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Paul O's 5 Great Years with a Gen1 Cayenne!


Paul O

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Thankyou to all of you who've taken the time to reply to me on this thread, sorry if I've not had chance to reply to your posts personally, but I do read and appreciate all the contributions.

 

CHRISTMAS UPDATE - SERVICE TIME

The annual service is due again on the Cayenne after ten thousand relatively pain free miles this year. This has been completed by Porsche Euro specialists in Barnsley, my regular technicians who have worked on most of my cars throughout the years of my Porsche ownership.

This time around it was a major service and it was also due new spark plugs, a new wiper blade, a side light had blown a few days ago so this was also replaced and the brake fluid was changed too. Another recent niggle was that the glovebox would only close with a dramatic shove, rather than a gentle tap. John at Porsche Euro informed that the latch is adjustable and it has probably become misaligned. A few minutes of Johns spannering later and I was back to the gentle-joy of glovebox closure. Marvellous!

Service was all completed whilst I sat in their warm office, working on my laptop with a dose of free Wi-Fi. The Cayenne was given a good once-over and signed off a clean bill of health with no advisories. Brakes and tyres are all looking fine which is great to hear, so here is to another 12 months of happy motoring!

Two years on - cost reflection

We will have owned the Cayenne for two years from next month and as we enter our third year of this ownership experience I thought I'd reflect on the journey so far and the costs of running a 'luxury SUV'. Overall, I am still immensely impressed at the value for money proposition that a now twelve year old 121,000 mile car can offer. So without further ado here is the costs of running the Cayenne over just short of 24 months:

The car was due a service when I bought it which started things off:

  • Minor service, wiper blades and brake fluid: £254
  • Number plates for my personal registration: £20
  • Valet to get rid of the smoke smell (can't remember the cost, lets say £80)
  • New key fob (it only came with one and I wanted two): £239
  • Alternator refurb and refit: £216
  • 4x budget tyres (Top-notch stuff isn't really required for our use): £350
  • Annual / Oil Change service: £118
  • MOT: £88
  • Window Regulator and new rear glass micro switch: £330
  • Major service including spark plugs and brake fluid, plus a new rear wiper blade and front side light bulb: £394
  • TWO YEAR MAINTAINENCE TOTAL (not including insurance or tax): 2089

Depreciation: I believe the car is worth approximately £5-6k as it stands, which puts depreciation at its worst at £2k, best £1k over 24 months.

  • Worst Case (including depreciation) overall TOTAL: £4089 (£170 per month)
  • Best Case (including depreciation) overall TOTAL: 3089 (£128 per month)

I've said it before and I'm really happy with this car so far. It hasn't given me too much grief, particularly notable given its age. It still seems to turn heads and attract admiring glances (either that or its one of repulsion, but I like to think it isn't that!). It is wearing exceptionally well inside which is good for us as we use the car for all every day duties, be that road trip journeys on holiday packed full of luggage, regular commutes, trips to the local tip and everything in between. Sweets, papers, sticky lollipops and drinks bottle often end up left in the car but a quick clean up with Autoglym and it looks pretty much as good as new.

I also like the satnav in this car. It's missing full postcode searching so it takes a bit of time to get it ready and make sure you are going to end up on the correct street, but once up and running I find its pretty good. It knows about all the major traffic problems and will divert accordingly and has saved me a big queue on several occasions.

The only comfort options that I miss on this car are heated seats and cruise control. I could have the latter retrofitted, but its only perhaps once per month when I'm on a particular journey where it would have been handy. Heated seats in the winter on that cold leather however would have been nice. But, for my purchase price of just seven grand, I'm not complaining.

Running up the total has made me quite happy at the cost of this car. Its a big luxo tank, with what I consider acceptable running costs. But it looks perhaps more expensive than it really is and for some reason the market doesn't really like them. This hits the value and therefore makes them a fantastic used buy.

Tomorrow I'll give the car a good interior valet and then take it for a bath at our local car wash to finish off the year with a sparkle. Merry Christmas!

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  • 1 month later...

JANUARY UPDATE - TAX!

A short and not terribly sweet blog update. The Cayenne is due its 12 months tax renewal. Here in the UK all cars which go on the road have to be taxed, and the costs of this vary depending on either the size of the engine, or the emissions its produces. The category in which you fall in to depends on the date the car was registered. Pre-2006 cars go on the engine size, rather than emissions, which means a renewal for my Cayenne 3.2 this year is £305. Ouch. Still, it could be worse, the post-2006 petrol models will be in the £535 annual tax bracket, so there is an upside in there somewhere!

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On 26/01/2018 at 5:29 PM, Paul O said:

Pre-2006 cars go on the engine size, rather than emissions, which means a renewal for my Cayenne 3.2 this year is £305. Ouch.

Not really ouch. Consider the difference between that and a lower tax rate, and add that difference onto your two-year running cost. In that perspective it's very low.

Paul, what mileage are you doing in this? 5, 10, 15k?

Edited by Menoporsche
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Just now, Menoporsche said:

Not really ouch. Consider the difference between that and a lower tax rate, and add that difference onto your two-year running cost. In that perspective it's very low.

Paul, what mileage are you doing in this? 5, 10, 15k?

True, but its not as good as "Free tax", so it still stings. :D

Mileage so far has been around 10k per year. trying to get that lower this year, but currently on track for about 9k - although I'd like to get to 6k, just to see if it is possible to actually reduce travel by that much without affecting lifestyle and job etc. :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

MOT!

I was idly browsing the web last Thursday, checking out the MOT history of prospective new purchases and thought I'd check when the MOT for the Cayenne was due. The answer? Two weeks ago. Whoops! A quick call to my local MOT centre and they could only get me in for today (Monday). Duly booked and I dropped it off this afternoon, it returned with a clean bill of health and no advisories.

Hurrah! All good for another 12 months. :)

Current mileage: 125,000. Recently I gave it a lovely clean inside and finished it off with a "New car Smell" air freshener. Smells lovely, drives lovely.   

Edited by Paul O
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On 26/02/2018 at 4:14 PM, Paul O said:

MOT!

I was idly browsing the web last Thursday, checking out the MOT history of prospective new purchases and thought I'd check when the MOT for the Cayenne was due. The answer? Two weeks ago. Whoops! A quick call to my local MOT centre and they could only get me in for today (Monday). Duly booked and I dropped it off this afternoon, it returned with a clean bill of health and no advisories.

Hurrah! All good for another 12 months. :)

Current mileage: 125,000. Recently I gave it a lovely clean inside and finished it off with a "New car Smell" air freshener. Smells lovely, drives lovely.   

You can get a reminder from gov.uk, can't remember detail, but with my memory it has proved to be a god send!

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2 minutes ago, Rev Ken said:

You can get a reminder from gov.uk, can't remember detail, but with my memory it has proved to be a god send!

You are quite correct, i have set them up for my vehicles having suffered the exact same affliction as @Paul O recently :laugh:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Stuff Broke.

Last year I had the passenger side window regulator replaced as, over time the metal cabling starts to fray and eventually it no longer gets the window up and down in a manner that you'd expect. Or at all. Seeing the decayed old one when John at Porsche Euro had worked his magic, it seemed inevitable that the drivers side one would go in the not-too-distant-future. That future arrived last week, when the sound of what appears to be crushing glass started coming from the drivers door. It isn't actually crushing glass, but its a good description of the sound as the frayed wires try their best to move the glass to where you want it to be.

I took the car in today and John had it sorted in the space of a couple of hours. He even gave me an Easter egg for my daughter. Oooh, a kind man he is. :)

And so, as the Cayenne enters what will probably be its final year in the Paul O household, I'm hoping for a maintenance free 12 months from hereon in. Fingers crossed! :) 

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  • 7 months later...

UPDATE

The Cayenne has just started its service countdown reminder - we are now at 1,500 miles to service which should take me to the end of the year and we are on target to have completed 9,000 miles in this car, which was what I'd hoped to achieve (bringing us up to circa 133,000 miles), whilst it still being our prominent daily driver. Less miles is good for the environment, good for my health and good for other commuters with one less car knocking about at the busy times! :)

In advance of the service, I thought I'd tally up the costs to date as we are just a few months away from the three year ownership mark (which will be 3rd January 2019).

COMPLETE COST OF OWNERSHIP UP TO THREE YEAR MARK [ANTICIPATED]

The car was due a service when I bought it which started things off:

  • Minor service, wiper blades and brake fluid: £254
  • Number plates for my personal registration: £20
  • Valet to get rid of the smoke smell (can't remember the cost, lets say £80)
  • New key fob (it only came with one and I wanted two): £239
  • Alternator refurb and refit: £216
  • 4x budget tyres (Top-notch stuff isn't really required for our use): £350
  • Annual / Oil Change service: £118
  • MOT: £88
  • Window Regulator and new rear glass micro switch: £330
  • Major service including spark plugs and brake fluid, plus a new rear wiper blade and front side light bulb: £394
  • Replacement of driver side Window regulator: £258
  • [Anticipated] Oil Change service: £118
  • [Anticipated] Front Tyres: £200 (Black Circles)
  • THREE YEAR ANTICIPATED MAINTENANCE TOTAL (not including insurance or tax): 2665 (£74 per month)

Depreciation: I believe the car is worth approximately £3.5-4k as it stands, which puts depreciation at its worst at £3.5k, best £3k over 36 months.

  • Worst Case (including depreciation) overall TOTAL: £4089 (£171 per month)
  • Best Case (including depreciation) overall TOTAL: 3089 (£157 per month)

There are some factors to consider here when looking at these figures. The anticipated costs are over the next month or two, however, if I was to sell the car now, the overall cost figures would be lower. That said, I'd be more likely to get the 'worst case' resale value as the car would require work. Equally the car might require more work at service time when John has inspected it.

There is also the question of 'to keep or not to keep'. Three years is nearly up and I've got lots of other cars still on my to-do list! But I still really, really like this car - more than any car I've ever owned. It is getting on a bit, so I'm wondering if I should cut and run whilst the going it good, but I'm not sure if I'd like anything else as much as this, especially given its value! Our Beetle is also approaching three years old and we're looking at a replacement. The strong contender is the new Jaguar E-Pace. Having two SUV type cars would be a trifle unnecessary, but we're still debating what to do with the 'fleet' at the minute - including the Bumblebee Camaro.

OTHER TO DO

But, if I do decide to keep, there are a few things on the target list for early next year which will need to be addressed:

  • One of the rear towing-eye plastic flaps has peeled its paint and it needs respraying. I need to find a match for that colour without it costing the earth. I've tried a breakers yard to just get the cover but they will only sell the full bumper assembly, which I don't want or need.
  • The rear window hatch still isn't working. Every time I take it back to John at Porsche Euro it magically springs to life, only to die again an hour later and never work until I go back! Very frustrating but it needs fixing.
  • The scratch I caused on the front wing needs repairing.
  • The cover on the rear hook next to the grab handle in the rear has broken and is now hanging loose. I need to get that replaced, and will ask John about it at service time.

So, there we have it! Overall it has been a very reliable car up to date, with only a few bits and pieces requiring replacement during my tenure so far. These are seriously good cars for the money. :wub:

Edited by Paul O
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  • 2 months later...

Happy new year! 

We purchased the Cayenne on the 31st January 2016, so we'll have owned it for three years in a couple of weeks time.

RUNNING COSTS SUMMARY

The overall costs above are pretty much accurate, but for completeness, here are the actual costs from the anticipated ones above:

  • Oil Change service: £120
  • New front headlight bulb from Porsche: 18
  • Front Tyres: £195 (Black Circles)
  • Tracking for tyres (they were wearing unevenly: £30

TOTAL RUNNING COST FOR 3 years ownership: £2710 (£75 a month).

Depreciation: I believe the car is worth approximately £3.5-4k, which puts depreciation at its worst at £3.5k, best £3k over 36 months.

COMPLETE COST OF RUNNING A CAYENNE FOR 3 YEARS (including worst depreciation) overall TOTAL: £6210 (£172 per month)
COMPLETE COST OF RUNNING A CAYENNE FOR 3 YEARS (including best depreciation) overall TOTAL: £5710 (£159 per month)

Not bad really for hulking great car with lots of luxury and high-up-ness. :)

 

In other news...

I've also fixed the grab handle cover as mentioned in an earlier post. This was a simple click-back-in job and so looks nice and neat again now. Unfortunately the spring loaded drinks holder for the rear passengers has now lost its springiness. A replacement would be a full unit, so need to see if I can get one from a breakers rather than paying Porsche prices for that.

I have got a new window-hatch latch on order from Porsche Euro so that will be fitted in the coming weeks, along with the MOT due end-Feb and road tax due at the end of the month. 

No decision made yet on whether to keep the Cayenne or change it. I'm tempted to keep it another six months at least and see what sort of mess Brexit does to our country, finances and car values before committing. But what I have decided is that I am going to keep the Camaro in the fleet for at least another year. Its just too much fun and too silly to part with, even if it is completely impractical in almost every measurable way. 😛

 

 

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Good right up, i might be in the market fro swapping out my Land Rover discovery for a Cayenne but running costs are a concern but i dont think they will be anymore than the Landy based on your write ups

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  • 1 month later...

Just a quick update to say that the Cayenne has passed its MOT test this week with no advisories, so all good for another year. :)

Total miles covered last year: 9,430 - a good number as I had set myself a challenge to travel less than 10,000 miles per year.

Total miles covered in my ownership so far: 33,999.

 

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  • 9 months later...

Four Years of Cayenne

Wow, doesn't time fly. Four years on and still going strong - I really do love this car for its comfort and do-all capability. As the Cayenne is now worth maybe £3k it is almost at the point where it isn't worth selling it unless I was to replace it with another SUV style car. But why would I do that? This one does the job fine.

Here is a roundup of costs of ownership for four years:

COMPLETE COST OF OWNERSHIP UP TO FOUR YEAR MARK

The car was due a service when I bought it which started things off:

  • Minor service, wiper blades and brake fluid: £254
  • Number plates for my personal registration: £20
  • Valet to get rid of the smoke smell (can't remember the cost, lets say £80)
  • New key fob (it only came with one and I wanted two): £239
  • Alternator refurb and refit: £216
  • 4x budget tyres (Top-notch stuff isn't really required for our use): £350
  • Annual / Oil Change service: £118
  • MOT: £88
  • Window Regulator and new rear glass micro switch: £330
  • Major service including spark plugs and brake fluid, plus a new rear wiper blade and front side light bulb: £394
  • Replacement of driver side Window regulator: £258
  • Oil Change service: £120
  • New front headlight bulb from Porsche: £18
  • Front Tyres: £195 (Black Circles)
  • Tracking for tyres (they were wearing unevenly: £30
  • 2019 - Rear Tyres (Black Circles) £188.50
  • 2019 - New wiper blades and fixing of the fuel flap switch (which broke so I couldn't open it). £90
  • 2019 - Minor Service £174

TOTAL RUNNING COSTS FOR 4 YEARS OWNERSHIP: £3162.50 (£65.88 per month).
DEPRECIATION (Purchased at £7k, I think it is now worth perhaps £3200): £3800 (£79.17 per month).

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP (not including tax, petrol or insurance):  £6962.50 (£145 per month).

So roughly, the ownership cost remains the same each year, but getting slightly cheaper as depreciation becomes less.

I have just had the annual service completed at Porsche Euro and asked them to check if anything would require doing in the near future and, as we head into year five of ownership, at around the same time as the MOT, the Cayenne will need some new front brake pads, which will cost me maybe £150-£200 fitted. Other than that I was musing with John at Euro that I might just keep it now until it dies, to which his reply was "It won't die". His experience is that these are built for far more rugged lifestyles than what mine is accostomed too and so it isn't going to rust away in the way that many other cars of the same vintage might. The engine in the V6 is one of the more solid units by the VAG group as well.

I also got a Christmas present from the guys at Euro! :) 

PorscheLegoPresent.jpg

The biggest downside to this car is the MPG, and now that I'm going to the office more often it is really noticable just how much this things downs its gallons of juice. It has made me consider purchasing an electric car, but if I go cheap-and-chearful on one of those (think Nissan Leaf!), it would actully be cost neutral due to the petrol savings of the Cayenne, leaving this big comfy hulk for family, weekend and holiday duties. And it'll give me more to write about too.

Over the past few months, we have moved house (cheeky photo just after we've moved in celebrating double-garageness below) and the Cayenne has served its role as a mini-van, carrying all of our cr*p too and from the tip.

Camaro_new_garage-2.jpg

New double garage, which will store two cars once all the cr*p is cleared out to the shed in the summer.

 

The Cayenne will be treated to a good clean over the coming weeks (pictures to follow).

So here is to many more years of Cayenne ownership! Maybe its time to update the SatNav/Stereo system with a bluetooth aftermarket jobby? 🤔

 

    Edited by Paul O
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    • 1 month later...

    MOT

    All good for another year, passed this month with flying colours. 

    My Cayenne is due a new set of front pads, as recommended by John at Euro at the service a couple of months ago. He said you could see the pad had started to peel away so definately a timely service item. £150ish lighter, but it's the first set of brakes I've had in 4 years so can't complain.

    Whilst there I also has the mot completed which passed with flying colours once again. Funnily when John took it to the test centre the mechanic joked "Ah, one of these. Has it got a check-engine light on?" John laughed and replied "No, he looks after this one". Apparently a lot of these older Cayennes are pretty unloved, which I guess reflects the prices on auto trader. Not mine however, I still love it - except for its.drinking abilities. And the tax - which was also paid this month at a cost of £325.

    Hopefully that's all the expense for this year aside from fuel, and insurance around May time.

    :)

     

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    18 minutes ago, Stuart21UK said:

    it cost £1000 for a set of 4 pads on our 62 plate Cayenne inc fitting by an indie :(

    wow, I had discs and pads all round on my touareg for 1200 and they are the exact same parts as cayenne...porsche tax!

     

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