[MadMax007]

At times Life can be dull and dark

Sometimes Life can take you to very dark places, where everything looks horrid and meaningless. You start questioning everything about life and turn to philosophical views and realize the mortality of it. You get bored with same types of TV shows, similar Movies, and same vicious News cycles. You wish if anyhow you could be child again, especially true if you've had joyful childhood. Probably you know it’s about toy car, I still recall when my dad brought me remote operated car. I'd make it jump the bridge made out of notebooks. And then I stumbled upon below advertising by Porsche.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sWPHKU1XZU

And I ended up watching it multiple times, every time it hit me, and sometimes I ended up shading tears. At one hand rationalist me knew probably such emotional ads are made by brilliant people to hit you where it will hurt most i.e. your heart. At other hand child me starts screaming , "So what ? If you try to rationalize everything then what about human love for their kids? Do you regret spending on them? And what about Porsche toy which you had at your desk even a decade back". And then he exclaimed mesmerizing words from the advert

It's a funny thing about a Porsche.
There's the moment you know you want one.
There's the moment you first own one.
And for the truly afflicted; there's the decade or two that passes in between.

And for me the wait was close to two decades. Finally I decided that it is time make kid me happy again and I was Porsched. After all is not that our childhood has major influences on our lives ?

Which Porsche ?

Before I start discussing Porsche, please note that I have not considered any other sports cars. Even my previous 2017 VW Passat was bought within first dealer visit when they offered 20% discount on it. Probably this technique may not be effective, however it has served well for me so far.
P911 is ticker of Porsche on German Stock exchange for a reason. It is the most iconic model of the Porsche and kind of its identity. One day I may win a lottery and end-up buying some exotic Porsche that money can buy like Porsche Sport Classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmzn77xOCe0

Now back to reality from Dreamland, I think for a single guy like me, right now there’s no need for extra back seats. Also, I kind of liked clean looks of Cayman rather than big brother 911 which has grown quite bulky in recent years.



I spent next few weeks month browsing through internet, YouTube videos deciding which Cayman variants. Since I don’t like open top look of Boxster, and hence it was never in consideration. Though I had almost zeroed on Cayman as daily driver still ended up watching below informative video, please note that one of the guys owns Porsche and you may find him bit biased.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Dqo7leTtY

Below were my requirements when I began my search around Oct. 2022

• It would be used as daily driver whenever I would travel to office, mostly 3 times a week around 10 miles / 16 kms each direction.
• I have never driven on tracks and had no intentions to track with the new car as well.
• It should have comfortable ride quality, hence kept 18" inch wheels.
• Should not be too over the top in looks, or may be I'm just cheap.
• Good audio System preferably Bose (due to chip shortage, it was bit dicey though).
• And finally, it must be a manual shift for extra fun whenever I take it out for weekend trips.

Based on above criteria below variants were ruled out

• Cayman GTS – One of my colleague owns Porsche 2020 GTS (he has another car as daily driver), though he is frequent track user. As per him using Cayman GTS as daily driver is total waste of extra power. More ever Oct 2022 when my search began, was an era of dealer markups. Specially for in demands models like GTS markups were around $40K for $100K Car.
• Cayman S / T – I was not ready to pay extra $10K just for the sake of another 50 BHP and painted calipers.

A thing note that Base Cayman has 300 BHP which is plenty to experience the power on roads. And we can customize Porsche just like Pizza with zillions of options. To zero down options on Base model, I went through below informative video on the extensive options list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNm5hvk2C78

And I configured below important options for the final car model

• Sport Seats Plus – For 6” ft guy with wide shoulders like me, this is most compatible option.
  
• Sports Exhaust Pipes in Silver – Default exhaust pipes are trapezoid shaped which kind of kills the look of sports car, whereas "Sports Exhaust Pipes in Silver" makes it way sportier.
• Lane Change Assist – Useful to look out for blind spots and is must have option. Most other cars this standard feature (heck, even my sedan had this), however not in Porsche world.
• BOSE® Surround Sound System - BOSE® Surround Sound System with 10 loudspeakers including center speaker and an active subwoofer integrated into the vehicle body.
• Preparation for Porsche Dash-cam – Internal wiring for dash cam. Drastically brings down labor cost during Porsche Dash cam installation
• Smoking Package - Though I don't smoke and no one is allowed smoke in my car, I optioned this one as it enhances look of the cabin and kind of looks clean.
• And of course manual transmission

Final Build - 718 Cayman Build.pdf

Hunt Begins

Called up 3 different dealers in nearby area. One of them asked for markup and told me wait time could be anywhere from 12 months to 36 months. Looks they were not interested in selling the cars or may be too many buyers in waiting list. Then another dealer asked me to visit over to the showroom and I obliged. Unfortunately, they had not a single new car in stocks, and anyhow the salesman was trying sell me one of their Preowned stocks. Finally, I got fed up and I told him bluntly, ”I don’t deal with Preowned cars, never had or never will”. Looks the dealership was not in good books of Porsche. AFAIK Porsche allocated cars every quarter to dealers based on various parameters, sell may be one of them. Once the dealer gets allocation for few cars, then probably they allocate to customers, not strictly based on first come( probably customer with exotic options may be ahead of you, it means more margin for the dealer).
And I called up the last one dealer in nearby. I got in touch with one of the salesmen and he note down my information and requirement that I need new Porsche based on my specification. Then he explained that they don’t have allocation for Cayman at this moment and I would be called whenever allocation is there and hung up the phone.
Few weeks went by, and I even forgot calling up the dealer. However, I just decided to drop at the dealership. And ohh boy I felt like a kid in toy store and spotted couple of beauties there ( albeit already sold)





Then I was greeted by the receptionist, and she could pull up my information and directed me to salesperson to whom I had spoken earlier. Now the salesperson tried to show me few models (one of was heavily optioned Boxster 718), however I just gave him the Porsche Code and asked him if I can get the allocation for this model. He paused for few moments and nodded yes and told may be next month it’s possible if they get allocation, however I need to deposit $5k. I simply handed over my credit card and signed the deposit papers. Few months just passed by and there was no news from the dealer. And all sudden I got call from the dealer In May 2023 month, luckily I got the allocation. Only catch was I had to put down additional amount in next couple of hours to confirm the allocation and it was 2024 model with increase in price by another $5K with total. Of course I happily obliged, signed the final build document to confirm allocation and to be send to Porsche, Germany.

Dreams Come true

In next couple of weeks I received an email form Porsche confirming the order and a customized video where my name would appear on odometer, such a personal touch by Porsche, no wonder there are so many Fan Boys out there.



Also Porsche sends an activation link so called "Track Your Dream" where you can track progress of the build and overall current status of the car. Though sometimes you may see few steps being delayed due to various logistics issues. Though If you are lucky you could grab actual production photos as well from Track Your Dream" website. After couple of months, I could see the actual production of the car started in "Track You Dream" website.



For me the delivery date was around August 2023, and actually the car was build in Sept 203. Though looks make me happy in spite of the delays, Porsche did send below scaled model, they surely know how to keep the kids entertained



Once the build was finished in couple of months, it left the factory to be shipped to the dealer.

Good things come to those who wait ...

And finally, I got the call from the salesperson confirmation that the car arrived at dealer in Oct 2023 (almost a year after booking) and ready for PDI. I was too excited and reached there in just couple of hours for PDI. Though it just had been uploaded from the truck and not all part were fitted yet, she is still a stunner, ain't she ?

Happy days are here again

Next few night were sleepless due to the excitement and days were filled quite hectic stuff. Decided to sell of current car to Carvana (used online Car Dealer in US) as their process is completely online(I never had time and energy to deal with private buyers). Cherry on top was that Carvana offered me around 70% of the original buy price. Not bad for 7 year old car. thanks to crazy preowned car market in US. Decided to take delivery on Saturday, arranged finance for the car and everything was all set or was it not ? Just got call from dealer couple of days informing that there some taxes pending with local DMV (equivalent of RTO in US), and they could complete the delivery unless I cleared up those. I paid those right way online and listed later to DMV to get it cleared, apparently it takes around 4 days to clear it if paid online. However a nice lady over there promised it clear those earliest, and finally she did on a day before scheduled delivery.
Finally the delivery day arrived, the appointment for the delivery was at 12:30 pm. On the same morning my current car was picked by Carvana after they inspected it and handed over me the check. Overall the process was quite smooth and just took 10 minutes. Around 11:30 AM I booked Uber to the Porsche Showroom, and tipped handsomely to the Uber driver. I reached almost 20 minutes earlier, however the Salesperson did not mind much. We did another round of inspection of the car, and explained various features of the car. Was also offered PPF, ceramic coating and prepared services at quite exorbitant price. It is bit funny how minor things can be expensive in Porsche world. Was handed over keys and a small gift of Porsche Umbrella and a keychain with Porsche logo. I must confess that delivery experience in US was pretty bland as compared to celebrations in India, no garlands, no cake cutting. Meanwhile my mom asked did I at last had drawn Swastika on the car, and was hilarious to explain "Swastika" on German car does NOT go well in US. Finally, the delivery was completed in 30-40 minutes and I drove away from the showroom happily



Happily parked along side with stunning Black Beauty Audi R8 ...

Driving Experience

After driving the car for 1800 +km (1142 miles) I could confirm that it is absolute delight and therapeutic to drive it , especially on twisty mountain roads over the weekends. The car sticks to the road like a magnet, and sometimes I feel like I am just in a video game in real life. The default 18” wheels makes ride pretty comfortable and make less noise cruising at high speeds. Contrary to common belief I found even after 2+ hours driving just another pleasure.



Even at 75 mph ( i.e. almost 120 km/h) it is well planted on the roads, and I don’t feel it’s so fast, alas that’s the legal max speed here(may be time head to AutoBahn).



Probably it will be another cliche to mention about telepathic steering by Porsche, however that’s factually true and not an exaggeration. I feel the steering has its own mind and exactly knows what I want to do (obviously I never felt that way in my previous humble sedan).

Not so powerful engine ?

To be honest I have no idea what on earth I’d have done with more power than 718 Engine has. May be this can be attributed to fact that I’ve not driven more powerful cars, or never tracked so far. Overtaking those bulky trucks is a breeze now (Yeah, I still try to follow safe driving lessons from my decade back Team-BHP browsing days and try to get away from potentially unsafe cars). In Sports Mode , the car has bit different characteristics, the exhaust sound becomes noticeably louder, and it becomes more responsive. Though the sound it makes is not really a music to ears, nonetheless pretty good in Sports mode. Of course, Sports mode also shuts off “Auto Stop / Start” feature and mileage takes bit hit as well, anyways who in right mind would think about mileage while driving sports car. So far rpm has not crossed 5000 and have not experienced so called “Turbo Magic”, may be after 2000 miles I will give try.

Real men drive stick

I simply love the manual transmission in this car, as it gives me an extra opportunity to interact with the car. Almost after a decade I’ve tried manual, and no regret as such. Even in third gear, it can climb steep roads without a sweat. One observation about the manual gearbox is sometimes I notice clunky sound while shifting to second gear, not sure if I’m doing something wrong, and it always happens in second gear.

Premium Interior

I really love the minimalistic interiors of Cayman( though someone else may find tad boring), I think it kind of suite my personality (fan of “Keep It Simple, Stupid?” principle). Every physical button has only one job to do, which I like so that I can focus driving instead of juggling through menus built in touch screen.





Initially I thought it will be cramped in comparatively smaller cabin, however due to low seating arrangement it feels spacious enough even for taller guy like me. Even though the engine is right behind your seats, the interior is quiet, and at times you feel it due to vibrations. During highway drives I rarely turn on music, however in city traffic Bose audio system keeps me entertained.
The SportsPlus seats hugs you like friendly bear Baloo from The Junglebook and are indeed very comfortable. However, I’ve complaint about squeaky noise the seat makes sometimes, I have not found the root cause yet though. On topic of complaints, there’s another one; at times, the passenger seatbelt rattles as probably it is hitting door panel. I simply buckle it, even when not used by passenger.
I did not like "Over Engineered" (or may be just crappy design) cup holder a bit. Yet have not dared to use it out of fear that spilled hot coffee may ruin the interior, or worst could cause accidents due to the distraction.
Apart from these minors complaints I’m overall happy with the interiors, as it provides premium feel, simple dash, reassuring thud sound when closing doors and has overall great visibility on the roads.

Exterior and Safety Features

Probably with previous exterior shot should leave no doubts that, she is stunning beauty and got too many compliments. They say its car bros who are attracted toward the beautiful car, however in my experience with Cayman is bit different. Once I’d just parked the car in parking at public park, a lady photographer complimented the car, “She is such a beauty”. Apart from looks, there are no panel gap inconsistencies. The car is also equipped with parking sensors which helps during parking in tight spots (the display will turn red in case of too close distance as opposed to yellow).


After driving during office hours , I really admiring the "Lane Change Assist", as it is feature with a twist. Instead of "glowing lights in the exterior mirror" as in Passat, there is a soft red glow on front pillars. The soft nature of the light really does not cause much distraction, and it will start blinking only if you decide to change the lane even with another vehicle/s in blind spot, pretty cool ! Below image captures LCA in action, please ignore orangish tint( camera quality is not that great),in reality it is soft red glow.



Also, it is equipped with back up camera which gets activated automatically when put in reverse gear , or by accidental rollback. Though I've complaint about the placement of the Camera, sometimes the vision is blocked if it's raining.



Talking about accidental rollbacks, there is feature called "Auto Hold" to rescue us, and it kind of works in mysterious ways. Initially I used to get confused with it, but much comfortable now.
It also equipped with heated seats which is quite helpful during winter, duel zone climate control(at times it is not effective, and I found fog being buildup inside the cabin).

One stunner to lust them all

And here are few more shots just after few days of driving ...




















Here's the litmus test for truly smitten by Porsches, if you notice something special in below video instead of alluring Selena, then you're

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcIcVapfqXw

Finally thank you all for reading my random thoughts and team-bhp mods for allowing me to post here ! You guyz rock
Please feel free to shoot any questions.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

[shankar.balan]

Dream Come True indeed! Well done on this!
I too am a firm believer in the ‘follow your heart’ model and I too LOVE that ad with the little boy who says ‘see you in about 20 years’.
Its nice that Porsche sent you the scale model Speedster. Thats a lovely car especially in that Silver shade. I also (being Porsche Mad since childhood), bought one of those.
Sadly, living in India, owning a real Porsche remains a Dream for now.
Wishing you all the very best.

[akshayhonda]

Such a wonderful dream come true mate. So happy to read it through. Congratulations on this BEAST

As a Porsche enthusiast myself I'm able to relate to all the emotions conveyed. And probably someday when I'm able to afford one (probably 911 GT3 in GT Silver) I too will be able to post something like this on the forum. Till then I shall keep dreaming and working towards it. Cheers. Have fun!

[A.K]

An absoultely joyful read in the middle of a hectic week! Big congratulations MadMax007, enjoy her in good health. Extra points on the choice of paint there, GT Silver goes down as one of the most underrated shades on the Porsche catalog. Do keep the thread here updated!

[rGT]

Lovely car. While the 2.0 Boxer 4 cylinder doesn't provide the aural experience of the F6, it has a distinctive note of its own, and the Cayman has always had a very beautiful design.

Originally Posted by MadMax007

[h3]

Here's the litmus test for truly smitten by Porsches, if you notice something special in below video instead of alluring Selena, then you're

It's Team-BHP, for heaven's sake!
If we can't notice the 356 Speedster, who else can?

[Car-riedAway]

What a pleasure reading your blog, I could imagine myself in your seat even though owning a Porsche in India is a distant dream, which I hope to fulfil someday (have started manifesting though). Cayman is infact the most affordable Porsche in India(after Macan, which is a SUV) as I understand. Hormazd Sorabjee recently got one if I remember correctly. Congratulations again, you are living a dream of many!

[Pythonista]

Just WOW! I too am a Porsche fan boy and this remains a dream for me. Just gotta wait for a couple more years and I'll get it I guess .

Wishing you hundreds of happy miles with your beauty!

[carthick1000]

Good choice of Porsche to pick - Cayman instead of 911. I think the mid engine RWD layout is the most enthusiastic driver oriented powertrain layout.

Originally Posted by MadMax007

On topic of complaints, there’s another one; at times, the passenger seatbelt rattles as probably it is hitting door panel.

Ikea has you covered for less than a $. Get these floor protectors which have felt on one side and sticker on other side. You can stick them to the buckle where it rubs with door panel and the rattles should go away.

[MadMax007]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage today

That's quite an honor, thank you very much !

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Dream Come True indeed! Well done on this!
I too am a firm believer in the ‘follow your heart’ model and I too LOVE that ad with the little boy who says ‘see you in about 20 years’.
Its nice that Porsche sent you the scale model Speedster. Thats a lovely car especially in that Silver shade. I also (being Porsche Mad since childhood), bought one of those.
Sadly, living in India, owning a real Porsche remains a Dream for now.
Wishing you all the very best.

Thanks for kind words !!

Originally Posted by akshayhonda

Such a wonderful dream come true mate. So happy to read it through. Congratulations on this BEAST
As a Porsche enthusiast myself I'm able to relate to all the emotions conveyed. And probably someday when I'm able to afford one (probably 911 GT3 in GT Silver) I too will be able to post something like this on the forum. Till then I shall keep dreaming and working towards it. Cheers. Have fun!

Thank you very much, and more power to 911 GT3 dream !!

Originally Posted by A.K

An absoultely joyful read in the middle of a hectic week! Big congratulations MadMax007, enjoy her in good health. Extra points on the choice of paint there, GT Silver goes down as one of the most underrated shades on the Porsche catalog. Do keep the thread here updated!

Originally Posted by rGT

Lovely car. While the 2.0 Boxer 4 cylinder doesn't provide the aural experience of the F6, it has a distinctive note of its own, and the Cayman has always had a very beautiful design.

It's Team-BHP, for heaven's sake!
If we can't notice the 356 Speedster, who else can?

True, I just wanted to slide I this wonderful song !

Originally Posted by Car-riedAway

What a pleasure reading your blog, I could imagine myself in your seat even though owning a Porsche in India is a distant dream, which I hope to fulfil someday (have started manifesting though). Cayman is infact the most affordable Porsche in India(after Macan, which is a SUV) as I understand. Hormazd Sorabjee recently got one if I remember correctly. Congratulations again, you are living a dream of many!

Thanks for reading it, and best wishes for the dream !!

Originally Posted by Pythonista

Just WOW! I too am a Porsche fan boy and this remains a dream for me. Just gotta wait for a couple more years and I'll get it I guess .

Wishing you hundreds of happy miles with your beauty!

Thank you, I hope it comes earlier than 2 years !

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Good choice of Porsche to pick - Cayman instead of 911. I think the mid engine RWD layout is the most enthusiastic driver oriented powertrain layout.



Ikea has you covered for less than a $. Get these floor protectors which have felt on one side and sticker on other side. You can stick them to the buckle where it rubs with door panel and the rattles should go away.

Thanks, I think I've bought these earlier to protect the sofa !

[nova.19_exe]

Amazing write, MadMax! What an amazing beauty you have there! Truly a dream come true! My girl and I always have dreamt of having matching Porsches, hopefully, if God wills, in the future after we get jobs and save up enough.

Wishing you many happy miles on that wonderful machine! Cheers bud!

[MadMax007]

Originally Posted by nova.19_exe

Amazing write, MadMax! What an amazing beauty you have there! Truly a dream come true! My girl and I always have dreamt of having matching Porsches, hopefully, if God wills, in the future after we get jobs and save up enough.

Wishing you many happy miles on that wonderful machine! Cheers bud!

I hope it will eventually happen, hope to you both appear on Porsche Valentine's Special !!

[androdev]

Wow, congratulations man!! Beautiful car, great story telling and amazing pics. Interesting you opted for sensible 18" wheels - a not so common sight these days.

Smart decision to go for the Porsche mid-engine manual transmission two door coupe instead of wasting your time with all sorts of cars just to get here eventually!

I used to think USA is a land of "swipe and buy" - didn't know there is so much hard work involved in buying a car. I feel better, lol!

[MadMax007]

Originally Posted by androdev

Wow, congratulations man!! Beautiful car, great story telling and amazing pics. Interesting you opted for sensible 18" wheels - a not so common sight these days.

Smart decision to go for the Porsche mid-engine manual transmission two door coupe instead of wasting your time with all sorts of cars just to get here eventually!

I used to think USA is a land of "swipe and buy" - didn't know there is so much hard work involved in buying a car. I feel better, lol!

Thank you very much for kind words !

[mobike008]

Congratulations on your beautiful Porsche Cayman.

This car is what dreams are made of. Happy for you !!

Well, I have to outrightly confess something- You are driving my "next car"

After a lot of research earlier this year, I have decided that only a "Porsche" can be a real upgrade to my current car. And, I have also decided that it has to be the one and only " Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0"

I noticed something that you too don't like pre-owned cars (I too have never owned preowned cars or bikes ever in my life).

But, honestly looking at the GTS 4.0 sticker price and premium on top of it, I am seriously considering a low mileage pre-owned.

Well, it's still at least a 1-2 years away but, it is already decided that the only real upgrade is the GTS 4.0.

I have some questions and hope to learn from your purchase journey

1. Why did your car didn't arrive via. ship from Germany?

2. What was the waiting period from Order to Delivery Date?

3. What is your thoughts on new vs. preowned Porsche? I personally feel that preowned is literally same price as new ones. Porsches hold their value really well.

4. Is the base version 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine? Did you drive the flat 6? Curious to know your opinion on the differences?

5. While 300 hp is plenty for this light weighted car but, you know power is never enough...lol. Any plans of using Softronic in future?

Look forward to your regular updates and lots of pictures of your ownership.

Cheers and Happy Driving. !!!