I have spent a bunch of time browsing the forum the past few weeks and think I want to subject myself to some punishment and buy a 2005 or 2006 Cayenne S. I have driven or looked at a handful. The local used car dealers have garbage cars so far. Even a 60,000 mile one was beat to hell. I drove a titanium with a decent amount of dealer services that popped up on Carfax, but the transmission had a tendency to sit at 3k rpm just driving around 40mph in D with PCM on and would not upshift. Any ideas what that could be? Have you had better luck looking at Cayennes in certain places, like mainstream dealers and private parties? Thanks

 

Don't be afraid to look at turbos. You may find yourself wishing for more power down the road. The price difference isn't that huge. Keep in mind and budget for coolant pipes replacement job.

 

If you will be paying cash, its nearly always a better bet to purchase from a private party. Not only are you likely to get a better deal; but you can also meet the current owner of the vehicle, and get a good idea of how they took care of the vehicle.

When I look for cars, I typically extend my search radius to anything within a days drive, about 600 miles or so. For the right vehicle, Id search nationwide.

+1 on extending to the turbo if you can swing it.

 

Thanks for the replies. I researched expired ads to get a feel for pricing before I started to look at them. I missed out on some turbos. The only ones I have seen available have had 120,000 miles or so, some more. I am trying to stay under $20,000. A few that looked good on paper at $16,000 turned out to be dogs. I do get the feeling that I need to explore private party sales. They have been higher priced than the dealers, but maybe that is because they invested more in the upkeep than these wholesale car owners have.

The s models have all pulled hard as a linear surge, which surprised me. The turbo must be ridiculous. I am used to my Titan where it throws you back at first and then tapers off. The Cayenne has been entertaining so far. Looking forward to getting one.

 

Where are you located?

 

As a data point, I sold my 2004CT to a private party in 2/2013 for $22K.

Perfect condition -- coolant pipes, drive shaft replaced. 88Kmi.

 

I have a line on a 2004 CT with 75,000 miles for 23k asking price. I have not seen it. History I know about from Carfax

First owner through 11/3/12 and 71,700 miles
Service Contract and 14 trips for service and repairs
Starter and coolant bypass at 48,000 miles
Front brakes and lower control arms at 61,000 miles
Rear brakes at 66,000 miles

Second owner from 11/3/12 to 7/26/13 from about 71,700 miles to 74,700 miles
Serviced at 71,800 miles at local Porsche dealer

Third owner from 7/26/13 to present?
Sold to local Hyundai, probably trade in
Serviced at 74,700 miles at same local Porsche dealer

I stopped at the Hyudai dealer a week ago and was told that it was sold. It is now showing up for sale at a local small german car repair shop that does do used car sales. It's been turned over a bit lately which has me wondering.

 

Go ask service tech at Porsche garage about it, maybe??

 

Good luck finding one, I had to expand my search across the country and get one shipped to me.

 

Not sure why you want the transmission shifting back and forth at a steady 40 mph.

 

Why would the transmission hold 3k rpm on a flat surface at 40 mph? There was no load being placed on it. Just seemed odd to me.