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Old 08-15-2014, 05:21 AM   #1
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Opinions on '05 Cayenne, please

I'm looking at a very clean 2005 Cayenne S with 159000 km (about 100k miles), private sale. I like the vehicle, but I don't know much about them. Anyone have some experience? Good points, bad points, weak points, operating costs, must-have options - any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I will get a PPI from Porsche Winnipeg if I get serious about it, but want to educate myself a bit more first.

I wasn't really in the market for a new vehicle, but my truck got pinched right out of my driveway sometime last night. It's an inconvenience for sure, but it was a 10 year old truck and easily replaced so I'm not losing any sleep over it. Stuff happens. Actually it was coming up for new tires and a bunch of repairs, so at least the timing wasn't all bad.

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Old 08-15-2014, 05:25 AM   #2
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I didn't think those things happened in Canada! Is Winnipeg that close to Detroit??

Sorry man. Buy that Cayanne and drive it like a boss, just don't leave it outside at night.
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Old 08-15-2014, 05:34 AM   #3
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I think there is some type of driveshaft fix that is very common, and I think possibly some sort of plastic hose problem. By 100,000, both of those have probably been fixed already.

I see lots of Cayennes at every DE I go to; folks use them for their tow vehicles. There are several in town here (and I live in a small town)

Rennlist has a pretty big Cayenne forum here:
Rennlist.com

There is also a Cayenne technical articles section at Pelican Parts, similar to the 101 Projects for the Boxster:
Porsche Cayenne Technical Articles - Porsche 955 (2003-2008) | Pelican Parts

Here is one description of the driveshaft issue:
Cayenne Drive Shaft Clamping Bearing Support Mount: Drivetrain &amp Drive Shafts

Edit: I found the pelican article for this issue, don't know why I didn't find it before:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Porsche-Cayenne/29-SUSPEN-Driveshaft_Bearing_Support_and_Flex_Disc_Replaceme nt.htm

If I didn't already have a Toyota FJ Cruiser I would be looking at one of these, especially after the recent Panorama article about them.

Good luck!

Steve

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Old 08-15-2014, 05:37 AM   #4
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There's punks everywhere. It's times like this I wish I lived in Texas so I could us the "Them sumb1tches needed hangin!" defense.
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:22 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Mark_T View Post
I'm looking at a very clean 2005 Cayenne S with 159000 km (about 100k miles), private sale. I like the vehicle, but I don't know much about them. Anyone have some experience? Good points, bad points, weak points, operating costs, must-have options - any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I will get a PPI from Porsche Winnipeg if I get serious about it, but want to educate myself a bit more first.

I wasn't really in the market for a new vehicle, but my truck got pinched right out of my driveway sometime last night. It's an inconvenience for sure, but it was a 10 year old truck and easily replaced so I'm not losing any sleep over it. Stuff happens. Actually it was coming up for new tires and a bunch of repairs, so at least the timing wasn't all bad.
I owned one for four years. In Canada as well. It was the first manual Cayenne Porsche sold in Canada after I ordered it at the dealer and of course no one had one in stock. LOL

Overall the car is great and with proper winter tires that thing is unstoppable. Seriously.

Couple things to keep in mind. On the 2003-2007 models there is a known issue with water getting into the coils so you may have to replace them every once in a while. The shaft is another place for issues and the coolant pipes on the V8s break on ALL Cayennes ever made. Easy and one time fix with metal pipes.

Overall it is a great car and I had no regrets getting the V6 with a manual vs the V8 with tiptronic.

I am actually buying another one at the end of the year as my daughter starts driving in March and guess what car she asked for...

CR
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:32 AM   #6
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I owned one for four years. In Canada as well. It was the first manual Cayenne Porsche sold in Canada after I ordered it at the dealer and of course no one had one in stock. LOL

Overall the car is great and with proper winter tires that thing is unstoppable. Seriously.

Couple things to keep in mind. On the 2003-2007 models there is a known issue with water getting into the coils so you may have to replace them every once in a while. The shaft is another place for issues and the coolant pipes on the V8s break on ALL Cayennes ever made. Easy and one time fix with metal pipes.

Overall it is a great car and I had no regrets getting the V6 with a manual vs the V8 with tiptronic.

I am actually buying another one at the end of the year as my daughter starts driving in March and guess what car she asked for...

CR
All the above plus lots of electrical issues. 2008+ are relatively trouble free so aim for them if you can swing it. There is a reason the 1st gen are "bargin" priced. Don't forget the V-8 cold start bore scoreing!
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Old 08-15-2014, 08:48 AM   #7
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I've had my 2004 CTT for about 8 months now. Love it, it's the best SUV out there in my opinion, definitely the best handling.
Issues:
Bearing for Drive shaft goes bad. Best replacement is by Vortex, don't have to remove the whole shaft.
Coolant pipes. OEM are plastic, will need to replace with aftermarket aluminum. They will fail at some point and possibly ruin the starter and other components.
Coil packs go bad, best to replace all 8 at same time.
Brake Booster hoses crack, generate booster alarm.
Stereo/GPS not that great, I installed a Tranzit HD Bluetooth module to integrate phone and streaming music.
If you end up looking at a different vehicle, take a look at the available Turbo models. Usually only a few K more but loaded with a lot of extra features like full leather, air suspension, parking sensors, etc... Oh, and that Twin Turbo thrust!
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Old 08-15-2014, 09:17 AM   #8
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this is encouraging. It sounds like most of the major problems would already have happened on a unit this age, and the ones I still might have to contend with are relatively minor. I will check the coolant pipes and the shaft support. I'll also make sure that everything electrical is working properly.

Thanks for the input!

It's a pity that Porsche isn't making a light truck yet.
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Old 08-15-2014, 09:51 AM   #9
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this is encouraging. It sounds like most of the major problems would already have happened on a unit this age, and the ones I still might have to contend with are relatively minor. I will check the coolant pipes and the shaft support. I'll also make sure that everything electrical is working properly.

Thanks for the input!

It's a pity that Porsche isn't making a light truck yet.
Yes, make sure you check them all. I bought mine with 115k miles on them and I need to do all of those updates, they all arose in the first 8 months of ownership. Just did brakes & rotors. Figure I will put $3k into to it to make it right but I think it's still a good deal considering I picked up the CTT for $17k.
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Old 08-15-2014, 11:19 AM   #10
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I am on my second Cayenne. My first was an 05 V6 which I had for a year and a half. It was a great car and did have the driveshaft support bearing issue. It was a very easy DIY to replace the shaft. I had no other issues with it, major or minor, but the interior felt a little cheap. The vinyl dash never appealed and I replaced the plastic trim with wood which made a world of difference. It definitely felt underpowered, especially when overtaking or merging on the highway. I traded it in on an 06 S with full leather and light olive wood trim. The difference in power is remarkable between the V6 and the V8.

As noted in the other posts, the driveshaft support bearing, the coolant pipes and the ignition coils are the weak points in the car. I replaced the coolant pipes in about six hours using the pelican how to document and supplemented with rennlist posts. It was relatively easy but you'll need some triplesquare bits and e-torx sockets to remove the involved fasteners. The aluminum coolant pipe upgrade kit is made by Porsche and is around $600. You'll also need two gallons of Porsche coolant and I highly recommend an airlift coolant fill tool to check for vacuum after replacing the pipes and to fill the engine without air pockets.

I have not had the driveshaft support bearing fail *yet*, but it eventually will. Rather than replace the whole driveshaft this time, I will use Vertex's upgraded support bearing which can be installed easily and is considered a permanent fix. Replacing the shaft only means the new bearing will eventually fail, necessitating another replacement in time.

The coils are a breeze to replace. I did all eight in about two hours, if working VERY leisurely or in about an hour if you work straight through.

Another not-uncommon-but-not-frequent issue involves the fuel pumps. They are a known failure item although not an overly common one. There are two pumps, both located in the fuel tank and are a bit of a pain to replace.

As far as options to look for, I would really recommend the full leather package. The interior is so much better with it than without. Having had both, I would never get another one without it.

The base CDR-23 cd player is abysmal and is very expensive to replace with an aftermarket head unit due to the Bose fiber optic based speaker and amp system. If you can live with the limitations of PCM2.1, I would look for a Cayenne with that instead. If you are intending to replace the head unit, budget around $2k for a quality Pioneer or Alpine unit with the associated harnesses to integrate with the Bose system. There is a Chinese knock off unit for around $700 that purportedly integrates with the Bose system but rennlist has a couple of threads discussing its limitations.

As another poster mentioned, with proper snow tires, the thing really is unstoppable in winter. With good summer tires, the thing handles like no other SUV and can shame more than a few sports cars.

Air suspension is a nice to have item and I've driven several Cayenne's with it. Both of mine have standard coil springs and the ride is quite nice. Air suspension really helps if you use wheels larger than 20" as it takes out some of the ride harshness that the reduction in tire sidewall introduces.

If you want to tow anything, I highly recommend the S or, even better, the turbo. Towing with a V6 was a miserable experience and one of the biggest reasons I traded it for the S.

If the one you're looking at has a good history and is in good mechanical shape, go for it. You won't be disappointed.
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Old 08-15-2014, 02:02 PM   #11
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I just purchased an '05 "S" with 75K miles a couple of months ago and I got a great deal on it. Mine already had the coolant pipes replaced and has the full leather interior. One issue I had was with a faulty gas tank vent line resulting in difficulty starting the car when I filled up the tank. I replaced the line and have had no further issues. I also replaced the starter as the original one had been damaged when the original plastic coolant pipes burst and coolant soaked it. Overall, I am very happy with it. My mechanic recommended I buy an "S" for the V8 as the V6 would be underpowered. The V8 pulls strong so I can only imagine what the turbo models must be like. Good luck on your purchase.

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