Can't comment other than to say that everybody -- and I do mean everybody at the two dealers that I frequent told me to be extremely careful or to outright not look at an 04.

I have asked at various points throughout my ownership as friends have thought about a purchase and just recently when I was wondering about keeping mine.

Some did think that getting an 04 with mid-miles and all the common things done could possibly be a good buy considering the price. But all said that the early ones suffered from more electrical issues as well as transmission problems related to the known issues with the box.

I have never had a MB that I thought was inexpensive to maintain as it aged -- and I currently own four.

 

I feel like this is always going to be the case from a dealership.

Just think through the life cycle of the car.

In 2004 they sold a ton of Cayennes. In 2004 all the dealership had to work on were the small number of 2003 produced and large number of 2004 sold.

In 2005 not as many were sold. So now the dealership is working on some 03, and more 04 that have more miles than the brand new at the time 05.

Move on to 06 where even fewer were sold. The 03 and 04 are now several years old. The number of 04s still dominating in shear volume. Plus they have more miles and use than the 05 and now brand new 06.

The cycle continues. I haven't been able to find the exact production numbers. But for example. If they are twice as many 04 as 05-06 then the dealer will see them twice as often. Also factor in higher miles for older models that have been in service longer, and the fact that the dealers have had the older models to service longer. In 04, all they had to service was 03-04.

.Some design revisions also contributed. But any car that saw service has updated parts now. As an example, I would bet that since I recently updated my control arms that mine are later, better version than on many 05-06 cars.

 

Cole - you are more than likely correct that production as well as perception has something to do with it - that is why some felt that some 04's may be a good buy for the correct purchaser.

That being said manufacturing has continual improvements -- many of them undetectable - and the part numbers don't always change. So its impossible to know what has been updated.

The transmission issue involved what damage - if any - would be done to the box before the new controllers TB were installed.

The electrical issues were more direct -- they just did not see them in the later cars - and the earlier cars keep coming in ?

 

Havr you considered having a mechanic look at them to tell you which is in the best condition.

 

Don't get me wrong. I think the later cars probably do have some advancements. I just don't think the early ones are as aweful as the forums, dealers, etc make them out to be.

I think the same is true of the V6 vs the V8 relaibility perceptions. There are simply a TON more V8s roaming around out there.

 

The service history tells all.

I purchased a 2004 CS with 40K mi. from the first owner. Every shop invoice from day one was provided along with the window sticker. There were 12 invoices but no repairs after 2007.

I replaced the ignition coils, battery and tires, but that is all. By now the 2004 bugs should be resolved. If the 2004 checks out by a PPI and the price is right I would not be afraid to buy it.

 

Because: (1) Buying a Touareg doesn't necessarily save you money. I know many Touareg owners who have spend thousand of dollars fixing the laundry list of problems Touaregs tend to have as well. Remember although the Touareg and Cayenne are not identical, they do share many mechanical parts. If the Cayenne is prone to issues 04, so does the Touareg. In fact, everything I read here is almost identical to what I read in Touareg forums. Just superimpose "Touareg" for "Cayenne" and what many of the posts here say could be verbatim for the type of stuff that happens to Touaregs!

That being said, the Touaregs use the Audi A8 sourced 8 cylinder (which is a gem and relatively problem free) so issues that effect the Porsche V8 like the plastic coolant lines do not apply. But for some reason Touaregs also have serious problems with driveshaft replacements as well as issues with the glove compartment locks, horns, electical issues, etc.

I would have to double check but my guess is the Touareg is heavier than the Cayenne. That may be why the Touareg V6s feel very lethargic. By the way, the Cayenne drives significantly sportier than the Touareg. So it isn't just an issue about $$.

 

I think at this point I am going forward with the 05. I like that the manufacturer had another year to get some of the early kinks out. I completely agree with one of the previous posts who mentioned that although the list of mechanical parts may not changed from one year to the next, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of imperceptible or undocumented changes that could be made that could improve the building process and reliability of the car. Maybe someone on the line figured out a way to install something more securely or perhaps the part manufacturer used a more reliable building process. Who knows?

Also the 05 is the S model and I do want the V8. The gas mileage different is pretty miniscule in light of the difference in power between the two engines. Also happens that the 05 is our preferred color and seems to be in the cleanest condition.

I thought hard about the 06 V6 and probably would have pulled the trigger if not for the 6 cylinder. Between the 04 and 05 I saw, the 04 had 15K less miles than the 05 (low 50K vs mid 60K) but otherwise were very similar and only a thousand dollars difference in price (05' $1K more expensive but is one MY newer, has navigation and only 15K more miles).

I think overall valulation the 06 V6 is the best "deal" for the price, but I really want the 8 cylinder and prefer factory navigation even if they aren't the best units.

 

an 05 or 06 S with 50k miles should be between 22-30k?

I dont see any price issue at all unless you have negative equity that will hurt you in long run on the Treg...

theres a tt 04 with all the fixer up needed done for 30k.....I would buy from a rennlister way before a dealer unless you have a cpo on the way.

 

I was half joking about buying a touareg. My thinking was that if you were going to get the VW v6 then just get the toureg. Touareg fit and finish is not on par with porsche, I agree. For me the 'porsche' part of the cayenne s is the v8. It just doesn't feel like a porsche with the 6 in it and the gas mileage is almost the same so why? I see from your later post that you decided on the 05 CS. I think it is wise. The 6 might be a better value but the S will retain its value better as well. Around here, there are tons of low priced v6 cayennes but the CS models are worth substantially more.

Oh and for those curious about sales numbers:

2003 - 13,661
2004 - 19,134
2005 - 14,524
2006 - 11,141

Not a HUGE diference between years but there were more sold in 04 than other years.

 

Do you have a source for those sales numbers?

They seem way off since the Cayenne has been reported to be Porsches number one seller ever. Those numbers would not put it anywhere close to the 150,000 944s (that is not counting any 951,924,968)

 

.....if those numbers are correct that still means that there are almost twice as many 04 as 06. Which means shops would see 04 almost twice as often as 06 just on the numbers alone.

They may not look large as raw numbers but if you look at the % difference it is fairly substantial.

 

I scheduled a PPI tomorrow morning for the 05 S. Hopefully car checks out and I can go and pick it up next week.

Will post results here when I receive them.

 

Here's an update. I scheduled the PPI, and this outfit was tremendous. Spoke to the guy directly to give him the laundry list of things to look out for on the Cayenne. He added at the end of the list that he would also check the sunglass holders as he's found those problematic as well. Turns out he does post lease inspections for the local Porsche dealer and has inspected over 200 Cayennes over the years.

Anyway he checks the vehicle and he finds a crack where the control arm meets the frame. Everything else on the vehicle was great. The coolant pipes were even replaced.

I paid this guy $250 (he wanted $375) to check the car and it was the best $250 I ever spent. I would have driven that car home without knowing of the crack and once I found out, there is no way the dealer would assist.

I had leads on a handful of 04 and 05s. They were all snapped up in a matter of days. I don't know what is going on but there is a run on early model Cayenne's S right now. Maybe because they have hit the sweet spot of low to mid 20K. But it was unbelievable.

I pretty much settled on an 04 S that was really lovingly cared for, in like new condition, taken to Porsche Dealer for full inspection and perfect bill of health with coolant pipes replaced at the same time. Mileage low 50K. Price is higher than the 05 S but the car is Mint. I agreed in principle. But just today I got a couple bites back on an 05 S with 50K miles for less than 2K more and an 06 S with under 40K miles for less than $26K. It seems like 06 is a no brainer right at that price? But no NAV (which is really a huge thing for me as I hate those aftermarket Navs you have to stick on your window) and the even though a bargain it's about 4K more than I really wanted to spend.

 

Lower gas prices are making them more attractive......