projekt-h

Sooooooo I've decided I'm buying a 958 Cayenne S this week. Possibly tomorrow. I've been wanting a Cayenne for about 3 years, most of that spent following the 955/957 Turbo.

I've been scouring the internet the past couple weeks after a manual transmission base model 958 caught my eye. After some more digging, reading and thinking I've landed on a white 2011 Cayenne S that I found locally. It's not at a Porsche dealer, though it seems like it was serviced at one (Dealer name on Carfax just shows as the umbrella name that owns about half the dealerships here in SE Michigan, which leads me to believe it was serviced at one of their Porsche centers)

(To start, yes I have read the stickies)

Question 1: I see in a lot of posts in a lot of threads talking about service advisors at the dealers. Would it be wise (or weird) of me to stop by there after I pick it up and say hi, meet them and so on? I do plan to tackle most of the maintenance on it myself, but will want to get the variocam recall tackled as soon as possible. Maybe ask about it then, along with getting some prices for some random services and items I intend to pick up along the way?

Question 2: I'm aware of the transfer case shenanigans, and kept an eye out for it when test-driving this one the other day. Are there any other weird things I should look out for? Engine made no weird noises on cold-start, no clunks I noticed driving on our LOVELY (did I say lovely, I meant garbage) Michigan roads, no leaks I've seen and the temps stayed where they should on what was a fairly warm day. Only thing I noticed that raised a mild concern was a little dash panel rattle, seemed to be the panel below the driver's side inboard vent. Not a big deal at all really.

Silly Question 3:This one is mostly towards those without the air suspension or off road technology package, as this one doesn't have those, how well have you fared when the pavement goes away? Off road ability is not my first priority, though knowing the cayenne can hold it's own is a large portion of what draws me to it. Have you come across anything that has given a high amount of difficulty, caused damage, or was just a whole big bucket of "NOPE"? I'm not going to be rock crawling or mud-bogging it, but I know it's gonna see the dunes, and some trails.

Thanks in advance for any input, here's to hoping the deal goes over well!

Here's some pictures of it, for whatever that's worth:







Here it is with my Focus ST I traded in on it:

AGARubberDuck

#1, Yeah, I like to get my new vehicles in the system at the dealership asap. This helps with notifications for things like recalls but also when you do finally need to get in for service, you're not relaying all that info over the phone to set up an appointment.

#2, Other than the transfer case symptoms, maybe check for moisture in the passenger-side carpets. Don't want to buy a cayenne that is waterlogged from clogged drains if you can help it. Other than that, there isn't much else model-specific to look out for, just your typical used-car stuff.

#3, sorry can't help too much. Both my 04 and 11 are turbos with air suspension. I can tell you tires make most of the difference in their off-road capabilities, so say out of the mud (and slushy snow) with 21" summer tires.

Looks like a well-kept example. Good luck with it!

projekt-h

Thank you for the input! I'll probably go there my first day with it just to get in the system, ask about the recall and a few other things. Good to know on the minimal issues, that seems to be the consensus with these so far. As far as the tires go, I'm almost happy it's coming with some ugly duckling smaller wheels. Those can take tires suited for mud and snow, and I'll find something I like more for a more all-season type tire.

leftlane

Good luck!

If your salesman is any good, he will personally walk you over to service and introduce you to his preferred service advisor. I find this every helpful as I want a name and a face from the very beginning. If he doesn't offer then ask for this.

I have not offroaded at all but by all accounts the Cayenne is a more than worthy partner to go off pavement.

Is this one certified? If so don't sweat it and try not to convince yourself you have every issue ever discussed on a forum. These cars are rock solid and very reliable. By the way, I have a small rattle coming from the same area - I think it's the metallic vent surround but it's so minor I don't hardly notice it any more.

projekt-h

Thank you! It's not a CPO car, or even at a Porsche dealer for that matter, so the following day will be my first trip to my local Porsche dealer. The rattle may bug me, but I suppose nothing I couldn't try to fix, or it may fade away over time. There's only 2 real issues I'm concerned about, one being a recall now puts me at ease, the other being the transfer case that showed no signs of issue doesn't worry my since I will likely change the fluid in that and the differentials anyways shortly after picking it up (especially since amazon ever-so-creepily sent me an email about a special on the ravenol oil even though I haven't been on Amazon in weeks, or even searched anything Porsche-related there ever)

I tried calling the salesman earlier to let them know I'm ready, but heard nothing back yet, so may happen tomorrow... we'll see!

wkearney99

.dupe. deleted.

wkearney99

If you're not buying it from a Porsche dealer and it's not CPO then have you considered paying to have a PPI done by a Porsche dealer or reputable local independent that specializes in Porsche vehicles. The challenge being finding the best local and current info on where to have it done.

I'm thinking your local PCA chapter might be worth contacting to learn more local resources. Some also have pages on Facebook and other social media pages. I tried putting a URL in for the southern michigan region but the URL won't show here for some reason.

projekt-h

Well, I pick it up tomorrow! Very excited! I'll post more pictures of it when I take delivery.

I considered it, especially since the Porsche dealer it was serviced at is only about 2 miles from the Ford dealer it's currently at, but viewing the history and taking a good look at it myself I'm quite confident in it being a solid purchase. Thank you for the insight! I'll be sure to look into my local PCA chapter should I need any further help.

projekt-h

Well, Picked it up today and I love it. Already earned it's keep dealing with flooded roads on my way home, as we got dumped on with rain today (which also means I have almost no good pictures of it)



Took it for a little run on the usual test-cruise route I always take and was thoroughly impressed at how light on it's feet it is. I knew it'd be good, I just didn't think it'd be this good, especially for having taller tires and standard suspension. Already in love with it. Having wanted to own a Porsche for as long as I can remember, and really wanting a Cayenne for about 3 years now - I'm ecstatic.

Good news - Even with the disgusting amount of rain, no moisture on the passenger floor. Still plan to clean the cowl drains as soon as possible, but it's not weighing on my mind.

Now, this may be my paranoia, or not being used to an automatic transmission, I've noticed (especially in sport mode) the 4>3 and 3>2 downshifts have a bit of kick to them. Would this be the "shifting hesitation" I've read about on the transfer cases, or just the trans doing it's thing? There's also a VERY faint humming/whirring noise when I let off the throttle on decel. No clicking or abnormal behavior on upshifts. I'll likely order the transfer case fluid this coming week anyways. Will probably also see about having the dealer do the updated vent system when it eventually goes in for the cam adjuster recall.

It has a few interior squeaks and rattles I'll have to tend to. No big deal. Had to replace the 12v accessory port fuse when I got home as that was not working.

More good news - I shut off the auto stop/start once and didn't have to hit it again. Perhaps it has the defeater already installed? We'll see if it stays off when I go to work in the morning.

wkearney99

The transmission 'learns', so I've been lead to believe. Eventually it settles down to fit the style it's being driven. And just when mine has settled down I take it auto-crossing and it gets all aggressive again. As for 'whirring', do you hear this with/without the windows closed?

projekt-h

Well, A/S/S was off when I started it this morning. Maybe it has the defeater module? Or could this be from saving my memory function after having shut it off?

You bring up a good point. Transmissions and e-throttles in most modern vehicles "learn" the driver's behavior, so that very well could be it. The whirring I've heard with Windows up, coming from underneath it. I think it might just be the transmission being an automatic transmission but want to be as sure as possible. It's very faint.

wkearney99

2016 and earlier that have auto stop/start will remember the last-used setting. It's only 2017+ (in the US market) that default to enabling it.

I never hear this "let off the throttle" sound, perhaps because I never let off the accelerator.

I kid, but I don't recall hearing any whine or other drivetrain noises when coming off the gas during deceleration. I have, from time to time, encountered a somewhat 'abrupt' downshift, but that's typically within a day or two of auto-cross driving. Where flying up to an intersection, backing off the gas, some light braking and the transmission sometimes downshifts more aggressively than you might expect. But if you were making the move through turns on a track you'd probably want the RPMs to be held up there by the downshift to keep the turbos spooled up.

While there's a lot of SUV in these, there's still a lot of Porsche sports car engineering in there too. I didn't take me long to get used to it.

I have in past vehicles encountered some drivetrain whine during decel, often due to 4WD transfer case or rear differential issues. Note, I'm talking about a 4WD kind of transfer case, not the AWD setup used in the Cayenne. But that typically didn't happen until an excess of 100k mileage.

projekt-h

Ahhhhh gotcha. I guess I didn't read enough into that. Well, that's nice... for me, at least haha.

I think the noise I'm hearing is fairly normal transmission things, might just be my "new-to-me used car" paranoia.

Stopped by my local Porsche dealer on my way home, they got me in the system and looked at me like a madman when I asked about the variocam warranty, having mentioned I only had the car for 24 hours. I think I'll be the first one to get it done when they get the parts and service instructions in.

projekt-h

So does anyone else's tach bounce around a bit like it's mechanical at cruising revs?

Also, ordering fluids for differentials and transfer case tonight. Might as well just do it and make sure it stays healthy, right?

Here's a little better photo from taking it up north this weekend:

AGARubberDuck

Yeah, mine bounces. It takes away from the precision look of the cluster. Another forum member said the 'fix' was for the dealer to order a new gauge cluster from Germany, as they're somewhat specific to the options ordered with the vehicle. Big $$$$ for a cosmetic issue.