Tremek

Hi all, new to the site, community, and brand. While I've pined after Porsches since high school, and schemed on getting a '72 911 S in college (but never did), now I'm finally shopping for a Porsche and I'm unafraid to state that my first will be a Cayenne.

The Cayenne will be for my wife who is sick of her boring and staid '07 Xterra, and wants something sporty and sexy to move our 3-month old son around in and to participate with me and friends at the drag strip.

My DD is an '09 G8 GXP (manual 6 speed, LS3, 400whp) which makes for a great family car but two cars are kind of a necessity for us, and having something as ridiculously impractical as a 500hp 4wd is just the kind of silliness I can get behind.

So with that said the Cayenne is on the short list of cars my wife approves of from a looks perspective (Grand Cherokee, X5, ML, etc - "bleh" according to her) and also from the go-fast avenue. I'm trying to decide on what's the best bang for the buck in the price range I'd like to stick to; looking at '06 Turbos near $35k, '06 Turbo S for ~40k when you look in the right places, or '08 Turbos for $45k in many places.

If you were in my position - what would you go for? Is the '08 Turbo worth spending $10k over the price of a nicely kept '06 Turbo? We drove a privately-owned '06 Turbo today that the owner's asking $35k on and I was pleasantly impressed, but the call of higher horsepower (and faster drag strip times) is hard to ignore...

Also - are there any major reliability issues between the 4.5TT and 4.8TT?

If I go with a tune, etc down the road am I right to think I'm going to pick up a lot more from the 4.8?

I welcome your collective thoughts and input, and am preparing myself for a deep dive into various threads and archives in here. Thanks in advance!

Edit: bought a 2006 Cayenne Turbo S - see second page for pics!

Porsche 25th

Lots of info here; have a look around. There is a nice '06 Turbo for sale in your price range in this forum. Most '08 Turbos I have seen are low $50s and up. If you see any '08 Turbos for $45k (especially with CPO--warranty is strongly recommended with Cayennes) please let me know. I am looking to upgrade......or would that be "make the same mistake twice"? Good luck with your search.

Budget M3

I just went through a similar decision making process. (although my price range did not go north of $40k like yours ). I went for an '06 Turbo over the Turbo S. Here are just two reasons why:

1. The Turbo is already insanely fast for an SUV. The extra ~50hp from the Turbo S is not worth the extra coin IMHO. If you want to go faster than a Turbo can carry you, then drive your G8 or an M3 or <insert favorite sports sedan here>.
2. Although all Porsche parts are expensive, the Turbo S is even more so (e.g. $2000 for brakes vs. $800 for the "base" Turbo which shares many more parts with the non-Turbo S).

Hope that is helpful

red911c2

Just curious, why are you excluding the 2005 CTT from your search?

Tremek

Budget M3: Appreciate the feedback. I'm not totally unopposed to spendy consumables like big brakes when they're an infrequent expense but having flogged the G8 on some road courses last year I had to pony up for some brakes this year and felt the pain. Are there other nasty hidden expenses in the Turbo S to consider?

red911c2: That's a good question honestly. Should I not be excluding clean '05s? I take it there's no functional difference... With that said, what about '03-04? Are there reliability issues there, a lack of low-mileage examples of those years, or both at this point? I'm certainly not opposed to spending less money and picking up a nice garage queen even if there's no CPO etc.

Also in the same vein, a lot of the '05-06s I'm finding nearby have not had the coolant pipe update done, including the one I drove today. How serious is the problem, and should I expect to be spending that $1k parts, $2k w/ labor immediately?

On that note - is there any good resource available re: year over year changes to the line? I'm trying to figure out where Bluetooth is added and things like that (thinking it's well past the '08 model year but it would be nice to know.)

bansasn

Just got my '05 turbo this weekend! Two words...love it! She has 22" wheels, Tubi exhaust, clear bra, and a radar. She sound like an angry beast! Feels like she's pist off at me for driving her to kindly. Get the turbo!!!

93 FireHawk 968

I'd go with the newest model your budget allows and seek CPO if available. I've been watching a few Cayenne S's and Turbo's on this site and AutoTrader and they're not selling as fast as I would have expected considering the price reductions. If you're not in a rush, patience will work in your favor.

Slow Guy

To your (very good) question on coolant tubes, no, you don't have to get one that's already been upgraded but you need to budget for it in the purchase price. As for mileage they will go, that's an unanswerable question. anywhere from 40k mi. to 90+k mi. I did my own a couple months ago at 64k mi., no indication they were about to go though, just that eventually they will. Be proactive on this one.

Personally I would recommend the newest in your budget range and highly recommend CPO. Gives you (at least) 2 yrs. to work out any bugs on Porsche's dime.

Good luck.

XR4Tim

I'm a big fan of the '06 Turbo S. Faster than an '08 (unless you find one with the Turbo Power Kit), but as Budget M3 said, certain parts (brakes specifically) are more expensive. And Cayennes use up brakes much more quickly than you may be used to. The '08+ models tend to have high-pressure fuel pump issues, though they may very well have been sorted out by a dealer at this point, and if you find one with a CPO, you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Tremek

Looking at an '06 Turbo S in the Phoenix area that has an amazing price that I'm trying to make sure isn't too good to be true; I need to find an independent Porsche shop in Phoenix that would do an inspection. Going to search the forums but do any of you have any shop or dealer recommendations for the inspection? Also curious what's an acceptable price for an inspection.

Edit: Found this thread on PPI inspections in Phoenix so that's awesome. Will call to ask about cost...

jes999

For a Cayenne PPI I would recommend Beck's European in the Scottsdale Airpark. They do a lot of work on newer water cooled Porsche's. The two shops mentioned in the linked thread do mostly older air cooled P-cars.

Tremek

So getting more serious about this '06 Turbo S. It's modded with an FVD flash, Cargraphic + FVD exhaust parts, and supposedly puts down (whether estimated or dyno'd, not sure) like 575hp at the crank, which doesn't seem unreasonable given the exhaust + flash. Should I be overly concerned about longevity? I'm going to get a PPI done before I move any money, but it seems like this would be a hilarious hoonmobile...

How well have other Turbo/Turbo S stood up to flashes & mods?

Budget M3

Tremek,

I bought my Turbo in PHX two months ago and used Stuttgart SW for my PPI. Jack seemed to know enough about the Cayenne to do a decent job--e.g. coolant pipes, cardan shaft, etc. Both were already done on my car and so far there have been no surprises.

There are probably others here that are much more knowledgable than I am, but I believe the only major differences between the Turbo and Turbo S are an engine tune and the bigger brakes.

I can't speak to how well the CTTS holds up to mods, but I would be more concerned about how the car has been driven and maintained than what mods it has. My experience with buying used cars that have been modified is mixed. The owner is either a true enthusiast who also maintained the car in excess of factory recommendations, or they spent all thier money on go-fast parts and the maintenance has been neglected. Be on the lookout for the latter...

Tremek

Update: CTTS is locked in, picking it up Friday night in PHX.

Car's apparently in great shape - coincidentally found videos of it from its previous sale on Youtube:


and


Looking forward to joining the club in a few short days.

AdMan21

Congrats man!