Buying post 2009 DFI Cayman S from non specialist - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Hi folks, Been trawling the classifieds for a good post 2009 Cayman S (987.2?) and wanted your collective opinion on something. As I understand it pre-2009 Caymans (and therefore pre DFI engine) have their "idiosyncrasies" (IMS / Bore scoring in particular). Accordingly it seems utterly logical to only buy approved used or from a well known specialist with a good warranty. However, with the newer DFI cars is it still a massive gamble to buy from a non specialist? I have seen a few cars that have around 30k miles on them that look pretty good, but they are for sale at non-specialist garages hence my question. What's the general consensus on here? Would you buy a DFI Cayman S (2009-2013) from a non- specialist if the car fit the bill, looked really tidy and was decently priced, or would you still only buy from the recognised Porsche guys? TD

Yes I would and I have. You can negotiate and / or agree any warranty with the non Porsche garage. OR You may (if you want to pay for it) get an OPC warranty added , providing it meets the 111 point inspection Porsche want you to have before they can grant you an official Warranty. Alternatively ask to see its service history, is it OPC or Porsche specialist? Should not make to much difference if genuine parts have been used by whoever serviced it. Worried about mileage? , a simple check is to go onto the Government MOT Check website and you can see a brief history of MOT mileage logs. Do you homework , go with your Gut feeling. I'd check HPI (Dealer should, offer that anyway) I did contact Porsche UK Customer Service with the reg to get some background on the one I bought from a non specialist dealer. Good luck with it. I looked long and hard for a Gen 2 , well worth the wait to get what I believed to be was the right one. Steve

SBD762 said: You may (if you want to pay for it) get an OPC warranty added , providing it meets the 111 point inspection Porsche want you to have before they can grant you an official Warranty. You have to wait 3 months from purchase to do this if not buying from either an OPC or privately.

I bought mine privately and that meant that the existing Porsche warranty could be transferred to me. I also got to meet the owner and find out how the car had been looked after. I don't see the point of buying one of these from a non-specialist because they are not adding any extra value to the car. They're just taking a margin. I say this because I once bought a boxster from a non-specialist and it turned out to be a dog. The non-specialists pick up the ones that Porsche centres and specialists reject.

anonymous said: [redacted] Thanks for the sensible points. All makes sense, although that does leave the hassle of selling the existing car privately - which also holds some discomfort when it is a c £30k transaction.

TorqueDirty said: Thanks for the sensible points. All makes sense, although that does leave the hassle of selling the existing car privately - which also holds some discomfort when it is a c £30k transaction. Yes, if you want to do a trade-in that might be a plus point but as said above they are likely to make you pay quite a lot for taking the hassle away. I (and quite a few others) have found WBAC very good. No, seriously! I got a better price from them on a car that I was all set to trade at a dealer. I then got to use that cash and not having to trade-in, to get a good deal on the next car. From a different dealer than the one that didn't give me a good trade-in price I might add!

Would defo be more comfortable buying private on a DFI based gen2 OP. Having said that, I'd still pay the money to get it properly inspected. For a few hundred quid, you can be sure you know what you're getting and I'd consider that well worth it. Even though I'd always try and shift my own car privately as I'm comfortable doing that (have sold last 3 cars that way, no problems as long as you stick rigidly to a few simple rules), i can see that WBAC offers an easier and better solution than getting your pockets thoroughly picked by the Trade. Either that, or maybe try SOR with a dealer you trust, but it will depend on what you're selling. Edited by Fl0pp3r on Thursday 28th April 15:28

Fl0pp3r said: Would defo be more comfortable buying private on a DFI based gen2 OP. Having said that, I'd still pay the money to get it properly inspected. For a few hundred quid, you can be sure you know what you're getting and I'd consider that well worth it. Even though I'd always try and shift my own car privately as I'm comfortable doing that (have sold last 3 cars that way, no problems as long as you stick rigidly to a few simple rules), i can see that WBAC offers an easier and better solution than getting your pockets thoroughly picked by the Trade. Either that, or maybe try SOR with a dealer you trust, but it will depend on what you're selling. Edited by Fl0pp3r on Thursday 28th April 15:28 I did actually get a valuation form my current car from WBAC (Immaculate top spec 2 owner 59 plate Jaguar Approved Used 5.0 XKR with low miles FJSH etc), and I said a loud sweary word! Bought 5 months ago for £33k, WBAC offered £23k. That is an effin big pill to swallow just to get in to a decent DFI Cayman S! But then I suspect big pills are coming my way from all directions should I decide to make the change. Balls!

Another bit of reassurance...I too bought my Cayman private, the owner was happy to take the car for a pre-purchase 111 point check at the local OPC and was willing to cover any repairs needed, all was well and the deal was done, I asked him to buy a two year warranty for me so I could drive away with a full Porsche warranty...my car has been an absolute delight. I'll admit I had fears handing over £35k but I contacted my bank and arranged a direct transfer to the sellers account on the bank premises by the bank staff it was so smooth I need not have worried. Hopefully you'll scoop an absolute peach of a 987.2 private as I did you just have to be ready to move quick when one appears.

I bought mine from an Indie mainly because finding a good spec 987.2 S manual is like trying to find Hens teeth. It took me quite a while to find mine, but the search was worth it as its reinforced my view that its the sweet spot in the whole Porsche 'back catalogue'. My minimum requirements were manual, PSE, PASM, 19's and PCM. So buying from an Indie makes sense if its the right car for you (and be prepared to move fast).

I bought my 987.2 S from an OPC in the end. Only because I lost out on a private one though. With the gen 2 I wasn't concerned about having a warranty as long as all the history and maintenance stacked up. I wanted a particular spec as a daily driver so couldn't be too picky on the seller type, be that independent, OPC or private. Personally I'd go either private or OPC (very very few 987.2's in the network now though) and avoid the independents if I had the choice. I've been burnt in the past where I'll travel hundreds of miles to view a car described in a certain way and even after extensive phone calls the car is nothing like what is being described. That's just my experience though, others may differ. Good luck with the search.

TorqueDirty said: Hi folks, Been trawling the classifieds for a good post 2009 Cayman S (987.2?) and wanted your collective opinion on something. As I understand it pre-2009 Caymans (and therefore pre DFI engine) have their "idiosyncrasies" (IMS / Bore scoring in particular). Accordingly it seems utterly logical to only buy approved used or from a well known specialist with a good warranty. However, with the newer DFI cars is it still a massive gamble to buy from a non specialist? I have seen a few cars that have around 30k miles on them that look pretty good, but they are for sale at non-specialist garages hence my question. What's the general consensus on here? Would you buy a DFI Cayman S (2009-2013) from a non- specialist if the car fit the bill, looked really tidy and was decently priced, or would you still only buy from the recognised Porsche guys? TD I just bought from Top555, was a mint car, the only thing I asked from them was a full rev range check which they got some one in to do for them, all good. I have no issue buying from any one really, like private best, but many don't

TorqueDirty said: I did actually get a valuation form my current car from WBAC (Immaculate top spec 2 owner 59 plate Jaguar Approved Used 5.0 XKR with low miles FJSH etc), and I said a loud sweary word! Bought 5 months ago for £33k, WBAC offered £23k. That is an effin big pill to swallow just to get in to a decent DFI Cayman S! But then I suspect big pills are coming my way from all directions should I decide to make the change. Balls! But have you done a normal on-line valuation for the Jag as trade in? I've just done one on Autotrader loosely to your spec (as you give above) and it gave a trade-in value of £23,700. My experience with WBAC was that the on-line valuation gave a similar price to other on-line trade in calculations and then at the inspection they just knocked off another 300 quid for stone chips.

WBAC is strange. I've stuck in the details of various cars. Sometimes it offers what I would think is only slightly under the private sale level; other times, the offer is as much as 10-15% off any realistic offer. It was spot on for my 987.2 S and gives me an insulting offer for my 997.2 S, for example.

ZX10R NIN said: TorqueDirty said: I did actually get a valuation form my current car from WBAC (Immaculate top spec 2 owner 59 plate Jaguar Approved Used 5.0 XKR with low miles FJSH etc), and I said a loud sweary word! Bought 5 months ago for £33k, WBAC offered £23k. That is an effin big pill to swallow just to get in to a decent DFI Cayman S! But then I suspect big pills are coming my way from all directions should I decide to make the change. Balls! Maybe you paid over a little over the odds when you bought the Jag, you do pay a premium for Approved Used, after looking at what's for sale the WBAC seems fair. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016... XKR not XF This is mine

I would never worry too much about buying or selling a porsche privately as most of us are an enthusiastic and decent bunch of people! I sold my car last year privately (£46k) and had no problems the nice chap came to look at the car on the Friday transferred the money by faster payments on the Monday and collected the car on the Wednesday a pleasant experience all in all with no problems. Him buying privately saved him him nearly £4k over someone on here who bought an older, lower spec. higher mileage , multi owner same car from a dealer because he didn' t like buying privately! But I will say buying or selling it does help if there is porsche warranty on the car ! I would rather buy privately than from a non specialist or any dealers opc included but sometimes you just don't get a choice! Edited by GT4P on Friday 29th April 07:50

TorqueDirty said: XKR not XF This is mine Sorry mis read it.

TorqueDirty said: I did actually get a valuation form my current car from WBAC (Immaculate top spec 2 owner 59 plate Jaguar Approved Used 5.0 XKR with low miles FJSH etc), and I said a loud sweary word! Bought 5 months ago for £33k, WBAC offered £23k. That is an effin big pill to swallow just to get in to a decent DFI Cayman S! But then I suspect big pills are coming my way from all directions should I decide to make the change. Balls! Maybe you paid over a little over the odds when you bought the Jag, you do pay a premium for Approved Used, after looking at what's for sale the WBAC seems fair. XKR http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... Edited by ZX10R NIN on Friday 29th April 08:43