Wanting to daily drive a Cayman, am I crazy?

[cheesehead]

I'd honestly just step back, look at a Miata or S2k, and ask yourself: "Is the extra cost *really* worth it?"

Say what you will about the MX-5 - those things are very reliable.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Skoorb has some excellent points.

The issue as I see it is you can afford to buy it, but you can't afford to run it. You have the numbers worked out so you can cover the purchase, but you have to figure in the following, too:

- Tyres (big numbers, you don't want cheap rubber on a car like this)
- Brakes. A full set of discs and pads will run you how much? Don't know? Ask. You'll thank me, as it will be in the thousands.
- Insurance. Obvious, but get a quote and make sure you can cover that, too
- Taxes. I'm in the UK and we don't get boned yearly for a % of the price of the car, but you do. Check your taxes and factor them in. Pricey car, pricey taxes.
- Fuel. It will cost more to run than a 9-3, end of discussion, even if your commute if only 10 miles, as you'll take the long route home. I know I do.
- Servicing. You mention concern about repairs and maintenance. Well this is the thing that constantly appears to shock owners; Car need maintenance and parts WILL need to be replaced. It's not if, it's WHEN. You need to put money aside to service and replace parts on time. Fail to keep up the service schedule on time and your Cayman will look nice and drive shit.

/0

 

[KentState]

Skoorb has some excellent points.

The issue as I see it is you can afford to buy it, but you can't afford to run it. You have the numbers worked out so you can cover the purchase, but you have to figure in the following, too:

- Tyres (big numbers, you don't want cheap rubber on a car like this)
- Brakes. A full set of discs and pads will run you how much? Don't know? Ask. You'll thank me, as it will be in the thousands.
- Insurance. Obvious, but get a quote and make sure you can cover that, too
- Taxes. I'm in the UK and we don't get boned yearly for a % of the price of the car, but you do. Check your taxes and factor them in. Pricey car, pricey taxes.
- Fuel. It will cost more to run than a 9-3, end of discussion, even if your commute if only 10 miles, as you'll take the long route home. I know I do.
- Servicing. You mention concern about repairs and maintenance. Well this is the thing that constantly appears to shock owners; Car need maintenance and parts WILL need to be replaced. It's not if, it's WHEN. You need to put money aside to service and replace parts on time. Fail to keep up the service schedule on time and your Cayman will look nice and drive shit.

/0

You are way over estimating the yearly cost for a Cayman. Tires are not super expensive, brakes have a fairly long life, taxes are under $60 a year in PA, fuel is cheap here. The only expensive part is service if something comes up.

From my experience, fuel runs me about $1500/year, tags are $350 in Georgia, and tires run about $1500 every 24k miles. I'm not sure how much the dealer charges for brakes, but to replace all 20 pads and the rotors by myself is about $600.

 

[DivideBYZero]

You are way over estimating the yearly cost for a Cayman. Tires are not super expensive, brakes have a fairly long life, taxes are under $60 a year in PA, fuel is cheap here. The only expensive part is service if something comes up.

From my experience, fuel runs me about $1500/year, tags are $350 in Georgia, and tires run about $1500 every 24k miles. I'm not sure how much the dealer charges for brakes, but to replace all 20 pads and the rotors by myself is about $600.

I don't think I am. It's going to be a fair step up from a Saab and he should factor that in, and in his initial numbers there is nothing to suggest he has.

From your numbers he'll the need to find something like the following yearly:

1500 (fuel)
350 (Tax)
750 (tyres, split over two years)
500 (Brakes over two years, I added $400 for labour, as he doesn't appear to want to wrench himself)

So that's $3000 before you consider Insurance(another 1-2k?) and the $10k note, servicing($1k per year?) and other sundry repairs or maintenance.

It's possible he could be looking at between 5-6k per year on top of the $10k note. If it's less, great, but you always have to look at the worst possible case ans decide if that's OK with you. If it is, pull the trigger. If not, get something else.

I'm not anti-Cayman or anti-Porsche, I'm anti-over stretching to meet desire.

 

[StageLeft]

Insurance probably won't be kind but I think the main unknown is repairs. I was surprised to find el cheapo tires actually not very pricey for the Cayman but repairs are going to be ugly, there is no way around it.

If it's less, great, but you always have to look at the worst possible case ans decide if that's OK with you.

I think so, too, which is why it's not a bad idea to find out what it would cost IF the transmission died or the engine had to be scrapped. It's not like these are such rare events as to defy consideration. A vehicle without known issues in that area is not terribly likely to see them soon, but a 60k clutch on a porsche could have anywhere from 1 mile to a hundred thousand miles left, struts are probably starting to get long in the tooth, etc.

A porsche is a porsche and a miata certainly isn't but $30k sunk into a decked out Miata would be reliable as heck and frankly probably more fun than a Porsche. Although not even in the same ball park if you're considering pimp factor, but cost of ownership would be completely predictable.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Insurance probably won't be kind but I think the main unknown is repairs. I was surprised to find el cheapo tires actually not very pricey for the Cayman but repairs are going to be ugly, there is no way around it.I think so, too, which is why it's not a bad idea to find out what it would cost IF the transmission died or the engine had to be scrapped. It's not like these are such rare events as to defy consideration. A vehicle without known issues in that area is not terribly likely to see them soon, but a 60k clutch on a porsche could have anywhere from 1 mile to a hundred thousand miles left, struts are probably starting to get long in the tooth, etc.

A porsche is a porsche and a miata certainly isn't but $30k sunk into a decked out Miata would be reliable as heck and frankly probably more fun than a Porsche. Although not even in the same ball park if you're considering pimp factor, but cost of ownership would be completely predictable.

Which is why you do your research and only buy a car with complete service history and have it checked by a qualified Porsche mechanic before you make an offer. These cars are very reliable if taken care of.

 

[RichieZ]

You are way over estimating the yearly cost for a Cayman. Tires are not super expensive, brakes have a fairly long life, taxes are under $60 a year in PA, fuel is cheap here. The only expensive part is service if something comes up.

From my experience, fuel runs me about $1500/year, tags are $350 in Georgia, and tires run about $1500 every 24k miles. I'm not sure how much the dealer charges for brakes, but to replace all 20 pads and the rotors by myself is about $600.

porsche runs some ridiculous non standard sizes:
235 fronts
265 rear

good luck getting 24K miles out of any high performance summer tires. at 11K i have 6mm left all around on the OEM ContiSport Contact 3, life of the PS2s are supposedly even worse. the reality is that they aren't much more expensive than the standard 225/255 staggered setup, but they just don't offer some of the less expensive tires in this size

pads and rotors without labor are $819 for OEM parts ($234 for the pads, balance for the rotors - suncoastparts.com is cheaper than your local dealer). my pads are at 40 percent remaining front and 50 percent remaining rear after 11K miles

insurance is cheap, I pay less than $1000/yr for a lot of coverage. think about the demographics of the people who drive this car, my insurance is also less expensive b/c I drive it less than 7.5K miles per year.

vehicle registration tax in California was raised last year to generate more revenue, I paid something like $440 this year.

running cost is not unsubstantial, but you gotta pay to play.

 

[Throckmorton]

Buy a Miata. At least test drive an NC Miata and a Cayman back to back.

 

[Throckmorton]

BTW there is a guy locally with a late model vette who not only drives it in the Rochester winters but also has a tow hitch on it and I've seen him towing (albeit not a trailer). I am pretty sure I've never seen anybody tow anything with a Porsche (including Cayenne).

I am thinking a better "gotta have a porsche" idea is to have one as a second car so that you can tolerate it spending a lot of time on the jack stands if you have an issue, then you pay only parts and work on it yourself.

What was he towing, a parasailor?

 

[theeedude]

For 30K, you can get some nice new cars. Unless you need one to get laid, why get a 5 year old headache?

 

[GoatMonkey]

There are probably some better cost estimation pages specifically made for Porsche out there, but here's a place to start. I think their estimates sound low.

http://www.edmunds.com/used/2007/porsche/cayman/100744162/cto.html

 

[RichieZ]

What was he towing, a parasailor?

i've seen lots of hidden hitches for people who throw a bike rack on, also lots of people have a small trailer for their track wheels, a la:

 

[JulesMaximus]

i've seen lots of hidden hitches for people who throw a bike rack on, also lots of people have a small trailer for their track wheels, a la:

:thumbsdown: That's just fucking wrong...

 

[theeedude]

Yeah, that looks like a cheapo bike for such a nice car. Here in CA, you'd see the opposite, a $10K bike on top of $1K car

 

[DivideBYZero]

:thumbsdown: That's just fucking wrong...

Eh? Looks right to me. He's got his track wheels and a way to get around the track when not driving the car. Looks like a sorted track day outfit!

 

[Imported]

Eh? Looks right to me. He's got his track wheels and a way to get around the track when not driving the car. Looks like a sorted track day outfit!

Agreed. It looks good to me. Not everyone wants to buy a truck and trailer their cars everywhere. I'd be doing the same if I couldn't fit my track wheels in the back seat of my car.