2012 Cayman How many miles are too many?

[juanbenae]

been looking for late edition, non turbo cayman at a reasonable pace and have found a 2012 with 99.5K miles on it that i kinda like. wanting to see if the mileage is a run forrest run thing?

i have requested a carfax from the dealer to review the maintenance records and everything else CF reveals. it is priced in the low 30's, is an S with the PDK.

if the maintenance and other things check out is it an option? i will only be driving this car 3-4k miles a year so the clock won't continue spinning at it's current rate if that is a consideration.

TIA

[juanbenae]

couple other things-- ive never driven a PDK car, i live in the mountains so the car will be for sport purposes only on the twisties roads all around me.

when i say i like the car it is GP with with a black interior that both look to be in fine shape.

lastly, i will have to drive nearly 3 hours each way to see and drive the car.

[husker boxster]

Depends on how long you plan to keep it. If this is a car you see as your end-all vehicle and the miles don't scare you, then it sounds like a good deal. If this is a car that will scratch an itch and soon you'll be looking to satisfy a different itch, then it's not the car for you b/c of the miles.

I buy and sell Boxsters and Caymans as a hobby. Porsche owners get persnickety about miles. The max I generally go with is 60K. Most buyers are looking in the 20-40K mi range. You get above 60K and you have to start discounting the price. When they cross into the triple dig realm, the price really drops. COVID pricing has driven prices to insane levels. If this car had 40-50K mi, the asking price would be at least $40K. So the dealer has this one discounted almost $10K (25%) because of the triple digit miles. Spinning the clock at a slower rate makes no difference since it's already passed this massive psychological barrier. At this point you might as well continue to drive the wheels off it since it won't matter if it has 109K or 130K.

To circle back, it depends on how long you plan to keep it. You'll have a limited audience regardless of when you plan to sell. Do you want the hassle now or later? If you don't plan on keeping it long, you'd have an easier time reselling if you pay more for a lower mi car now but you'll have a bigger audience to buy it when you're done.