tatzoo

Im looking into purchasing a 2004 Porsche Cayanne S with the 4.5 litre V8. Im looking for a vehicle for my wife, the Cayanne as 148k miles and we are looking for an somewhat inexpensive SUV for now....

Im no stranger to maintenance, just sold a 03 Land Rover Discovery that had serious nightmares in servicing.... IM just curious about things I should look for in a Cayanne with this kind of miles...

Do they have timing belts? chains? its a good looking vehicle for under $12k with Turbo wheels....just wondering if anyone has any experience with a cayanne with this kind of miles and what to expect...

Thanks

Shawn Stanford

Search the forums for the items on this t-shirt and you'll know everything you need to know:

endless_corners

Its a great vehicle... and the main things from the shirt to crop up will be cardan shaft & coolant pipes. Be sure to have a couple grand set aside for repairs. And its better to elect to do the coolant pipes preventively because they take out your starter and torque converter seal and stuff when they fail.. and they will fail.

tatzoo

Are the coolant pipes something that needs to be changed regularly? or was it a factory flaw that once changed problem resolved?

My Discovery was similar and always had to have $2k handy when something broke, but it was a 3rd vehicle so it was ok for it to sit at the import repair facility a week. If the Cayenne breaks we dont have a 3rd vehicle anymore...

here is a link to the vehicle...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S-/28...#ht_826wt_1182

endless_corners

It's a one time fix. Changing plastic pipes to aluminum. Hard to get at though so like a 8-12 hour job. Parts are about $500. I had an Indy do mine and the total was like $1400 with parts. Replacing the rear drive shaft is less more like $600 parts/labor.

tatzoo

I know assuming is always the worst thing to do, but...

would it be safe to assume those issues have been addressed due to the 148k mileage on the vehicle?

Also is the 4.5 a timing belt or timing chain motor?

endless_corners

Both *may* have been done. Its a timing chain. The driveshaft is just something you will know is happening and isnt a big deal.. you will start to feel it and then you do it. The coolant pipes is something that will ruin your vibe in a major way. You would need a long mirror to see if your pipes are aluminum. You should find out via carfax if you can see where it was serviced.

Dennis C

My 2004 Cayenne S has 122K miles on the odometer, and it has been a very good vehicle. In addition to the coolant pipes and cardan shaft, there are a few other items that tend to fail or wear out on the Cayenne. These include: fuel pumps (there are two), water pumps, horns, ignition coils, air-suspension components (if so equipped), cardan shaft, and more. I think they can be great vehicles if properly maintained, but you need to have a cash reserve for repairs just like you did with the Land Rover. As my Cayenne has aged, the seats have held up beautifully. There have been, however, many little things in the interior that have broken and needed repair. These include: the dome light by the mirror, the sunglasses holder (sticks open), the rear cup holder (sticks open), peeling aluminum-look trip on the shifter, etc.

Remember that you're buying a car that had a sticker in the $80K - $90K range for $12K. Even though the purchase price is low, the repair prices will be what you would expect on a high-priced German car.

Travis

Tatzoo,

Having purchased an '04 Cayenne S about 6 months ago, I have been very happy with it.

The truck itself had 149K miles on it when I bought it for a little over $10K usd. Original owner, pipes, cardan shaft, fuel pumps, oil change, new 19" Michelins', brake pads, and coils were all done. No accidents, non smoker. She did have a pet, but fortunately, no funky smells.

It did, however, require a lot more bits to make it right for me. Being a little OCD, I wanted it right if it was going to serve as our road trip vehicle.

New control arms, hatch shocks, hood strut, interior refresh including shift gate (previous owner wore lots of rings and dented the aluminum). a front strut, and a crap load of cleaning inside and out. Important take away is that it was nothing serious and definitely all consider wear and tear.

In my opinion, unless you're in Canada, I wouldn't pay $12K USD. I know you were asking about potential and common weak points, but thought this point of reference would help.

Hope that helps,

Yorkshire_Jon

I too have had Land Rovers for many years and currently have a Defender 110 as my daily drive and touring vehicle.

I bought a 2004 S with 113,000km on the clock for the mrs over here in Australia, primerily as a nice second, cheapish car that was capable of pulling the horse float. I must say I was a little sceptical about it to start with, but actually it is a very nice car.

Two words of warning though:
1. Dont expect to be able to (cheaply) retro-fit any new / upgraded stereo to give you ipod/iphone connectivity! Apart from that everything else is just great.
2. Unless you only drive on smooth bitumen roads, try to stay away from the upgraded 22" rims. Mine came with 22's and to be honest, on a bumpy bitumen road the defender gives a nicer ride!! On dirt, corrugated roads they are a liability!

Now the good bits...
If the price is right, buy it! My mrs is used to driving European cars, old Land Rover's and my Defender (yeah I know they are European too, but they are not refined!) and she loves it.

I was fortunate and found out (through ringing the local dealers in the service book) that it had already had the water pipes changed before I got it. The carden shaft is original.

If your OK with maintenance then both jobs (cooling pipes and carden shaft) are not beyond the half decent DIY'er. There is an excellent "how-to" change the cooling pipes on the ECS-Tuning site. I think I google a little while and found something similar on the shaft.

hth
J

69gaugeman

I was looking at the Cayenne too when I bought my Treg for half the price of the Porsche. Unless you are going to buy a turbo or really need the badge, I would look at the VW....

Cole

I disagree with this. The Cayenne drives totally different with the different torque split in the transfer case, different suspension tuning, etc. Much sportier, less SUV driving experience. If you just drive them around the block at 30mph on a test drive they seem similar, put the pedal down and drive it like a sports car and they are worlds apart. Totally amazing the difference.

Also, the Porsches have a completely different electrical system and engines that have proven to be much more reliable than the early Touaregs.

endless_corners

The fact that you can get 955 CS's for $12-16k and turbos for $17+ makes them a pretty dang good value. Touaregs are totally numb to drive IIRC.