Should I buy this Cayman?
 

2008 Cayman, 100K miles with a confusing history.

This car is 7 states away and I drove it yesterday and it was pretty solid. I'm trying to decided if it makes sense to put out $500+ for a PPI on this car or if I should let it go. With a green light from Livermore Porsche I would drive it home in a month or so.

It was driven 90K over 10 years in Hawaii and then was flood damaged and totaled by the insurer. How bad? How deep? Fresh water or salt water? Unknown, but it appears to have been running throughout. Owner says it was actually a water heater leak in the prior owner's garage, but I don't know if he really knows that. I know water damage can be a black box of headaches but I got away with it on a flooded Saab for 4 years once so maybe my luck will continue.

Current owner bought it at auction in CA, appears to have driven it 10K in his first two years with it, and just a few hundred miles in the last 2 years.

I drove it from cold. Starting up, it spat about a half cup of water out within 10 seconds. Seemed like way too much to me. Seller said it was because it was a high compression engine, but IDK, my '99 Boxster never does that. It didn't dump any more water that I saw after that.

While on the exhaust topic, does that tip look custom or stock? It was a little noisier than I expected, and plenty noisier than my '99.

On the console, is the little shock image on the button next to the spoiler button the PASM? The car doesn't really have any other options, FWIW.

If CarFax can be trusted, the car had a weird history in Hawaii of having "Title or registration issued" many many times with the same owner, on the same title at weird intervals: 10 months, then 14 months, then 4, 6, 9, 7, 5, 4, 14, 12, 10, 11, 2, 10, and 6 months, and then the salvage title was issued. ?? A couple of those were "Registration issued or renewed" but I couldn't see a pattern.

Not sure if this link will work for you- still works for me but might be cookies at work here:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/vdp.action?listingId=357698820&entitySelectingHelp er.selectedEntity=d993&pid=mini_vdp_main_image#lis ting=357698820

Thanks!

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Run away.......................

If the ins co totaled it, how can it have a clean title or carfax? Has the title been washed clean in some other state? That all sounds fishy to me. Also, the heater core is generally on the passenger side so if it leaked, it would be in the passenger foot well. The CPU is under the driver's seat. No way the passenger flood from a heater core leak would get to the driver's side. There's nothing valuable enough to total a car in the passenger footwell or seat.

Yes, the button with the shock absorber on it is for PASM. When activated, the suspension tightens up but it DOES NOT lower the car. PASM cars come 10mm lower than std suspension cars but are always 10mm lower whether PASM is activated or not.

That's not normal. My guess is based on it not being driven much lately is the owner has been in the habit of starting the car and just letting it idle for 5 min. That's not long enough for the water to evaporate from the exhaust heat, so it just lays there in the mufflers. Then when you got on an incline, it came out. That's why you should never start a sleeping car and just let it idle - instead drive it for 30 min. And blaming it on a high compression engine is 100% total BS.

99% of the time you need to be a dealer to buy cars at auction. When you throw in the BS this guy is shoveling when it comes to the leak from the heater core, lowering when activating PASM, and the water bomb is normal, I think you have a used car salesman who will tell you anything to make the sale. It's way too easy to poke massive holes in his stores. And what is he NOT telling you?

I agree with JFP - save your $500 for a better candidate. This one has more red flags than a CCP parade. We're shifting to a buyer's mkt. There will be much better cars available at reasonable prices.

Seeing this info, I would say - well, tough decision. You can buy yourself an expensive list of problems to address.

My other reply, I still stand for it, does not matter now, as the water damage is very tricky to recognize after repairs were done.

Thanks for getting back to me (on both threads!).
Yes, I'm leaning toward coughing up for the PPI and then hopefully going for it.

It's a real quandary- many reasons to both do it and to walk away. As you say, tough decision. It's been 4 years since the alleged flooding and the car has never stopped running, as far as I know. So does that mean the car is in the clear- or that the problems just haven't surfaced yet? In the vast majority of cases, I find I more often regret the things I don't do than the things I did choose to do.

Yeah, I know what you mean… but… these cars have been the siren song for me for a long time and I can't resist forever. Tie me to the mast. I think the 987.2 is the best body design Porsche has put out. There are two or three 911s that are up there for me, but most of them, and even the 718 Caymans and Boxsters, seem overcooked to me- trying too hard. I don't need a picnic table spoiler. Funny that the Caymans are finally cheaper than the Boxsters…

That Einstein quote is great. It's true- the vast majority of Nobel prize winners earn it for work done in their late 20s.

Indeed. Same. But I honestly can't tell if I'm dealing with fishy, or clueless, or disconnected from the circumstances- he might just be selling the car for his cousin, or perhaps for his "cousin." The guy selling the car had never heard of the IMS issue. He is personable and polite and *seems* straightforward but was born in a country that perhaps has different codes for negotiating transactions, and does not operate by the standards I'm used to.
Yes, the title has a murky history which I did not go fully into. Has the title been washed by going Hawaii to California? I don't know, but probably, and he might be more attracted to me as a buyer from out of state than he is about locals. The CA title doesn't have the word "salvaged" on it anywhere, but it comes up on CarFax and other sites right away. If I buy the car, the plan is to drive it 3-4 days a week for 10-15 years and then not lie about whatever I learn about its history when it comes time to sell it. I'm not flipping cars for profit, I just want to drive this.

All good to know, but I was not very clear: I THINK the seller was talking about a household water heater in a garage somehow flooding the car, and not the car's heater core itself Could be wrong, and I will ask tonight.


Got it, thanks. The seller also told me he thought the car gets lower, AND the wheels extend outward from the car, AND they angle outward for better grip, as though the axles are articulated, and can get longer, and then angle the tires. Uh-huh.

That's pretty much what the dealer service manager said via email today. He said he could get closer to the truth with a PPI but maybe not 100%

Seller's cousin (who originally got the car) has a shop in Lodi, FWIW) so maybe that tracks.

Hilarious.

>> We're shifting to a buyer's mkt.[/QUOTE]

THAT's good to hear. Though it's typical of me to be buying at the very peak. Same as my house, cars, ETFs, etc...

[/QUOTE]

If it has been 4 years, I think it should be clear with water damage issues.

Where was the car when the damage happened? What state? I presume no records of it.

If there are any weird errors, PIWIS during PPI will tell.


And I completely understand you.
I got myself a Boxster that is taking a lot of my time to address many little things that are annoying, but do not stop the car from being operational.

I did PPI myself along with Durametric rental.
All was OK.

But then there are small things and large things - I had to repaint the car, did all the suspension, tracing electrical gremlins with radio (double DIN)... but the car was cheap with decent bones.
I think there were 7 owners before me.
It has 110k miles. And drives just fine.

IMS? Well, either it is done or, hopefully, will not fail anymore since it has not yet.


Good luck.

As for Trabant.
Old times across the Pond.
One of my favourite cars. It was the Polo version, from 1991. It was a beast (for the size of car and the times).

Water damage was in Hawaii. Then the car came direct to CA.

Thanks for your thoughts. Pulled the trigger on the PPI today, which will happen Thursday.

Good luck.
I am curious to see how it went.