Hello all,

I want to say thanks for having a forum of knowledge for Porsche and the Cayenne. I also want to say sorry about posting ANOTHER purchase advice thread. I know this can get old for the experienced members.

That said, I am new to Porsche. I was drawn to the towing capacity of the Touareg, then read more about the common chassis of the Cayenne. I currently have a 1996 GMC Surburban 6.5TD that has been my SUV workhorse for years. It has 323,000 miles and still gets 20mpg. I know the Porsche will empty my wallet in comparison to the Surburban which has cost me approximately $2000 in 4 years (including $1000 for new tires....) However, its now feeling a bit clunky and dated.

I also have the Chrysler revamp of the Mercedes SLK32 AMG (SRT6) which for a german car is still simple and easy to work on. Frankly the Cayenne maintenance/work threads seems insane in comparison (water cooled alternator really?).

I have read many threads and realize that the coolant pipes are a big deal on older Cayennes which can then also take out the starter and trans seal. I have not found great comparisons of features say between the CTT and CTTS. I have narrowed my search to these options:

2004-2006 CTT
Under 100k miles
Loaded
Budget $14-16k
Upgrades/refresh $8k

2006 CTTS
Around or under 100k miles
Budget $22-25k
Upgrades/refresh $2-3k

2008/9 CTT
Around or under 100k miles
Budget $19-21k
Upgrades/refresh $2-3k

I see the older CTT receiving the most upgrades and immediate maintenance (fluids, pipes, tires).
I see the CTTS as coming more loaded, being more costly (rotors), and having the most HP.
I see the newer CTT having DI, power closer to the older CTTS, and having slight cosmetic changes

What is the biggest difference from the older CTT and CTTS? For the cost difference, can the power of the CTT be brought up to the CTTS?

I would use this Cayenne as a work vehicle with mainly interstate driving. I would occasionally tow around 5k lbs. Given these which would you choose?

Thanks
Dylan

 

Since your asking....CTTS. if it wasn't so hot where I live(121F summers) - this would be the ONE I would buy:

http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invento...sting=35313228

 

definitely the newer 08+ CTT, but I don't think you'll find one for $19-21k, even with 100k miles on it.

 

Add about $5k to your 957 CTT budget.

 

If you can find an 08+ turbo around the $20k mark, that's the way to go for sure. I expect that won't be the case.

Having $8K to sort out an early 955 would be my choice. You can be picky about choosing an 05-06 ctt and still be under 15k and have plenty of allowance for maintenance and upgrades.

 

Thanks all, So far I have found (1) 2008 CTT right at the 100k mark for $21k. What are the major differences in tuning between the 2006 and 2008? Those that voted for the 2008, besides the DI, what are the other advantages over getting a 2006 with 80k miles and dropping $8,000 into it? Thanks

 

If you are sure it doesn't have a salvage title and is clean and has been maintained nicely then that's a great price for a 957. I've yet to see a clean title 08 turbo for that little and I frequently look at cars on auto trader for fun. A majority of the time when a price is too good to be true there is a reason.

The 08 facelift brought larger displacement, DI (as you mentioned), visual tweaks and suspension tweaks.

 

Best advise I can give is buy the lowest mileage, lowest owner, and most well cared for example you can find with a good service history. I have had my Cayenne Turbo for a little over 1.5 years and have only done minor maintenance to it (fluid changes, valve cover gaskets, and charge pipe seals). It has been a great car and was worth it to spend the extra money to get a low mileage example as it seems these cars start to have problems around the 100k mile mark.

Good luck! The Cayenne market is all over the place.

 

So I did it. Advice taken and 08 Turbo purchased with 99k miles for $22k. Two owner, pretty good service records. Usual items replaced over time. Fairly loaded, 22"s, new brakes, ITB intake, cat delete, Techart hood and mufflers. Thanks again to everyone for the advice.

 

Looks good, love the interior color and the wood. I just got a lower mile 08 CTT myself it's a cool color but it's got boring ez to live with looks as new most always black interior and silver trim.

 

Not to hijack the thread but another purchasing question....Do the 08's (S and turbos) still have the coolant pipe breaking and the cardan shaft breaking issues?

 

2008 the 957 has a different coolant pipe design, 1 pipe instead of 3, its know to have far less issues so far. There are other coolant pipe and Tee pipe issues it can have also.

Yes on the cardan shaft, my 2008 CTT had this issue, I did the Jimmy Fix for $20 and 2hrs and all is good.

 

Well bought. I'm in the process of purchasing a 2008 CTT and saw the ad for that one, but passed due to the mods. Maybe I should have gathered more info. I've read the PDCC is awesome. Can't wait to get mine.

 

Welcome to the forum and nice CTT. The only thing I see is that the front brakes look like fake Porsche brakes. Porsche doesn't make a caliper that looks like that nor do they make slotted brakes that I am aware of for the Cayenne. They look like a different brand (can't remember the name) with a sticker on the caliper. Other than that, nice ride!

I bought an all black 09 CTTS in August and after owning/renting/leasing 100+ cars throughout the past 15 years I finally found a car I can keep for the long term. In my opinion, my CTTS is the most versatile, powerful, and comfortable vehicle I have ever been in. I love every second with it and I've owned everything from Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Dodge, Nissan, etc. I put more money upfront for the newer year and lower mileage to stay away from some of the issues the 955's had (I did about 3 months of research). I then ended up putting a new brake kit, wheels, and tires on it to make it to my personal liking.

I also did a bunch of DIY maintenance items to prevent any unscheduled issues. The CTTS will be my family wagon and my daily driver - I have twins due in 8 weeks now. I wanted it to be bullet proof as far as reliability so I did a ton of research and purchased the parts online to replace a lot of common unscheduled maintenance items. In a few weekends, I knocked out the below items to bring it up to/beyond required maintenance:

Changed Spark Plugs with NGK Iridium
Oil Change Mobil 1 0W-40
Front Diff. Fluid Change
Rear Diff. Fluid Change
Transfer Case Fluid Change
Tiptronic Transmission Filter and Fluids
Replaced Pollen (Cabin) Air Filter
Replaced Coil Pack (8)
Replaced Serpentine Belt, tension springs, all idler pulleys and bolts
Replaced Engine Air Filters
Replaced Boost Diverter Valves
Replaced Water Pump Pulley
Replaced PDCC Resevoir and Fluid
Replaced Power Steering Resevoir and Fluid
Cleaned Throttle Body (improved acceleration smoothness)
Replace all seals/O-rings on boost/intercooler hoses
Replaced OEM Turbo S brakes with a full 8 pot brake kit from PB Brakes in matte black. Everything is now black on my Cayenne btw.

By no means am I suggesting you need to do all of this, it is just a list of everything I did. My 09 Cayenne with 74k miles runs so incredibly strong and solid after this maintenance I wanted to mention it. Pick and choose as you get to know the vehicle. I listened to her to see what she needed. Then did "while I was in there" maintenence, that's how the list grew to be so long. I'm sure my Cayenne would have ran for many many more miles if I had not done some of this.

The pulleys/water pump/serp belt were also a dramatic change. The engine idles and runs much quieter and just sounds stronger with new tension pulleys and idler pulleys. At this mileage plastic starts to wear. After replacing, the motor sounded like new - literally.... so quiet and strong sounding with no rattles or squeaks from belts and pulleys. I highly recommend that to anyone on this forum if you have to do a serp belt.

If you need any help just PM/DM me. PelicanParts DIY tutorials walked me through everything. I am not a mechanic I am an IT engineer. I was able to do everything myself from the full brakes to the pulleys, etc. The Cayenne is easy to work on in my opinion.

Sorry for the long post, welcome to Rennlist!

 

The slotted rotors are aftermarket, but the calipers are definitely stock. These calipers were used on the 2008 Cayenne Turbo only.