller to see if PDK oil change and 60k service is already done. Thank you for the pointer. Very much appreciated.

I might be off, could be lower but it might be close. I mean it's more of a negotiation tactic for you than a message from the emergency broadcast system. However, just so you know, brake work, plug and oil changes things many of us do ourselves can be priced wildly. My friends mom was paying several hundred for her Cayman oil changes and that was more than twelve years ago. The dealer told her they are more complicated than other cars which is nonsense. Santa bought me an AOS for Christmas and I will install it myself and I'm thinking that is easily multiple hundreds in labor savings on a 115 dollar part held by two torx bolts.

Agree that I could use it in my negotiation. I am ok with regular maintenance cost, which tend to be relatively higher for German cars. I am already looking at new tires ($1k) - so final cost of owning the car is slowly creeping up.

I think it's a great price for a well maintained 2009 Base. And I personally love the fact that the Base motor has a great reputation before and after the dividing line for 987.1 / 987.2 One thing for sure is currently $28k is a bargain for acquiring a well sought after "Analog" Porsche , especially if it's in good condition. It's one of the few cars I would replace my 987.1 Base with.

Thank you for that affirmation. I am hoping to start my Porsche journey with this Cayman , which happens to be with in my budget. The car cosmetically looks good. It is the mechanical aspect of the car that i was trying to confirm. Used car market is crazy right now and they are projecting a 20-30% downward trend later '22.

Try to post it in the 987 forum to reach out more prospects as this is 981

ah...thank you for pointing that out. I am stumbling my way through this and hope will get there soon.

Great choice. Drive it, put it on a rack and look under the motor for any water or oil leaks. These are robust examples of the 9A1 motor without DFI. Rather they have port injection. PDK works very well with this motor. The idea here is to determine if the previous owner changed the oil regularly, did the routine maintenance, tires, and brakes. If these are within standards, then buy it. These are in very short supply and highly sought after.

I think the current owner (past 1.5 years) has quite a bit of maintenance records (to include the ones from previous owners). He is looking to upgrade to 911 . I will get it checked by a local mechanic as I personally don't have a clue as to what to even look for.

The motor is key in these cars. Start there. This engine does not have bore scoring or rod bearing issues. You can over rev it without rod bearing bolts breaking. Just a couple of modifications to aid in enjoyment are Soul Long tube catless headers, Sprint booster , 10mm f and 15mm r wheel spacers and R lowering springs. Leave the rest of the motor alone, but do change the oil every 4000 miles. Use a good brand of oil, even Mobil 1 FS brand 5W 40. I use Motul 300 V Power, but that's just me, due to my M97 engine . The rest of the car is really up to you and your mechanic. Depending on how you are going to use your car, larger brake ducts are money well spent as there are not air ducts in the rear, A Wavetrac LSD adds a lot of stability to both acceleration and braking. Not knowing who actually put a lot of miles on your car, puts a lot of responsibility on your mechanic what parts might be suspect. You both need to drive the car and determine if there was any collision damage. If none, and your mechanic agrees the mechanics are OK for 65k miles, then buy it, drive it, learn what you like and what could be changed. Take your time to customize it to your ideas of what turns you on. As time goes by, you will refine your ideas. Buy it and have fun.

Appreciate the details and logical reasoning behind the response. I will keep these pointers in mind when i take it for a test drive.

Wait, what? I knew the 9A1 wasn't prone to bore scoring, but over-revs don't stretch the rod bolts either? So when I'm shopping for a manual transmission 987.2 or 981 I don't absolutely need to see an over-rev report?

Lol I'm pretty sure he is addressing very specifically the motor in the BASE 987.2 Much the same can even be said about the Base 987.1 They are found in cars far less sought after, but the motors themselves are great examples of potentially high mileage long lasting flat6's

I think PDK fluids are a function of time and or mileage as the hygroscopic argument applies. Having said that I'm leaving mine alone for now. If I found someone to change it for $275 I might be motivated to go for it. I can't imagine my car shifting better than it does now so I'm "running it" in 2022 with a oil / new cartridge and element / ATE brake flush and a new AOS. PS I can assure you that in the 70's a LOT of cars went their entire lives with the same brake fluid and transmission fluid and that mix was nowhere near as engineered as the current fluids, for what that's worth. I've seen cars with brake reservoirs filled with fluid that resembles what Jed Clampett found hunting food with working brakes.

Sorry for the confusion on my part. I was writing about a manual 6 speed transmission over rev report, not the PDK version that the OP is looking to buy. The connecting rod bolts I referred to are not in the 9A1 block/rods/crankshaft, rather in the engine model M97 from 06-08. So, OP, lucky for you as you found one that others have been looking for months to buy. The 987.1S and base are much more available as they outnumber the 987.2 version 5 to 1 in total sales. Just the luck of the draw, many more 987.1 's manufactured and then sold here between 06-08. There was a down turn in the economy when Porsche released the 987.2 in 09 that carried through the 11 model year.

6 months ago Porsche charged me $1,350 for 4 20 '' tires , installed , less than Tire Rack

My 2009 base has 90k miles. Yearly oil changes and one PDK service at 60k miles. Uses no oil between oil changes. Pads, discs and tires at 70k. Very happy with it.

I’d exercise caution with delaying any transmission services. In my experience with transmissions, once they start shifting poorly, fluid won’t fix it. Fluid is to protect, and any problems in the actual functionality of a transmission will return quickly. In other words, you should never reach the point when your car ‘doesn’t’ shift like a rifle bolt. The circuit fluid change is probably necessary at 60k, and your car will thank you.

I’m curious what adjustments they do make in these services though. Is it just recalibration?— you can do that at home.

I’m far from an expert but I bought my 981 (2014) almost two years ago with 59k from a dealership in pristine condition for $29k. I did have a broker friend negotiate the deal for me. I think the asking price was $32k. Also it seemed when I was looking to buy, the PDK wasn’t made available on the Cayman until the 981 came to market in 2013. The ones I saw prior to that year had a Tiptronic transmission. So this was my experience and I’ve had no problems. History is also really important. I’m the second owner. The original owner purchased the car from the same dealership, had it serviced there, and traded it back for his new car. Now all this being said I doubt I could have purchased the car for anywhere near that price in the market today! My car with the same mileage (now 62k) is now selling for 40+. It’s crazy. Best wishes for your quest. Be patient, be discerning and take action when it feels right!

FWIW - Tiptronic was the auto-shifter through 2008 models. PDK introduced as the only auto-shift choice in 2009.

Said transmission hasn't run 14K miles yet Speedcergee, that's why I decided it's not urgent. If it were near 60K it would be done already because I agree with your assessment. As for "adjustments" AFAIK there's PDK updates and PIWIS is used to facilitate complete drainage, at least that's my limited understanding from my research on the subject. Trust me, when I tell you to say I'm fastidious about my Spyder is a gross understatement. I throw out oil cartridges that have a ton of life left in them every fall doing oil changes to reduce moisture in the crankcase over the winter.

Forgive my ignorance but what’s an AOS?

Some comments: Starting in 2009 - all 987.2 "automatics" were PDK . No more Tiptronic. I think @Curtman54 perhaps didn't look at enough 09-12 987.2's. The PIWIS has two functions for the PDK transmission. One is a fill function, which operates the valve body solenoids so all the valves are filled, when refilling the transmission and you then (and only then) check the level. Thing is - chances are - they're full anyway since they don't drain down unless the valve body is removed from the transmission. And again - putting the same amount of oil in as was removed assures you that the level will be correct unless someone else was in there first and didn't know what they were doing (or you have a leak.) That function is primarily for a transmission where the valve body was removed for some reason (it is available as a unit-part from Porsche, and the individual solenoid valves are available from various vendors, most of them I've seen sourced from China - not a surprise since this isn't the only transmission they're used in.) The other PIWIS/PDK function is to recalibrate the clutches.. learn the release/engagement points. The Foxwell NT530 with Porsche software has both functions in their menus. I haven't tried doing it since I had mine changed by an independent not long ago who performed that calibration as part of the oil change. The last part of the PDK puzzle is - the TCU learns how you drive in "normal" mode (not Sport/Sport-Plus) - if you drive gently it calibrates the ECU and TCU to give you smooth shifts you can barely feel and max MPG. If you're an aggressive driver - things will change to more the "rifle-bolt" sort of action described by several posters. There is a fairly simple procedure for resetting this to the factory setting that I'll post when I have time to dig it out. It doesn't require any tools (although a dead-chicken may come in handy - inside joke..)

@Arne - at this point - it's pointless. If it's a PDK you don't "need" an over-rev report. I have yet to have heard of any PDK car that got into over-rev territory. The computer is smart enough to keep that a non-issue. As far as saying "You can over rev it" - I believe that is ONLY referring to manual transmission cars. SO: PDK - no over-rev report needed, but nice to have just so you feel good about it. Manual - over-rev report should be part of the PPI. I think that should be understandable. BTW - I'm moving this to the 987 forum since that's the model being discussed. Hang on..

No over-rev on PDK . Let me share my experience when I engaged my PDK to manual mode and forgot to change gears up, the engine cut off power & rpm. I thought I damaged my engine but after composing myself I realized it did its job from preventing over-rev.

Those days are over

The 981 started in 2012