2008 Cayenne GTS, Thinking about buying one ... Options

[SirAndy]

Anyone here who has a 2008 (or thereabouts) Cayenne GTS?

There's one for sale here locally for $17k and it looks to be a clean and well maintained car. The odo shows just over 100k miles.

Any educated (or otherwise) input from the collective?
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[Tom_T]

Anyone here who has a 2008 (or thereabouts) Cayenne GTS?

There's one for sale here locally for $17k and it looks to be a clean and well maintained car. The odo shows just over 100k miles.

Any educated (or otherwise) input from the collective?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

Andy -

It will depend on what you want to use the Cayenne for - DD/around town, some or a lot of towing, a hot rod SUV, Off-Roading, etc., because for around town and occasional towing, the base V6 3.6L is a great SUV that you can easily find newer &/or less miles for about the same money, cuz the GTS & Turbos still get a premium used (& have the air susp. to think about maintaining long term).

I've been looking for a 2008-14 Cayenne S with the normally aspirated engine & no air suspension as a tow vehicle for big vintage trailer & my 914, & as an extra car for us. Here are my thoughts & what I've found from my research, test drives, other owners, etc.

The GTS is essentially a lowered Cay S with a few more options included in its base price - including the Air Suspension (same AS with Turbo/Turbo S), & a "tweaked" normally aspirated DFI V8 with a few more HP/TQ (400 HP vs 385 IIRC), but otherwise the same as an S - which may be fun when it works, but a PITA when not & trying to get adjustments right (talk to SoCalAndy/Andy T. about what their shop sees in Cays & Panameras with AS).

There is also issues with coolant leakage & failures with the "horseshoe" coolant distributor up front where the aluminum lines are glued (there is a screw/bolt fix), & at 1-2 remaining plastic return lines which can crack/fail/leak with age/heat/miles & get coolant into the starter, trans, etc. This is on both the 2008-2010 957 & 2011> 958 body styles.

Earlier 2003-06 (no 07's) also have expensive embedded rear hatch struts to replace, endemic headlight failures - either of which can be $2K+ fixes, as well as a full plastic coolant pipe system which was the subject of a pre-recall settlement, but you'd be on the hook to replace them at this point, & it had the same leakage issues but worse (you can find them with the aluminum pipes fix done in 03-06 MY CayS/GTS/Turbo). So I was advised to stay away from them - although we really loved the 2006 Titanium Edition in Iceland Silver (Light silvery blue color), which were the "fill-in" for 2007 MY for Aug 06 to March 07, when they did an early release of the 08's.

The Gen 1/1.5 2003-06/2008-10 955/957 Cayennes are more SUV like, while the next Gen 2/2.5> have gone more Crossover like. Both are capable SUVs which largely drive like a Porsche, & even the base 3.6L gas V6 is a good performer, compared to the competition out there. All have superior towing capabilities too - especially compared to the latest crossover unibody mid-sized SUV competitors (Nissan Pathfinder 2013> for example with only 5000 lbs rating vs Cayenne's 7700).

We have a few PCA members in SoCal with the GTS who love them, but I don't know that they've kept them long enough to be in that 100K mile & age range anymore. They liked them with the AS, but I doubt that they had to replace anything or work on it back a few years ago, since most were still under warranty &/or CPO.

Also - at a 2008 - it's now 11 MYs old & at the end of the time where Porsche is required to maintain adequate replacement parts by US law (15 in Euro-zone), so parts may become scare in coming years.

As for GTS ("tweaked" normally aspirated V8 with AS), vs. Base V6 (3.6L VR6), Hybrid (3.0L V6 + Elec), 3.0L TDI, S (normally aspirated V8), Turbo/Turbo S (turbo V8 with AS, latter tweaked turbo) - you'll find that they all drive pretty well in any flavor - the V6 & Hybrid will get best mpg, but only a couple/few more than the N.A. S V8, & the GTS & Turbo/Turbo S will get lower mpg for a bit or a lot more HP & hot performance.

If you're thinking about towing the 914 etc. - then any/all of them are rated to tow 7700+ lbs with 770 lbs hitch wt. (except the Hybrids are a bit lower due to extra battery wt.) - so they would be adequate for occasional towing of your 914 or a mid-sized travel trailer or toy hauler with 914 etc inside (within those wt. ratings), but the V8s will pull better on grades & run at lower rpms on flat freeways. For long trips towing, the real world towing mpg flips - with the V6s & turbo V8s getting worse mpg in the 12-14 & 10-13 range respectively, the tweaked N.A. V8 GTS around 12-14, & the N.A. V8 Cay S getting the best gas at 14-17 mpg.

While the TDI V6 will get the best mpg overall both hitched & not, but diesel has been more than premium gas of late, diesels require higher cost maintenance + blue fluid, & the "fix" for the EPA/CARD Diesel-Gate problem detuned them a bit in terms of HP/TQ & mpg & IIRC it also "lost" the downhill engine braking function, & after the prescribed settlement warranty coverage period end, Porsche/VW/Audi will wash their hands of them & their parts/support/service according to my long tie P/VW/A tech Hans (he advised me not to look at them, even after the settlement). However, you can get some very nice 2013-16 TDIs with the settlement's extended warranty out to 100K or 120K & 10 years from new IIRC - so many folks are buying them anyway & planning to sell when no longer supported or take their chances.

Also, the 2011-12 958 V8s of all types (& Panamera V8s) have an AH08 Recall on defective cam adjuster bolts which can fail, lose Power steering/brakes &/or fuel pump (depending on which/both side fails) & basically destroy a $30-35K engine. So you'd want to check that any of those have had the AH08 done, if you look beyond this GTS.

I'd say that at 100K miles it's getting ready for some major work to be needed, but they can go $200K+ with ongoing & expensive maintenance. Try looking at sub-70K mile ones. Also, the 08 GTS you're looking at could be built in late 06 & sold early 07 - so it would then be older than a typical 2008 car FYI, due to their early 2007 release.

I used to be a disbeliever in why a Porsche SUV when they first came out, but they did such an overall good job with them, & they're so capable for a DD/Street SUV & family Porsche, Off-road vehicle, & great towing - that I've long since been won over. Because we do NOT want a black one, & we only want the Cay S with the N.A. V8 & no AS, but with the back-up camera & factory tow hitch options under +/- 60K miles in non-salty roads states & well maintained - our window is small, & I don't always have time for the search.

If this one is close, fits your needs & likes, you're okay with the AS & future maintenance of it, & it checks out mechanically - then go for it. But check prices with options as-built against both NADA & KBB online valuation tools (you can use the VIN to get the Cayenne factory build sheet for options) - & come to a reasonable price given condition & market, & know that they're depreciating assets going down in value +/- $500 - $1000 per month (upper is at newer/higher price ones) - so don't over pay!

Whatever you do on this or any Cayenne - get a PPI done by a shop that knows them whom you trust, & have them look at everything! You might also want to talk with Eric Shea about his experiences with his CayS too.

That's my Cayenne 101 run down, & hopefully it helpful to you.

Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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