If I can't afford an engine rebuild, can I not afford a Cayman S?

After a promotion and achieving an income goal, I've been looking into selling my S2000 and upgrading to a 987.1 Cayman S . I can afford the car, increased insurance, maintenance, repair and registration costs. Doing some of my own maintenance and small repairs helps a lot. But the more I learn about bore scoring the more it sounds inevitable. And I CAN'T afford a $20k engine rebuild, which is a bummer. Am I overreacting? Is bore scoring a "when not if" issue that I won't be able to avoid as I've heard in countless YT videos? I'd like to own it for a long time and put miles in with road trips, mountain roads, and an autocross or track day a couple of times a year. What options are there? Buy one already fixed? Any chance of finding one that needs an engine for a price that makes sense? Am I overlooking something obvious? Am I dumb for even thinking about it and I should just keep the S2000 ?

Get a 981 . Or find a 987 that was just done.

Dump the S2000 ! Seriously, though, it's not a bad car, but it's no Boxster ... As for the 987, I would suggest the .2 instead. Give the base a try - you may be impressed enough to forgo the S. I did... I love power, don't get me wrong, but you can wring the base and move damn quickly. Also remember, these aren't drag cars... it's about handling, and both have it in-spades. The base will go to silly speeds without issue... at which point it's more about handling. Fact is, I was keeping up in my car with a rather modified WRX on the highway through 3rd gear. 4th is when he started to walk away... to be expected with a turbo like that. I don't think the S would have kept up THAT much better. I drove a bunch of cars - S and base, and I chose the base partly for the lack of bore scoring concern, but also because it really didn't feel faster. Maybe it does in the numbers, but it wasn't worth the $10k premium to me. That said, there are many users here saying scoring isn't that much of an occurrence. One key is supposedly changing the oil very frequently. I don't understand why that would matter, since UOAs show that 5k-old-oil is fine, but some swear by it...

If you are not able to afford to buy a Porsche you should wait, your instinct is probably correct , I would keep what you have until you can buy a 987.2 or newer, the car you have is a great car.

Easiest way to solve this issue is to buy a base 987.1 as they don't suffer from bore scoring, they tend to be harder to find - but are fantastic to drive same as the "S". I have no regrets, and I flew out and drove back 2,000 miles with mine. Good luck!

I'm in the same crossroad and ended up with the 987.1 base. Haven't sold the ap2 still 2 years later although I'm more certain that I want to eventually now that I've had more time in the restored 987. I think the car you really want is the 987.2 base. I could afford the CS or even a 981 but then I wanted something guilt free since I already have the 911 . I prefer the simplicity and Spartan features of the older base car. Less stuff to break. The age of my s2000 is starting to bite me, even Honda is not immune to stuff as parts are starting to get very difficult to obtain.

S2000 is a great car, and quite reliable. If buying a 987 is going to potentially put you in an uncomfortable financial position I'd suggest passing for now. You want to know how to get rich? Don't start spending more as you earn more.

If you hold on for a bit you'll see Hartech/Slakker/FSI cars starting to show up for sale. It's what I'd buy if I was patient and had more car money, but I ended up with a 987.1 base and decided to stay away from the track (bore scoring and IMS are not an issue but oil starvation is).

My son has a 987.1 S, I have a 987.1 base. Both relatively low mileage and in good shape. He likes mine better for what that's worth. I share your concerns about bore scoring, though I don't think it is even remotely close to accurate to say that it is a matter of "when". I believe that if you don't have it now (easy to see via boroscope) there are ways to prevent it going forward. This last statement is the one I am least confident about in my post though. Lots of stuff on Youtube about this. I suggest the following options in increasing order of cost: 1) Base 987.1 -- Great car, great value. I love my 2008 2.7L. No bore scoring as cylinders are cast, not forged. $25K should get you an amazing car. 2) Base 987.2 -- Bigger engine (2.9L), completely eliminates the IMS issue, though IMS is pretty much a non-issue in the 987.1 3) 987.2 S -- Someone can correct me on this, but I'm pretty sure the cylinder walls of the 987.2 S were changed to a different forged alloy in 2009 which eliminates the bore scoring. Direct injection though, which I think can have its own issues (base 2.9L is NOT direct injected). Those issues probably overblown too. 4) 981 -- You move into a world of "electronic steering" (which i "hear" is bad as it feels disconnected) but probably even higher reliability, lower miles, and easier to find in good condition I'm 99% sure i have all of this right but I'm sure someone will correct me within seconds if I don't!

I've had my 2009 987.2 Base for two years now and love it! Plenty of power, handling and stopping.

I read once: “If you can’t afford a new German car: You can’t afford a second hand one.” It’s sage advice. The running costs are based on the new price. “You bought a $XX XXXX car, the parts/service reflect this” Add the known issues with the M97 engine and I think the title is accurate. If you can’t afford a rebuild (which in my mind then gives you one of the best sports cars available, regardless of cost. One I intend to keep for the rest of my days.) I don’t think you can afford the car. At this stage. Ask yourself: what would you do if it failed catastrophically in 6 months time?

987.1 S owner here. 93k on the clock, the last 60k of them my own over the last 10 years. Drive it like I stole it every time. Don’t listen to the YouTube echo chamber or the cowards here. Bore scoring is the new IMS failure, the bogeyman under the bed, much feared yet (statistically) seldom seen. Just my 2 cents.

Heh. In the same vein I always tell people "There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Alfa Romeo"

A little difficult to ascertain just what the statistical chances of being affected by bore scoring or IMS failure with a Cayman 987.1 S actually is. I’d suggest it is a real risk, but obviously not 100% as evidenced by the above post. There are businesses that exist primarily to fix these engines after either occurrence. To buy one of these cars knowing that it would be a financial disaster if it occurred would be risky in the extreme.

I have a 987.1 Boxster S with 135K miles that I daily, it's slightly different 3.2 than the 3.4 Cayman motor. I think the bore score issues are due to driving the car for infrequent short drives in addition to maybe leaky fuel injectors, so the fuel is washing the oil off the cylinder walls. Buy the Cayman you will love it ... take it to a reputable Indy " Porsche only" shop, have them change the oil and all the fluids and give it a thorough check up that way you have a base knowledge of the car and the car is squared away, hey know what to look for. Do it before you start to do your own wrenching.

I believe, at least with respect to the IMS issue, the statistics are known — and for 987.1 M97 engines, the odds are very low. There was a lawsuit about the older M96 engines in the 986 and 996 (non-mezger) versions and some the the M97 stats were included in public documents — well under 1% if I recall correctly. ( IMS of course IS a real issue with those older engines, but that ain't this.) I’m sure someone here could rattle off the figures but the point is I am directly affected and DGAF because I’m more likely to lose a water pump at speed or something mundane than these corner case fears.

When the underlying causes are understood. (Lokasil/coated pistons/geometry) Many believe “Bore Scoring” will occur on every M97 3.4 engine, eventually. With good management, and some luck, it occurs (Bad enough that it can’t be ignored) after 200 000 miles and is just “worn out”. After all: it’s not a Corolla, and you can’t expect it to do 300+K miles easily. Back to the original Q. Risk has 2 elements: 1. Likelihood 2. Consequence Walking along a 3ft/1m wide walkway it’s very unlikely that you would fall off. If it was 100’ in the air, few would try it. There is more chance that a stock 987.1 S will suffer some sort of catastrophic failure than most cars. EG S2000. I evidenced this with the fact that several companies basically exist to rebuild these engines. FSI, Hartec/Slaker. I’d suggest that if you can’t deal with this reality, the car is not for you. OP, I’m talking to you. I love my Cayman - it has an FSI 3.8 in it.

06 Cayman S owner here. Bought my 987.1 10 years ago with 30k miles on it. It was heavily tracked (but very well maintained) by the previous owner. I daily drove it for 3 years. Ever since, it's my autocross, mountain runs, and track days car. It currently has 60k miles and I've only had minor issues (e.g., water pump, window motors). No idea if I'm driving a time bomb but I'm having a great time until then. All comes down to your risk tolerance. I will say you would likely feel much better if you had another car as a daily driver backup in case something does happen. I agree with previous comments though - taking care of these cars isn't cheap. Consumables and repairs get costly so if you need a small fund set aside when things come up (e.g., tires , brakes, repairs).

2006 Cayman S owner here. I have 120K on mine and it's fine. You have to understand how to maintain and drive this car, but once you do, it is drop dead reliable. Don't believe the hype about how 987.1 is a time bomb. Do 3000 mile oil changes, don't lug the car, run the revs up often and don't let it warm up before you go. Simple.

With the Internet forums, when people have a catastrophic problem ( IMS , RMS) you hear about it. That makes people think it's a common problem when it's not. The IMS seemed to be mostly fixed by the 2006 Cayman S . The Rear Main Seal isn't hard to replace proactively if you want to put that one to bed. If you multiply the cost ($20k) by the odds (2%) it comes to an expected expense of $400. For me, a $20k expensive would be unpleasant but not catastrophic, so I just do the math and take the (very low) odds.

Was going to make a pun about an impending engine Cat-astrophe but decided against it. It obviously thinks it's on a 911, not a Cayman.

Or you can buy a 987.2 base, which has neither the DFI or bore scoring or IMS issues of any of the pre 2009 cars, and is 80% of the doubly priced Cayman S .

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Clever analogy!