hyphenf15

I'm looking into ppotentially buying a 04 Cayenne S for the wife. Any known issues with the 04 model or other nitnoids I should look out for? It has 60K miles with a triptonic shifter & 22" wheels. What do you think is a reasonable asking price?? Thanks guys.

User 4221

Scrape the extra $$ together and get an '05. There are significant reliability improvements from '04 to '05.

Do a search on the term "beta" and see what you find.

hyphenf15

thanks scott

99firehawk

need to generate more scare on the alpha/beta cars they are still more then i want to pay

mudman2

hahahah, Brad you kill me

mudman2

OK to the detriment of 99Firehawk

04's are NOT unreliable cars, there are many issues which are niggles (especially if your buying for $75k new) but which are not that big a deal.

I would lookout for Drive Shaft problems which cause vibration searcht the board for CARDEN SHAFT.

Make sure the rear glass hatch closes and does not open by itself.

Make sure the rear washer does not drip

Make sure they do an alignment before you get it

Depending on where you are it needs a new battery

Especially listen for various knocks and bumps in transition between go and stop, low speed stuff.

Check the tires for cupping and uneven wear

take it up to 80 and check for vibration in 5mph steps down

Make sure they replace the coils and plugs

Other than these ( I am sure others can chip in) for those i have forgotten) its still a car i love, near 60000, bought an extended warrantee to 100K, you might want to do the same.

I have seen as low as $35K and as high as $50K

99firehawk

drive shafts will not affect every cayenne
nor will coils, but if a cayene has had coils it will need another set at some point

hyphenf15

thanks guys....I knew you would have great answers.

Cay-ute

Greg, I had one of the early 03's and had a few minor issues but never anything major. I drove it for 42K and then traded for an 08 CTT. There were many complaints on the early 03/04 models. Few of complaints had to do with major issues, transmission software, coils and particularly trailer light electronics were the major flame issues on this forum. I had the tranny sw issue early and it eventually got fixed. The rest of my 4 years of ownership were complaint free (with the exception of the stupid PCNA/Porsche decision not to allow for the collapsible spare to be placed under the rear deck).

I have driven my 08 CTT for 800 miles and it has been issue free thus far. My wife loved driving the 03 and she is (luckily) afraid of the power of the 08. The selling point for me has been the versatility of the Cayenne, deep snow...no problem, open roads in Wyoming...no problem. I can get anywhere, anytime in the Cayenne. We also have an 07 Tahoe (4WD) and an 04 Jeep Rubicon, the Tahoe handles Colorado winters very well, I park the Jeep in storage during the winter. The Cayenne handles anything that mother nature can dish out and does it safely and competently.

I believe that Porsche improved the Cayenne platform during the 05-06 years, but i have few regrets about being an early adopter with the 03. As suggested earlier, buy the latest Cayenne you can get and make sure you purchase an extended warranty, these are not vehicles you want to go naked in.

Good Luck!!

ltc

Care to elaborate?

Tiny Tim

My '04 cost 35k flat with 32k miles. Bought the extended warranty to 100k. Only issues so far is the comfort control unit (covered by factory warranty) and the TPMS system. For some reason it works 50% of the time and I would suggest staying away from it. It is a PITA.

Loren

From a Porsche shop foreman (with 20 plus years experience)...

ltc

Truer words were never spoken.....

99firehawk

Im still looking for an 03/04

Cay-ute

itc, no elaboration necessary, i simply remember alot of spirited discussion about hooking up the trailer lights, thought I would pass that on to the fellow that was looking for thoughts on the 04.