Ekona

Agreed on the mods. You'll be covered, but not like for like, it's why I don't take the cheapest quote any more.

Did I not say that? Thing is, if it's as unreliable as you suspect then can you afford to be off the road? Courtesy car is not guaranteed with Jag.

If you're paying the air fare, then not a problem

On the day, if there is a little old guy doing the rides out, make a beeline for him over any one else. His name is Ian Ashley and he did my instruction in the Evoras when I had my free day courtesy of Lotus, and he had me doing things I didn't even think I could. Remarkable man, even if he gets really shouts at you!

In fairness to eBay, they're correct when it comes to property as it can be very complicated to buy, and so it's unlikely any transaction via eBay would be legally binding. Cars are just another object though, and I suspect the reason they have the get-out clause is to stop themselves being over-run by people complaining about both fussy buyers and obstinate sellers. Hell, I'd provably do the same if I was them!

Any time buddy, if there's anything specific you need to know then just give me a shout

Actually, you could just get the simple checks (boroscope and over revs) done at any OPC, but you'll be paying more for those two services than a good indy would charge for a full inspection.

It's always down to the buyer to carry out those checks, unless you can get them inserted into the deal i.e. you pay and if they check out, the seller knocks the cost off the car. You should get a respected company to do the PPI (pre purchase inspection), I'd personally use Peter Morgan or Mike at Sports & Classic on the mainland. Don't go on if they've been done previously unless very recent, like last week. These things can be expensive if they go wrong, so make sure you're happy first and foremost. You should be looking at around £200-£300 depending on who and where. Look at it this way: You could buy the 911, run it for a year to say you've done it and if you don't like it, flog it with minimal depreciation and then buy the Cayman.

It is legally binding. Don't get confused between eBay law and the actual law. Was there an offer? Yes. Acceptance? Yes. Consideration? Yes. Intent to create legal relations? Yes. It's legally enforceable. Whether any one could be arsed to do so is another matter entirely.

This is very true. Unless there's any misrep, of course.

The newer the car the less likelihood of IMS issues, in theory. In practice there's naff all difference, and really a higher mileage one is a better buy simply because the weak spot is between about 30k to 70k miles. If you can get the other side of that, I'd be happy to take punt. Which is bizarre, since every purchaser wants low miles, which is the worst thing! As far as bore scoring goes, the smaller engines are better as the walla aren't quite so thin. So really, a 2.7l Cayman with 100k on the clock is better than a 3.8l 911 with 40k. In theory, of course. Personally I'd go for a 997 C2S or C4S with high miles, get a boroscope and rev range test done, then get the low temp stat fitted and just enjoy the finest practical sports car of the 2000s.

Do yourself a favour, go take a naked photo in front of the mirror. Please don't post it here though! If you lose as much as I think you will, you'll hate yourself for not having a before and after shot. Trust me on this. I really regret it doing it on mine. Jo did it when she lost 4.5st, and I took the photos for her and it was brilliant to see.

That's going to feel very nice to drive, good stuff mate

Specsavers.

Driven plenty of Caymanseseses, brother owns a Cayman R too. For me, they are superb. Balance, power, handling, looks: They tick all the boxes. You can poodle along at 30mph, or you can blat so hard your face comes off. Either situation is fine for the Cayman. BUT It's not a 911. Yes, that's almost the stock ***** 911 owner response, but to drive something so unique with so much pedigree and knowing that it's a genuine challenge to master, that does make it feel that little bit more special. Even my common C2S still feels more special than the CR, just because it's a 911. As for IMS or bore scoring, realistically £5k gets you back on the road, £10k sorts everything. Only you will know if you can budget for or risk those kinds of costs. For me, I found the extra £10k and put it towards a gen2 precisely so I didn't have to worry about that.

I'm now sat by the pool after having stuffed my face with Subway, cold beer in hand and browsing the interweb, looking for people to correct. All this, in 38c sunshine. Bliss.

Mods, I think my account has been hacked, Steve's impersonating me!

You keep saying the geo/alignment is correct, but exactly what are the numbers? It might well be within OEM spec, but that doesn't mean that it will feel planted at speed.

No jealousy here, I'm still out here in Davenport chilling out quite nicely after my day trip down to Miami beach yesterday

Nope, seems perfectly reasonable. No different to paying a higher premium on your car insurance to reduce your excess. If you're comfortable you're not going to bin it (and you're really not, loads of run off and an instructor yelling at you to go slower) then don't pay the extra £20.

Did you not Streetview it before you left? Schoolboy error

Be interested to know what you think. Personally, I think it's a great car with masses of appeal for those who want a do-everything hot hatch, but I couldn't imagine myself shelling out that sort of money for one.

Doesn't matter if there is, as long as the buyer purchases in good faith. However, given the price of this car then this would be prudent to check, so far as is reasonably practicable. If there is a logbook loan though, you're stuffed regardless.

This doesn't sound right to me. Is a 370Z worth £12K as a Cat D after two years? Well, possibly. However, if I were selling there's no way I'd take a £4K hit on the first offer unless I knew that actually I was getting the better deal. Even at £16K as a Cat D it's good value IF that was the only damage. Now, the other scenario here is that the insurance co took a gamble on making a bit of cash. They wrote it off and paid out on the basis that they could repair and sell for more than that. I find that to be highly unlikely, but not impossible. How much is a new bumper and sideskirt from Nissan, painted and fitted? About £4K? Hell, let's double that for the sake of a bit of fun and call it £8K to fix. They usually won't write a car off below 50% of the value, so they reckon that a ONE YEAR OLD 370Z WAS ONLY WORTH £16K?? Yeah, do the sums on that and something clearly isn't ringing true here. Don't get me wrong, if we're all barking up the wrong tree then this is possibly the best Zed bargain I've ever witnessed, and well done sir. All I would say is to be very careful, and get a Zed specialist to look the car over as well as the AA guy (the AA will be quite generic, you really need to get someone who knows what they're looking for to have a nose). Even if that costs you another £200, if it checks out then it's still a bargain.

VW are white goods. If Kia are like Logik (cheap and cheerful, and much better than they used to be), and Toyota like Hotpoint (only bought because they used to be good), then VW are like Miele (presumptuous, expensive, better quality but not by that much that you should be spending that much extra).