I think the time has now come to take the plunge and purchase my first Porsche. Looking at the Cayman 2.7. The dealer has done a great job in removing any doubts about the step up from my VW GTI by giving me the chance to take a Cayman around the Long Cross test track in Surrey UK for an hour. This was my first drive ever in a Porsche and there is no doubt in my mind now.

Having searched the threads I think most of my questions so far have been answered, i.e. living with the car on a day to day basis (this will be my only car and I do 17k miles per year), servicing costs, reliability, what options to look at.

However, I have a question about the "Drive Belt". The official Porsche price list in the UK quotes £54 to inspect every 40k and £85 to replace every 60k. I currently have a 1999 VW GTI 1.8T and the cost to replace the "cam belt" is £300 every 60k through an official delaer. Is the drive belt equivalent to the cam belt and if so, why is it so cheap to replace? All the other servicing costs are what I would expect from a high performance car, and having run a VW for 10 years I think very reasonable.

The Drive Belt is accessed through a hatchway underneath the carpet behind the seats, and is the belt that drives the power steering, air conditioning, alternator, water pump etc.........

The 'Cam Belts' are Chains on a Porsche and are not subject to change like cam belts on other cars...... (and if they were ever to be changed - the price would make your eyes water!)

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Cheers Karel

'Power is Nothing without Control..........'

Thanks. Now on to the next step, finding a car for the right price.

Correct. No cam belt to worry about like on so many other cars. The drive belt only drives the alternator, power steering pump, AC compressor, and air pump. It's easily accesible and cheap.

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Gator Bite
(View My Articles : Blogs : Car : Profile)

Funny, thinking back I think I originally assumed there would be a chain drive, similar to my brother's VW V6. But, I am sure I mentioned this to one of the OPC salesman and he mentioned the maintenance issue re cam belts. I guess he must have thought I was referring to the rubber drive belts needing changing.