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Buying a high miler 955 Turbo

Rick Grimes

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Joined
28 Jan 2016
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5
Cayenne (955) Am I mad?
Hi all

I might have the opportunity to buy a 2004 Cayenne Turbo with 140,000 miles on the clock for €12000.

There's a full history and I'm told it has been very well maintained (although I have not yet seen the records).

Am I mad to consider this. I'm well aware it is an expensive machine to run and I don't mind day to day running costs so what should I expect at this mileage? Turbos and gearboxes don't last forever!!!

I can wait and I'm willing to spend a bit more but the price is tempting (probably for a good reason!)

Am I buying trouble?

Thanks

RG

P.S. They also have a 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8 with 70k on the clock that I'm considering
 
I have read that they eat gearboxes, if they have just changed from the 2nd to the 3rd one you should be OK, otherwise . . . . . . :sad:
 
the other me said:
I have read that they eat gearboxes, if they have just changed from the 2nd to the 3rd one you should be OK, otherwise . . . . . . :sad:

I assume you are talking about the RR? I haven't read too much on Cayenne issues.
 
There was a thread on here recently about remapping the turbo, and I seem to remember Ken from 9e alluding to the fact that they lunched gearboxes. . . . maybe "standard" cars are OK, but I seemed to recall it being touted as a weakness.

Nothing mentioned on honest john.com mind you, & there are enough of them around that someone on here should know better than my 2nd/3rd hand gossip.
 
Ive driven a cayenne on an off road track and i thought it was amazeing , i couldn,t belive just how good they are so imho i would go for a Cayenne over a Range rover any day .. but i doubt Range rover owners would agree with me lol.

Gearbox problems , whilst possible , there have been some , its not a huge amount.

Its more likley running gear issues have been caused by fitting incorrect tyres , fitting mixed makes / sizes on the same axle is pretty bad for them , even to the point of fitting a new tyre on one side and haveing a very worn one on the other side same axle.

Its to do with the rolling circumference and the stability management but ill not bother with details , basically just dont do it !

Coolant pipes are a problem , theres a mod from the original type but that should have been done long ago.

Make sure ALL electrics are working ok , they are starting to show their ages now and electrics can be expensive.

NO rattles from engine , they can suffer from bore wear so if it rattles dont touch it , although again there are not a huge amount with this problem.

Vibration at speed can indicate a worn propshaft bearing , Opc £1k to fix , independants change center bearing so £300 ish ..

Check brakes , not cheap for a full set.

Air suspension , run it from low setting to high setting , if the compressor keeps cutting out to recharge or is noisy then a new compressor is on the cards.

Other than that just drive the car and see how it feels , youll soon know if it doesnt feel right as you would with any car.

Oh ... they do eat the petrol if you start flooring it .. although its good fun :)
 
Thanks for the info.

Had a chat with a specialist in Dublin and he asked why I wasn't interested in the n/a V8. I explained my concerns over the Ausil (???) bore coatings. He said in 20 years servicing Porkers he's seen it twice! The regualr V8 could now be an option for me.....and they are a lot cheaper......

I also went to see a CLS55 AMG during the week. Wow :D

RG
 
PeterS has a 955 Turbo so I'm sure he'll be along to give you the low down.

In relation to lunching gearboxes with odd rolling circumference tyres on same axle, that will be the 'transfer box' not the auto gearbox. This can affect all 4x4 but there is usually enough tolerance to off-set a new v old tread tyre but the advice will be swap in pairs.

Gearbox will be a Merc unit I suspect and therefore should be bulletproof although at that mileage I'd expect an oil change which will freshen it up.

Owning a 958 Cayenne and having driven Range Rover (not Evoque) they are very different cars. RR is without doubt the smoothest and king of the Kings Road in terms of comfort whereas the Cayenne is built more from a sport platform so drives and rides very different, more precise and less like a barge.

Given a choice (and I'm talking new Range Rover as earlier ones are not most reliable I'm told) between a RR and a Cayenne I'd have a RR but not when it would cost be an extra £30k on what I paid :oops: Plus two Porsche is better than one :roll:
 
Yup

I've more or less discounted the RR having read the FULLFATRR forums. Regardless of preventative maintenance they seem to need a rebuild anywhere from 50k to 100k.

As regards tyres I've always changed in pairs. Just something I do. If one of the removed tyres was in particularly good condition I would keep it as an emergency spare.

The merc 7g gearboxes in the standard cls seem to give trouble and this requires a €5k (main dealer price) rebuild. I'm currently researching if the amg 5 speed unit has any issues.

Thanks

RG
 

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