Am I crazy to be considering a Cayenne Turbo with 180,000 miles on the clock? I'm looking at a TT 2005 with 180k miles, well-maintained, body and interior look mint. Current owner has the beast for 5 years. Coolant pipes done. Claims to have meticulous maintenance records, looking at it tonight.

He's asking $8,500. I see 90k to 120k mile versions in the $13-$15k range. Northern California, warm climate, so I'm not worried about cylinder wall scoring. Any other big ticket items at this mileage I should be looking for? I read the excellent buying guide pinned here. Transmission Valve Body? Turbos? Starter? Cardan Shaft carrier (heater hose fix? Anything else?

I spin my own wrenches, and have a lift in my cluttered garage. Jump In or Walk away?

Thanks,

Brian C.

 

As you probably already know, just about everything is subject to break on most cars when you get close to the 200k mark, but you sound like the right guy to take it on if it is clean and the effort is worth it to you!

Check the coolant tees behind the engine.
I would do a compression and leak down test and ask hard questions about oil consumption. Hopefully the records are good enough to show the amount and frequency of oil topups.
Get a Cayenne specific scanner and check for codes.
Valve guides might be getting a little loose at this point.
Check the suspension bushings and that the transmission seal is still holding.
If it has not had the engine mounts done they will be due. That is an engine out procedure on a turbo.
There are a lot of seemingly little things that can add up where each project is $300-$1.2k in parts and before any labor you have already sunk $5k in one of these.

 

Jump in, so long as it doesn't need to be relied upon for 100% DD duties. They are easy enough to work on, but you won't find parts at the auto parts store, and likely will dislike the dealer parts pricing (provided they even have what you need in stock.) That means when things go, and they will, you'll be down for several days waiting for a shipment.
Beyond that, if you've read the sticky and are OK with what you see I'd say go for it.

 

I really don't think there is a "too many miles" point. You replace what wears out and keep on truckin'. It's just a machine with replaceable parts.

 

That's a buy from me.

 

I couldn't see this one until after dark, so I told the guy I really just wanted to look at the maintenance paperwork briefly and then, based on what's there, think about it a bit. The owner was likable enough but didn't seem to know much about the vehicle. He had 4 years of routine maintenance, with lots of notations from various shops regarding other things that needed to be done. Some were, some weren't.

Needs brakes on all corners,
Needs Rear hatch struts which I discovered for myself,
Brake booster plumbing,
The nose needs a respray.
Roof rack cleacoat peeeling like an old sunburn.
The engine bay was dirty, and had a distinct off idle stumble.
But all the coils were replaced a few years ago...hmmmm
One shop said one of the turbos was leaking oil, needing seals (internal or external hoses? didn't say)
Nothing on engine mounts and the torque arm looked original..silver.
Seems like he (his wife) had not put many miles on it in the last two years, like nearly none.
Wood in the center console was a mismatch for the ...cup holder? cover just behind the suspension height and mode selectors
Oil change records were a bit spotty

Told him I was really concerned about the mileage, and clued him in about the brake booster light, that it is probably just a leaking vacuum hose.

Plus side:
+ Tranny valve body, fluid and filter replaced at 148K back in 2011. Thing is, this guy doesn't strike me as the preventative maintenance type, so it was probably limping a bit before it got fixed. I remember with D2 A8/S8s if you don't address the valve body before problems begin, a broken "A" basket is the likely fallout. How much abuse does this transmission endure?
+ Paid $450 for some kind of driveshaft rebuild from Drive Shaft Doctors/ Colorado Drive Shaft. Cardan shaft?
+ Interior electrics all worked fine, suspension cycled high to low and back again.
+ Water pump, thermostat, coolant, idler pulleys and serpentine belt changed recently (did they mean timing belt), after another shop reported a water pump noise a year earlier
+ There was mention of some hoses being replaced, but NOT the coolant pipes under the manifold nor those at the back of the block. Maybe a prior owner. Gotta run the VIN through CarFax I guess.

Overall, this one had a "ridden hard and put to bed wet" feel to it. If I buy a CarFax bundle, I'll run the vin and maybe go back with a code reader, some gloves, flashlight and tools. But my gut tells me, Pass on this one. I'd prefer to find one with a bit more preventative maintenance.

Sidenote - one shop charged him $35 to pull codes every single time while doing some routine work on it.

Thank you all on this site for the excellent resources. I'll let you know how I get on with my search. Cheers.

Brian C.

 

I noticed while shopping for my Cayenne, which was the first car I've bought in about 10yrs that the definitions of a lot of words seem to have changed. I kept seeing cars that were described as "immaculate", "pristine", "like new", that had dents, scrapes, tears, clunks, etc.

Good luck in your search, you'll find the right one.

cheers,
c

 

Repaint is a turn off for me
Here is a guy bought 2004 Turbo with 90k miles for 11.5 - https://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-...cayenne-6.html
You probably need at 1000-2000 in paintwork - I say you much better to put these money towards a better specimen.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. That one was just whooped, with just a whiff of benign neglect. I got a line on another 04, 104k miles, Car Fax shows Dealer maintained since new. 3 owners, the last for only 1.5 years, the first two long duration. Price is a smidge high, but a competent service history is gold. We shall see.

 

Good call on the pass.

 

I wounded if are we going to see someone buying a Cayenne like this, ripping out the body, putting a roll cage and making one awesome 500hp 4wd dune buggy

 

Kind of a moot point, since you are passing (good choice IMO), but since you asked:

Colorado Drive Shaft does bearing rebuilds on the cardan shaft. They do a pretty good job of it. It's one of the "mid-priced" options for it.

The belt replaced along with the water pump is the serpentine belt. Cayennes have timing chains, not belts. The serp belt is routinely replaced when the water pump and pulleys are.

 

Thanks all for the encouragement and advice. I passed on that 180k mile "bargain", and instead snagged a beautiful Carmon Red /perfect black interior 04 CTT trade-in from a local AutoNation Honda dealership. I found it online before they posted pictures on the website, used the VIN decoder to get the build sheet, and chased down all of the service records from the shops listed in the CarFax. They said it wasn't ready to be shown yet, "Give us 3 days." I reserved it and showed up the next night anyway just to have a peek...and drove it home. It was just smogged, and hadn't been washed or detailed yet with 103k on the clock and mountains of dealer service history including:

• a transmission valve body at 40k miles,
• air suspension pump at 60k,
• transmission differential solenoid/motor
• repeated early visits to exorcise all the electrical gremlins ... and a new horn

and just last year:

• two front lower control arms,
• 4 wheel alignment
• 8 spark plugs
• a few coils,
• ALL of the coolant pipes,
• plastic brake booster vacuum hose,
• and a full brake job with new rotors

It also received every mileage based service from new through the 100k service at a Porsche dealership. The local Porsche dealer in Rocklin, CA detailed invoices totaling well over $10,000 from the last owner in 18 months. The price for both parts and service was astonishing.

It does have a minor oil leak (noted, but not seen), front left, which I am confident is just accumulated blow-by pooling in the air charge hose. I already ordered the replacement seal from ECS. The rear wiper trim cover/glass button is missing. And the dealer inspection noted the torque arm is worn, the serpentine belt is looking cracked, and the rubber seals around the outside of the headlight housings are fading. I figure I'll bang those out along with a water pump and related bits, then replace all the fluids in the diffs and tranny, and she should be 100%. That's a fairly short punch list. At $10,700, I think it was a pretty good deal that will look even better a few years down the road.


There's no mention of the cardan shaft bearing rubber bushing or the starter. The battery is about 3 years old, and the engine cranks a little slower than I'd like (but I've got no frame of reference), but fires right up and purrs. So that could be another fun project soon enough.


A couple hundred miles in, it feels tight, solid, and more responsive that a big bruiser has any right to. Thank you all for the collected wisdom and advice.


Cheers,


Brian C.

 

Score! Congratulations.

cheers,
c

 

I replaced my starter just recently. It should crank very rapidly. Very big difference between worn and new.