Looking for Opinions on Cayenne Logevity

[Harness]

I have a 2004 Cayenne S with 99,000 miles on it. I bought it about three years ago with 28,000 miles on it. While I've put a lot of miles on it in three years, I don't drive nearly as much as I used to as I'm at a new job that doesn't require as much driving. I'm anticipating putting 18,000 miles per year on my Cayenne going forward.

I love my Cayenne a lot. I've got a laundry list of upgrades I've done to it and it has a great color combination (Blue Metalic over duo-tone gray leather interior). However, I have some concern about logevity. I am close to a point where I could sell it for just a little less than I owe on it. If I did that, I would just turn around and buy another Cayenne... probably a 2006 S which of course will require that I pay sales tax and other costs will increase with a newer, more valuable model. That woud also just stretch out the time until I own my car outright.

So, I would like to know if there are any high-mileage Cayenne owners out there that think a Cayenne like mine would be worth owning for another 3-4 years... like all the way up 175,000 miles. As far as I know, the engine and transmission are in good shape (no leaks either)... and I have already replaced the drive shaft and water pump which seem to affect everyone. Any other problems it has are minor and related to the electrical system (oddities with the PCM and such). I do a lot of my own maintenance/repair so my ownership costs aren't too bad. So, I'm pretty confident in the car overall, but I really have no idea if the engine/transmission in a Cayenne S can be trusted up to 175,000 miles... those are the two things that I worry about. Anything else can be fixed rather inexpensively by myself or my neighborhood mechanic.

I live in Missouri if that affects anyones opinion... we have all four seasons in all their glory and a pretty high humidity environment durning the summer months.

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[wvicary]

I think they are a reliable vehicle. You've already replaced some of the major item and the only other thing I can think of is the coolant pipes. I would put the miles on and enjoy.

[PTEC]

Agreed. I think the core components of the Cayenne are very reliable. As mentioned the coolant pipes are kind of a biggie, cardan shafts go out, water pumps get noisey, small things may go wrong but I think your operating costs will be lower than if you buy another slightly newer one.

[rizzo]

I have plan similar to yours... It seems that once the major TSB items are serviced they become more reliable. My front differential began to fail around 85K and I had it replaced at 92K. Coolant pipes went just before the differential swap. In one month I spent more than 5K on the car. Mine is an 04S

I'm Hoping to get another 90K before the next set of coolant pipes and differential.

Cheers.

[Streetcrawler]

I know of one over on Rennlist that has about 170K+ on it.

I see no reason why a modern Porsche or any other car should not last 500K+ with good treatment.

Most of the "wear" items are already worn. Most real issues show up in the first 30-50k. After that it is just taking care of it.

The 06 really is not going to do anything for you that your 04 doesn't.

I have owned several 300K mile cars that people around me thought were 50K mile cars.

[Harness]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the advice!

[carreracup03]

Keep it and enjoy.

[j3w]

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Funny -- I'm in exactly the same boat. Except for one thing: driveshaft, coolant pipes and front diff all went within the last two weeks.

I have a 2004 S that I loved dearly before it ate $5000 on me. I just turned over to 130,000 miles. From 80-now I had few problems aside from regular wear and tear items. So from that I'd say you might easily have 30,000 trouble free miles ahead of you.

[Cleavs007]

Just go for it, I'm in remote Australia and my 2004 3.2 Cayenne has just done over 200K and get hammered on dirt and rock roads all the time. Never misses a service though and have only had to replace suspension bushes as non service item. Awesome car and awesome engineering. Beats the crap out of the new Discovery III we had that had over 14 warrenty issues in the first 11 months. :drive:

Edited November 28, 2010 by Cleavs007

[CTTinTO]

Just go for it, I'm in remote Australia and my 2004 3.2 Cayenne has just done over 200K and get hammered on dirt and rock roads all the time. Never misses a service though and have only had to replace suspension bushes as non service item. Awesome car and awesome engineering. Beats the crap out of the new Discovery III we had that had over 14 warrenty issues in the first 11 months. :drive:

I'll vouch for the quality and engineering of these vehicles. I used to be a test engineer for a Japanese competitor and the Cayenne is was one of our benchmarks for our luxury SUV and the Cayenne was a far superior vehicle at that time. The general consensus was that the Cayenne was "over" engineered which to me will translate to longevity.

I would agree with most that if maintained regularly, there is no reason you cannot get at least 300k to 400k.

Keep it.