DIY mechanics that have owned both 986 and 987
 

To those that work on your own car and have owned both - how would you compare working on a 986 to a 987. And especially a Cayman 987. Degree of difficulty, more advanced systems, more features, etc etc. Cars have gotten harder to work on and much more complicated so as a DIY I have hesitation of replacing my 986. Reading horrors stories like having to remove the bumper to replace a belt on a 991 is a big turn off.

I have only had/still have a 986 but a friend has a 987.1 and he does a lot of his own work, and there is a huge community of 987 DIY folks on CaymanRegister.org, and Planet-9.

I have a 987.1 cayman and a 986 boxster. There really isn't all that much difference. It's a bit harder to reach in the top of the engine compartment with the cayman due to the hatchback.

Interesting. Yeah I figure access is more of a pain but if everything else is mostly the same that is good to hear!

My first Porsche was an 01 986S and I currently own a 987S Boxster and Cayman. I do as much DIY as I can. It's been 8 yrs since I had the 986S but I don't think it's harder to work on a 987 vs a 986. I think it's easier to work on my Cayman since you can climb in the trunk to work on the top of the engine vs the Boxster in service mode.

Agreed. I also own both and have done various work on them including clutches. Very similar vehicles.