Go for a Porsche Cayman from the 2009 model year on, whose engine has no IMS bearing, and don't buy an older one without paperwork on its intermediate shaft bearing and a quiet, clean-running engine.
2 known faults, 2 rated high severity in our database; owners report 27.6 mpg, 91% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
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Check a Porsche Cayman advert (free) →Buy a Cayman from the 2009 model year on if you can, because the engines fitted from then have no intermediate shaft, so the IMS bearing failure that can wreck an older engine without warning can't happen, and neither High known fault on file reaches them. That's a gap in the record rather than a clean bill, though, so these cars still want checking properly.
The first Cayman, the 987 sold from 2005 to 2013, shares its code with the Boxster of the time, and its earlier cars have the M96 or M97 engine. The IMS bearing on those can fail and wreck the engine, though the bigger bearing used from late 2005 to 2008 fails far less often than the one before it, and a 3.4 built up to 2007 can also suffer bore scoring. Don't treat one as sound without receipts.
The 981 (2013 to 2016) isn't named by either engine fault, and the 718 from 2016 has nothing on record at all. What owners have reported on the 981 is smaller stuff, each from a single car: headlights misting up inside in cold weather, a rear damper that failed an MoT, and exhaust fittings that rusted beyond saving. Judge each one on its own history.
There's no engine from before the 2009 model year you can call a safe pick outright, and on an M96 or M97 the lesser risk is one with paperwork on its IMS bearing. That bearing drives the timing chains these engines use, and when it goes it can take the whole engine with it, with no warning beforehand. The engines from the 2009 model year on have no intermediate shaft to fail.
On 3.4, 3.6 and 3.8 engines built from 2004 to 2007, bore scoring is the second High fault. It brings piston slap, heavy oil use and, left alone, a failed engine. A car from those years with no evidence the bores are healthy is a gamble you don't need to take.
One owner warned that the 3.4 in the first Cayman has a wet sump, so hard cornering on a track can starve one bank of cylinders of oil. Ask the seller straight out whether the car's done track days. As for the PDK twin-clutch gearbox, there's little on record either way, so it can't be called good or bad.
Ask first for the service history and any receipts for IMS bearing work on a Cayman built before the 2009 model year, since a failed bearing ends the engine. Ask too whether metal particles have ever turned up in the oil filter at a service, because that's an early warning. On the drive, listen for a loud rattle from the engine, which is another sign the bearing's going.
A ticking or tapping from the engine points to piston slap from bore scoring on 3.4, 3.6 and 3.8 engines built from 2004 to 2007. Ask how much oil it's been using, and look at both tailpipes: if one is clearly sootier than the other, that's a warning sign too. Don't buy one showing these without a proper inspection.
One owner advised seeing a readout of what the ECU has recorded before buying, because later Porsche ECUs log how the car's been driven, including whether it's been over-revved. On a 2013 to 2016 car, check the headlights for moisture inside, ask whether a rear damper's ever failed an MoT, and look at the exhaust fittings for rust, as owners have reported each of those once.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
Buy a 987 from the 2009 model year on if you can, because its engine has no intermediate shaft, while an earlier car with an M96 or M97 needs paperwork on its IMS bearing and a quiet, clean-running engine before it's worth considering. The first cars went without a limited-slip diff, which later joined the options list, and the PDK twin-clutch gearbox was offered too, though there's little on record about how it holds up.
On the earlier cars, the IMS bearing can fail and wreck the engine without warning, though the larger bearing used from late 2005 to 2008 fails far less often than the one before it. A 3.4 built up to 2007 can also suffer bore scoring, bringing piston slap and heavy oil use, so listen for a loud rattle or a ticking and compare the tailpipes for soot.
Real-world economy on this generation: Porsche Cayman 27.1 mpg, Porsche Cayman 30.5 mpg.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Porsche Cayman advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 27.6 mpg across the Porsche Cayman engines with data, about 91% of the official figure, from 115 submissions.
Porsche Cayman Real MPG by engine →The handling's the big draw. The Cayman's beautifully balanced and properly agile, so it changes direction without fuss, and it's got a huge amount of grip when you lean on it through a bend. That balance is what makes it such a satisfying car to drive on a good road.
It isn't a punishing thing to live with either. It's fairly refined for such a focused car, and the ride's comfortable enough that you can use it every day rather than saving it for the odd sunny weekend drive, and it doesn't wear you out.
Go for a Porsche Cayman from the 2009 model year on, whose engine has no IMS bearing, and don't buy an older one without paperwork on its intermediate shaft bearing and a quiet, clean-running engine. Our database holds 2 known Porsche Cayman faults, 2 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
Ask first for the service history and any receipts for IMS bearing work on a Cayman built before the 2009 model year, since a failed bearing ends the engine. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Porsche Cayman fault before you travel.
Owners report 27.6 mpg on average, about 91% of the official figure, from 115 submissions. Chain (M96, M97, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8): no fixed replacement interval, so budget for it if the history does not show it done. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Porsche Cayman Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Porsche Cayman buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 16 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
CarAdCheck is not affiliated with Honest John or Volkswagen Financial Services. What happened to Honest John, and where each feature lives now.
The Porsche Cayman is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
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