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So I was missing the Wrangler and came across a 2008 Cayenne GTS on Ebay and thought, why not. Cayenne is supposed to be really good off road and while South Florida has nothing but mud, I asked the guy a bunch of questions and flew to VA to pick it up and drive it home. Car was somewhat of a gamble, terrible pics and no real description but I lucked out with a decent amount of maintenance but found the clear coat on the roof was gone and the hood wasn't far behind. The headliner had also fallen and while not the end of the world, the paint almost made me fly back home but...I ended up driving it.
Interior needed a good clean This was painted so I stripped it and while it looks better, I’m going to replace it. Random Pep Boys accessories
Passenger seat looked ok, driver is worn but no tears. Sent the skins off so they could make new ones Failed roof Hood is better Removed emblems (they had been painted red with maybe nail polish) and vinyl wrapped the trim piece below the window. It had a fake carbon type spoiler stuck to it and is destroyed the black plastic when removed. Pulled the interior apart to try and fix the headliner Little shampoo Added CarPlay
Now that it was looking better and my wife didn’t hate seeing it in our driveway, it was time for mechanical things. Car drove pretty well but had a service now error, tpms error, and brake light error along with some really bad tires. A scan revealed a few more codes but it seems the battery maybe too small so I’m hoping that will fix them.
Third brake light is a common issue, an led goes out and it throws the code so I’m waiting to receive that. While waiting I changed the cabin filter, ordered an oil change kit, front and rear differential fluids, transfer case fluid, along with air filters to get those cleaned up. Also ordered a bunch of random clips to put the engine covers back on, they were just hanging and cleaned it up.
Ordered and ceramic coated some 18’s
It has air ride so these pics were taken at the highest setting but it will drop once you hit 50. I’ve ordered a 2 inch lift, which will be about .5 inches higher then seen and will allow the air to stay in normal mode.
Still a bunch of little things I want to do and I’ll have to address the hood and roof but for now, it’s looking much better.
Now that it was looking better and my wife didn’t hate seeing it in our driveway, it was time for mechanical things. Car drove pretty well but had a service now error, tpms error, and brake light error along with some really bad tires. A scan revealed a few more codes but it seems the battery maybe too small so I’m hoping that will fix them.
Third brake light is a common issue, an led goes out and it throws the code so I’m waiting to receive that. While waiting I changed the cabin filter, ordered an oil change kit, front and rear differential fluids, transfer case fluid, along with air filters to get those cleaned up. Also ordered a bunch of random clips to put the engine covers back on, they were just hanging and cleaned it up.
Ordered and ceramic coated some 18’s
It has air ride so these pics were taken at the highest setting but it will drop once you hit 50. I’ve ordered a 2 inch lift, which will be about .5 inches higher then seen and will allow the air to stay in normal mode.
Still a bunch of little things I want to do and I’ll have to address the hood and roof but for now, it’s looking much better.
Last edited by 1StGenCL; Aug 30, 2022 at 07:32 AM.
Holy shit that looks awesome! How has working on it been so far? Buying an older Cayenne is something I've always wanted to do but never had the balls to follow through with it.
These look so great in 'Overland' guise.
Curious how bad the P-car tax is on these compared to the 911/Boxster/Cayman.
Car market is all over right now but Cayennes seem pretty in line with a normal SUV, maybe a bit higher. Obviously, the turbos pull more money and even the GTS’s like mine but nothing crazy (turbo S’s are a touch crazy). This one continued to drop in price online because the guy had terrible pics, turbo badges on the hood, carbon tape in random places like below (it looked like the interior was destroyed in his one pic because it wasn’t clear it was tape), and only had a one sentence description reading something like ‘excellent shape and 22 inch wheels.’
Just looked rough and not cared for; I actually came across a few people watching it, when I joined a cayenne off road group, they thought it was trashed.
If my dad was still working at the race shop & I could get P-parts for cheap-er, I'd give them a look.
He's back at Chevrolet now, so back to looking at Tahoes/Suburbans for the Flex replacement.
I want to see this in person.
Looks like you're on your way to a solid build!
how did I not notice how bad that vinyl tape job was?!?! HOLY FUCK
Pulled that shit off on the 14 hour drive home, it was like 6 pieces per handle, so weird.
Forgot to mention the brakes failed at low speeds on the way home, scary. He had the pads and rotors done at an Indy shop in July (even had a receipt) but I guess they don’t know how to bleed.
Holy shit that looks awesome! How has working on it been so far? Buying an older Cayenne is something I've always wanted to do but never had the balls to follow through with it.
I don't know how I missed your comment, I honestly was wondering what your feedback would be when I posted. So far, it's not bad and parts aren't crazy expensive. I didn't love the look of the 955 and read a lot about bore scoring so I steered away. From what I've read, the 957 is a solid platform and even the air suspension, is relatively reliable. I'm chasing vacuum line leaks, which is annoying but so far, nothing crazy.
GTS has a really nice interior and I'm shocked to see how many "modern" features it has. Other benefit is I think it's aged well and so do my neighbors, they all keep telling us how rich we are
Rich in love, for sure.
Try taking off the engine covers and use a flashlight at night. I don't know why but I feel like I see more clearly at night. I bet you'll find the vacuum leak. Plus the brakekleen spraying around to hear a change at idle.
I don't know how I missed your comment, I honestly was wondering what your feedback would be when I posted. So far, it's not bad and parts aren't crazy expensive. I didn't love the look of the 955 and read a lot about bore scoring so I steered away. From what I've read, the 957 is a solid platform and even the air suspension, is relatively reliable. I'm chasing vacuum line leaks, which is annoying but so far, nothing crazy.
GTS has a really nice interior and I'm shocked to see how many "modern" features it has. Other benefit is I think it's aged well and so do my neighbors, they all keep telling us how rich we are
Dude, the earlier Cayennes and Touaregs were beasts off road. They aren't going to rock crawl or anything but they'll take you to some cool places. Make sure you use it like you're building it to be!
I agree, wasn't a fan of the 955 design, the 957 looks a lot better.
Congrats!! great work on cleaning it up and fixing the seats. Who did the new seat covers?
FWIW, my older brother is a connoisseur of Cayenne's. He's had three, 2004 Turbo V8, 2008 V6, and 2013 GTS. Still has the last two, they are quite solid SUV's.
Pretty well engineered.
Congrats!! great work on cleaning it up and fixing the seats. Who did the new seat covers?
FWIW, my older brother is a connoisseur of Cayenne's. He's had three, 2004 Turbo V8, 2008 V6, and 2013 GTS. Still has the last two, they are quite solid SUV's.
Pretty well engineered.
Thanks! I’ve done katzkin seats and they were oem like but they didn’t have anything. Lseats had the regular cayenne but not the gts with the alcantara centers but they were super cool and told me if I send my skins in, they’ll make them and charge me half. I put some of their leather in an old truck and while it wasn’t katzkin level, it was pretty nice so we’ll see. Company has been super nice to work with though.
Thanks! I’ve done katzkin seats and they were oem like but they didn’t have anything. Lseats had the regular cayenne but not the gts with the alcantara centers but they were super cool and told me if I send my skins in, they’ll make them and charge me half. I put some of their leather in an old truck and while it wasn’t katzkin level, it was pretty nice so we’ll see. Company has been super nice to work with though.
Thanks for those two companies, didn't know of them and I'm looking to replace the leather seats in my '05 TL and Lseats have some nice options there.
You may wanna pick up some large Torx bits, IIRC the Cayenne V8 right engine mount was a T40 or T45
Last edited by Legend2TL; Sep 2, 2022 at 09:19 AM.
Lots of torx and triple squares and yes, katzkin makes some awesome stuff. Lseats is way less expensive and has a lot more selection, I’ll let you know how these turn out.
In other news, replaced the 1.5 year old battery with an agm and my two random codes disappeared. Also replaced the third brake light so that error is gone as well!
Lots of torx and triple squares and yes, katzkin makes some awesome stuff. Lseats is way less expensive and has a lot more selection, I’ll let you know how these turn out.
In other news, replaced the 1.5 year old battery with an agm and my two random codes disappeared. Also replaced the third brake light so that error is gone as well!
Does your GTS have the aluminum or plastic coolant water pipe in the middle of the engine V? My brother's 2004 Turbo had the plastic and it had a total failure (dumped all the coolant in a few seconds in traffic) which fortunately didn't result in any engine damage. THere are aftermarket aluminum coolant pipes available.
Does your GTS have the aluminum or plastic coolant water pipe in the middle of the engine V? My brother's 2004 Turbo had the plastic and it had a total failure (dumped all the coolant in a few seconds in traffic) which fortunately didn't result in any engine damage. THere are aftermarket aluminum coolant pipes available.
This was a major issue on the 955 and a costly fix. The 957, like mine, addressed it, kind of. They upgraded the pipes but still used plastic and they fail, luckily, mine were replaced two years ago with the thermostat and housing.
So the Rockstar saved me again on suspension and made this lift possible. It now sits 2 inches higher and while the air suspension can lift even higher, it destroys axels and such.
Also did some maintenance items like transfer case fluid, front and rear differentials, oil, sunroof drain plug cleaning, and swapped out the foggy blinker housing along with white leds all around.
This was all in the driver side sunroof drain, not sure how.
Made this minor change with Brian from Paint Society, Jeremy the Rockstar, along with Fonzi and Gabe over at dipyourcar. Really great experience and very nice of DYC to host and Brian to film and throw up a quick video. Dip came out incredible smooth and I hope it will minimize trail stripes, assuming I ever made it out there.
Looks fantastic
I've been contemplating going a few years older & getting something to do similar, maybe a Lexus GX.
But, my tastes change daily, so who knows where I'll fall when I'm ready to pull the trigger.
Looks fantastic
I've been contemplating going a few years older & getting something to do similar, maybe a Lexus GX.
But, my tastes change daily, so who knows where I'll fall when I'm ready to pull the trigger.
Do it! Love the GX but I was going for weird and when I read how well this does off road, I was in.
Thanks for those two companies, didn't know of them and I'm looking to replace the leather seats in my '05 TL and Lseats have some nice options there.
