My wife has warmed up to exotics after 10 years of ownership and constant close contact. However her driving skills are not up to own a racing breed. She sweats driving the f1 vanquish gen 1 She likes porsche and i figured a used cayman would be fine with auto mode. I know nothing about porsche and cayman What should i look for as a buy guidance . Are the s and base very different? How does this compares to let say a maserati GT? (Very different car i know)
Get a Cayman with the PDK, 2009 and up. She will absolutely love it. The PDK works best when you drive it like an automatic, don't fool with the paddles. After a while, she can learn how to downshift by blipping the throttle. I wouldn't worry about base v S. I also wouldn't pay up for options like the sports chrono. Just get her a PDK and the color she likes, and you will have hit a major home run.
Caymans are great cars. Very easy to drive and confidence inspiring. The main difference between base and s is the engine size/hp and the base is probably better with hp that's more easy to manage. Maserati GT has more hp and base cayman will "feel" quite a bit slower, which may help to instill some confidence. Cayman steering and handling will feel lighter and easier to maneuver as well. If you want to get something that your wife can easily drive and that you might enjoy - take a look at the cayman gts. More hp, different suspension, more aggressive stance. You can drive it like a daily or open it up on the twistys for some real fun! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Great replies. Yes , after all i need my fun too! I guess trying the GTS/S base can settle this. Although GTS seems to be a new car. I dont want to go much over $40Kish for this and under $50K if i can help it. I would also get a 35K miles or less. These appear to go well over 100K. Many of them there. I am getting the message on PDK 2009 and up. No one seems to have mechanical reservations or point out maintenance weaknesses. Many cars have their own.
I bought a 718 Cayman S (PDK) for my girlfriend. Pretty loaded car (about 29K worth of options), and she loves it. I would agree that you should go with the latest PDK model you can. The new car is pretty amazing in auto mode, but remember it is not a real auto so when she is going to at times hear the tranny shift. I am teaching my girlfriend to use the paddles (she says it brings a whole new excitement to the car), she was hesitant at first but after she saw what I could do driving the car she wanted to learn. I have owned a few Maserati's (including a GT), cannot really compare it to the Cayman, they are just way to different. good luck.
Carnut: this is a great model you got her. I am afraid you spent more than I am willing to go. this is gonna be her first and I will need to pay for a garage extension now! So far I narrowed to: * 2011 and up 981 or 718 model. 718 would be great but they are more than I am willing to go for a 1/2 driver. I like the interior 2014 and up. * PDK. she wont do manual but a auto with paddle option will work. she can do the Aston but the Aston does not have double clutch so stop and go and an issue for her and the car. * S or GTS would be nice if it fits in budget. will need to test drive * less then 35K miles preferably 20k. * exterior not Black, gray, silver or white. that is always a challenge * Grey or tan interior. I never thought I would look into Porsche but it appears it is a great choice. I was also looking into Lotus Elise. Both car being small and agile with power that can be managed by someone who is not used to brutal cars.
I think this car was special ordered (not many dealers around here stock cars with $2500 paint options), and then not taken so I was able to negotiate an unusually large discount off sticker. Have you ever driven an Elise, it is much, much more driver focused (not to mention not as easy to get in and out of and no creature comforts), and like the 4C (I have one of those), no where near as easy to live with. I'd stay with the Cayman, just keep in mind like I said PDK is not an auto transmission. You can go to Porsche's website and search for certified cars (which I always advise) there are 2014 and 2015 PDK Caymans (white) listed one at Porsche of Princeton one at Paul Miller both have under 15K miles and are certified. Not sure where you live but go to the site they are out there. I buy cars a lot (the Lotus Evora 400 will be # 459) the Cayman I bought for her was Porsche # 41 (I have another Porsche in my garage), she drove my 4C and told me it was too raw for her, but she loves her Cayman. I'd stick with Porsche, you cannot go wrong. Good luck.
Actually it is funny you mentioned the elise. It is in the choice list. The elise california is very nice. Elise, new Corvette C7 and Cayman. Love the Elise look. corvette is nice, a lot of car for the money as a new car on discount is less than a used 2014 cayman S. but it may be a bit much for her, she likes its looks thou. then the cayman but i am learning they are not all equal. for PDK, i would want the special steering wheel with paddle in the back. she already knows these from Aston and the thumb thing looks odd and prone to screwing up inadvertently. I am looking more at S now but the price diff is significant so I may want to evaluate on test drives. My take is that she will not rev the car to 500 pm all the time so she needs torque at lower rpm in daily driving. the 3.4 should do fine. the backup cameras also looks like a nice option.
You can always get paddles for the steering wheel. I have altered almost every steering wheel on my cars. Techart makes paddle shifters or you can change the steering wheel, fairly easy to do. I have a C7 too and it is a very different car from either the lotus or the Porsche. The C7 takes a bit of getting used to, it seems a lot bigger than it is from the drivers seat and no where near as easy to drive like a sports car. As much as I like the Elise it is not a car I'd ever own, and about as far from as an Aston or a Maserati as you could get on 4 wheels. I do not know how tall your wife is but my girlfriend is, and she could not get comfortable in the Elise in either the drivers or the passenger seat (which does not move).
Found a car. Ready to finalize purchase. Wife like the drive and I have to say it is not unpleasant even if only 325hp. We have been all over the place as she got the hots for a 911 turbo that got sold when she convinced me to buy it . Can anyone get info on VIN and tell me how I could get a copy of original MSRP sticker? Dealer does not have it. EDIT: I forgot, also what insurance rate you guy get for what coverage? I am getting $800 to $1K for $500 or $1000 deductible full coverage. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I use this for the factory options. http://www.wikilender.com/window-stickers-porsche-vin-decoder-window-sticker-tool/
Looks like a good choice has the sport exhaust. Most upgrades to those cars are seats (from 8way to 14 way to 18way), unless they were saving weight and went with the non powered ones. Things like Nav, leather, PCM, with Porsche the list of what you can add is pretty long. Good luck and hope she enjoys it.
yes. we actually tried one with 18 ways seat. Sales guy made a big deal out of it. Same color. Could negotiate squat from them but $1K and they sold it $10K over what i got from mine 3 days later even if ours has 6K miles compared to the 16K miles she had and no sport exhaust. Hard to comprehend how pricing sometimes works. What first seems to be a lost battle sometimes turns into a blessing. I was offering $5K for that 18 way sports seat over what I ended up paying on the one we bought. They turned it down, fortunately!
There are also ways to get real paddle shifters on the multi function steering wheel (tech-art and a few others make them), I had it done on my Panamera. You do need to take the wheel off to install them but well worth it. Try sharkwerks, I got mine from them years ago.
