MY PORSCHE CAYMAN 987 HAS COST MORE MONEY | Porsche Running Costs | 

IMO for anyone owning an older European car, *and* you do not wrench yourself, you need to budget 2,000 every year of whatever is your local currency for ongoing repairs. In the case of an M97 motored car also the engine rebuild possibility.

Another great video Joe, awesome to hear opportunities are coming your way thanks to the growth of the channel. Re the cost of the springs, I've noticed during my ownership there's folk where the purchase of an £80k car is pocket change and then there's people like me that feel the kick of a £1500 service/clutch invoice! The Cayman/Boxster may well be the poor man's Porsche but there's no such thing as a cheap Porsche.

I've recently replaced my springs on my 987.... as a mechanic and welder/fabricator for 35 odd years, I can category say that I've never, ever had so much grief disassembling any suspension in all my life! I had to cut off one lower arm as the ball joint and the arm bolt was sized solid! I wanted to replace the anti roll bar links too but left them for another day.. again sized in the hubs. The problem is, you got steel bolts going into aluminum housings and this causes accelerated corrosion (electrolysis? Or galvanic? But the two dont mix well) literally welding itself together. 1000 quid..... not out of the realms of normal for this job. It took me HOURS!

Thanks for the update on the Cayman, Joe. I know for my ‘07 base, I expect a bill of at least $500US just because. Having them say “it’s going to be $1000” wouldn’t surprise me. It’s all part of yearly maintenance with my independent German car specialist in the Burbank. But it does add up. Best of luck and keep driving.

So, I am 2 years into owning a 2008 987.1 S, and yes, I researched the car/engine thoroughly prior to purchase. My criteria were, FPSH, PPI, low(ish) mileage, manual. I did pay slightly more than I had anticipated but that came with certain guarantees, plus the reputation of the seller. I replaced the tyres via the OPC, the cost of which was comparable to the GLA45's (£700). During it's visit to the OPC, they noted that the exhaust retaining bolts were corroded. I chose to have those replaced along with its MOT at a local independent garage (all ex OPC employees). During the MOT they noted that there was a small oil leak (RMS) and a similar leak from the air conditioning. Neither of these were addressed at this point, however the front brakes required replacing, I can't recall how much it was , but it was reasonable. Having agreed to the replacing of the RMS, given the age of the car and the fact that they would have to drop the engine, I elected to change the (original) clutch. Total cost, £1500. This year, it was due for it's 2 year service. As the car had a FPSH, I did contact the OPC...they quoted £1800 which as well as the service, included the cost of replacing the spark plugs. Wary that there might be more work required, I had to weigh up the cost vs the unblemished FPSH. I'm not selling the car... so I went back to the local specialist; their bill was £600 for the 2year service plus the ancillary work. I know owning a Porsche can be expensive... owning a GLA45 is expensive too!

Did you look into any aftermarket springs to improve performance and longevity? Other than just making the car lower?

Hi Joe another great Vlog, when I had my Porsche I used a company called Centre Gravity, which If I remember rightly was recommended by a another member of Porsche Club GB when I was a member, I no longer own my 987 Cayman S Sport, but the guys at Centre Gravity checked all of the suspension components with vibration checks of the dampers including graphs, hand on heart it is the best £250 i have ever spent for their health check…..Pete will tell you the truth if a component needs replacing or not, and you go under the car with him and he will show you so no BS……worth every penny

You keep doing what you do bud. First time here, but you seem like an honest fella.

I had a mate who had a focus from early 2000s, took it for an MOT, £2k bill. The video from the garage was hilarious, not even sure the technician believed it as he went around every part and said “and that’s a fail”. Safe to say he didn’t go with the repairs at that point…

Another good vid Joe, i always budget £500 for anything my car need, if was more not to much of a shock, if less a result. At the end of the day it is a 170mph car so has to be right but good independents are worth there weight in gold and let us normal people have great cars

If that squeak comes back Joe, could be the parcel shelf. My independent Porsche garage knew exactly what was causing a squeak in that area on mine and put some fabric tape on the shelf corner. Instant cure!

Hi Joe. Thanks for this video. My 9 year old 981 Cayman is due it's MOT this month. Hoping I don't get a similar bill!

That’s a chunky bill when not expected Joe, feel for you. I used to take my ISF to Lexus every year always thinking it will fly through, even at 12 years old, and it did every year for the 5 years I owned it 😉 Looking forward to the Audi video, looks like you’re getting noticed, good for you.

Hey Joe, thank God it was an MOT issue. At this point the car is at least 15 years old so things will wear out. Still a good price to pay for ownership if you enjoy the car, love the drive, and are not thinking of putting it away in storage hoping one day to make a killing on selling it.

I’ve got a 987 Boxster, had all four springs changed! Purchased the springs with discount from Porsche then got an independent to put them on. Porsche and BMW never have to change springs in Germany I’ve been told by both, it’s because our roads are so appalling that they break here!

Joe, could you clarify what you mean by broken springs rather unusual for the coiled spring itself to fracture and would immediately droop the suspension on that corner. Do you mean the dampers were leaking, or the spring perch was worn till it no longer retained the spring interface ? It helps viewers to know what exactly was the issue and the parts required to replace, as many have the ability to learn how to do some jobs themselves.

ouch Joe! that sucks! i'm glad its driving much better.

The suspension springs broke on my 997 and come off whilst I was driving, I run over one of the spring sections when it broke off. As you can imagine a piece of suspension spring bouncing along the bottom of my car didn’t sound great. The car didn’t change its stance and drove absolutely fine, if I didn’t drive over the broken part I would have had no idea

Owning a Porsche is starting to look like masochism. Was going to pull the trigger on a 2014 Cayman but after researching routine service costs, and cost of replacing wear and tear stuff, i realized the Porsche tax is a real thing, and i don't want to pay it. I love cars, but i still prefer to own the cars, and not the have them own me.

"I'd broken all 3!" Had me thinking for a minute

Oof I remember driving to my major service at a Porsche garage Leicester and it was a cold winter morning and just got down the road and suddenly there was a crack noise and the power dropped massively. I was like well at least I'm on my way to a garage but jeeeze what's this gonna cost me. It had cracked the heads on 3cylinders. The total came out to £947.41 I was amazed it was so little and they fixed it all the same day as doing the service. It does help to get a reputable garage.

Hi Joe, great content. just asking how much does your indie car mechanic charge per hour? mine charges £95 plus vat on top .

You need to start learning how to do this maintenance work yourself and stop paying other people to do it. I myself have a CaymenS and do all my own maintenance which I have learned from RU-vid and for me the Porsche Cayman is such an easy car to work on. I have replaced everything from Shocks, Springs, Discs, Pads Spark Plugs and Coil Packs and change my oil every 5k miles while saving myself a fortune on labour costs. Do yourself a favour and do it yourself and just think of the satisfaction you will get from it. Mick, Northern Ireland 👍🍻

Hi Joe, I sold my Cayman when i priced up an MOT, a service, two new tyres without anyone finding a fault.Cost. £1000-00. They are fabulous cars but just money pits.

You got off lucky,!!My last MOT i had one broken spring, decided to get an H&R lowering kit, 200 quid, okay, tried to fit myself, no chance, as a 2005 everything was seized, my local independent wanted 350 quid, still alright..ish, then the phone call, the fronts had already been changed before i got the car and they had cross threaded the shock bolts so needed two front shocks and as mine has ajustable shocks 330 quid each.....arrhhh!!!!! To top it off as i left the alternator failed!! Every time i drive the car it reminds me of the two blokes in the the E type, 'great engineering i just wished it worked'.

I understand your frustration I really do that's why I love your channel because I'm passionate about this car I still want to own it and you problems are probably gonna happen to me. 😄

I'm confused, you say rear springs were £186 + VAT for both, fronts were £210 + VAT for both, that's just under £480 incl VAT plus the cost of the MOT (approx £45), you must have had other things done to get to your bill of £937 incl VAT?

the VAT is the killer. 💰in 🤝

Dang Joe!!! Hang in there, you are still ahead of USA as far as prices. You couldn’t get a car in USA for what you paid for yours. Everything here is higher, in fact so high I have shelved my 987 dreams and am now looking at TTS Audi which again are way higher in USA than they are in UK. Crazy

Just a heads up, you exhaust most likely will go soon too! That's another 1k bill if you opt for Carnewal plus inport tax or 2-3k if you go after market that comes with free droning sound upgrade! Also front coolant hoses is another 500-600 in parts and they all need it doing!

Price of being an owner.

Bummer, Joe. Where did the springs break? I'm guessing the very top or bottom. Being a Yank, can you tell me what MOT stands for? They seem to be very thorough in their inspections.

I like porsches. I also like lighting cigars with $100 bills.

Why didn't you replace the springs yourself? There are loads of DIY uploads on RU-vid on how to do it. Look at ratarossa or Mat Armstrong who do their own repairs.

Which independent are you using? Are you based in Lancashire? About £400-£450 for labour then I guess.

did you have the tracking done

At 6:00 I can help you justify a £1000 bill on your cayman. Our 2013 fiesta (108'000 miles) has a wet timing belt(it runs in the engine oil) and should be changed at 150'000 or 10years. So next year iam looking at a £900 bill on a £2'800 car,and I will feel absolutely no benefit on the road (atleast you get a quieter nicer ride 😀 bet you feel a bit better.

That’s no worse than the Mini Cooper I had, FSH and it was a disaster. Ironically I bought that instead of a Boxster. I thought the Boxster would be too mid life crisis. On the look out for a 987 Boxster now. Thanks for the video

On springs Mitsubishi L200 pickup go through rear springs 10 years ago £450 to fix broken rear springs 🙈 2nd one I bought a few years later had just had rear springs replaced 😳 So your Porsche doesn’t sound that bad now 😉😂

Someone once said to me ‘just because a person can afford the price of the ticket to enter the theme park doesn’t mean they can afford the rides’. These cars were once a lot of money and maintenance will always reflect that. As always, folk need to do research and be aware of possible bills.

As a subscriber and Fiesta owner, can you stop giving Fiestas a hard time - it certainly hasn’t got the kudos of owning a Porsche but won’t be too far behind down a good B road, has only cost me for routine servicing in four years of ownership and always puts a smile on my face. In fact if you offered me a swop, I’d stick with the ST!

Never heard of springs breaking like that.....seems like perhaps a bigger issue...defective OEM parts, etc. Not so sure P cars are nearly as reliable as the market wants people to think.

Get yourself a decent integra dc5

I payed almost 500 for new oem springs + work for my clio 3 rs so i think this is incredibly cheap.

Defo could of changed 4 springs yourself mate 😂👍🏽

You should have just changed the springs yourself. I've done this a number of times on cars. Despite having no experience at all the first time. An easy job with basic tools for any DIY mechanic. Loads of advice on RU-vid. Do these types of jobs on a cayman and you'll save a small fortune.

I’ve had a set of standard 987 Cayman Springs for sale for a year, in great Nick I took them off when lowering my cayman 😬😊 enjoying your videos. I will be in the market for a cayman in a year or so. Good luck with it all. Yes I never had a bill for much less than £1000 😬😊 Graham.

At least yours didn’t suffer with bore score like mine! Absolutely shocking for a 80k mile engine with full history to fail. Never again will I own a Porsche unless it’s a GT product

Big costs but lovely car.

Three broken springs??? Did they show you the “broken springs”? Sounds fishy to me. I agree you would have definitely felt that.

The running cost on the Porsche is exorbitant be it Cayman or 911, with my smoking on start ups problem on my 987.2 the car is out of warranty and I am at the mercy of my Porsche Indy trying to rectify the fault, the bill does pile up. It comes with Porsche ownership!

I can only imagine your frustration, but at the end of the day you still have a great Porsche to drive. Most people can’t say that. Hang in there!

You should take up DIY. Expensive Porsches are to be expected, so take some of it on yourself. Be confident and save thousands.

What a shocker…..genuine Porsche parts from Porsche are expensive.

Don't fret, you will BOUNCE back. 😂 Sorry bad joke.

Hm mmm 🤔

Good old Porsche tax strikes again 😂

Get your hands dirty and do the job yourself.

Wait till you get a brake and pad service!!!

That car is going to bankrupt you.Should’ve bought a z4 coupe,much more reasonable prices.

Boring