You can skip what I did during test drive and go directly to the OTHER OBSERVATIONS to read on what things I noticed about the car, which bothered me.

If you can read this and give me your opinion on what you think, I would greatly appreciate it. This describes what I did on the test drive and what I looked at on the car. I did not do PPI on it YET. Plan to do on a car I am very seriously interested in. Your opinion will help me make that decision.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and provide feedback.

So I went to the dealer today to check out a 2005 Cayenne Turbo. Black out and in.
Test drove it.
Acceleration:
Took it from 0 to about 70-80 pretty hard a couple times. No audible troubling noises.
Took it from 0 to about 70-80 using tiptronic shifting. Same. Smooth and easy for the car. No troubling noises.
Took it from rolling start at about 30, to about 70-80. Same. Nothing troubling.
Did same again using tiptronic. Again, same result - nothing troubling.
Observations:
Noticed that when pressing the gas pedal (especially when the depress is abrupt for immeidate speed), there is a lag between the pedal depress, and delivery of power. In my estimation, about half a second or so. Press pedal down, wait for that long, then power comes ().


Handling:
Took it for a high speed - about 70-80 slalom (on double lane road, probably from one side to the other - nothing overly dangerous).
Did not adjust suspension to sport - I think it was in normal, but not sure.
Observations:
Handling seemed great. Responsive and with good road feedback.
Noticed at sudden direction changes, the center of the front dashboard (the raised part), seemed to be creaking some (some rubbing noise due to twisting of chassis???)
Nothing other than that.

Suspension:
Could not do much here. However did not hear any thudding, etc. However, did not ride over bumps on purpose.

Normal traffic driving:
Great. Nothing special, seemed a very well behaved car. Plus many people looking over to see the driver of the car - added bonus? lol

Walk-Through on the car:
Exterior:
- Car was not newly washed (was somewhat rainy and some rain had already dried leaving some spots).
- Paint seemed in good condition. When shone light onto panels, could see some swirl marks from washing or buffing. Due to rain/spots, was hard to see exact condition of paint. Overall seemed at least good though.
- No dings/scratches (some very minor ones down low on on a door step guard (had to look to see though).

Interior:
- Seemed cleaned. Overall condition of headliner would be at least good or great (I assume it is the Alacantra headliner? or was this an option?)
- No excessive wear marks on headliner.
- Leather in good/great condition (more on this later).
- Upon searching, found that this car owner was a pet lover (in specific places found hair from a dog). No scratch marks though - good.
- Carpeting cleaned and fresh smelling (as it should at a dealer).
- Floors lined with mats bearing Porsche name in silver (on side of front mats). Standard? Option? Shape of mats is good/great.



OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
Interior:
- Previous car owner had child seat, which caused about 3 inch long, 1/8 thick depressions in headrests (RT & LT) in the rear. No way this will come out all the way.
- Similarly, child seat caused about 2 inch, by 1/8 inch depression in leather in middle of rear seat (llow, close to seat, near theh seat buckle).
- Headliner was not properly installed in the car on driver side (near top), trunk door (top - about 2 inches), passenger RT side (near top, about 1 inch long).
- Apparently previous user had a laser radar jammer installed but left the cable attaching to radar detector in place (maybe that is why the headliner not installed right???)

Exterior:
- Couple places, noticed the door seal on pass FT side and pass RR side, tucked in under plastic (it should have been over it not under it).
- Front driver side door squeaked when opening a certain way (particular speed of opening).
- Dealer had hard time unlocking all doors with remote (claimed their key safe is skinny and was draining batterries from remotes when closed overnight). Cant tell either way, but at least the remote battery may be weak.
- The ignition key - has only 1. It is in pretty rough shape (some markingd rubbed off, the red button kind of torn), evidence of dirt in various nooks and crannies in the remote.
- Touched rotors front and rear. Front rotors seemed thin to me. Rear seemed thicker but still not the feel of a new thick rotor.
- Brake calipers were dirty (not that they wont get dirty, it only seemed they did not bother to clean too well).
- Headlights - noticed that both headlights had this black tarry substance right around the edges of each headlight, especially on top edge of each headlight. Now, it seemed same as the goop that you install with windshield install. Was not dried off, I could feel the tackiness of it (could indicate fresh application???). I could have sworn a car should not have this stuff around the headlights. Could this indicate leaking into the lights?

Engine Compartment:
- Blue brake fluid cover - seemed kind of overused with edges decaying or brittle. Small pieces of the blue on the filter part of the reservoir.
- Several of the black hardware pieces that keep the black plastic paneling in place, were missing (about 8 of them or so).
- In left side of engine valve cover (closest to front of car), noticed a possible oil leak (ran fingers through area and picked up black dirt, kind of moist. It was oil. How expensive is that to fix? DIY? No?
- Could not really see any other things out of place in the engine - these designers sure pack them in now a days.
- I had a hard time locking the hood (the dealer did not but he kind of slammed into place, whereas I tried to be gentle)

Tires:
- about 50-60% tread left (Continental Extreme???). Seemed even wear. Did notice tape from holding balance weights (just tape, no weights). Tape usually indicates someone may have taken it to the track but no proof. This is usually done at race tracks (I know, I do it for motorcycles).

Other:
- Noticed previous owner had the manual open to engine oil changes - indicating he did them himself? Worry here?
- Noticed the service history was not updated in manual. Only the initial pre sale at about 69 miles. No other ones. Carfax reported some service history,
- Dealer showed me 60K service on the car. Worth just over $1300, included changing some hoses, spark plugs, - I will have to look up what else).
- Also showed me another service just before I saw the car (couple days). It was for some hoses kit in engine. Noticed oil leaking and replaced hoses with some hose kit. Also did oil change. Total close to $400 on the car that time.


Dealer wanted $28000 for the car. I pointed out the observations, at which time he offered to lower to $27200.

I wanted to see what your opinion of the car is based on my description of the good and the bad.
Is it worth pulling trigger on this, or should I just wait for a better shape one? Opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Actually - gonna snip all that..It's a USED car - so some wear is gonna be seen. Think of it as patina. If it bugs you enough get if fixed/detailed/whatever.Floor mats are an option, the rest - it's a USED car..Used car. If it offends you - don't buy it. Some steam from a clothing steamer MIGHT make the marks less obvious. Might. No guarantees.Need photos or something. Most of that just snaps in, but the plastic that holds the snaps like to pull out if the snaps aren't released correctly (you need an upholstery tool that looks like a tiny plastic "WonderBar" to remove them).. people usually just JBWeld the clips back when the plastic breaks. That works and will NEVER pull out.Could be. Mebbe.Look for any signs of paintwork in that area.. if none is evident, probably one of the plastic interior panels was pulled for some reason (run wires for the radar-jammer crap?Lubrication works wonders.Replace the battery.Not good. A new key from the dealer will run you in excess of $400 or so. See if you can pressure the used car dealer to provide it with two working keys. If not - it MIGHT be possible to buy an Ebay one and put a new blade on it - it still then requires syncing with the anti-theft system, and dunno if a local friendly dealer can do this or not (I believe I saw where they can..)How big were the lips on the rotors? If BIG - then it's rotor time (and that's $$$), if none, the rotors are fine. If moderate (less then 1/8") - then they're good for a while.Used car - used car dealer, sounds as if it wasn't actually detailed, prolly just washed/polished by the lot monkey (official sleazy used car dealer term..)Good Lord - that's a long question..
There are rubber gaskets around the headlights. They can "perish" as the brits would say. Replace them. They're cheap. If someone used some filler crap around them, run-away, run-away, it doesn't speak well to the car's condition.You ARE taking this to a mechanic for a PPI right? Ask him all those questions. Interwebz guesses are worth exactly what you paid for them. A cheap used Cayenne can be the most expensive car you've ever bought.Old tape just means it wasn't cleaned up very well - again, sign the lot monkey wasn't doing his job. I think you're obsessing at this point, that's not good... with a Cayenne that can cost a lot of money.You have searched here (and on other forums) for the big "C" problems with Cayennes right? If not - you haven't done due-dilligence. The expensive stuff is things like the coolant pipes under the intake manifold. These WILL fail if they haven't been changed to the aluminum ones (and it's very difficult to tell if they have.) Figure $2k for that job.Wow - a whole $800 off..I was obviously bored..

You never mentioned the current mileage on the truck. $28k is on the low end for a turbo with less then 70,000 on it. It's on the high end for one with 150,000 on it. This isn't a Porsche dealer right?

Buying a used car as complex and expensive to fix as a CTT is really foolish if you don't have someone who knows them do a PPI. That to me means a Porsche dealer (you basically want them to do a CPO inspection) or a good knowledgeable and honest independent. The PPI is gonna cost you, but it does two things:

1 - Lets you know what's obviously WRONG
2 - Gives you some bargaining power with the dealer

If this is a Porsche dealer (doesn't sound like it.. their lot monkeys are usually pretty good) - then you can certainly dicker for a new key for it, and to have all the real issues (possible oil leak, perhaps a brake-fluid flush, coolant pipe replacement if it hasn't been done, etc) addressed.

If it's a sleezy used car dealer (sounds like it) - then all you can do is use #2 to get the price down so the issues can be addressed.

We can't tell you to buy or not - that's your decision. I didn't hear anything that would make me say "Run-Away, Run-Away" - but I also didn't see the truck personally, and you haven't had a PPI done. The hesitation on acceleration might just be turbo-lag you're not used to, or it could be something that's serious $$$ to fix - you want someone really familiar with the Cayenne turbo to judge that for you. No one can do it via Interwebz guesses.

Good luck..

 

kind of wanted to see what others would think - take the bother to fix or leave it.
I think I decided to just leave it.

The engine leak bothered me most. Seats bother me, the liner bothers me. Not that I could not fix liners easily, just dont feel like I want to bother.
The key bothers me and the rotors bother me enough.
Combined with the offer to reduce by only $800.

All that combined, is enough to say no to this one. Thanks for all your time and help. Really appreciate it.

 

Don't leave us in suspense - was this p!g at a P dealer or the sleezy used car lot?

 

Lol. It was not at a Porsche dealer. Local car dealer who seems to have exotics on the lot. Already forgetting about it. Have another will be checking out tomorrow. Already was able to do some squabbling with dealer (this one - Porsche), and got him to go down on price. Tomorrow planning to get more plus ask him to trade in my car after we settle on price. Hope to update soon. This. Forum is awesome.

 

Well, this one is very much out of the question, since I pulled the trigger on another one with fewer miles (05CTT with almost half the mileage of the black one in this thread - and in near flawless shape). Will try to put up some info later. Trying to enjoy it now.
Some lawyer owned it as commuter to his practice and traded in for a third ferrari at the dealer where he bought the car. Funny thing, this was the first car I saw when looking for one, but after a phone call to voicemail, never received replies for some reason.
Well, now it is mine.

 

here is a pic of the trouble area inside the engine on the ctt I looked at. The dealer said it was just dust but when you touch it, it is moist, dark black and smelled of oil residue. lol.. anyway, this car was not chosen.

Was I right about it being a valve cover? or is this something that may be more serious? Want to know in case my car starts showing something like that (I saw 2 ctts with similar spots on the engine and wonder if this is typical of the car)