Considering a 2014 Cayman or Boxster PDK - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I'm trying to decide between two cars at the moment and struggling to post links, so if anyone has the time to look at them and comment, I'd be really grateful. Having sold my car, I need to decide before Friday really on the replacement. There's, I think, a rather stunning blue Boxster at Kenny Dunns in Edinburgh and a lovely white Cayman at Porsche Chester, both at just over £40k. Both cars will be serviced prior to sale at a Porsche dealer. I know it's a big ask but I would post links or more details if I wasn't such a technophobe. I've seen the car at Chester but the Edinburgh car would be more of a distance purchase. Both will come with two-years warranty and, in this respect, suspect that the Chester Cayman is the safer bet. I'm about 5 miles from them so they'd service either car. Any input would be great!

Links for the cars in question: Boxster - http://www.kennydunn.co.uk/used-cars/porsche-boxst... Cayman - http://locator.porsche.com/ipl-customer/ipl/detail... My advice would be to go to Chester and drive both a Cayman and a Boxster and decide what you prefer. Also, how do you plan to use the car? summer/weekend driver or daily driver? The Boxster looks absolutely lovely in that blue (PTS Olympic Blue according to advert). Edited by Jonny08 on Wednesday 30th March 21:26

I'm biased because I prefer the Cayman. I own a 2009 3.4S with all the bells and whistles on it. However I would propose you go with your gut feeling. To do that is easy, don't do what your head says, do what your feelings tell you. Which turns you on most when you think about each car? Personally I'm not a rag top (convertible) person , so it's easy for me and the Cayman will win hands down, equally others will come on and say the Boxster. On the practical side, do you need luggage space? Do you like the open air feel, and do you intend to drive abroad taking advantage of the weather and an open top car. It has to be YOUR choice , not that of the many who will come on here and say one is better than the other. Edited by SBD762 on Wednesday 30th March 21:30

SBD762 said: I'm biased because I prefer the Cayman. I own a 2009 3.4S with all the bells and whistles on it. However I would propose you go with your gut feeling. To do that is easy, don't do what your head says, do what your feelings tell you. Which turns you on most when you think about each car? Personally I'm not a rag top (convertible) person , so it's easy for me and the Cayman will win hanfds down, equally others will come on and say the Boxster. On the practical side, do you need luggage space? Do you like the open air feel, and do it can go on. It has to be YOUR choice , not that of the many who will come on here and say one is better than the other. I'm the same as you, I own a Cayman, prefer the Cayman and before seeing the cars in question I would say get the Cayman, however the Boxster in that blue looks lovely - I can see the difficult choice. I'd also throw in the 2.7 Vs 3.4 argument in but would probably be out of budget if £40K is top end. But I agree, only OP can decide - drive both, consider what you will be using it for and which is best for you, I don't think you'd go wrong either way.

Just looked at both cars. Both very nice, both 2.7 , both PDK , bot have a Porsche badge, is there a theme developing here? So, how will you make the decision, both cars will give you a different driving feel and effectively a different purpose for ownership. So I am guessing your mind is made up on a 2.7 and a PDK. And to a point they are both Porsches, Are you dismissing the S? Are you dismissing manual? If so then what else is concerning you? Any other comments on Boxster or Cayman will be skewed by the person submitting the posting and you will become more confused.

Thanks for putting up the links - now why couldn't I do that. I have a motorcycle as well which I use as much as possible and for touring so I don't actually need either and could make do with a shed but, I've had a 996 C4S and a later 997 C4 rag top and enjoyed both. The rag top was a bit noisier. I tend to commute about 30 miles per day in all weathers and some in traffic. I do a few trips to Scotland too during the year as we have warehouses in Perth. I've just sold my Amarok and we have several four seaters at home, so just fancy a fun motor again. Common sense says Cayman for all year round use and because it's from a main dealer and with a higher spec - but, and I normally would not consider a blue car, I just love the looks of the Boxster and I did have one as a courtesy car when my C4 was being serviced. I should add that each Porsche that I've bought has been sourced elsewhere and serviced at Chester so I feel a little bit guilty about buying elsewhere especially as the Sales Manager's F-i-L farms next door to my home I've only gone for the 2.7 as I've bought three family cars recently and so don't want to spend too much on something that will probably do about 10,000 miles per year and in all weathers. Touring isn't likely as my wife is a home bird and hates going away. I guess that either will drive brilliantly, so I'm just constantly changing my mind. Head says Cayman - heart says Boxster - I mean just look at it! Edited by Davel on Wednesday 30th March 21:46 Edited by Davel on Wednesday 30th March 21:52

I've currently got a manual 981s Boxster and am waiting on the boat dropping off the manual 981 GTS Cayman. The tin top is slightly more purposeful and the ragtop gives you 3000 miles of sunroof. Both are great, but I suspect that's really it, all colour questions set to one side. Between the two? I'd go blue everyday of the week. Much more of an occasion.

I'm a Cayman 2.7 owner but of the two linked cars I prefer the Boxster. Colour is good for a secondary car and I suspect it has the only missing thing I would spec which is DAB as it is CDR+. Don't worry about the basic seats or lack of Satnav on the Boxster; the basic seats are harder wearing and the SatNav is poor by modern standards but you may be able to use his info to lower the asking price. 3 Owners seems excessive on the Cayman.

Thanks all! I suspect blue wins tomorrow.....

As a 981 Cayman S owner I could be accused of bias, but of the two, the Cayman has sports chrono, PCM, and paddles rather than buttons on the steering wheel which would sway it for me.

I'm more of a hardtop person too, but that blue is stunning. The Boxster though doesn't have the Sports Design steering wheel, which when combined with PDK doesn't come with paddles. I made this mistake on my first 981 Cayman and it was a big mistake - the 'buttons' on the standard wheel are completely useless and counter intuitive so if you fancy a trip into manual mode on the twisty stuff, you'll miss it. If however you will always cruise round in auto, it won't make any difference to you; but something to consider.

SD steering wheel can be retro fitted. Sheffield OPC quoted me £1500 when I was looking at a car they had with MFSW. I saw the blue Boxster in November when searching for a car. I'd previously bought my TTS from Kenny in 2014, paid a deposit blind and flew up to collect the "immaculate" car. It was. I can recommend Kenny very highly. He is a Porsche specialist of many decades and my transaction was very smooth. You won't get much off mind! I think I managed a grand or so. I was swaying between Boxsters and Caymans, but that lurid blue put me off immediately (probably why it's unsold after 5+ months). Mind you, so would white, although it was me seeing a white Cayman on the motorway which led to my "having to have one". Just a silly colour to live with, as is black (my TTS was black - never again!). Having had convertibles for 15 years and thinking about it, I decided I'd had enough of feeling obliged to have a burnt head and overheat when the sun shone. A tin roof means you can enjoy air con when it's most applicable. And... the Cayman design is far more cohesive than the Boxster with its rag top. Most convertibles suffer from this of course. Just my opinion of course. Oh... and I drove a 981 Cayman S PDK and much preferred the 2.7 for its soundtrack and ability to keep my license for longer. The S doesn't use the revs so much and THAT noise at high revs IS the main attraction to me. 2.7 is fine. Edited by DJMC on Wednesday 30th March 23:07

Davel said: That is really helpful thanks and, having had both a rag top and a hard top Porsche in the passed, I'm tempted to agree. And I have a bike for the finer days. I'm a Cayman man - not actually bothered about open top motoring (had plenty of bikes and open cars in the past though). HOWEVER two of the normal gripes about open cars - that they are noisier and not that rigid - don't really apply to the Boxster. Sure the Cayman IS much more rigid - but the Boxster is very rigid for an open car - much more so than an 911 cab for example. And when (Car and Driver, I think) measured it the Boxster was ever slightly quieter than the Cayman. As others have said, the steering wheel flippers are naff and paddles much better. Actually if you want to drive manually there is nothing wrong with using the stick - it has a nice meaty "feel" - it's when in auto you want to override the PDKs choice that the flippers become a pain. Security hasn't been mentioned - and having had items stolen from my last two open cars, I'm a bit wary (hood slashed in the process on one). But in the end as others have said it's very much a gut feel thing.

That is really helpful thanks and, having had both a rag top and a hard top Porsche in the past, I'm tempted to agree. And I have a bike for the finer days. Edited by Davel on Thursday 31st March 09:26

How often are you realistically going to drive with the roof down, especially when you have the 'bike? I wouldn't ever buy a car with buttons on the wheel to change gear. A truly hideous system.

For me that blue on the boxster would put me off. I think loud colours like that work well on the GT cars with wings and splitters but would draw the wrong attention on a standard model. IMHO.

The multi function wheel would mean the blue one is not an option for me. The buttons are a complete fail. Get them to change the wheel to a Sports Design wheel with paddles or factor in the cost of doing it (you might get a rude shock how much it will cost so get a quote).

You could also look at getting Techart paddles fitted to the Multi-function steering wheel if that's an issue - I was quoted about £8-900 by Tech 9 http://www.tech9.ms

Had a long think and now back on Cayman idea. Not truly fussed on white but there is a lovely looking one at Bournemouth. How important are bi-Xenons ? Not fussed about sat nav.

I had Xenons on previous 3 cars, E46 330, Merc 350, TTS, and now just halogens on the 981. Haven't had any issues with visibility. Stumbled across my car with PASM and this, for me, would now be essential compared to standard suspension. Try both.

+1 on PASM!and Halogens My S has Halogens , no issues I think the Bi-Xenons turn with steering?

SBD762 said: +1 on PASM!and Halogens My S has Halogens , no issues I think the Bi-Xenons turn with steering? I'm a big fan of PASM too. The BiXenons on the Cayman S (did the S ever have halogens?) DON'T turn with steering (PDLS is an option), but I'm not sure whether there was ever an option on the Cayman to have Bi-Xenons without PDLS instead of the standard Halogens. Note that the S doesn't have self levelling or headlamp washers because the Xenons are low wattage. If the car has PDLS or PDLS+ then you will see headlamp washers.

My "hit" list in November for a used Cayman was: 2.7 PDK Cruise - was retro fitted £500 OPC Heated Seats Auto dim mirrors and auto wipers - Nope! Park assist rear SD Wheel PCM Bluetooth prep Dual climate - Nope! Sport tailpipe (not PSE) 20" wheels I ended up with: 14 way seats/electric steering column are a bonus, as was PASM. Other bits and pieces nice. Car was 18 months old in Nov'15, 13k miles, warranty to Dec '16, £54k new, I paid a shade under £40k. I find NOT having auto dimming mirrors better. I can see cars behind at night now, and can dim the rear view mirror myself whilst having the side mirrors still normal. Air con has been fine through the winter but when sunny then cloudy recently I have had to turn it up/down so would recommend climate, but NOT a deal breaker. DAB is no better than FM. SSP is quite good when playing back from a USB stick. Telephone module pointless but DO get bluetooth prep for your phone connection. I like the lack of "Cayman" on the back. Joe public hasn't a clue what it is! Edited by DJMC on Thursday 31st March 17:50

Welcome aboard I'm sure you'll love it. That Blue one is really nice though!

Well today I've just bought a Boxster. Loved the blue but just didn't think that it would be easy to resell, so white with black hood and interior. PDK gearbox as I like these. So really excited now. Collecting Tuesday form Porsche Sutton Coldfield - now at Wolverhampton! Thanks for all the advice - it's appreciated. Edited by Davel on Wednesday 6th April 21:00 Edited by Davel on Friday 8th April 11:22

Pick her up tomorrow! I really wanted grey but this'll do fine for me.

Davel said: Pick her up tomorrow! I really wanted grey but this'll do fine for me. Were you OK with the push/pull button steering wheel? After a car with paddle shifters it's tricky to master, but if you've not had them it should be OK after a while.

From memory, that's what was on my 997 Carrera 4 a couple of cars back, so shouldn't be an issue. Any excuse!