Why You Should Buy a Used Porsche Cayenne Now! (First Generation 955/957 Review)

Recommended Porsche DIY products:

More videos:

Subscribe to CarFanatic for weekly Porsche & sports car videos!

Camera Equipment Used:

[noelmcloughlin]

I brought my cayenne 3.2 brand new in March 2005, paid £45, 500 for it with a few extras. It’s heavy on fuel (20 in town, 25 on a run and 12 if you put your foot down ) but it’s been an absolute great car. It’s now March 2021 so it’s 16 years old, 108, 000 miles and past it MOT this morning with no bother whatsoever. It’s never failed an MOT. Change the oil (Mobil 1) every 2 years have it checked by a mechanic and it’s good to go. Only issue was water ingress in the footwell caused by a build up of leaves that blocked the rubber water release grommet by the wheel arch. I took them out and have had no issues since. It still drives like a new (ish) vehicle, looks good and as I change my wife’s car every 3 years ( £ 45-50, 000), my van every 4 years (£35, 000) you can see why I’ve kept this thing I call the Panzer. it’s the best vehicle I’ve ever owned

[tomeisberg]

I used all of these points to justify buying a 2005 turbo about a year ago. Original owner had the 100K mile warranty with a carfax several pages long of dealer repairs, coolant pipes included. Picked it up for less than 10% of its original price and it was always a California car. Absolute steal, right? Well at first yeah, but the hits never stopped coming with that car. Suspension bushings started clunking, there goes a few grand. Engine started rumbling at red lights = failed motor mounts (that's an engine out job for a turbo fyi), another few grand... Fuel level sensor faulty, rear windows stopped working, OEM trunk struts only last a year or so and are a complete pain to replace, sunroof drains will clog if parked outside and leak into car, wiper fluid motor crapped out, headliner started sagging, headlights started flickering randomly (decomposing wire insulation). My only advice (aside from not getting one) would be to buy one with over 130K miles on it, I think there are very few documented cases of bore scoring beyond 130K. And the bore scoring does happen more often than you think, there are endless threads on the forums as well as multiple shops that specialize in refurbishing these engine blocks (for like $15K). Some unlucky owners had engines replaced only to have the 2nd engine suffer the same fate. Watch the Hoovie's Garage episode where he gets a cheap Cayenne S, the engine was seized no doubt from bore scoring. At the end of the day I just didn't trust the car enough to take on the adventures I bought it for. It's a fast sexy beast that can also off road really well, but the frequency at which things would break was unreasonable to me. So far the only german car I would buy again is a Mercedes w210...

[ALittleOG]

Got my wife a 2008 Cayenne S, replaced starter myself and it was the only repair so far. Wife loooves it and folks always give compliment, the body style is timeless. It killed it in the snow also. Looove it and totally agree with your advice.

[granrey]

I still drive our 06 Turbo S everyday and it has over 100K miles on it. Last year I purchased a new Maserati, gave it to my wife and went back to the Cayene. Unbeatable ride, handling and power. It even got me through severly flooded streets during a hurricane by raising the ride height to the max. You do have to maintain them though and it's more expensive than an American car. Great video and advice.

[shaggywagshaggywag]

219, 000 miles! That’s how many on my 2008 Cayenne Turbo, purrs like a cat, idle is rock steady, doesn’t burn any oil, looks fantastic! Learn to turn a wrench, not expensive to maintain. My interior still looks close to brand new. 500 hp still pushes you back in your seat. Built like tank! I agree, best SUV for the money (if you can turn a wrench)! Excellent vid!

[DumbCarGuy]

My 05 Cayenne Turbo is Fantastic. 120k. Black on Black on Black. Chipped to 500hp. Recently I took out the non turbo spark plugs and installed the Beru turbo plugs and took out the aftermarket chinese coil packs and changed them to Beru coil packs. My car thanked me about 500 horsey times. Custom exhaust makes it sound fantastic. So does the. 9" Xtrons touch screen stereo.

[gracien]

It's sending chills up my spine just looking at how he is running over jagged rocks with those Beautiful rims and Low profile tires.

[MiniTruckMatt]

I just bought a 958 Diesel last month and I absolutely love it. It's the most comfortable vehicle I've ever been in. I would love to get an early 955 and build it into an overlander/camping rig.

[stephenm]

We have a 2009 Cayenne base model. Bought two years ago for $11, 500 with 88k miles.

We've had a couple of repairs totalling around $3k. The valve cover (pcv) was $1700 (genuine Porsche) and an incompetent shop's replacement of the battery at $890! Live and learn. I should have done it myself for around $250. I did replace the interior blower motor myself for $48.

Fantastic vehicle for sure. No regrets. We get all kinds of looks and admirers at the gas pump.

[mademyownway]

I own a 2009 GTS and love it. I have all the options on mine a Turbo has, so :P to your comment about the GTS. LOL! Now, I am not a Porsche mechanic, but I have worked on cars all my life. I even do all the work on my 88 951.

This has been the best all around SUV I have ever owned and will never settle for less.

[amithtat]

I got a 2013 one with a six-speed manual and drives great in snow

[caartista]

This the best video! Did not even know my 04 had a refrigerator!!! The tire compressor is amazing! Never knew! I absolutely love love love my BEAST! Great video!

[dzelpwr]

I bought a Touareg, sister to the Cayenne, a couple years ago. Went all in on an early on. 2004 with the V10 twin turbo diesel. I got it for cheap knowing it would need an expensive engine-out service and did the work myself.

It doesn't quite have all the bells and whistles, but it's pretty close. Diesel powered heater with remote. It has the low gear transfer case and rear locking differential. Has the air suspension as well. One of the front bags did pop on me. They all appear to be original. It made it 17 years and 207, 000 miles, so I can't really complain.

The factory air bags are pretty well-protected and armored. Nice aluminum covering and a plastic bellows that keeps most of the ozone and dirt from ever getting to the main bag. Unfortunately, the replacement Arnott bags I got for the fronts are not so protected, but do at least appear to be made with quality materials. But given that they aren't shielded, I am not expecting them to last as long.

These things ride great, handle great and do surprisingly well off road, you just have to go slow and stay on the throttle to let the computer figure things out. With the air ride pumped up so much in the off road heights, it's a very stiff ride with very little give in the suspension. A wheel will be in the air frequently, but they're oddly well balanced when off roading like that with a wheel in the air. Just keep the throttle on and the computer will figure it out and you'll slowly make your way through.

[Mrwinecontreras]

THIS VIDEO CONVINCED ME TO BUY ONE, I’m looking at a 07 cayenne S with 155k miles on it for $5500 runs good strong engine and smooth transmission, tires all around brakes and rotors are new!!! Only problem is windscreen has a big cracked, so it needs a new one, but that’s about it, exterior is 7/10 interior 8/10, so I think it’s a good buy !!

[chirpter]

Really impressed with where you're taking it on the 21" rims and low pro tires. Also, don't knock the GTS! Only way to get a V8+6-speed combination. Check out the BaT prices for those- one just concluded with a $65.5k closing price!

[gailgordon]

2006 CS 190500. Pulls tear drop camper. Purchased used with all the serious issues already resolved. Mostly regular maintenance and suspension work. Several previous owners suffered through the trauma. I am benefitting from it now. Zelda is the grey warrior.

[ashsurg]

Proud Porsche Cayenne owner..great car! Just go for it.

[stingsportflyersusa]

He’s secretly a Porsche mechanic and knows the money it takes for maintenance for these vehicles

[syoo]

great video! very informative and had no idea it had such unique features!

[BizAndProductReviews]

The only thing is that if you get keys made for them by the dealer then they will cost at least $550 each. You will also need a good scan tool so that you can reset the service now light when you do an oil change on it.