kraeburn

Hello all, after many years of lurking on these forums I finally have a good reason to post! Since I was a kid, Porsche's have always been my favorite brand and although I love Cayenne's the plan was always for my first one to be a 911, ha. I'll try not to ramble too much.

Purchasing Cobalt's Cayenne was somewhat of an impulse decision. I currently also have a 2015 M3 and it wasn't really up to the task of handling winters here in New England as well as going up to Vermont every weekend to ski. It did far better than I even imagined but after having AWD cars previously, the letdown in performance once I put snows on was a real bummer and seriously neutered a lot of the performance of the car. Additionally, when the lease ends next June I was considering going from one "all-rounder" to two vehicles--one to handle the daily grind, and a fun car for the weekends. The M3 is fantastic but it doesn't quite have the utility I need sometimes and other times its just too "nice" to use for some tasks.

I was mainly looking at Landcruisers and Lexus GX470's as I wanted something comfortable, relatively inexpensive, and super reliable. I wasn't even considering Cayennes because I was afraid of maintenance costs however when I saw the ad for this one, I knew that if I was to get one, this was it. Impeccably maintained, turbo, one owner, it almost seemed too good to be true that you can purchase a vehicle like this for so little money. After a PPI and such, we made the deal.

I am already pretty familiar with Cayennes as my mother has had a few of them over the years. As far as I recall she had the following: '04 Turbo, '06 Turbo S, '09 Turbo, '13 Turbo. I always enjoyed driving them and had fond memories of them--especially the '04 Turbo as that was when I was in college and would often "need" to borrow it to move my stuff to school or things like that. At the time I had a '02 Audi A4 1.8T auto so the Cayenne was a rocketship in comparison. Luckily, since I have driven them quite a bit over the years, my drive back home from Cobalt's home in NJ to RI it was like reacquainting myself with an old friend. Despite their age, the 955 platform still has a plethora of buttons, features, and small nuances to get used to.

As an aside, Cobalt/Anthony was a true gentleman throughout the process. I have never purchased a car private party before, much less one in another state where we finalized the deal prior to even seeing the car. It was about as painless and straightforward a deal as I could have hoped for and I thank him for that. I would not hesitate to conduct business with him again. The car also was exactly as presented and even with 97k miles I am astounded at the condition it is in, especially considering the type of use something like this gets. Remarkable.

Some thoughts:
--These things are still proper quick from a stop. I have been spoiled with power (my current M3 has about 520 crank hp) since I was in college and was hooning around my mom's car but from 20-70 or so, the old girl really boogies. Its laggy for sure, but in a characterful way. I don't expect a truck to be super sharp and spool up in an instant so the lag "fits" what I expect from it.
-Handling is surprisingly good, but you all know that. My memory of them is that they feel heavy, and it does but it shrinks a bit around you. More importantly, for me, it doesn't feel overly large, which I hate. There is an athleticism there that is still kinda surprising after all these years.
-The lock/unlock of the doors is one of the most annoying things I have ever dealt with. Why they designed the lock and unlock to utilize the same button is stupid. I have already been caught outside the car a couple times trying to get the doors unlocked looking like an idiot. I suppose I will get used to it.
-I really need to get one of the MOST adapters for an aux input to the stereo. I am intrigued by the Android-based systems but I don't like anything that looks aftermarket and the screen is not in a good place ergonomically anyhow. I am used to using waze on my phone and I don't talk in the car so I don't think there is much of a benefit there for me. I am using an fm transmitter now but those things are hot garbage.
-I have a few issues to sort out, which I knew prior to purchase (tailgate shocks, brake booster fault) but I have found the answers I need via search. This forum is an awesome resource. I will DIY anything that does not involve specialized tools or a lift so I plan to do a decent chunk of the regular maintenance myself and yes I have already found a shop to send it to if needed.


If you have made it this far, thank you. I hope I can contribute to the forum in a positive way as it has already benefited me.

kraeburn

I am not sure if Oliver enjoys his new riding spot in the back

ekstroemtj

Looks like you made a very good deal. Car looks very clean . Congratulations! Enjoy it

Wisconsin Joe

Welcome to the P!g Pen and congrats on a very nice purchase.

I think you did pretty well for yourself.

Cobalt has a pretty good rep on here (never met him in person myself), both as a good caretaker of his machinery and as a pretty decent person.

dx3

Looks great. Congrats! I bought a Cayenne to replace my GX470, and to be honest I regret it. Aside from performance, the Lexus is so much better of a vehicle in every aspect. Now I'm considering keeping my GX and reselling the Cayenne.

kraeburn

Care to expand on that statement?

kraeburn

Thanks guys. I will just update this post with my thoughts and any little projects going forward.

With the weather changing rapidly it is being pressed into service immediately. I have RE-11 tires on the M3 so it is useless in these temps unless it is a clear day--even then it won't hook up until well into third gear lol.

Off the top of my head I am looking to take care of the following over the next couple weeks:
-Oil and filter change
-Take a peek into the brake booster fault, it was already looked into but after reading some threads on here I want to do a visual check on the vacuum lines.
-Couple of bulbs need replacing
-Windshield wipers
-Hatch struts need to be replaced
-I need to decide on what to do about an aux input for the stereo. I am a podcast junkie and it is beyond irritating to use the cheapo fm transmitter for them.
-Order some snow tires

Luckily these issues don't prevent the use and enjoyment of the car so I can do them on my schedule whilst using it on a daily basis.

Wisconsin Joe

There's a good writeup for the struts on Pelican.

It's pretty simple. Just be really careful pulling the interior panels. It's easy to break the plastic 'towers' that attach the panels to the metal. I 'only' broke one. It can be done as a one man job, but it's a lot easier to have a helper to adjust the hatch up or down "just a bit" when installing the new struts.

Replace all 4. You are already in deep enough to get to them, and if two are going, the other two are right behind. The ones that hold the glass up also help hold the hatch up when the glass is closed.

ECS tuning offers a kit that includes new "foam" covers. They are really easy to damage/destroy when you remove them, and getting new adhesive is a bit of a pain. Having complete replacements makes it a non-issue.

dpatel710

Like Joe said, grab the foam covers when doing the struts. I busted one and had to replace it. Also, the hatch is f*ing heavy when it falls.

For an adapter, try searching for the Transzit Blu HF. For the price, its hard to beat.

cobalt

I don't think Oliver likes the netting. Funny I never used it once. Interesting to see how it attaches.

Best luck it was a pleasure. Wish I had more time to chat Saturday.

I will miss this one for sure.

dx3

Sure. The navigation screen and controls look and act like they are from the 90’s. They are completely user unfriendly, and still on 2008 were not touch screen. Trying to navigate the simplest tasks on there is a nightmare. The navigation is terribly. The front and rear sensors are reminiscent of a 1984 Celebrity and look and sound ridiculous. The instrument cluster is outdated. The suspension settings are annoying. A “loading” height that you can’t drive on? What’s the point in that? Because lifting a suitcase those extra 3” is a huge benefit but we can’t drive at that level?

My 08 Lexus feels like a brand new car on the inside compared to the outdated and antiquated system in the Cayenne.

The Cayenne is fast and fun to drive. It’s somewhat aesthetically pleasing aside from the ridiculous ride height. I like driving it, but if someone offered to buy it from me I’d sell it and never look back.

Sorry if if this offends any of the die hard Porsche fanatics. This is my own personal opinion and not meant to insuit anyone.

kraeburn

I had no idea it was even there! I just kinda "discovered" it when I put him back there. It does block the rear view a bit though and I had to take out the rubber mat as he was sliding around so much I was afraid he would hurt himself. I am still discovering a lot of little features that I had forgotten about--its amazing how much stuff they crammed into these.

kraeburn

Interesting thoughts. I have no intention of ever using the nav so it doesn't bother me aside from not have an aux input. In fact, in my 2015 M3 which has a great nav system, I usually still use waze on my phone instead. As far as the other stuff goes, for me they aren't big annoyances. I really like those Lexus trucks though so I understand why you are so keen on them.

TomF

Really?

Cheers,
Tom

cobalt

Yes but how it drives is most important in my book and you can install a lowering module like they used on the GTS. I always used the lower setting. It handles much better. No doubt Porsche PCM has always been behind the times and even the new system in my 18 Macan GTS is not all that great but I could never drive a Lexus for the numb ride alone but I prefer ride over accessories. This is 2004 technology and the overall package offered a lot more than the lexus did at the time. The Turbo dash was ahead of its time although I agree the S and base dash sucked. Porsche has a tendency to over engineer and complicate simple things sometimes.

They offered far more for your money back then, then they do today and IMO these new cars are just becoming problematic and will need to be updated regularly as technology advances. This is a big downside in my book.

Even the new ones take a long time to understand as they constantly are changing things and it isn't always intuitive. The system in my Ford raptor is far easier to use and as much as I enjoy it the 04 turbo is a lot of car for the $$.