2003 Cayenne S - £4k bargain or Bork bus of pain?
Discussion
So, all was going well...
Got discs and pads all round done ( bought some MTEC drilled and grooved, as I am a child and was impressed with the on a Fiat coupe years back) plugs changed, surprised all the coil packs were ok and the air filters looked clean, but changed them anyway.
Made it down to the in-laws in southern Germany without a hitch, roof box and bike rack on the back. 20mpg. No autobahn fun with that setup...
Yesterday we were running late for a museum visit up the top of Schauinsland, which is 12k ish at about 6% with a lot of slow hairpin bends, a great drive. I did a couple of full throttle overtakes, and just before the top got the dreaded "check coolant level"
Put 2 litres in it and rolled all the way back down the hill, temp stayed ok, but the check coolant did not go out. Opened the bonnet as soon as down the mountain and lots of steam coming from the middle of the V...it took two watering can fulls to refill. Bugger. Has to be the plastic pipes.
Ferry home is next Tuesday, calling a local Porsche specialist (FVD Brombacher) first thing today to see if they can fit us in, whilst trying to avoid the OPC Freiburg.
I suppose the upside is that it needed doing anyway, at some point and now it would probably cost over a grand to get home... that's a discount in my man maths....
Got discs and pads all round done ( bought some MTEC drilled and grooved, as I am a child and was impressed with the on a Fiat coupe years back) plugs changed, surprised all the coil packs were ok and the air filters looked clean, but changed them anyway.
Made it down to the in-laws in southern Germany without a hitch, roof box and bike rack on the back. 20mpg. No autobahn fun with that setup...
Yesterday we were running late for a museum visit up the top of Schauinsland, which is 12k ish at about 6% with a lot of slow hairpin bends, a great drive. I did a couple of full throttle overtakes, and just before the top got the dreaded "check coolant level"
Put 2 litres in it and rolled all the way back down the hill, temp stayed ok, but the check coolant did not go out. Opened the bonnet as soon as down the mountain and lots of steam coming from the middle of the V...it took two watering can fulls to refill. Bugger. Has to be the plastic pipes.
Ferry home is next Tuesday, calling a local Porsche specialist (FVD Brombacher) first thing today to see if they can fit us in, whilst trying to avoid the OPC Freiburg.
I suppose the upside is that it needed doing anyway, at some point and now it would probably cost over a grand to get home... that's a discount in my man maths....
BenjiA said:
Yesterday we were running late for a museum visit up the top of Schauinsland, which is 12k ish at about 6% with a lot of slow hairpin bends, a great drive. I did a couple of full throttle overtakes, and just before the top got the dreaded "check coolant level"
Am I being dim? I can't reconcile the reference to '12k' with the context. Concerning the matter at hand, I have a secret fetish for getting work to my car when abroad. Somehow, it all seems very 'Paris Dakar' rolling repairs and adventure worthy. There's the additional attraction of 'bringing the car back to ze Fatherland' for repairs from the specialists.
Good luck!
Apologies, yes, it's actually 16km long, and pretty twisty ;
It's a killer on a bicycle.
It was actually used as a hill climb track for many years ( From Wiki)
The ADAC Schauinsland Race was a motor sport event that took place mainly in the borough of Freiburg im Breisgau in south Germany, which took place between 1925 and 1984 on an old logging track, the present day L 124 (Schauinslandstraße), from Horben (today in the county of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald) to the Schauinsland Pass. The route climbed through 780 metres of height over a course of twelve kilometres. Even today it is the longest and most winding mountain racecourse in Germany and the venue for several European Hill Climb Championships.
Here's the results from 1964....must have been some sight!
It's a killer on a bicycle.
It was actually used as a hill climb track for many years ( From Wiki)
The ADAC Schauinsland Race was a motor sport event that took place mainly in the borough of Freiburg im Breisgau in south Germany, which took place between 1925 and 1984 on an old logging track, the present day L 124 (Schauinslandstraße), from Horben (today in the county of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald) to the Schauinsland Pass. The route climbed through 780 metres of height over a course of twelve kilometres. Even today it is the longest and most winding mountain racecourse in Germany and the venue for several European Hill Climb Championships.
Here's the results from 1964....must have been some sight!
Tom4398cc said:
Massive respect to you BenjiA for the positive way you’re looking at this unplanned glitch. An example to us all. Very best of luck getting it sorted and enjoy the rest of your hols!
Agreed.The sort of person who gets into a complicated, older car for not much money and is disappointed when common faults occur deserves that disappointment.
You can't buy something like this without being able to afford the inevitable breakages. We're not talking about a five-figure contingency fund or anything - just the ability to rectify the common faults to a good standard.
I bought a 2007 S a couple of years ago. 85k for £9k. One owner from new, still had 2 years of Porsche extended warranty left.
No bore-scoring with the later 4.8 engine. Work that I've had done under warranty to give you an idea of what bills may still be to come:
Replacement multi function steering wheel as heating elements had stopped working in a couple of places
Propshaft donut failure - complete propshaft replaced
Partial engine loom replacement - one of the solenoids on the intake stopped working
A replacement sensor for the Aircon system
Replacement air suspension sensor
Interior mirrors control switch
On my second set of tyres. Michelin Latitude Sport had to be fitted to maintain Porsche warranty. Not great, lasted 10k
Latitude Sport 3 fitted after warranty expiration, seem much better so far. Torque split is 65/35 rear, so need to rotate tyres to get most out of them.
Car runs 19s with 45 tyres and even with air suspension the ride is not brilliant over broken surfaces. 20s must be dreadful.
Uses 1l oil every 2500miles without fail
18-20mpg
Split rear hatch rots from inside out by handle....
The biggest concern I have is potential air suspension borkage. Can't see much serious going wrong with the engine. It's so unstressed. 90% of the time it's shifting up at 1500rpm...you just woofle about on the torque.
It's not due a service for another 2 years, so it's just fuel, tyres, fuel, brakes, fuel.....etc
Not aware of any major drivetrain issues other than the propshaft donut, which has been replaced. Seems very well put together and the extended leather cabin and switchgear is very hard wearing.
No bore-scoring with the later 4.8 engine. Work that I've had done under warranty to give you an idea of what bills may still be to come:
Replacement multi function steering wheel as heating elements had stopped working in a couple of places
Propshaft donut failure - complete propshaft replaced
Partial engine loom replacement - one of the solenoids on the intake stopped working
A replacement sensor for the Aircon system
Replacement air suspension sensor
Interior mirrors control switch
On my second set of tyres. Michelin Latitude Sport had to be fitted to maintain Porsche warranty. Not great, lasted 10k
Latitude Sport 3 fitted after warranty expiration, seem much better so far. Torque split is 65/35 rear, so need to rotate tyres to get most out of them.
Car runs 19s with 45 tyres and even with air suspension the ride is not brilliant over broken surfaces. 20s must be dreadful.
Uses 1l oil every 2500miles without fail
18-20mpg
Split rear hatch rots from inside out by handle....
The biggest concern I have is potential air suspension borkage. Can't see much serious going wrong with the engine. It's so unstressed. 90% of the time it's shifting up at 1500rpm...you just woofle about on the torque.
It's not due a service for another 2 years, so it's just fuel, tyres, fuel, brakes, fuel.....etc
Not aware of any major drivetrain issues other than the propshaft donut, which has been replaced. Seems very well put together and the extended leather cabin and switchgear is very hard wearing.
Edited by TEKNOPUG on Monday 23 August 13:55
I needed a new family bus and was looking at newer Kias/Hynudais but they didn't really appeal. Lexus RX400s were a bit more than I wanted to pay and XC90s were a bit long in the tooth at my price point. Then I realised I could get a V8 Porsche for the same money and man maths took over. I did consider turbos and although the fuel was only about 10% worse, it was more the cost of consumables like tyres and brakes that put me off. The V6s only seem to b about 10% better on fuel, so they were quickly dismissed.
I really wanted a car with PDCC but they only seemed to be on GTS or Turbo models. Most of the GTS are manual and or have springs but I wanted auto and air. Found one GTS in spec but dealer wouldn't shift on price. Then found my current one and the 2 year extended warranty swang it. Only option missing that I wanted was the powered tailgate. My wife has been busy buying furniture on facebook market place and it's a great load carrier with the rear seats flat.
I really wanted a car with PDCC but they only seemed to be on GTS or Turbo models. Most of the GTS are manual and or have springs but I wanted auto and air. Found one GTS in spec but dealer wouldn't shift on price. Then found my current one and the 2 year extended warranty swang it. Only option missing that I wanted was the powered tailgate. My wife has been busy buying furniture on facebook market place and it's a great load carrier with the rear seats flat.
TEKNOPUG said:
I bought a 2007 S a couple of years ago. 85k for £9k. One owner from new, still had 2 years of Porsche extended warranty left.
No bore-scoring with the later 4.8 engine. Work that I've had done under warranty to give you an idea of what bills may still be to come:
Replacement multi function steering wheel as heating elements had stopped working in a couple of places
Propshaft donut failure - complete propshaft replaced
Partial engine loom replacement - one of the solenoids on the intake stopped working
A replacement sensor for the Aircon system
Replacement air suspension sensor
Interior mirrors control switch
On my second set of tyres. Michelin Latitude Sport had to be fitted to maintain Porsche warranty. Not great, lasted 10k
Latitude Sport 3 fitted after warranty expiration, seem much better so far. Torque split is 65/35 rear, so need to rotate tyres to get most out of them.
Car runs 19s with 45 tyres and even with air suspension the ride is not brilliant over broken surfaces. 20s must be dreadful.
Uses 1l oil every 2500miles without fail
18-20mpg
Split rear hatch rots from inside out by handle....
The biggest concern I have is potential air suspension borkage. Can't see much serious going wrong with the engine. It's so unstressed. 90% of the time it's shifting up at 1500rpm...you just woofle about on the torque.
It's not due a service for another 2 years, so it's just fuel, tyres, fuel, brakes, fuel.....etc
Not aware of any major drivetrain issues other than the propshaft donut, which has been replaced. Seems very well put together and the extended leather cabin and switchgear is very hard wearing.
The point about bore-scoring on the 4.8 contradicts some owners' reports I've read. If it was guaranteed, I'd have no issue spending the extra cash.No bore-scoring with the later 4.8 engine. Work that I've had done under warranty to give you an idea of what bills may still be to come:
Replacement multi function steering wheel as heating elements had stopped working in a couple of places
Propshaft donut failure - complete propshaft replaced
Partial engine loom replacement - one of the solenoids on the intake stopped working
A replacement sensor for the Aircon system
Replacement air suspension sensor
Interior mirrors control switch
On my second set of tyres. Michelin Latitude Sport had to be fitted to maintain Porsche warranty. Not great, lasted 10k
Latitude Sport 3 fitted after warranty expiration, seem much better so far. Torque split is 65/35 rear, so need to rotate tyres to get most out of them.
Car runs 19s with 45 tyres and even with air suspension the ride is not brilliant over broken surfaces. 20s must be dreadful.
Uses 1l oil every 2500miles without fail
18-20mpg
Split rear hatch rots from inside out by handle....
The biggest concern I have is potential air suspension borkage. Can't see much serious going wrong with the engine. It's so unstressed. 90% of the time it's shifting up at 1500rpm...you just woofle about on the torque.
It's not due a service for another 2 years, so it's just fuel, tyres, fuel, brakes, fuel.....etc
Not aware of any major drivetrain issues other than the propshaft donut, which has been replaced. Seems very well put together and the extended leather cabin and switchgear is very hard wearing.
Edited by TEKNOPUG on Monday 23 August 13:55
TEKNOPUG said:
Lets say hugely reduced chance of bore scoring, rather than no bore scoring.
I think that's my only worry left going forward...I'm hoping after the pipes that I can run it on more of a shoe-string with parts from ebay fitted by my local garage...Obviously with decent oil changes...Good news from Germany, got the ADAC to take it to the local specialist, the driver said he had 3 Porsches and had been using them for 30 years, and they are half the price of the OPC. Result.
Unfortunatley, they are pretty busy and espite knowing that we have a ferry on Tuesday, have only promised to look at it Friday with parts arriving on Monday....Oh and there'll be a big bill too, obviously.
Fingers crossed!
BenjiA said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Lets say hugely reduced chance of bore scoring, rather than no bore scoring.
I think that's my only worry left going forward...I'm hoping after the pipes that I can run it on more of a shoe-string with parts from ebay fitted by my local garage...Obviously with decent oil changes...Good news from Germany, got the ADAC to take it to the local specialist, the driver said he had 3 Porsches and had been using them for 30 years, and they are half the price of the OPC. Result.
Unfortunatley, they are pretty busy and espite knowing that we have a ferry on Tuesday, have only promised to look at it Friday with parts arriving on Monday....Oh and there'll be a big bill too, obviously.
Fingers crossed!
How flexible is the ferry?
C70R said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Lets say hugely reduced chance of bore scoring, rather than no bore scoring.
Not to derail the thread, but do you know what the change was? Presumably a different bore coating?Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff