I'm toying with the idea of picking up a first gen Cayman S 6MT. I'd just be using it as a DD and maybe a little bit of auto-x/HPDE.

A few questions.

1. What issues should I look out for?
2. BiXenon headlights and heated seats appear to be common...is there a specific package that includes them?
3. What is the Chrono package?
4. Any particular options I should look for?

I'm finding a lot of them in the $25-$30K range, with 30-40K miles on average. That seem right?

 

Outside of potential IMS issues, which is relatively rare in the Cayman, the main thing to worry about is bore scoring, which is an issue with the 3.4 engine, so I'd get a scope done, along with the normal PPI.

 

Can you tell me more about the bore scoring? Does anything in particular cause it?

 

I've never heard of this bore scoring either, I'd be interested to read more. I guess I can ask Mr. Google.

I've bought several used Porsches, and I can tell you that they tend to be very robust, well-built cars. Find one that has been well taken care of and properly maintained, and you should be OK.

The Chrono package is basically a stopwatch integrated into the PCM and sticking out of the dash. It's kind of silly (IMHO) and gives you no performance benefit with the manual transmission. I suppose that you could use it to time runs in AutoX, but they've already got timers there for you, so why bother?