I am a soon to be father. I have a Mini Cooper S that treated me well for many years, but it's time to make room for a carseat. Originally I was not at all looking for a Porsche but today I found one locally and at $13,995 seems to be a reasonable price?

My main concerns are obviously the mileage 105,000! I've read all about the things that can happen around there, coolant pipes, etc. / When asking the salesman today about it he didn't blink just "yea yea yea bro it's ready to rock!" I asked again, had all the major flaws around 100k miles been addressed and he assured me it was ''good to go" / the (very small) dealership offers a CarFax on the vehicle which reads Clean....

Such a beautiful SUV, no doubt it'll make me smile, but just nervous about maybe I'm missing something? Should I be asking other important questions?

Just praying to get into a reliable vehicle for my busy self and baby girl!

Any / all advice is much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Congrats on the new addition! Yes, there are the main gotchas like coolant pipes and driveshaft issues. However, at that mileage, anything is possible. Other people's experience is no guarantee that yours will be the same, better, or worse.

Considering that you are looking to buy a used, 8 yr old German car, my first concern is what is your maintenance plan? Remember that maintenance is key and will not be cheap. Hence why you can get many used German cars for very little. On the flip side, you are getting a lot of vehicle for under $15K up front.

Just something to think about..

 

Hey, thank you!

Yes - I understand, you never know which apple of the bunch you are purchasing. Just ran into a Cayenne owner this morning actually who said ''never a problem'' even at 138k miles.

As far as a plan, do you mean who and where it will be serviced? The owner of the small dealership said he is certified and happy to maintain it for me (even at 'discounted' labor), does that sound kosher? I was told as long as I'm on top of the oil and routine things it would be fine. Understanding that it is a luxury car, I know it won't be cheap, but if you had to ballpark what are the givens.... a few hundred a month? $500 every few months?

Thanks again!

 

It sounds like you have your head on straight. Generally speaking, these Cayennes tend to be very reliable. If you just browse through a few pages in the Cayenne section, you will see very few complaints/problems vs other cars with similar mileage/years.

From what I see, most new threads are about mods; which should be pacifying.

If I had to put a ballpark number on up keep, I would say $1K - $2K a year ( outside of general maintenance) should keep her happy. Most likely, you won't need anywhere close to this, but better to overestimate and not need vs underestimate and get in a pickle.

 

I recently purchased an '05 S with 78K miles for $12K, which was quite a bit below book value. I did not do a PPI as I figured that the two most common issues are the coolant pipes and driveshaft, which if needed would still put me at about $15K. Fortunately for me, the coolant pipes had already been replaced. Unfortunately, the owner at that time failed to have the starter cleaned out so the coolant had damaged the starter. Replaced the starter and then the driveshaft problem surfaced. Fixed that and also replaced the coil packs and spark plugs. She is now running great. I think you will be very happy with yours and it will definitely be safer to drive for when you have your daughter with you. I did the same thing years ago when my son was born. I went from a VW Golf to a Range Rover. Had the RR for 10 years and put 165K miles on it. Good luck with your purchase.

 

I have an 08 CTS with 120K on it and all I have done is the cardon shaft and maint. My advise is replace the cardon shaft support with the Vortex unit, and service everything so that you can get a good maint schedule going. Like any car things fail or wear out and you never know when but performing services regularly with quality products will certainly limit the failures.

BTW: my neighbor has a 07 CTS with 330K on it and has only done services, brakes, tires, light bulbs and a cardon shaft with a vortex.

 

It's being sold cheap for a reason. What it is, who knows? If I were looking to buy something on the cheap, I would put at least $5,000 aside for anything that pops up. Afterwards, $2000 per year in preparation of those unexpected things. If you don't need to spend it, great. Be ready for the upkeep even if you don't need it one year - you will the next.

 

WOW!!!




These do seem to depreciate very steeply