Hello,

I was very surprised to find a Porsche Cayenne S from 2005 in really amazingly good condition for an amazingly great price but having well over 108K km ... too good to be true ...

Is there in general a huge catch to be aware of for such an apparently great deal? The price is 38K. I have never had a car that much used (I have always bought new and used up to max 30K km then upgrade) I would be concerned about the lifespam of the engine but being a Porsche after all shall I be concerned? any advice would be welcome!

Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
TapiroLee

If it's first hand, mainly Autobahn kilometers and all maintenances done, no problem. Except for Porsche repair prices.

I know nothing about cars but my first thought was that it's probably down to the Cayenne being one of the ugliest cars ever made and the preferred vehicle of bankers' wives.

I would personally not worry from a mechanical point of view if it has FPSH, although some wear and tear parts will probably start to need replacing - which can be pricey.

But, take note that the Swiss are notorious for not wanting to buy used cars with high KM-tally, hence why this may appear to be a bargain. Just be aware that come resale time, it will have to be comparable cheap again.

I believe you are spot on with the bankers wives argument: Who buys second hand luxury cars with high kms? As a marketer I would roughly say: male, 20-35, underaverage education, spends a high proportion of income on the car as a status symbol. This crowd wants a car for their status, so anything that does not have the right image is a bargain while some models are keeping the value extremely well. From a technical perspective is the VW Phaeton for example an absolutely great sedan - but this crowd would never buy VW, so they are very cheap 2nd hand. An M3 on the other hand is exactly the right image, so they hardly go below 30k CHF ever as long as they do not fall apart. Most SUVs are "female" in Switzerland, so this crowd will not buy them. On the other hand did Porsche sell a lot of new Cayennes to Switzerland some years ago, so I would expect a very saturated market. If you like it, you can make a "technically" good deal... I never ever would want one.

Porsches are generally very well built but have high maintenance costs (like a banker's wife )

The disadvantage is that everyone will think that you are an ignorant poser.

Why do you need such a large car? Think about it, nobody wants it and that is why it is cheap!

It's only 60-odd thousand miles, the engine probably has double that in it at least. Also porsche build quality is great, so the interior and electrics will be top-notch.

It is, however, a bit of an impractical car... having small cargo space for its size, and high running costs.

They are well-rated cars http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/p...review/25979-3

38k gets you brand new Korean or Japanese and is more than I paid for my 4x4 Mitsubishi

It depends on your penis size I guess

Porsches generally last well.

I was visting the factory in Stuttgart some years ago & they had a Porsche 928 in for service with 750Km on the clock.

How much you pay for a Japanese car depends on your penis size???? That'll be an interesting negotiation....

Do you think that's why Mrs CC suggested I get a Nissan Micra?

A co-worker has a (new) Cayenne (imported from Germany - something I'd advise anybody to do, if he thinks about spending that much money on a single car) and personally, I think it's a very nice car.
I'd love to have one myself, but I can't justify spending that much money on something that is next to worthless in 10 years.
For 38k, BTW, you can get a brand new Seat Alhambra that not only has more space but also uses less gas, cost less tax, less insurance and produces less carbon dioxide - and above all is technically identical to the more expensive VW Sharan.
The problem with the Cayenne (and basically any SUV) is that you barely need them anywhere in Europe, unless you work as a forester or have boat- or horse-trailer to move.
You could drive in a gravel-pit or maybe on a military training area or open cast mining areas in East Germany - but would you really like to hunt your 100k car through such a terrain, decreasing its lifetime and value (potentially to zero, if you crash it), just for fun?.
Above all, the speed-limit in Switzerland limits you to the same 120km my 2001 VW Lupo still manages to achieve (although a Cayenne is better at overtaking, admittedly).

That said, I'd happily spend 5000 CHF on a mountain-bike ;-)

Some Porsches do, but I haven't heard too many good stories about the Cayenne. One friend got a Cayenne Turbo and ended up having many, many issues. Even mis-aligned doors... how can that happen? Quality assurance should have caught that.

We drove it, but when he pushed hard on it, gas consumption dropped to 100l/100km... yikes. And internal room wasn't really all that great (most sedan's have just as much internal room as most SUV's anyway).

Give me a smaller, lighter, nippier vehicle any day of the week. (Having said that, a friend let me drive his 997 Turbo and it wa quite amazing).

They're assembled in .sk, IIRC...

I currently own an Audi TT 2008 and haven't thought a possible correlation with the penis size neither directly nor inversely proportional to

hehe Korean cars ... are you kidding? I still remember the single most expensive piece of junk is the KIA Sorento ... any small crash/touch will make expensive damages around 1K anywhere you touch it (published reports from car insurances companies in the US couple of years ago) besides others e.g. the sound of its engine is comparable to that of a bad Korean scooter.

Assembly is in (Eastern) Germany, using a Slovakian-made (Volkswagen factory) body.

... or someone who simply likes the car I'm 35 and have a BSc degree in Computer Science now making the Master in applied math at ETH and I like that car and I would specially be looking at the joy/feeling of the drive. The quality how Reggaeton sounds inside would be a big plus too ... outside of any cliches or marketing research results . In my Audi TT I can barely fit my weekly Grocery shopping, a car with good space for fitting even furniture would be very nice.

Of course 'liking' cars is a very subjective thing, and you are perfectly entitled to having a fancy towards the Cayenne. Different people have differents tastes and they vary greatly.

But I personally did not find driving a Cayenne Turbo to be joyful or enjoyable. It was heavy, lumbering, awkward to park (due to its size in Switzerland), and taking corners was scary.

Now, if your joy comes from sitting in a somewhat luxurious cabin (admittedly the Cayenne interior is a step above most common vehicles, even if some of the dials were a bit on the big 'kiddy' side and fell apart in a few cases) and of course sitting high up (just watch out when parking, very easy to kit some potted plant or smaller vehicle), then the joy is well founded.

As they say, YMMV. So go for it if you have the cash but do take it for a test drive first.

Having had a few vehicles, this is the best SUV I have ever owned. And having had a Range Rover, I normally have no use for any vehicle out of warranty. The exception being the Cayenne.

The Swiss prefer this vehicle due to it's reliability; A choice of function over form. In our Winters, this is a safe, and reliable vehicle for the Alpenland. It will drive very well where other light vehicles, Yank tanks, and SUV's will get stuck in the snow or Farm soft spots. 100 KM is not much.

Skiing or Kayaking ? Perfect fit, rack mount ready, on and safe. Kiteboarding in Italia ? Everything for 4 fits into the boot, covered and unseen.

The S you are considering is a normally-aspirated (non-Turbo) V-8 engine, requiring regular tune-ups and oil changes to maintain it. Any mechanic can do this, and beyond a test drive I would have it examined. Where you will want to have it detail-examined, and in consideration of wear and tear after 100 KM, is in the following areas:

1. Drive shaft. Mine was replaced at 83 KM.
2. Oil seal: An inexpensive part, but an expensive repair. Look for leaks now.
3. Navigation: Others have had electrical problems; None experienced here.
4. Transmission: Given 100 KM, have that unbolted, dropped and examined well.
5. The usual: Brakes, shocks, wheels, tires, any damage or repairs, lights, +

It is a Porsche, and the design of this SUV started in 1998, so it is quite well thought out. As mentioned above, it is heavy and expensive. A very valid point is that there are blind-spots for the driver, at the left and right rear pillars. You train yourself to look twice + mirrors.

Hill climbing is amazing, and if the PSM feature is turned on as it should be, cornering, camber, and sway is smooth, with no roll or sliding, in ice or wet, as controlled automatically by the computer sensors. This is the same PSM feature in the 911.

Yes, I would, and I hope this is helpful.

This particular fact is something you don't have to justify to no one but yourself (and/or maybe wife if she is financing).

If this is the car you want and you have 38K to spend - go for it.

"Driving your dream car....Priceless".

100.000 km in any car in no problem as long as it is well maintained.