From 911's to the 718 Cayman

[Sunroof]

I have been a Porsche owner for the last 50 years first starting with a 1979 911SC, followed by a 1974 911 (sold to one of Jerry Seinfeld's stage crew), moving onto a 1985.5 944 (owned 12 years) then a 1973.5T 911 (owned 24 years). Interestingly, I purchased the 73.5T for $9800.00 and ended up selling it last year for $85,000! Amazing. If your asking just how much I spent on the car on mechanicals I would have to say roughly 40K which includes the 2.4L engine rebuild a year before it was sold. By the way the car was Sepia Brown and often pictured in the 911 forum. I have been a long time participant on Pelican for decades now.

Now that I am 76 years old, I still love and admire Porsches and thought a good replacement would be the mid-engine 718 Cayman (base). A manual transmission was not in the cards for me this round. The PDK does it all and is a wonderful transmission. I find the 718 (2017 with 25,000 miles) and heavily optioned a fantastic car that brings as much excitement as my 911's. I never drove a better balanced (mid engine) vehicle like this before and I absolutely love it. My "wrenching" days are over due to some physical drawbacks, but it does bother me somewhat that I cannot mess around in the engine compartment and find it odd to have to check the oil level on the instrument cluster! Over the close to one year of ownership, several road trips, runs up into the Georgia Mountains and the backroads I would say as an old 911 owner that the 718 mid-engine Cayman offers just as much performance, better handling and the thrill of acceleration as the 911, if not better. I believe Porsche had it together when coming up with the 718. Now, will the 718 hold its value like the iconic 911? At my age, does it really matter? I just get in the damn thing and drive like I was 18!!

Bob
2017 Porsche 718 Cayman (base)

[CarGuyNeil]

Nicely said. I can't tell you how many 911 owners have told me that their Boxster or Cayman is more fun to drive than their 911. It's a very underestimated vehicle by many who have never driven one. I'm happy that you enjoy it as much as your other Porsches.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

[Sunroof]

I keep checking for posts on the 718 here and I see little if anything and the model has been out since 2017! All I can gather from this is that the 718 is indeed the best generation of the Boxster/Cayman models and has the fewest issues. Granted, the car seems to me more electronic than car, something an old air cooled 911 Porsche purist like me cannot help but be amazed by and that includes the flat four turbo performance.
No DIY projects listed on Pelican either. You tube offers air filter, oil change and cabin/pollen filter videos, but that's the extent of it. Perhaps I did get very lucky with this model. Oh well, I will keep watching.

Bob

[djnolan]

Aren't they a great car? I have an 06 Cayman. For DIY you can also look forward to changing the belt, changing the plugs, cleaning the MAF, and maybe changing brake pads and bleeding the brakes. Also get the PIAA wipers, they are so smooth. I did engine oil analysis on mine and now use 5W50.

[PCA7GGR]

On my 9th Porsche over 45 yrs. Currently have a '19 718 Cayman S with PDK (heated/vented seat, SportChrono, Bose...).

Would you believe that it replaced an '04 GT3. Had it for 10 yrs - best analog GT available hands down. But @74 yrs old with a shot back and arthritis, my body was no longer enjoying the GT3.

Prior to the GT3, I had an '06 Cayman S. When I replaced it w/ the GT3, my spouse said I had gotten another "Flintstone's Car" - enough said.