ltc

No, they do not. Again, a very good engine with history behind it. Granted, it's not in the same category as the Mezger flat 6 (the greatest production engine ever designed), but nonetheless better than the Cayenne V8

Perfect, a match made in heaven.

GT-ER

Did you buy new or used? If new then all that is not bad at all for 97K.

Also, what's the cheapest place to buy the coolant pipes in case a V8 shows up?

ltc

RL member T2 has ~240,000 miles on his Cayenne Turbo ... FWIW, he also has about 350,000 miles on his 03 996 X50 Turbo

Dennis C

I bought it used. It was a lease return with just over 20k miles on the odometer. Some of the repairs on my list were covered by the original manufacturer's warranty.

cordsig79

If you are comfy with being your own mechanic, can read, and subscribe to rennlist or renntech........your problems have all been solved before hand.

Its just gleeful for some of the original 03-04 pioneer owners who went in blindly and posted on here warnings and repair stickys, to see a newbie come in shiny happy and new, without reading stickies or following advice, and then b&%tch about when the coolant tubes burst and ruin starters and cause further issues....to go ha ha(insert simpson bully laugh).

autohauz--assorted parts
pelican parts--assorted parts
suncoast---assorted parts
vertex---refurb cardan shafts
Autozone/snap-on/sears---assorted tools/bits/bolts to install the aboves...

Ebay, craigslist, and the above websites are where you need to troll for cheap deals. I picked up all kinds of parts by trolling every month....

the cost of parts is not the main killer here........its the labor and time when it does go wrong.

Women and cars are the same "high performance requires high end maintenance...".......now I own the 6er...so my issues have been limited.

I bought a Jeep Wrangler the same time I bought the P truck, it fell apart on interior and the coolant system failed and probably damaged the engine. Gone and was rotting in 4-5 years after purchase.

I think in total I am still about 5k in new wheels(one set of 22 techart resp, 2 sets of OEM 17's), roof rack, brakes, rotors, cardan shafts, filters, plugs, coils, gas and tires in 6 years of ownership.

Shawn Stanford

In February I bought an '05 V6 with just over 80k on the clock (paid $16k after trade). I'm in the mid 90s now with no problems (*knock on wood*). The only repair expense outside of gas and oil has been a set of wiper blades, plus pads and rotors all around.

Other expenses:

• Aftermarket stereo (replaced a non-Bose CDR-23 for a JVC, an easy, easy swap).
• 18-inch OEM wheels & 60-series tires.
• Eibach spring kit.
• Curt hitch + trailer light module.
• 'P O R S C H E' lettering on the rear hatch.
• Thule towers & bars.

I think that's about it. I bought the Cayenne because I liked the look: it doesn't look like a truck and it looks like a Porsche. I love this thing; it's been great!

deilenberger

Actually - they're not. Consider that people rarely post "Hey my XYZ has been GREAT!".. people who have problems seek forums. There are a lot of Cayenne owners who wouldn't know this forum if it bit them in the ***.. They haven't needed any forum help because their P!G hasn't broken.Having owned a LOT of BMWs - the most reliable things about them is: (1) Stuff will break, often due to engineering or material flaws (2) BMW will deny that it ever happened and if it did happen it was the owners fault anyway (3) They'll never redesign the part unless it starts costing them a lot of warranty costs.

What I've seen so far with Porsche - (1) Stuff will break, often due to engineering or material flaws (2) Porsche ignores the complaints from the customers.. but.. (3) Often redesigns the part to make it more reliable.

X5's have the same sort of litany of failures as a Cayenne: Coils - they ALL go bad sooner or later. The basic design of coil on plug sounds good but sucks in practice, the coils are too small and get too hot. Valley Pan Gaskets are BMW's version of our exploding coolant pipes - and actually at least the same amount of work to replace. Thing is - they haven't done a damn thing about the design, so the ones you replace will need replacing again in another 5 years or so (3) General cooling system - is made of crappy plastic. Coolant reservoirs, radiators, thermostat housings, even the impeller on the water pump. Guess what - if the plastic isn't really good quality you're gonna have problems - and BMWs do.. depends on the model, but it's pretty much accepted that the complete system will need replacement every XX,XXX miles.

Both are German cars. As is Mercedes. You buy them because you like them (mebbe what you feel like driving one, mebbe what you feel like handing the keys to a valet.. whatever is your thing..) NOT for reliability.

If you want reliability - buy Japanese.. boring, don't handle well, crappy interiors, but they are reliable (until they wear out - which they seem to do all at once.. one day great car, next day on the way to the auto wreckers..)FWIW - I've never seen an attractive Japanese SUV. Too tall, too lumpy, too many gee-gaws bolted on. They just look either silly or tacky. Now Koren ones? They look pretty good - since their designers took some big clues from the Cayenne.

Land Rovers make German SUVs look quite reliable. Volvo makes an SUV that's sorta attractive, and comes with a Japanese engine. Never drove one so can't comment on handling, fit or finish. And (hold your breath!) Buick's SUV doesn't look awful. Has independent suspension all the way around, some selection of engines, we know the AC will be stellar, and the transmission will probably work well. Or the new Jeep Grand Cherokee - 0-60 in sub 5 seconds, and beats most German SUV's around the ring.. Price new is like buying a used Cayenne. Haven't driven any of these, but did eyeball them, and I wouldn't immediately dismiss them if I wasn't such a snob..

GT-ER

LOL...I'll be honest guys. I've started a few threads in other forums and I gotta say I love the attitude here, you guys are really helpful.

I'm not worried much about tearing an engine down as long as the price of parts don't kill me. I've checked out some prices and they really aren't bad so looks like I'm kinda sold on a Cayenne. We'll see what happens.

jittsl

I'm on my second Cayenne. The first one (an 04 "S") ran well past 100k and usually had a trailer and a race car tied onto the back. Other than coils under warranty I have never had so much as a flat tire in either of them. I may be lucky but that is my experience. I find the cayenne to be a fabulous touring vehicle, a great tow truck and (as I once proved by running my current GTS into the end of a guard rail at 60MPH without any injury to myself) incredibly strong and safe.

Little Green

Have had my 06 S for a little more than a year and absolutely love it. Only real issue I have had is my sunroof drain line became disconnected putting water in the back of the car which made my Subwoofer sound like I had an exahust leak until it fried itself. All covered under warranty. BTW..you are kidding yourself if you think the V6 will have enough power. You are coming from an E55 that you modded. If you were coming from an accord or camry a V6 Pepper is a great car. V6 Peppers are great trucks regardless but you came from power and you and I both know that need will not go away.

barrios35

I have had an 06 for a little over a year now. I LOVE the way it handles. The power is not there, V6. I came from a V8 Land Rover and I tell you the Cayenne has been great so far with 75K on the clock. It is CPO so the shaft has been the only big issue that was taken care of. I would have done it myself though if needed be. The Nav did go out. Screen was all messed up again, warranty. But and aftermarket NAV with far more features would have gone in if not covered. Besides that little stupid stuff that I would not care about. But since I have the warranty I am taking in it for the little stuff. After that I found and Indy shop for far more bigger things that I can't handle.

I do own an Inifiniti G35 I hear you on the cheap feeling but this car has been solid mechanically wise. Nothing but oil changes, rotors/pads and tires. Battery one time. Everything else still ticking. An 03 with 101,100 miles and counting.

GT-ER

LOL...

The problem is that I don't think even a turbo would remotely satisfy my hunger for power...I have an 11 second E55...I'm not entirely sure the V8 would feel much quicker than a V6, especially since I won't be racing it or anything. Unless it feels anemic even at part throttle...that changes things.

Little Green

You may be right but the V8 is adequate for power coming from your car considering what it is . A Turbo will satisfy you if you take it for what it is. A fast truck. The V6 just won't cut it for you. It's an expensive mistake to make. The jump from V6 to V8 is not huge in $ vs the jump from V8 to Turbo. Myabe worth the extra few G's for the 8

ltdan12a

Yup, with winter upon us, We seen a slight uptick in Cayenne work... On the V8's, we have done 3 coolant pipe jobs in the past month, and on the VR6, we've done two timing chain jobs.... Given the choice of which job I'd rather do, I will choose the coolant pipe upgrade any day of the week!!!

slider172

The V8 in this year range is the way to go. We drove the V6 and it was uh lacking. The newer V6 is Much better. Not sure what year model it was changed.
My wife has an 2005 S and it had coils replaced under warranty, no leaking pipes(yet), it eats friggin tires, and she loves it.