EvilDrPorkChop
Test Pilot
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- #1
I’ll start off with a bit of background. I’ve been an avid BMW fan right from being a small boy, my Grandparents always had BMW and I think that’s where it stemmed from. They were into their cars, so I’d been brought up around the brand. My Grandad had a X5 E53 before they really took off and my Grandma had one of the first Mini’s, then one of the first Mini Cooper S’s that BMW released. My parents were into their cars but a bit more stingy. They liked ‘new’ models, so they’d had the A Class when it was released in dog dick red, along with the odd shaped shake your ass Renault Megane, then moving onto the futuristic Civic. It took years of convincing to get my Dad into BMW. 2010 I finally managed it when he got one of the last E83s out of the Austrian factory (Mainly cause it was heavily discounted). He’s since on a F25 35d M Sport.
I’ve been to the factory twice, the Welt and Museum. If you’re a big BMW fan and get the chance, go. It’s great. Munich is also a great place, the Welt is also right next to the old Olympic park where you can go up the tower and see the plant. I was even a BMW Product Genius for a very short period in a previous life! So the Porsche factory tour in Stuttgart is definitely on the list of things to do.
Starting with my own car history it hasn’t been that exciting, mainly because disposable cash goes to more mundane things. More to the point I’ve ‘technically’ never actually owned a car as all these are in the OH’s name. The disadvantage of having a van for work. Also she gets to drive it more than me!
Starting off we’ve had a Vauxhall Adam (Our only Brand new car) Couldn’t pull you out of bed, the engine was shocking. I tease my OH as I said the Fiat 500 was the better car at the time and I was right 😉 We had that a couple of years, then swapped for a 12 month old 2014 BMW F21 118d M Sport that we had for 4 years. Cracking car, and we did a massive road trip around Europe in. We did 900 miles in one day going from Calais through Belgium and German to Zurich city, getting out fresh as a daisy the other end. It’d only hit 136mph on the Autobahn though 🙃 Never missed a beat in the 4 years of ownership. Then came the Mini Cooper S 2018 model just before the LCI, again 12 months old when we got it. I never wanted a Mini, but caved under pressure from the OH but stipulated it had to be Chilli Red/Black Roof and to have the Pan Roof and Auto. After a couple of months of searching we found what we wanted, with a cracking spec at a decent price. We’d of had a JCW ideally, but at the time I couldn’t justify the extra £3/4k for that extra 0.5 seconds. It was a cracking car, like a go kart so much fun. I’d happily have another, just was a little disappointed in built quality compared to the F21.
As many of the existing refugee Bimmerpost members will know, the Mini was involved in an accident in October. A guy pulled out on my OH travelling home from work. He pulled out as she got to him hitting his front quarter at 40mph spinning her across 2 lanes. She was bloody lucky nothing was coming the other way. Unharmed in the grand scheme of things, just bruising and pain. But she got straight out, a testament to modern cars and the Mini. The force had creased the back quarter roof, and all the Airbags had gone off so automatically a write off. We then found ourselves in a position with no car at a time when prices are through the roof and no stock in dealers.
Being such a big BMW fan, where does Porsche fit into all of this? Well I’d never really been a fan of Porsche till about 5/6 years ago. They just weren’t on my radar. Maybe as I’ve got older they’ve appealed more to me or maybe the fact that a decent spec BMW cost wise will nearly get you into a Porsche. I was working at a customers house one day who’s really into them his car really caught my eye. With the 982, and 991, 992 series I think they really upped the game with their designs. They’d all pretty much looked the same to me before that. Along with some of BMW’s questionable design choices in the later years, lesser quality, higher pricing and poor service at my local dealer I’d decided I was ready for a change and something new next time around.
The plan was to keep the Mini long term and for me to purchase a Cayman in 3/4 years time as a weekend car. So that was all thrown up in the air when the crash happened. With the used prices being the way they were we ended up getting £2k more than what we paid for the Mini (After a lot of arguing with the insurers). This put us in a better position than we’d ever be when trading in, and man maths kicked in. I also wanted to go all out as a last ICE car, as we’ll be forced down the Electric or Hydrogen route. I might never get the chance to get something like this again, along with costs going up.
So the hunt for a car began, we had two weeks to find something before the hire car went. Short list was M135i, Audi S3, another Mini S/JCW or Cayman. We looked at everything and nothing really floated our boats. I think we’d pretty much decided it’d have to be a Porsche in some form of a Cayman. Bit of an issue as waiting list would be 2023 for a new order and used prices were knocking on new prices. The over pricing of BMWs & Minis was a concern too, especially if supply picked up. We could over pay for a 135i then see the bottom drop out of it. At least there was a massive waiting list for Porsche even if supply did pick up at least the second hand market would hold it’s value a bit better.
I have a very good contact at our local Porsche dealer, and they’d just taken in a Cayman in part ex. He brought it home for us to test drive one evening, here’s the keys take it for 2 hours and we just fell in love. It was more than our initial budget, but in reality the extra cash required got us into something under 3 years old and a 982 rather than a 981. So we picked up this beauty, with 7k on the clock.
It's a standard Cayman with PDK, so nothing 'special' as such. 2019 model just before they started fitting the petrol particulate filters so it’s quite vocal. We had a 2021 Boxster with Sports Exhaust and Sport Chrono whilst it was in one day and that was really quiet, the service manager said they’d had a few people complaining the new stuff wasn’t as loud.
The Spec is pretty much if i'd of ordered from factory, if I wasn't going mad.
Spec:
Carrera White Paint, Black Leather and Sports Seats Plus with Crest on Head Rests.
Xenon lights with PDLS, Tinted taillights, side window trims Gloss Black, PDC Front & Rear with camera, Folding mirrors, PDK, Sports Tailpipes in Black, Carrera 20 Sport Wheels in Black, Cruise, Two zone Climate Control, Heated Seats, Multifunctional Wheel with Heating.
It didn't have Power Steering Plus, so they've software coded this as part of the deal. Along with Rain Sensing Wipers (Who'd of thought in 2019 you wouldn't get these as Std!)
In terms of condition the car is like new. Just a very slight mark on the black highline trim around the window low down. I’m not sure what’s done it, as it’s in a strange place. Other than that it’s perfect, and all 4 wheels were refurbed during prep.
We’ve had it 5 months now. It get’s used as a daily (By my OH 🙄), we’ve racked up about 3k. First MOT done last weekend, passed with flying colours as you’d expect for a 3 year/10k car. I haven’t been really able to stretch it’s legs yet with the rubbish weather, poor roads and really not having much time. Hoping to get a couple of holidays away in it this year. And apologies, not many good photos! I always say buy a car in summer!
Pros
I’ve been to the factory twice, the Welt and Museum. If you’re a big BMW fan and get the chance, go. It’s great. Munich is also a great place, the Welt is also right next to the old Olympic park where you can go up the tower and see the plant. I was even a BMW Product Genius for a very short period in a previous life! So the Porsche factory tour in Stuttgart is definitely on the list of things to do.
Starting with my own car history it hasn’t been that exciting, mainly because disposable cash goes to more mundane things. More to the point I’ve ‘technically’ never actually owned a car as all these are in the OH’s name. The disadvantage of having a van for work. Also she gets to drive it more than me!
Starting off we’ve had a Vauxhall Adam (Our only Brand new car) Couldn’t pull you out of bed, the engine was shocking. I tease my OH as I said the Fiat 500 was the better car at the time and I was right 😉 We had that a couple of years, then swapped for a 12 month old 2014 BMW F21 118d M Sport that we had for 4 years. Cracking car, and we did a massive road trip around Europe in. We did 900 miles in one day going from Calais through Belgium and German to Zurich city, getting out fresh as a daisy the other end. It’d only hit 136mph on the Autobahn though 🙃 Never missed a beat in the 4 years of ownership. Then came the Mini Cooper S 2018 model just before the LCI, again 12 months old when we got it. I never wanted a Mini, but caved under pressure from the OH but stipulated it had to be Chilli Red/Black Roof and to have the Pan Roof and Auto. After a couple of months of searching we found what we wanted, with a cracking spec at a decent price. We’d of had a JCW ideally, but at the time I couldn’t justify the extra £3/4k for that extra 0.5 seconds. It was a cracking car, like a go kart so much fun. I’d happily have another, just was a little disappointed in built quality compared to the F21.
As many of the existing refugee Bimmerpost members will know, the Mini was involved in an accident in October. A guy pulled out on my OH travelling home from work. He pulled out as she got to him hitting his front quarter at 40mph spinning her across 2 lanes. She was bloody lucky nothing was coming the other way. Unharmed in the grand scheme of things, just bruising and pain. But she got straight out, a testament to modern cars and the Mini. The force had creased the back quarter roof, and all the Airbags had gone off so automatically a write off. We then found ourselves in a position with no car at a time when prices are through the roof and no stock in dealers.
Being such a big BMW fan, where does Porsche fit into all of this? Well I’d never really been a fan of Porsche till about 5/6 years ago. They just weren’t on my radar. Maybe as I’ve got older they’ve appealed more to me or maybe the fact that a decent spec BMW cost wise will nearly get you into a Porsche. I was working at a customers house one day who’s really into them his car really caught my eye. With the 982, and 991, 992 series I think they really upped the game with their designs. They’d all pretty much looked the same to me before that. Along with some of BMW’s questionable design choices in the later years, lesser quality, higher pricing and poor service at my local dealer I’d decided I was ready for a change and something new next time around.
The plan was to keep the Mini long term and for me to purchase a Cayman in 3/4 years time as a weekend car. So that was all thrown up in the air when the crash happened. With the used prices being the way they were we ended up getting £2k more than what we paid for the Mini (After a lot of arguing with the insurers). This put us in a better position than we’d ever be when trading in, and man maths kicked in. I also wanted to go all out as a last ICE car, as we’ll be forced down the Electric or Hydrogen route. I might never get the chance to get something like this again, along with costs going up.
So the hunt for a car began, we had two weeks to find something before the hire car went. Short list was M135i, Audi S3, another Mini S/JCW or Cayman. We looked at everything and nothing really floated our boats. I think we’d pretty much decided it’d have to be a Porsche in some form of a Cayman. Bit of an issue as waiting list would be 2023 for a new order and used prices were knocking on new prices. The over pricing of BMWs & Minis was a concern too, especially if supply picked up. We could over pay for a 135i then see the bottom drop out of it. At least there was a massive waiting list for Porsche even if supply did pick up at least the second hand market would hold it’s value a bit better.
I have a very good contact at our local Porsche dealer, and they’d just taken in a Cayman in part ex. He brought it home for us to test drive one evening, here’s the keys take it for 2 hours and we just fell in love. It was more than our initial budget, but in reality the extra cash required got us into something under 3 years old and a 982 rather than a 981. So we picked up this beauty, with 7k on the clock.
It's a standard Cayman with PDK, so nothing 'special' as such. 2019 model just before they started fitting the petrol particulate filters so it’s quite vocal. We had a 2021 Boxster with Sports Exhaust and Sport Chrono whilst it was in one day and that was really quiet, the service manager said they’d had a few people complaining the new stuff wasn’t as loud.
The Spec is pretty much if i'd of ordered from factory, if I wasn't going mad.
Spec:
Carrera White Paint, Black Leather and Sports Seats Plus with Crest on Head Rests.
Xenon lights with PDLS, Tinted taillights, side window trims Gloss Black, PDC Front & Rear with camera, Folding mirrors, PDK, Sports Tailpipes in Black, Carrera 20 Sport Wheels in Black, Cruise, Two zone Climate Control, Heated Seats, Multifunctional Wheel with Heating.
It didn't have Power Steering Plus, so they've software coded this as part of the deal. Along with Rain Sensing Wipers (Who'd of thought in 2019 you wouldn't get these as Std!)
In terms of condition the car is like new. Just a very slight mark on the black highline trim around the window low down. I’m not sure what’s done it, as it’s in a strange place. Other than that it’s perfect, and all 4 wheels were refurbed during prep.
We’ve had it 5 months now. It get’s used as a daily (By my OH 🙄), we’ve racked up about 3k. First MOT done last weekend, passed with flying colours as you’d expect for a 3 year/10k car. I haven’t been really able to stretch it’s legs yet with the rubbish weather, poor roads and really not having much time. Hoping to get a couple of holidays away in it this year. And apologies, not many good photos! I always say buy a car in summer!
Pros
- It’s very comfy for a sports car on 20s. Maybe we’re a bit biased, we’ve come from a Mini with poor seats, 18” Run Flats and rock hard suspension. But it’s much more comfy than the Mini.
- The Seats are great. If you’re looking for a 718 though I’d strongly suggest the Sports Seats over the standard. I didn’t really realise the difference as our car has the Sports Seats Spec’d. But after seeing a couple without them and sitting in them the Sports seats really do make a difference to the comfort and looks of the interior (The configurator doesn’t really do them justice).
- Economy is better than expected. We’re averaging around 28mpg, the Mini only did 32mpg.
- There’s a button for everything, call me old fashioned but I like a button.
- No Keyless entry or start. With all the car thefts going about I’m quite pleased it doesn’t have this.
- Xenons are so much better than LEDs. Would have liked PDLS Plus, but beggars can’t be choosers.
- Handling is spot on.
- It puts a smile on your face every time you drive it 😁
