2004 Porsche Cayenne Turbo

The vendor’s father has been the car’s only owner since he bought it new back in 2004, so he can personally vouch for the 52,000 miles on the odometer – and if you doubt his word then the MOT record supports him too, as does the no-expense-spared service history…

With a price of £65,488 in the showroom, this Titanium Metallic Grey car is also fully loaded including a smooth black leather interior, an electric tilt/slide sunroof, a spare wheel, the CD autochanger, TV tuner, and telephone module combo plus coloured wheel centres and a garage door opener.

Still wearing its original panels and paint at a time when so many have been thrashed ‘n’ crashed by one or more of their 12 previous keepers, this one is a solid, unpretentious example of an ever-popular model that drives very well and has years of life left in it yet.

Only being sold because it isn’t being used (just take a look at how few miles it’s covered since the last MOT), the deal is further sweetened by the fact that it’s being offered with a very, very sensible reserve…

The Titanium Metallic Grey coachwork is in fine fettle. With great panel gaps that support the vendor’s claim that the panels and paint are still the originals, there’s a distinct absence of the sort of dents, dinks and other car-park damage that betray a less-than-caring previous owner.

There’s also a great shine to the paint and the colour, along with a winning mixture of matt black and chrome trim, gives the Cayenne a hewn-from-solid appearance that suits its shape perfectly. It really is a great design and one that stands up well, even two decades later.

The light lenses are all in great shape too, as are the badges and the glazing and the bright red brake calipers. A set of new numberplates have freshened it up too, and the overall presentation is good.

The Cayenne comes with a full set of 20-inch Sport Techno alloy wheels. These are in great shape with only a small scuff to the offside front rim to detract from their appearance. They are also fitted with a set of four matching Michelin tyres.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Aside from the usual stonechips and minor marks every car collects over the years there are some stone chips to the sill area (#93) plus a small area of rust starting on the rear of the nearside and offside sills (#94 and #96) and the both front wheelarches (#177 and #179). There is also some peeling trim, as you can see in slide #101.

If you can imagine a set of leather seats that’ve only been polished for 50,000 miles-worth of backsides then you’ve nailed the condition of these; with only light creasing and no damage whatsoever, they’re in a remarkable condition for seats that are almost old enough to vote.

Bloomin’ comfortable too, and the front ones are as supportive as you’d imagine a company with Porsche’s sporting past and a 444bhp, twin-turbo V8 under the bonnet. They’re heated and electrically adjustable to boot, which is always nice when the mercury dips.

The rest of the interior is in good shape including the suede-like headlining, the door cards, and the dashboard. A nice touch are the carpets, which are protected by both fabric and rubber overmats. It might be a small thing to mention but aren’t you reassured to see this level of care having been taken to protect the underlying carpets?

It all works in there too, and the clarity and ergonomics will blow the minds of anyone stepping into it from an older 911...

The boot, complete with that extra-cost space-saver spare wheel and the factory tool kit, is in similarly good shape. The retractable rear luggage space cover is still in place and working as it should too but then that’s not a surprise, is it?

Sure, there are a few marks on the leather seats, plus the odd mark on the interior door handles but there’s nothing so vulgar as serious wear or damage, which means there’s nothing that would worry us in the slightest.

The service and repair history is comprehensive, and there are invoices and/or stamps in the book for the following:

• 02.06.2006 and 6,136 miles – service and fresh brake fluid by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield

• 07.11.2008 and 15,945 miles – service plus new spark plugs and eight new ignition coil packs by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield at a cost of £1,748

• 06.01.2009 and 16,963 miles – new PSM sensor by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield

• 06.01.2011 and 24,043 miles – service, fresh brake fluid, and the air-conditioning serviced by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield

• 08.01.2013 and 27,739 miles – service including new spark plugs, fresh brake fluid and the air-conditioning serviced by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield at a cost of just under £1,400

• 06.08.2013 and 29,113 miles – new discs and pads plus miscellaneous fettling by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield at a cost of over £3,600

• 17.06.2014 and 32,371 miles – service and four new tyres by the Porsche Centre, Hatfield at a cost of just over £2,000

• 07.05.2015 and 38,483 miles – new power steering rack by Jaz, independent Porsche specialist, at a cost of £1,581

• 12.01.2016 and miles – new battery and four-wheel-drive servo motor by Jaz at a cost of £1,118

• 29.06.2016 and 42,731 miles – new rear discs and pads by John Charles Auto Ltd

• 19.02.2018 and 45,116 miles – major service including a new drive belt and a set of spark plugs by Jaz at a cost of almost £1,100

• 07.08.2020 and 50,256 miles – service by Jaz plus new front discs and pads, repairs to the power steering and new tie rods at a cost of £4,423

• 19.01.2021 (unknown) miles – a new power steering pump by Jaz

As you can imagine, we’re impressed with how well this one-owner-from-new example has been looked after. Hell, it was even MOT’d at the Porsche dealer in Hatfield for years and if that’s not dedication to the marque then we don’t know what is.

This means that it drives as well as it should, which is to say very well indeed. As you can see in the video, it starts promptly, ticks over beautifully, and revs like a Porsche should. Nor were there any thunks or untoward noises on the test drive, either.

The underbonnet is a little dusty but no more, and the plastic panels either side of the engine bay serve to emphasize that gorgeous V8 engine in addition to tidying the place up nicely.

The underside is a little crusty in places but it doesn’t look to be anything serious and we think a couple of hours with a wire brush and a pot of underseal could see it arrested easily enough.

NB: The check engine oil light is on. We’ve checked the level and it appears to be fine, so that will need looking at. Also, the cruise control light stays on. Again, we’ve no idea why this is but it doesn’t seem to be as a result of any fault we can see.

The Porsche’s MOT history, the certificate of which is valid until June 2021, shows a gradual accrual of miles over the years, something that along with the service history supports the vendor’s claim that the mileage is genuine.

Speaking of MOTs, the eagle eyed among you will have spotted a couple of comments about an engine oil leak over the years. The vendor tells us that this was not engine oil at all but power steering fluid from the leaks that plagued the car for a while. These have all been sorted at huge expense, as you can see from the attached invoices!

It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years in addition to the owner’s handbook, fully stamped service history, book pack, and storage wallet. It also has two sets of keys.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

The Cayenne Turbo comes as close as any car does to providing the space and lofty driving position that tempted families into an SUV in the first place as well as the handling and performance that made Porsche famous – and that it still does after almost two decades on the road is testament to the engineering diligence for which the German firm is synonymous.

Of course, this counts for naught if a car has been abused and neglected, a something you want to avoid no matter how tempting the ‘screen price…

No, what you want is an immaculately fettled, one-owner-from-new example with sensible miles and a rock-solid paper trail to back it up.

A car like this, in other words. Only gently patinated and with years of life left in it yet, it’s all the family car you’ll ever need, able to tackle rutted tracks and derestricted autobahn with equal aplomb, all the while being as easy to drive in the city as a Fiesta.

It’s not as if it’s going to set you back a fortune, either. With a guide price of between £11,000 and £16,000, it won’t break the bank – and while the fuel costs might be a challenge, because an awful lot of the heavy lifting has already been carried out by the car’s previous owner - much of it recent - a following wind might even see it being cheap to own overall.

Viewing is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.