dakuzen

I've been looking for a good deal on a 2011+ CS and happened upon a 1-owner with 137k miles for $19k. I drove it yesterday and from what I could tell the car performed fantastically. The interior of the car looks brand new short a few creases in the driver seat leather from entry/exit and minor body blemishes from road debris. The only strange behavior we noticed was, once after coming to a complete stop on the exit ramp from the freeway, we heard some shift of a gear or differential and the engine RPM dropped a bit. The carfax on the vehicle states it was serviced at the dealer regularly every 10k, with a few gaps that may have been where the service was performed while out of the territory. From the mileage on the car it seems a good bet the owner was driving long distances.

This will be my first Cayenne. I've got a hold on the car and am going back (out of state) to have an independent mechanic review the car, and give it one more test drive. I'm hoping today to go drive another one to get a comparison.

I would prefer one with closer to 100k miles, but for the price it seems like a great deal for the year and having air suspension.

Here's the car listing
http://www.wheelcitymotorsnc.com/105...nne-S-for-sale

And the carfax
http://www.carfax.com/cfm/ccc_displa...AB2A24CLA50931

Looking for any feedback. Things I may want to check or consider. Thanks!

Trio

Be sure to read this: https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...his-first.html

Not knowing your budget, it's hard to give advice other than usual P-car advice of buying the newest, lowest mileage, best maintained you can afford. Maintenance records for a well-maintained car are worth $$ and piece of mind. Good luck with the search!

Elberoth

High mileage Cayenne S may quickly turn into a reliablity nightmare. I have seen V8 engines with 140k miles that already needed a complete rebuilds. Transfer box is another thing which can go at no warning, which is several thousand to replace.

I wouldn't buy an used Cayenne with no warranty, unless you are prepared to spend $10 grand on repairs at any time.

dakuzen

Thanks @Trio. My budget is 25k. I've seen the Cayenne S in that range with mileage from 75+. From what I've read in these forums the reliability is there if the car has been maintained. I've seen lower mile options but without the air suspension.

dakuzen

Thanks @Elberoth. Do you feel the CS is more prone to these major failures than other cars in general? I've always owned used vehicles, maintained them off warranty. I am new to Porsche, and I understand they require more regular tuning to maintain. I've heard the warranty sentiment from friends that are used to buying new and trading in before warranty expires. Are there telltale signs of a V8 that has been abused?

Elberoth

This is a very expensive car and getting it repaired when warranty ends is gonna be very expensive. I would look for a car which is still under warranty. Look for cars offered by Porsche dealers.

The air suspension is a feature to avoid on high mileage cars. When it goes out, and it will rather sooner than later on a 140k miles car, it costs ... $10k to replace. I would definately look for a PASM equipped car instead. Also check if the car had Variocam bolts and transfer box replaced. In general, VW engine eqipped Cayennes (VR6 and 3.0TDI) are more reliable than those with Porsche specific ones (especially the 4.8 V8).

Tom M

If you can do your own maintenance then, pending major failures such as scored cylinders or Transfer Case failures, the Cayenne is is relatively easy to take care of. Parts are more expensive and there are some known issues if you do your research. It also looks as if the car listed still needs the variocam bolt recall done. If you are serious about the specific vehicle then have a PPI done to thoroughly check it out before a final decision.

I've got 103K on my 2011 CS and have done the following since I bought it 4 years ago w/o a warranty. Brakes (rotors & pads), replaced failed water pump (along with thermostat & serpentine belt since I was there), left rear door actuator (bought used), spark plugs, failed coil. This also includes regular oil changes as well as changing the TC fluid & diff fluid. If the dealer had been needed for this work it would have been very expensive and, while not cheap, by doing it myself I saved several thousand on the work.

IMO the car is not terribly more expensive to keep unless you encounter a major system failure which requires you to get the dealer involved. However you also need be aware that parts are indeed more expensive.

Cay911

I have a 2011 with 60K miles that bought when it had 29K on it. It has had every single problem that this forum warned me about: transfer case, coolant lines, various cam bolts(was a recall) and one other type of coolant leak. Yet it has never left me stranded on the side of the road. Fortunately it was all covered under CPO which ran out this past December but then I added a 2 year 3rd party warranty to the car, just in case. Mine is a fully loaded S and I absolutely love it. We have taken it on many 2,000 mile plus trips some of them in the daed of Winter and have been caught in snow storms etc. (live in the Northeast). The Cayenne always makes me feel safe and assured regardless of the weather or road conditions. In 2 years if I cannot extend the warranty , which I will try I will be in the market again for a low to mid mileage Cayenne.

Elberoth

Good point on scored cylinders.

I would definately take the car to the shop that can check the cylinders with endoscope camera prior purchase. Also call a P dealer and ask if they will do a free variocam bolts replacement (there is a recall for these).

deilenberger

Elberoth - the variocam bolts are only a problem on a very specific range of vehicles - almost all of them 2011 model year V8's. Since the one he's considering may fall in that range - I'd suggest he go to the Porsche website where there is a page you can plug in the VIN# and see if there are any open recalls on the vehicle. If they haven't been done - they are probably under the recall - and can be done for no cost by the dealer.

I may be just loosing my marbles (those left..) but I can't recall a 958 that has suffered the scored cylinder issue. Can you point to any? On the 955/957 series it seemed related in some manner to where the car was used - with long-term cold weather use being an issue. Transfer case - yes - can be an issue - but there are probably a lot out there that are still running fine with a lot of miles on them.

And I have a question for you - what are you going to do when your vehicle is out of warranty? Throw it away? Give it to a nephew you hate? A warranty adds value to the vehicle - but lack of it doesn't mean the vehicle has to be junked. It means the prices should reflect if it has a warranty or not. I wouldn't be so down on warrantee-less Cayennes, you're just driving the eventual value of yours down doing that. That said - a used German car - ANY used German car - is going to cost some amount of money to own after the warranty runs out. If you plan for that by putting a few $-K away every year - you'll probably be just fine.

mikew968

I had a 2011 CS that i drove for 130k miles. I did have the vari-cam bolt issue but Porsche took care of it. The CS was an absolute blast to drive and easily the best car i ever owned. I was going to drive it until it died which was sooner that expected when i T-boned a telephone pole at 40 mph. Even in death the car protected me. Good luck with your search.

Elberoth

High mileage V8s do. It is a common problem over here. May have sth to do with the fact that we have cold weather here (Chicago like climate), which may somehow accelerate this. They are usually garbege after 150k miles and need very expensive rebuilds. The diesel and VR6 are doing fine.

garrett376

How long have you had your Cayenne, or how many Cayennes have you had? The air suspension doesn't regularly require $10K to replace; yes seals may go out, the compressor may fail, but $10K to "replace it"? Maybe Polish dollar numbers are not near the same as US numbers - dunno. Same question about your V8 conclusions/generalizations: I'd imagine there are far more Cayennes in the US than Poland and the scoring and V8 reliability vs the V6 doesn't, from usual channels, appear to be an issue like you portray.

Elberoth

This is the info from my Porsche indy. I trust him 100%. He has 20 years experience on working on all Porsche models. They do ~4 cars a day, which is ~1000 cars per year. So that is a pretty substantial operation. He probably has more experience with Porsche than any Porsche dealer, simply 'cos Porsche dealers rarely see the Cayennes which are older than a few years / 100.000 miles. Such a cars usually have 2nd or 3rd owner, and those people tend to migrate towards inependent Porsche specialists, simply 'cos the dealers are too expensive for them for anything bigger than basic maintnance. Please bear in mind that Porsche warrants those cars for 2 years only in Europe - so the maintnace cost escalate rather quickly.

And indeed, parts and cars are much more in Europe. My highy specced CD was $130k over here.

Bgoldey