Hello, I currently own a 981 Boxster and am thinking of adding a 2009 Cayenne S to the garage for an additional vehicle. I am wondering how reliable the Cayenne has been and who better to ask than current owners? Any know or expensive issues to look out for? The car is about 2.5 hours away at a dealer but has a clean Carfax and only about 64k miles. I talked to my normal service advisor and he says the S's are pretty reliable and service/repairs are about on par with my Boxster (~$1500 service every couple of years). My big concerns are rust, or something catastrophic and very expensive like engine (IMS for example on the flat 6 engines) or transmission.

 

Do a search on here. Plenty of info on second generation reliability and known issues.

 

I have an 04 Cayenne S now 303500 km

Besides scheduled servicing,
Replaced Primary O2 sensors at around 220 000 km (surging)
Replaced crank position sensor at about 250 000 km (used to randomly stall at idle)
Did some work on the transmission valve body (Transgo kit) ($150) at about 280 000 km after starting to experience hard 1-2 shifts when cold and one "bang" downshift on the highway. Kit sorted it out. no problems since.

Front diff started making grinding noises at about 240 000 km after losing fluid due to a leak on the oil seal. Seal was replaced along with fluid etc (showed metal content) I kept driving it while looking for a replacement diff and the noise went away by about 260k. I replaced the diff with a recon unit also at around 280 000km , but I'm sure it would have kept going.
Replaced water pump at about 280 000km. (leaking coolant from water pump)
Replaced primary fuel pump at 301000km. (pump failed ; used to die after idling for a few seconds).

Still running great.