Hello All. Lurked on here for the last 2 or 3 months whilst looking to buy a Cayenne and found it a good source of info so thanks to all who post in the forum here for your (unknowing) help and advice! I purchased an '06 3.2 V6 at the start of November and it is my first Porsche and also my first SUV. I always said I would never buy an SUV but came to realise they do have their uses with a growing family! After I decided I was going for an SUV I opted to look at Cayennes as people praised their handling & performance, some going as far as to say it drove like a car. I have to say I don't agree with that but it does handle well for the size and weight of the vehicle. I looked at about 6 cars before I plumped for this one and went for it based on it's low previous owners and full Porsche SH, albeit it's done 115k miles. The guy I bought from seemed like a bit of an enthusiast owning other interesting cars including a 944 S2 convertible. I like to buy older second hand cars from their owners as opposed to a dealer as I feel it gives you a good gauge of how the car has been looked after and they tend to give you lots more info on what they have done to the car and any faults it also has, although more on that later!
After reading up on Cayennes and the common faults with the various types (955s in my case) I opted to go for a 3.2 on standard suspension as I thought this would 'de-risk' things slightly for me. Ironically the first car I looked at and drove was a 3.2 from a dealer but I chose to look at this as it was low mileage, good history and I wanted to drive the best one I could to see what it was like then work back from there. The car was out my budget range but it gave me a great guide of how a well looked after one should feel and perform. It also started to get me up to speed on what things came as standard on them and what was deemed as extras - I quickly learned that everything is an extra on a Cayenne (maybe other Porsches too?)! I did drive 3 x 4.5 N/A versions which impressed with the V8 and truth be told this was the model I was looking for, but each one I looked at had loud ticking noises from the top end of the engine and I was concerned there were future problems in store for me given the 4.5s known engine issues. Some of the cars I looked at were complete sheds and I nearly threw in the towel at one point thinking I wouldn't get something decent for my budget. It seems they are not as robust as you would think and some of the interiors in particular squeeked, rattled and were generally falling apart. Maybe a sign of owner abuse or maybe they had been pulled apart looking for internal problems. Something to look out for if you're looking at them anyway. The car I finally bought was the last throw of the dice for me on the Cayenne front and it proved to be the basis of a good car. It also came with a set of winter alloys with Dunlop tyres which was handy. My car is quite poorly specced compared to the others I looked at - it doesn't even have heated seats or cruise control! Weirdly it does have Xenon lights and the Bose system. I also liked the colour combo of Lapis Blue and grey leather interior as most of the others I looked at were black or silver.
The first thing I had done was put the car into a local specialist to have a major service carried out so all oil and filters changed, new wiper blades all round, spark plugs, etc. I have a few issues with the car which I am gradually getting round to sorting. The boot sometimes likes to not open which I first noticed a few days after getting the car. The little microswitch on the handle wasn't making a noise so I thought this was dodgy. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and whilst the handle was now making the noise the boot was jammed shut. After driving off however it decided to ping up the warning light telling me it was open and leaving the interior lights on! It was frosty that day so unsure if anyone else has experiences this? It also sometimes takes a few attempts to shut the boot - unless you really slam it shut it doesn't catch. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this and if they have solved this issue. In the meantime I have sourced a new handle and actuator incase this is the issue and plan to it this soon.
The car has xenon lights (main beam anyway) but when I turn the lights on I get 3 warnings - 2 for the cornering lights and 1 for the headlight adjust. The lights are adjusting themselves okay when turning on so I'm not sure why I am getting this fault showing. I changed both cornering bulbs despite the old ones looking fine but still get the 3 faults. I then read on a forum that sometimes the lights don't click back into place properly when being refitted and that you have to really click them in to the point where you think you've broken them! The first time I reinserted the headlights I definitely didn't do this as the next time I really noticed the snapping noise when you turn them right in. I think my next approach is to remove the light and see if I can pull the connection coming from the car out the holder and attach it to the back of the light then switch on to see if the connector isn't going in all the way when the light is on the mounting plate. Again, I'd appreciate any thoughts on this issue.
Rear parking sensors work intermittently, rain and damp weather makes them not work which in Scotland is pretty much every bloody day! Not sure if you can have these tested on a reader to see the specific fault?
Drivers front window regulator cable snapped the other day so I bought a new regulator and was going to fit myself as I have done lots of these before but then googled it! Half the door has to come apart to do this! I changed one on my other car in the summer which took 1 hour start to finish but the Cayenne looks like a half day shot as the entire glass comes out on a frame. In a way it's genius and in another way it is the most over engineered solution I have ever seen plus they have taken the decision to fix the inner door panel and the regulator using rivets! Mental.
I have also noticed this morning that I seem to have a leak from the NSF below the headlight which is washer fluid so possibly the headlamp wash leaking? I notice they were both working the other night so perhaps a connection has popped off?
Apart from the niggles I am warming to the car and I do enjoy driving it, albeit it is very underpowered. I should have held out for a V8 or a Turbo but lesson learned. For those of you thinking that these would be worse for fuel, I am not so sure. Opinions on forums vary with some saying that they are all roughly the same so better going for the bigger engine versions, and others insisting that the 3.2 is more economical in the real world. My mpg over the last 6 - 7 weeks has been 17.1 but it is a very heavy car with an underpowered engine so to be expected and I knew it would be like this before I purchased. It's mainly short journeys I am doing with the odd run of say a 60 mile round trip. If you reset the mpg on the longer trips the car says it is getting 26.5mpg which is probably right. I only do about 5000 miles a year anyway so not too bad.
So, this is where I am and how I got here. Hopefully not too boring and I'll post up info on the fixes and how things go over the next few weeks and months. I purchased a new Kenwood head unit and fitting kit(including an adaptor to get around the MOST issue of the Bose fibre amp) as I want to replace the ancient PCM 2.1 system in the car with something that has up to date sat nav and Android Auto/Apple carplay in it so that will be a days work over the Xmas hols if the weather is nice. As I mentioned earlier any advise with the above issues welcomed.
After reading up on Cayennes and the common faults with the various types (955s in my case) I opted to go for a 3.2 on standard suspension as I thought this would 'de-risk' things slightly for me. Ironically the first car I looked at and drove was a 3.2 from a dealer but I chose to look at this as it was low mileage, good history and I wanted to drive the best one I could to see what it was like then work back from there. The car was out my budget range but it gave me a great guide of how a well looked after one should feel and perform. It also started to get me up to speed on what things came as standard on them and what was deemed as extras - I quickly learned that everything is an extra on a Cayenne (maybe other Porsches too?)! I did drive 3 x 4.5 N/A versions which impressed with the V8 and truth be told this was the model I was looking for, but each one I looked at had loud ticking noises from the top end of the engine and I was concerned there were future problems in store for me given the 4.5s known engine issues. Some of the cars I looked at were complete sheds and I nearly threw in the towel at one point thinking I wouldn't get something decent for my budget. It seems they are not as robust as you would think and some of the interiors in particular squeeked, rattled and were generally falling apart. Maybe a sign of owner abuse or maybe they had been pulled apart looking for internal problems. Something to look out for if you're looking at them anyway. The car I finally bought was the last throw of the dice for me on the Cayenne front and it proved to be the basis of a good car. It also came with a set of winter alloys with Dunlop tyres which was handy. My car is quite poorly specced compared to the others I looked at - it doesn't even have heated seats or cruise control! Weirdly it does have Xenon lights and the Bose system. I also liked the colour combo of Lapis Blue and grey leather interior as most of the others I looked at were black or silver.
The first thing I had done was put the car into a local specialist to have a major service carried out so all oil and filters changed, new wiper blades all round, spark plugs, etc. I have a few issues with the car which I am gradually getting round to sorting. The boot sometimes likes to not open which I first noticed a few days after getting the car. The little microswitch on the handle wasn't making a noise so I thought this was dodgy. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and whilst the handle was now making the noise the boot was jammed shut. After driving off however it decided to ping up the warning light telling me it was open and leaving the interior lights on! It was frosty that day so unsure if anyone else has experiences this? It also sometimes takes a few attempts to shut the boot - unless you really slam it shut it doesn't catch. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this and if they have solved this issue. In the meantime I have sourced a new handle and actuator incase this is the issue and plan to it this soon.
The car has xenon lights (main beam anyway) but when I turn the lights on I get 3 warnings - 2 for the cornering lights and 1 for the headlight adjust. The lights are adjusting themselves okay when turning on so I'm not sure why I am getting this fault showing. I changed both cornering bulbs despite the old ones looking fine but still get the 3 faults. I then read on a forum that sometimes the lights don't click back into place properly when being refitted and that you have to really click them in to the point where you think you've broken them! The first time I reinserted the headlights I definitely didn't do this as the next time I really noticed the snapping noise when you turn them right in. I think my next approach is to remove the light and see if I can pull the connection coming from the car out the holder and attach it to the back of the light then switch on to see if the connector isn't going in all the way when the light is on the mounting plate. Again, I'd appreciate any thoughts on this issue.
Rear parking sensors work intermittently, rain and damp weather makes them not work which in Scotland is pretty much every bloody day! Not sure if you can have these tested on a reader to see the specific fault?
Drivers front window regulator cable snapped the other day so I bought a new regulator and was going to fit myself as I have done lots of these before but then googled it! Half the door has to come apart to do this! I changed one on my other car in the summer which took 1 hour start to finish but the Cayenne looks like a half day shot as the entire glass comes out on a frame. In a way it's genius and in another way it is the most over engineered solution I have ever seen plus they have taken the decision to fix the inner door panel and the regulator using rivets! Mental.
I have also noticed this morning that I seem to have a leak from the NSF below the headlight which is washer fluid so possibly the headlamp wash leaking? I notice they were both working the other night so perhaps a connection has popped off?
Apart from the niggles I am warming to the car and I do enjoy driving it, albeit it is very underpowered. I should have held out for a V8 or a Turbo but lesson learned. For those of you thinking that these would be worse for fuel, I am not so sure. Opinions on forums vary with some saying that they are all roughly the same so better going for the bigger engine versions, and others insisting that the 3.2 is more economical in the real world. My mpg over the last 6 - 7 weeks has been 17.1 but it is a very heavy car with an underpowered engine so to be expected and I knew it would be like this before I purchased. It's mainly short journeys I am doing with the odd run of say a 60 mile round trip. If you reset the mpg on the longer trips the car says it is getting 26.5mpg which is probably right. I only do about 5000 miles a year anyway so not too bad.
So, this is where I am and how I got here. Hopefully not too boring and I'll post up info on the fixes and how things go over the next few weeks and months. I purchased a new Kenwood head unit and fitting kit(including an adaptor to get around the MOST issue of the Bose fibre amp) as I want to replace the ancient PCM 2.1 system in the car with something that has up to date sat nav and Android Auto/Apple carplay in it so that will be a days work over the Xmas hols if the weather is nice. As I mentioned earlier any advise with the above issues welcomed.