Chris Harris compares GT86, 370Z and a well used Cayman S.

Thanks for this, it was a great watch!

 

I honestly do not see why anyone would consider the 370Z or GT86 if you could get the Cayman S for the same money, even used compared to new.

 

New carness and warranty would definitely weigh heavily.
It is amazing how close the price of the FT86 and Z are, you can't get a Z that cheap here.

 

+987

Maybe, but new car-ness is gone pretty quickly and depreciation pays for a lot of tires and brake pads.

 

I agree, but tires and brake pads are not what will be breaking the bank with an out of warranty Cayman. Just the regular service will seem like a ton of money to someone considering an FT86, not to mention if something breaks.

Not to mention that getting a Cayman for less then the Scion, as in the video, is going to be a challenge and the car will probably not be in very good shape. I think for the same money is more realistic.

 

Agreed.

I got 3 years of free maintenance and a bumper to bumper warranty on my FRS. Coming from an expensive to fix and expensive to maintain MB - this was a big selling point for me, especially as my DD.

I test drove a Cayman S - it was unreal, but I couldn't find one under 35k+ that wasn't a total pos and way out of warranty.

 

Exactly. How is Cayman reliability? Replacing an engine on a Porsche is not something i would like to do, which is why I have avoided 996's...

 

You may be overly ill-informed.

 

Go on...

 

Thanks Steve, that's a great review video. I linked it over here to the GT86 thread too:

Other Cars > General Automotive Discussion > "Will you soon want to buy a Toyota?" > NeuroBeaker's post​

All the best,
Andrew.

 

A 77k cayman has maybe 20k miles to go before it will need serious $$$. Even if the motor and tranny Ok the bushings will be shot, brake calipers will need redoing, disks etc. If anything serious goes, and it very well may with hard driving you can be into another $10- $20k before you blink.

Yes the cayman is a lot more car than a GT86, but its also 77k further down the road. Whatever the deoreciation on a GT86 I will bet that between the two there will be less $$$ and a boatload less agravation in owniung the GT86.

Now if you were going to m,ake a track car the numbers might be different. Will be interesting to see how track prepped GT86's perform in a few years.

 

From Excellence magazine....

The number-one leak for all 996s continues to be the engine’s rear main. Both automatic and manual cars suffer from this problem, but to date, RMS leaks have been more prevalent on the former. In manuals, the heavy dual-mass flywheel and clutch are hung on the end of a relatively unsupported crankshaft. Loads imposed cause the crankshaft’s cradle assembly to slowly move downward, allowing the main seal to move, fatigue, and leak. If the flywheel and clutch are not well balanced, the problem is exacerbated.

The situation, however, is not as dire as it might seem. The seal can be replaced, and be made to work effectively, so long as the crankshaft assembly is still properly centered in the crankcase. By the year 2000, Porsche’s efforts at fixing the problems in the field had improved, although it should be noted that even some 997s have experienced oil leakage due to similar rear main seal failures.

This can be scary reading, but our experience suggests that most of the water-cooled 911 sixes are generally reliable — needing little to nothing more than routine maintenance and some TLC over the course of their lives. While RMS and related issues are a black mark on this series, the rest of these cars, from transmission to suspension to brakes to electrical systems, have proven reliable.

Many Porschephiles dismiss the 996 and 997 for fear of expensive failures, but take those comments with a grain of salt — these same individuals often gloss over the known maladies of other Porsches. Used 996s offer superior dynamics, real comfort, modern safety, everyday usability, and good value.

Elsewhere, Excellence notes that no one except Porsche knows the extent of 996 problems, and they aren't saying.