Are we stupid, or the smartest bargain hunters you know?
“Hey, my friend just got a $15,000 bill from the Porsche dealership. Want to buy a broken Porsche?!”
How could I say no to an ambiguous offer like that? On the other end of the line was a longtime friend who’d realized his dreams and moved to Seattle to work in the tech industry. An industry that, as it turns out, is full of cool, lightly used sports cars and people that no longer want to own them. If you’d asked me a week ago if I wanted to buy a Porsche, I’d have told you I wasn’t in the market. But there’s something about a great deal that’s hard to resist….
So I made contact with the owner, whose pitch was simple: Their car, a 2014 Porsche Cayman, no longer had fifth or sixth gear but otherwise drove fine.
The dealer’s proposed solution? Replacing the transmission with a brand-new unit, to the tune of $15,000 in parts and labor. Rather than spend nearly half the value of the car on a repair, they wanted to walk away from it and commute in their E30 BMW instead.
There was only one problem: The seller had no photos, and the car was trapped at the Porsche dealership across town. They eventually sent these two pictures, saying they weren’t a “lots of photos of my car” kind of person and adding that their car was “the one on the left.”
Yeah, not exactly the sort of material I’m willing to base a five-figure purchase on. So my buddy and I hatched a plan. He’d go to the Porsche dealer claiming to have lost a flash drive in his buddy’s Cayman, then use the fruitless search to open every door and photograph every angle.
The ruse worked perfectly, and a day later I had a folder with 100 close-up shots. They showed a car that was filthy from weeks in the service lot, but otherwise in good condition and reasonably well taken care of.
The VIN came back clean, too, showing a spotless history and a true 67,000 miles on the odometer. Without transmission issues, I estimated this car to be worth about $35,000.
Based on some initial conversations with the seller, I figured it could be purchased for roughly half that total. So I offered to buy it sight-unseen for $14,000–no more inspections or second opinions, just a check in the mail.
Was that a smart move? Absolutely not–buying this car would mean smashing my piggy bank and rolling the dice on a plan riddled with holes and unknowns. It’s a horrible idea, but I couldn’t resist the potential: I’d never think about buying a modern Porsche in a million years, but this one seemed to be in reach.
Or not: That offer didn’t go over well. In fact, I fear I offended the seller when they said they were going to pursue other options. “No problem,” I said, “Just give me a call if you change your mind.”
A few weeks later, my phone rang again: If I was willing to pay $15,000, the car was mine. I wrote up a basic contract guaranteeing the car would run and would be delivered to my friend’s Seattle driveway with a clean title.
In return, my friend would hand the seller my check for $15,000. And it’s my pleasure to report that despite the early red flags, the transaction went off without a hitch: I’m now the proud owner of a broken 981-chassis Porsche Cayman.
Which begs the question: Now what?
See, I don’t live in Seattle, I live in Florida. Between me and the car is 3500 miles, $15,000 in repairs, and lots of snow and mountains. Somehow, I need to solve the puzzle.
So let’s start with the first piece: What is actually wrong with the car? And with scant resources on the ground, I’m left to guess based on the descriptions from my friend and from the car’s seller. Both describe a car that runs and drives perfectly in the first four gears, but doesn’t have fifth or sixth.
That immediately made me skeptical–normally I’d chase a linkage issue or a failing mount in this scenario, but I have to assume the dealer would have ruled out those easy answers.
Then I stumbled on a random forum post talking about 981 Caymans losing fifth and sixth gear–jackpot! The culprit, supposedly, is the retaining pin for the fifth and sixth gear shift fork. It can apparently fall out, leaving the fork floating on the shaft and causing the car to drive fine, but unable to engage fifth or sixth gear.
Is that what’s wrong with my Cayman? Who knows, but it was a decent assumption. So I began gaming out what fixing this issue would take: I’d need to rebuild the transmission.
No big deal, right? Well, not quite–according to Porsche this transmission contains no serviceable parts, and is instead replaced as an assembly. No diagrams or internal parts exist, or at least no diagrams or internal parts are available to mere mortals like me.
Why not install a used transmission? That would solve the problem, and I found plenty in the Seattle area for about $2500. But it would be a shame to replace a known good transmission with an unknown, especially if the only thing wrong with the car’s transmission is one missing pin.
What about shipping the car home? I ruled that answer out almost immediately, for a few reasons. First, no story–and that’s why we do these stupid projects, right?
And second, my wife has never driven cross-country before. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the sights and show her what a dumb car adventure is like, all from the comfort of our new Porsche.
So the way I see it, these are my options:
If you’ve read GRM before, you can probably see where this is going. My wife and I booked tickets for June–right after the snow melts, in theory–and are planning to fix the car and drive it home. We’ve budgeted a week in Seattle to deal with the transmission. Plenty of time, right?
So that leaves me three months to get my ducks in a row: I need to beg, borrow or steal some diagrams showing what the transmission internals are supposed to look like.
I need to put a toolkit together to accomplish the job.
And I need to find a used transmission to keep in reserve just in case rebuilding mine in the basement doesn’t work. By the end of this adventure, I’ll either have a nice Cayman for the price of a used Camry, or I’ll end up wasting $15,000 on an unfixable car in an unreachable location.
Have advice? Access to secret transmission blueprints? Bets on whether or not we’ll make it? Leave it all in the comments below, and check back in a few weeks for another update on my progress.
Are we stupid, or the smartest bargain hunters you know?
This will be interesting! I would have jumped on that one too. I have a sister in the Seattle area, however I don't think her drive way is anywhere near lever enough to put a car on jack stands and the garage is too full of stuff to accommodate any cars. Watching this with great interest.
At almost 70k miles if you're pulling the transmission anyway you should really be planning to replace at least the clutch, probably the flywheel too.
This sounds fun
This is the type of stupidity.... Err, content, I subscribe for :)
Its a beautiful car! I'm very interested to see how it plays out. Good luck!
This is fantastic content and will be a great adventure. $15k is unreal - you can't lose.
Hong Norr would drive it home in 4th. Just sayin'. IIRC that's how they got a gen1 CTSV under challenge budget.
I'm guessing you've got a decent relationship with a Porsche parts supplier somewhere. I gotta believe the info you're looking for won't be too hard for you to find.
in for updates!
The guy to call about all things Porsche transmissions is Joe Cogbill @ Cogscogs in ga. get advice from the guy who does it for a living
This sounds like a great story. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy reading it.
I'm also glad I'm not the one living and writing it.
Me before driving a Cayman: "Wow, that's really stupid"
Me after driving a Cayman: "Yep, great idea, I'd do the same thing."
I think having a line of communications with a good car shipping company in advance would be a smart safety net in case you can't pull this off in time and have to punt on the fly & drive.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:Hong Norr would drive it home in 4th. Just sayin'. IIRC that's how they got a gen1 CTSV under challenge budget.
I'm guessing you've got a decent relationship with a Porsche parts supplier somewhere. I gotta believe the info you're looking for won't be too hard for you to find.
in for updates!
[if you're gonna be a bear... be a grizzly bear! -jhaas] [if you can't make it perfect, make it adjustable. -stafford1500]
I would drive it home in 4th. From looking at the gear ratios, I'd probably drive it in 4th because I didn't realize it had more gears.
I think I would lean toward putting in a used trans, but that's just me.
So. Swap in a used transmission; you still HAVE the original to take with you (it's gotta fit in there somewhere); then rebuild the original when you get back to FL and then swap it again along with whatever upgrades you'll have inevitably decided you NEED to have and of COURSE you can justify them because you're MONEY AHEAD on the car already!!! It's a perfect plan.
Bufalo said:So. Swap in a used transmission; you still HAVE the original to take with you (it's gotta fit in there somewhere); then rebuild the original when you get back to FL and then swap it again along with whatever upgrades you'll have inevitably decided you NEED to have and of COURSE you can justify them because you're MONEY AHEAD on the car already!!! It's a perfect plan.
I like the concept but I doubt that the transmission fits anywhere other than the passenger seat which is problematic for trying to do a road trip with a passenger.
dps214 said:Bufalo said:So. Swap in a used transmission; you still HAVE the original to take with you (it's gotta fit in there somewhere); then rebuild the original when you get back to FL and then swap it again along with whatever upgrades you'll have inevitably decided you NEED to have and of COURSE you can justify them because you're MONEY AHEAD on the car already!!! It's a perfect plan.
I like the concept but I doubt that the transmission fits anywhere other than the passenger seat which is problematic for trying to do a road trip with a passenger.
Couldn't you put a roof rack on before heading home? I'm sure a ratchet strap would be plenty to keep a passenger attached.
Not a factory one. Not sure those suction cup racks are rated for a person (or a transmission for that matter).
Drain transmission fluid and look for a pin or pieces of pin on a magnet if one exist? If pieces are found, refill and drive home in 4th with less worries about loose pieces and parts.
I believe it was the Grassroots forum that coined the phrase There is no such thing as a cheap Porsche
In reply to Tom Suddard :
You gonna flip it, or become too attached to it too quickly and have to keep it for $15K worth of lawn art?
Man, everything about this is wonderful and exciting! Whatever happens will be an adventure.
And HUGE kudos to your friend - this guy merits naming your child after him, not just buying him a beer.
Ed Bolian of VinWiki has the perfect descriptor: automotive masochism
And I'm certainly not one to talk.
And the car is white, so it's got that going for it.
pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:Me before driving a Cayman: "Wow, that's really stupid"
Me after driving a Cayman: "Yep, great idea, I'd do the same thing."
Me after owning a Cayman: "Wow, that;'s really stupid"
Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:I think having a line of communications with a good car shipping company in advance would be a smart safety net in case you can't pull this off in time and have to punt on the fly & drive.
Okay folks, when Tom is driving it home, nobody answer their phone if he calls.
The seller didn't want to be bothered with much. If it's a $35k car when fixed, then get the dealer to put in the $15k transmission and sell the car for $35k. That puts $20k in pocket, which is $5k ahead of what Tom offered. But that's the key to good deals, isn't it. Get someone when they would rather have money now than hassle and money later.
Jerry From LA said:Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.
He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I can confirm that this is, in fact, true.
Mainly because even if it is a bad idea, it still makes for a great story.
I'm with the other people that think that all real P cars have 4sp anyway so just drive it home. Those gears are for "regular people," not the regulars here. 
I love everything about this. However I'm also the same guy who adopts things like this, can't get it fixed properly on my own, then ends up spending $25k in repairs.
But since we are playing with YOUR MONEY, I'm all in! Not to mention my bet is that you fix it perfectly and for less than he was going to spend.
On a serious note, I would just have the car shipped. Since it will drive on and off of a truck it wouldn't be terrible and would allow you to fix it in familiar surroundings. But that wouldn't be fun a story.
Thanks for all of the comments/encouragement everybody! It's certainly a big project, but I'm more excited than ever about it.
To answer the question: No, I don't have any plans to flip this one. I think it will look great in the garage long-term.
And I did ask a friend that parts out Caymans if the transmission would fit anywhere in the car. Their response? "Absolutely not--don't even think about it."
Keith Tanner said:Jerry From LA said:Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.
He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.
Yeah, Nicole is really the last sane person in the chain. She told me this was a great idea and we should do it....
You have a truck with a camper that can tow a trailer, no?
Why not just drive cross-country twice? Then you can see more.
Colin Wood said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I can confirm that this is, in fact, true.
Mainly because even if it is a bad idea, it still makes for a great story.
The BEST stories are ALL bad ideas, and the WORST ideas make the BEST stories.
Some of us embody that in human form.
Never just had 4th as a top gear but driving across country in a Cayman is so good I've done it 5 times.
When are you going to get it ?
Does it have a spare tire ? Full size ?
Lots of lonely road out there if you have a tire problem !
PS , plus any other Porsche only stuff , fan belts etc
In reply to Tom Suddard :
This sounds like the script for an episode of "Roadkill", but without the flip flops, running out of gas, overheating, or burnouts for distance. I say go for it - real good chance it's just the fork pin loose or missing. Easy fix, once you get the car on a lift. And the transaxle out. And apart.
And then get all put back together.
What could go wrong?
On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing. There's even a guy around here that parts out Boxsters (and Caymans, too - I think) on the off chance that something needs replacing with something slightly less broken.
Keith Tanner said:Jerry From LA said:Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.
He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.
I knew someone who bought a black on black Legend with an automatic trans that was stuck in a certain gear.
He drove it to Ohio from, IIRC, South Carolina. Then manual trans swapped it (which is more involved than it should be, the firewalls are different auto vs manual and the pedal box doesn't just bolt in, and did I mention Legends had a separate diff housing?) and ended up with a black on black 6sp Legend for far less than a genuine one was selling for at the time.
But it all started with banging off the rev limiter or close to it for a couple days driving it home.
Colin Wood said:Are we stupid, or the smartest bargain hunters you know?
Two things can be true at the same time...
Will be watching this thread to see how it ends up.
If on your drive back you get south to Jackson, MS before making it to FL, holler. I'd love to see it.
And since I'm usually a pretty straight shooter, I will answer the question. This is pure madness, but it sure will be fun to watch! I'm interested. Honestly if I had a car magazine and needed project cars, this would've been super tempting to me too. If I ever own another Porsche, it will most likely be a Cayman. If I win the mega millions, I will get the rally GT4 version and make Porsche a lot of money in shop time.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Can i buy it as is?
earlybroncoguy1 said:In reply to Tom Suddard :
On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing.
He knows someone else in central TX with a large air-conditioned shop...
I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing
yupididit said:Can i buy it as is?
No, I called dibs.
Andy Hollis said:earlybroncoguy1 said:In reply to Tom Suddard :
On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing.He knows someone else in central TX with a large air-conditioned shop...
I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing
Finally, a voice of reason!
Andy Hollis said:I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing
A k-swap wouldn't solve the trans problems, but it does make everything more complicated, so I really don't know why this wasn't part of the original plan.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I've got an SHO 3.0 V6 sitting in the shop as man cave art, we could always throw that in to see if fits.
Tom Suddard said:
- Drive the car home in fourth gear, hoping the loose parts wouldn’t find their way into anything too important on the way.
This might be the first time in history that people didn't complain about the Cayman's long gearing.
In reply to Colin Wood :
Yeah, we've all got terminal content-brain disease here, even me. And I'm the one who usually says "that's a bad idea".
The BTS on this one is that we had been trying to plan a trip to Seattle to visit our friends out there sometime this year anyway, and adding a Porsche to the equation made it all make sense.
Tom Suddard said:Thanks for all of the comments/encouragement everybody! It's certainly a big project, but I'm more excited than ever about it.
To answer the question: No, I don't have any plans to flip this one. I think it will look great in the garage long-term.
And I did ask a friend that parts out Caymans if the transmission would fit anywhere in the car. Their response? "Absolutely not--don't even think about it."
Oh jeez. I just realized this thing is going to have seriously limited luggage capacity. I guess I have a couple of months to get really good at packing bags efficiently.
I have a hat with patches.... one of them says "that's a terrible idea! when do we start?" I may have to send one to the staff at GRM!
In reply to Nicole Suddard :
I'd be pushing for the truck & trailer option. FL to WA and back in... two weeks?
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Nicole Suddard :
I'd be pushing for the truck & trailer option. FL to WA and back in... two weeks?
$80,000 says you can get there and back in 48 hours, at least according to the tall guy and the short guy wearing the same suits 
Of all of the times I had driven transmissions where an internal bolt had backed out, or gear teeth decided to leave the gears, none of them ever had a problem with the debris jumping up from the bottom of the trans and getting into anything. I drove one trans for about two months with most of 2nd gear laying in the bottom of the case.
I think it'll be just fine. I wouldn't try to engage 5th or 6th though, in case for whatever reason it does manage to go into gear. It might stay there. Having R-1-2-3-4 is better than having only 5 or 6.
Keith Tanner said:Jerry From LA said:Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.
He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.
Once upon a time, I sold a car to Tim.
After repeated, unsuccessful attempts by email to convince him NOT to try driving the car from Massachusetts to Florida, I finally broke down and gave him a phone call.
He said, "Look, here's the deal... I'm an A-hole, and I'm going to do this anyway."
Fair enough.
californiamilleghia said:When are you going to get it ?
Does it have a spare tire ? Full size ?Lots of lonely road out there if you have a tire problem !
PS , plus any other Porsche only stuff , fan belts etc
These cars don't come with a spare tire of any kind, just a bottle of syrup and a compressor.
Bonus: No jack either.
One day soon I'll be doing a fly and drive, I keep telling myself- last time a pandemic got in the way lol
Tom Suddard said:And I did ask a friend that parts out Caymans if the transmission would fit anywhere in the car. Their response? "Absolutely not--don't even think about it."
I'd bet money your friend has tried lol
Tom Suddard said:Thanks for all of the comments/encouragement everybody! It's certainly a big project, but I'm more excited than ever about it.
To answer the question: No, I don't have any plans to flip this one. I think it will look great in the garage long-term.
And I did ask a friend that parts out Caymans if the transmission would fit anywhere in the car. Their response? "Absolutely not--don't even think about it."
I bet it would fit in the passenger seat area
yolo
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Could you find a known blown transmission and autopsy before heading out?
If you can find a transmission in Seattle, you could just strap the used transmission to a pallet and ship that back to FL.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Nicole Suddard :
I'd be pushing for the truck & trailer option. FL to WA and back in... two weeks?
$80,000 says you can get there and back in 48 hours, at least according to the tall guy and the short guy wearing the same suits
Of all of the times I had driven transmissions where an internal bolt had backed out, or gear teeth decided to leave the gears, none of them ever had a problem with the debris jumping up from the bottom of the trans and getting into anything. I drove one trans for about two months with most of 2nd gear laying in the bottom of the case.
I think it'll be just fine. I wouldn't try to engage 5th or 6th though, in case for whatever reason it does manage to go into gear. It might stay there. Having R-1-2-3-4 is better than having only 5 or 6.
I did have a broken VSS gear destroy my automatic Civic's transmission...I haven't checked the damage or pulled it yet, but it did enough damage that I think the transmission seized up or blew a hole.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
To me, it's less of the question about if the car can do the trip, it's more of would I want to if I had more comfortable options. I'm also someone who will explore all options available before flying, even if it takes a lot longer.
Of course, rolling the dice and driving a semi-broken P-car from Seattle, WA to Daytona, FL makes for a lot more interesting magazine content.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Of course, rolling the dice and driving a semi-broken P-car from Seattle, WA to Daytona, FL makes for a lot more interesting magazine content.
As Steve Martin once said in a skit on SNL... "You see these pants I'm holding up? ... Now I can deduct them!"
edit: I was personally willing to travel to the other side of the continent and the other side of the border to fly and drive a car, sight unseen, for someone else. A car for which there is practically zero readily available parts support. I have a fear of flying, a fear of extreme paperwork, and I still don't have a passport.
I was willing to overcome all of those difficulties, partially because it was for Patrick and mostly because OMG i get to drive a black R32 GT-R look at me I'm Nakazato from the Night Kids. I am sure the novelty would have worn off around hour twenty of driving. Maybe.
I wasn't going to go alone, though. I was going to bring a friend who has much fly and drive experience, including both a 560 SEL (might have been SEC? Big Merc) *and* a pre intercooled Esprit Turbo, both from Florida. Anyone who would fly and drive a 30 year old turbo Lotus would have no issue with a mere Nissan
l love the idea of this project so much! I'm guessing this car is on the "Eastside" of Seattle? Here's a great option for working on the car to swap out the transmission. Their lifts are easy to use, and each bay comes with a large selection of air tools to use.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Oh I get it. I did drive my Triumph Spitfire and TR8 from central MI and western OH respectively with minimal support/planning. Generally putting my trust in the sellers of the two cars. Not quite the same as driving across the country, but still not without risk. My riskiest drive was my 1800ES from NNJ to CNJ with a toasted center support bushing - the driveshaft banging against the tunnel for most of the drive. The TR8 drive was done last year, so I can't claim youthful ignorance - just aged stubbornness.
That said, if my camper van/tow pig was ready, you can be damned sure I'd be taking that option.
Send that trans right to Deman or similar for a set of shorter gear ratios. At 15k buy in you will get all your money back and then some. The extra couple grand for the gears is negligible since it already needs work.
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