2004/5 Porsche Cayenne 4.5l V8

Noughtboy · 19 Jul 2023 at 13:18

Hoping for advice from someone who has owned or worked on one.

Looking to buy a ULEZ compliant vehicle for the once/twice a week that it has go inside the M25. I am not discussing the economics of it. If I had a choice, would continue to use our current car (BMW F10 520D) which we are keeping.

I reckon this is a big middle finger to SK et al and we get to own a Porsche and an SUV both of which the wife wants for our mainly country living.

These cars are available for around £4k - £6k (i.e. the same price as a Fiat 500/Toyota Yaris/Alfa Mito etc) and I am just asking for the common things to look out for. I understand bore scoring in the N/A version is something but are they generally reliable as we are generally talking 100k+ miles here.

Prefer the 4.5l V8 because they are not much more than the 3.2l, road tax is the same, performance is better and mileage not significantly different. I see that servicing and brakes/plugs/filters are not hugely different from our BMW anyway so my main issue would be the big ticket items. Engine/gearbox/electrics etc.

TIA

NB

Yaayuh! · 19 Jul 2023 at 13:33

Terrible idea.

Do it.

Maccy · 19 Jul 2023 at 13:46

Yaayuh! said:
Terrible idea.

Do it.

This. But don’t do it.

-westy- · 19 Jul 2023 at 13:50

Yaayuh! said:
Terrible idea.

Do it.

This. But don't do it. Also, do it.

GravyMonster · 19 Jul 2023 at 13:55

Have you done it yet? You should be doing it already.

geekman · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:16

I would avoid the 4.5 N/A and go for the 3.2 or the 4.5 turbo. None of them are that expensive and the 4.5 N/A is a lot less reliable than the other two engines.

I’m not certain, but I’m fairly sure that some of the 3.2 models didn’t have air suspension which would tempt me towards one of those as that’s one big potential bill avoided.

tom_e · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:20

There's a reason they're cheap as the other cars you've listed to buy... Are you handy with the spanners?

Robbo · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:27

It's a huge gamble, regardless of condition/history. If you're prepared for a lot of potential 4 figure bills, go for it...

"Same price as a Fiat 500" is not sound logic here though

JonRGV250 · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:33

If I was your local mechanic I’d be pre booking a holiday to the Maldives and putting a deposit on a Ferrari.

So yeah, do it.

bobuk · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:47

Yaayuh! said:
Terrible idea.

Do it.

This. But don’t do it.

THIS

-Ad- · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:49

The V8S NA had issues with the liners scoring and going oval. There's a reason they are soo cheap. Avoid!

The Turbo is a better engine, but you need to make sure the coolant pipes have been done!

MikeTheNative · 19 Jul 2023 at 14:53

If you just want to ***** away your money at least give it to one of us.

Noughtboy · 19 Jul 2023 at 17:03

Thanks for all the advice. It looks like three "don't do it" and 4 "Do it". So, the ayes have it

Greebo · 19 Jul 2023 at 17:06

Any £5k Cayenne is likely to cost £5-£10k per annum to keep on the road. The air suspension is expensive to fix when it goes wrong (and it does like clockwork about every 50-60k miles) and costs £1400+ per wheel. Dont get me started on the eye watering costs of any of the gadgets fitted.

You would be just as sensible in buying a old £5k Range Rover V8

But if you can afford those kind of potential running costs then go for, they are great cars.

Diddums · 19 Jul 2023 at 17:29

Are you the vanquis bloke by any chance?

Noughtboy · 19 Jul 2023 at 17:30

geekman said:
I would avoid the 4.5 N/A and go for the 3.2 or the 4.5 turbo. None of them are that expensive and the 4.5 N/A is a lot less reliable than the other two engines.

I’m not certain, but I’m fairly sure that some of the 3.2 models didn’t have air suspension which would tempt me towards one of those as that’s one big potential bill avoided.

I think the 4.5 N/A had a problem because of the Locksil liners. The turbo had an ALusil coating which seemed to wear better. I have seen a N/A car that has had this sorted to prevent bore wear. Will enquire about air suspension so thanks for highlighting it.

Robbo said:
It's a huge gamble, regardless of condition/history. If you're prepared for a lot of potential 4 figure bills, go for it...

"Same price as a Fiat 500" is not sound logic here though

I agree the logic is kind of twisted but it will not be a high mileage vehicle and therefore mpg not too much of a concern. As for the potential 4 figure bills, that is what this thread is about. What I should be looking for.

-Ad- said:
The V8S NA had issues with the liners scoring and going oval. There's a reason they are soo cheap. Avoid!

The Turbo is a better engine, but you need to make sure the coolant pipes have been done!

As mentioned above, found one with an "upgraded engine to avoid this issue. I read about the coolant pipes needing to be changed to aluminium ones from the fitted factory plastic ones. I will also try to check out the starter motor because it would seem that when the coolant leaked, it would go straight onto the started motor causing it to fail.

The turbos seems to be a lot more and the road tax even more so. I am just hoping to get an idea of how reliable these are generally from owners/mechanics if the coolant pipes have been changed to aluminium and the bore score problem from that "upgraded" engine are not going to be an issue.

Greebo · 19 Jul 2023 at 17:43

Noughtboy said:
I think the 4.5 N/A had a problem because of the Locksil liners. The turbo had an ALusil coating which seemed to wear better. I have seen a N/A car that has had this sorted to prevent bore wear. Will enquire about air suspension so thanks for highlighting it.

I agree the logic is kind of twisted but it will not be a high mileage vehicle and therefore mpg not too much of a concern. As for the potential 4 figure bills, that is what this thread is about. What I should be looking for.

As mentioned above, found one with an "upgraded engine to avoid this issue. I read about the coolant pipes needing to be changed to aluminium ones from the fitted factory plastic ones. I will also try to check out the starter motor because it would seem that when the coolant leaked, it would go straight onto the started motor causing it to fail.

The turbos seems to be a lot more and the road tax even more so. I am just hoping to get an idea of how reliable these are generally from owners/mechanics if the coolant pipes have been changed to aluminium and the bore score problem from that "upgraded" engine are not going to be an issue.

I would also look for one that has had all its air suspension replaced recently, make sure all the gadgets and assists work as they should. Pads and discs cost an arm and a leg as well so make sure they have all been replaced recently or have plenty of life left in them. Same with the clutch. And even then, still prepare yourself for 4 figure plus annual maintenance costs on top.

geekman · 19 Jul 2023 at 19:19

Greebo said:
Any £5k Cayenne is likely to cost £5-£10k per annum to keep on the road. The air suspension is expensive to fix when it goes wrong (and it does like clockwork about every 50-60k miles) and costs £1400+ per wheel. Dont get me started on the eye watering costs of any of the gadgets fitted.

You would be just as sensible in buying a old £5k Range Rover V8

But if you can afford those kind of potential running costs then go for, they are great cars.

I think you’d be unlucky for it to cost £5-10k per annum, although I’d expect £1-2k. It depends a lot on how much you’re willing to work on it yourself or if you have a decent mechanic locally who doesn’t charge a fortune.

£1400 per wheel for air suspension is dealer prices, you can get aftermarket struts new for about £350 a corner, or you could chance a used one at £100. As I mentioned before, I’m pretty sure some of the 3.2 models didn’t even have air suspension.

OldKitMan · 19 Jul 2023 at 20:32

I'm sure there was a Wheeler Dealers when they bought a Porsche Cayenne Turbo - I think it had an air suspension fault, probably worth a watch if you want to see some of the issues they encountered - Ant was doing the spanners on that one so most likely went into a fair bit of detail.

Greebo · 19 Jul 2023 at 20:57

geekman said:
I think you’d be unlucky for it to cost £5-10k per annum, although I’d expect £1-2k. It depends a lot on how much you’re willing to work on it yourself or if you have a decent mechanic locally who doesn’t charge a fortune.

£1400 per wheel for air suspension is dealer prices, you can get aftermarket struts new for about £350 a corner, or you could chance a used one at £100. As I mentioned before, I’m pretty sure some of the 3.2 models didn’t even have air suspension.

I was assuming that the OP would be paying a garage to do it and yes I quoted dealer prices. Specialist/local garages would be less. Honestly old high performance cars full of tech can be absolute money pits. My mate bought a 14 year old RR for £5k and he spent £6k in the first year alone keeping on the road. Everything was stupid money part wise and he used a good local one man band ex landrover trained mechanic to do all the work.

You can easily end up spending what you paid for the car in the first year alone IMO. You dont need many big ticket items to go wrong. Water pumps dont tend to last over 100k and if not replaced soon enough can lead to head gasket failure. But just replacing the water pump is a £500 job with labour at an independent garage.

If you can do the work yourself then it becomes much more palatable of course. I still wouldn't myself personally.

Everything ends up being silly money. Even worse with newer models. A single headlight can be £4k+ nowadays.