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Mine cranked a little slow, new battery and it cranks super-fast. 3yrs is starting to get old for a Cayenne battery, and it's much cheaper/easier than a starter, I'd start there.
Yes she cranks wuh- wuh -wuh -wuh slowly. I'm happy to check the battery first.
Stopped for brunch. Loaded it up with metal racks for storage shed. Hey, look the rear seats tip forward and fold all the way down. It is unbelievably tight and tidy for a 14 y/o car. No one believes it's an 04.
Mind the female part of the seatbelt when you fold the seats. There's a reason that so many used Cayenne's have a hole torn in the armrest. Also, there are little plastic covers that go on the hinges to protect the leather seat faces when folded, 3 of my 4 were missing. They're only like $2/ea and Porsche has a new design that doesn't fall off as easily as the old ones.
Yup. Very nice looking car. You understood the idea that you have to be able to make a good decision, but make it quickly.
Condition and records trump just about everything else (including miles, to a certain degree).
You said:
invoices totaling well over $10,000 from the last owner in 18 months. The price for both parts and service was astonishing.
This is a car that cost nearly $100k when new. Parts prices will reflect that price, not what they go for today.
Dealer shop labor will reflect what the cars on the showroom go for. too.
Some parts can be substituted with "equivalent" parts, but not all.
A good indy will be less than the dealer, but still not cheap.
Some of us can only own these cars because we do our own work. Resources like this place and a few others allow that to happen.
A new battery may fix the starter issue, or it may not.
Does the starter ever do a "short crank (less than 1/4 turn of the engine) and stop"? Then you have to turn the ignition off and back on, and it cranks and starts normally?
That's a good indication that it's the starter.
The good news is that these starters seem to be able to do this for a long, long time before fully failing. The PO of mine took it in for this issue 2 1/2 years before I got it (battery was replaced and didn't fix it). I had it for about 6 months before I did it. And the starter was still working (slowly and the occasional "short crank and stop") when I replaced it. I was doing the pipes and did it as a "WYAIT" thing.
Yes, I moved on this one quickly, but had the best information I could find and, with AutoNation, you have 5 days from purchase to return with no questions asked. Still, the age of it scared the crap out of me. I'm amazed how good it looks inside and out and how rock steady it is at 110 mph...and how quickly that happened..
The starter is behaving well enough right now. Just a little slow. It doesn't do the 1/4 turn freeze you describe. To my uncalibrated ear it feels like a weak battery. Also, the door switch for the rear hatch release is the only electrical gizmo that doesn't work so that makes me think battery as well. The hatch glass pops with a double click of the hatch symbol on the remote.
I don't mind spending money on good quality parts, but that doesn't always mean dealer parts. My mechanic works cheap, I see him in the mirror in the morning - just busy.
Yeah, it's nice to be able to be to get up to 75 or so by the top of the ramp with plenty of room to spare.
It may be the battery. As Jeff noted, the starter itself is an easy replacement. Getting to it is the hard part.
The little switch in the driver's door doesn't open the hatch, it just unlocks it. There are a variety of ways to have both the button on the remote and the 'unlock' on the armrest to function, some of them don't unlock the hatch.
There are some good 'off brand' parts, there are some that aren't quite so good. Much of it has been discussed here. Do your research and make informed choices.
As you get into it, these aren't really difficult cars to work on, but they have their quirks.
A good scan tool is pretty much essential.
I have a Durametric. It suits my needs, but it does have some shortcomings.
Others like the I-Car Scan. It has some advantages over the Durametric. Again, it's been discussed.
Thanks, Joe, and yes, that is the next purchase. I'd like a scanner that can do some basic calibrations as well for the occasional module swap, etc.. I'm spoiled with VAG com from Ross Tech. I need to do a little homework on the options.
Thanks, Joe, and yes, that is the next purchase. I'd like a scanner that can do some basic calibrations as well for the occasional module swap, etc.. I'm spoiled with VAG com from Ross Tech. I need to do a little homework on the options.
Coming from another Audi/VW guy, you can use vag com to do just about everything on your 04. I've scanned, recoded, and calibrated modules. The only thing I haven't tried are output tests.
If you jump pins 3+7 together, you will be good to go.
Thanks. My Vag Com cable is ancient...works on K line only, not CAN Bus. I figured they, VAG and P, share enough common DNA that one should talk to the other. I'll give it a whirl and let you know what happens.
Congrats, I have a 2006 TTS bought it 4 years ago, starter has always been a little slow and some times it needs a couple of trys to start but it been that way since I bought, even after I put a new battery in. 140k miles and been pretty damn bulletproof so far.
Phil
Thanks for the info. Funny thing is the web posting didn't have any photos up yet - new listing - but it did have the VIN, so I ran it through the Porsche dealer build-sheet link and voila.
You're creeping me out dude...reverse plate lookup, to the VIN, to the build sheet...from just that photo. Nice, and Thank you.
Brian C
Last edited by BrianC72gt; 02-12-2018 at 02:50 PM.
Thanks for the info. Funny thing is the web psting didn't have any photos up yet - new listing - but t did have the VIN, so I ran it through the Porsche dealer build-sheet link and voila.
You're creeping me out dude...reverse plate lookup, to the VIN, to the build sheet...from just that photo. Nice, and Thank you.
Brian C
Haha - not THAT good Having just been on an extensive search for a Cayenne myself, I figured the dealer text listing would still be online - so just typed a couple key words into Goggle and the VIN popped up You mentioned you are in CA, so that narrowed it down
01-14-2018, 05:24 PM
, and Thank you.
Having just been on an extensive search for a Cayenne myself, I figured the dealer text listing would still be online - so just typed a couple key words into Goggle and the VIN popped up 
