955 Turbo - swallowing a second brave pill

[RS6Wheels]

A serial voyeur of Readers Cars, I've finally come to the fore with my own story to tell. In September last year, as per any sensible, rational, petrolhead, I'd convinced myself I needed a third car since becoming a Dad of 2. My reasoning was;


1. Keep the miles/baby sick/chocolate away from my C6 RS6 saloon (thread to come on brave pill number 1)

2. Something bigger and more practical than my Mrs Golf MK7 R for when we venture further afield than town driving (please don't ask how many times she's kurbed the wheels)

3. A capable 4x4 might come in handy (insert reason why: here)


Wanting something with performance, powered by petrol, preferably with a V8 and for under £10k, I started scouring the classifieds. I quickly discounted the Range Rover Sport as I knew I'd regret buying a "proper" Range. L322's are brilliant but to my eyes spec dependent (green or blue with cream seats only), I settled on a 957 Porsche Cayenne V8, a facelift of the 955, with a direct injection 4.8.

The more I researched, the more I pondered whether such a car would be too reliable, a little too ordinary. I soon realised I needed the risk of an older 955 with the added danger of twin turbos, air suspension and umpteen online articles warning potential buyers away from the peril. First one I viewed was a Turbo S at a petrol station, in the rain, at sunset. Owned by a "car collector" he proceeded to explain after 5 months he wanted to move it on, without any record of a service for nearly 3 years. Even I couldn't get onboard with being this reckless, the search continued.

Fast forward to October 11th, with a small deposit placed, a one way ticket to Folkestone (Kent) in hand and a feeling of "should I be doing this", I jumped nervously onto the train. What i found was an original, basalt black Turbo, with straight panels, a decent amount of swirls and a well kept interior. Circa £17k's worth of servicing and maintenance receipts from mostly Porsche main dealers up to 2021 and £2k's worth of indie work over the past 12 months. Delighted with the pan roof (didn't even know it was an option on these early Cayenne's), I was soon cruising back to Essex, veins pumping with adrenaline and caffeine.

The 10 months since haven't been all plain sailing (where's the story or fun in that), more to follow in the coming days. What I will say is, those that haven't driven one tend to immediately disregard, those that own them, swear by them (especially the high mileage hero's in the US).

Now, some photos from the day/following day of purchase!

[anonymous-user]

Had one myself for a period but had sleepless nights over the cracking coolant pipes etc

[RS6Wheels]

You won’t have been the first or the last to have lost sleep over those b****y pipes!

[Don1]

Lord help me, I keep thinking about these things. Following for the pain...

[si_xsi]

In for the ride. When i first started working my then boss had the same 2005 Turbo variant, which he purchased from Porsche when it was about 6 months old. It was his daily driver and was always complaining how much it cost to fill up and how quickly it lasted! In the end he got fed up with it and asked me to sell it for him, as a 22 year old it was fun doing the test drives with interested buyers (company insurance). Think we sold it for about £20k in 2008 in middle of financial crisis - massive depreciation.

[RS6Wheels]

Part 2: Three days into ownership I decided to really find out what sort of Cayenne I'd bought with an 800 mile round trip to Cornwall. With the Wife's instruction, I filled the boot with 2X as much stuff as we actually needed, brimmed the 100 litre tank and set off towards the A303.

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After 3 fault free days in Bude I thought I'd open the pan roof for the drive down to St Ives...after 5 minutes of complaining from my 3 year old (cue his despair below), I went to shut it. With one glass pane to go, it went into repetitive meltdown and refused to close. It then rained for the next hour, Mrs having the time of her life getting wet in the front seat (not quite how she recalls it). Managed to get it closed and have vowed never to open it again...

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Arrived at my Aunty and Uncle's in St Ives for the remainder and even got a CLAIMED 22.9mpg on the return leg home. My only grievance was a growing reluctance from the V8 to fire into life on the first attempt...With the service history showing receipt of a new battery just 14 months ago, I begun to fear that the Cayenne was about to throw it's first big bill. The plastic coolant pipes are known to leak over the starter motor... More to come in tomorrow's update!

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[anonymous-user]

lord trumpton said:

Had one myself for a period but had sleepless nights over the cracking coolant pipes etc

I just read about this and I am out. I guarantee and 955 I buy would have been sold by the previous owner because of this issue.

[gf15]

What could possibly go wrong?

Book marked.

[chris116]

I remember a previous cheap Readers cars thread with a Cayenne, that was a proper eye opener. Think that might have been an S though not a turbo.

[Veloce144]

I never realised these suffered the same issue as the Jag 5.0.

What is it with manufacturers and plastic coolant pipes on high powered V8s

[RS6Wheels]

chris116 said:

I remember a previous cheap Readers cars thread with a Cayenne, that was a proper eye opener. Think that might have been an S though not a turbo.

The Turbo's that have survived to this age tend to be in better condition than the S's. The S's got cheaper quicker, not maintained to the same level (I'm guessing as they weren't viewed as a performance car) and now they are dogs or getting stripped for parts.

[tom-26]

Your child's face from the back seat says it all!

[RS6Wheels]

Veloce144 said:

I never realised these suffered the same issue as the Jag 5.0.

What is it with manufacturers and plastic coolant pipes on high powered V8s

Indeed - it's almost as if they want them to fail...! I try not to be too cynical with these things and try to get some perverse enjoyment out of the risk associated with old high performance cars.

[RS6Wheels]

Part 3: At this stage I confess to not being particularly mechanical or even a logical thinker. Fearing I had coolant p*****g over the starter motor as the battery looked good (on paper) , I thought of testing the alternator. After testing with a multimeter, it looked strong, my next step was to remove the battery to test that independent to the car.

Battery is under the passenger seat which involves unbolting and rocking the seat back (actually easier than described), unveiling a weighty 110amp Varta:



First; let's get it fully charged with my NOCO 10 Amp (really recommend at that price point. I then hooked it up to an old battery tester I had lying around, the message on the LCD readout was clear; CHANGE BATTERY. Cue confusion with the battery only being 15 months old (according to the service history), I rigged the tester up to my RS6 which as a 3 year old Bosch battery - showing good health. Swapped the battery for a Yuasa, all was well with the Turbo as we moved into 2023.

Fast forward to April, with the need to drive user adoption of the Turbo with my Wife (who complained about the lack of CarPlay and reverse camera), I went about remedying this. Porsche wanted £1600 + main dealer installation for their PCCM, which on a beautiful 996/997 is a no brainer but on an old bus like this, its nearly 25% of the car's value! Wanting to retain an OEM look, BOSE and steering wheel controls, the best option on a budget was the latest Erisin product (which is built to look like a 957 Cayenne PCM), £300 + £70 for a reverse camera, £650 all in including fitting. I was rather pleased with the before (forgive the dust) and after;








You can even tweak the backlighting to orange, add the Porsche badge on start up etc. Since this update from April, I'd love to say it's been plain sailing since...it has not . Tune in tomorrow (or Monday depending on how knackered I am over the weekend) for the next update!

[Aluminati]

Having looked at these, and wimping out at getting a 958 tractor juice version instead ( couple of Umbria trips a year justifies ) I can only admire the size of your cojones and suggest a tow bar and trailer to carry them in

[Brother D]

I'm interested in this having had similar year V8 (S). I would have one again, but only if I had access to a garage - garage costs over here in the states are outrageous!