My new DD, 2015 Cayenne Diesel, the Anti-Porsche

Glad to hear it's being handled. We had a super minor impact where a Ford Fusion bumped into the back of ours in a drive through, and her license plate screws indented the bumper cover. That area is textured so it would be about impossible to repair it without it sticking out like a sore thumb, so they'd probably replace the whole bumper cover over it. There are lots of little things in body repair that aren't obvious at first glance and then turn into stupid money.  

As for the oil burning, I guess i should really check my oil huh. I did one oil change on it so far and it's been probably 5k since then. That would have been all 10 qts gone at the rate your Turbo was eating it! I can't predict how it will hold up long term but I've already seen a wrecked 4.5 S languish on CL for $750 with noone buying it so I assume a replacement engine would not be a total dealbreaker for me. I'd still rather it just get wrecked into and totaled so my insurance can give me more than I paid. Then i can go get a turbo and double down on mechanical risks! Hell, if enough people run into me I could trade all the way up to one like yours! Buy low, wreck high..

I was super unhappy when my oil consumption doubled.  Although when I asked on the CTT Facebook group, most of the guys with mileage around mine had the same consumption issues.  So somewhere around 140k miles is when either the turbos go bad or oil control rings do. 

I'd keep a close eye on oil usage, I'd be checking it every other fill up for sure.

The tow hitch go a pretty good hit, so maybe that needs to be replaced.  It punched a pretty good sized hole in the other guys car, that's for sure.  If we hadn't had the hitch on it would've been far uglier for us.

Looked over the appraisal when my wife came home.  New rear bumper cover and paint, body work on the hatch and paint and a new tow hitch.  The tow hitch was crazy expensive, $2200!  Probably end up with a new bumper beam too once they get the cover off.

Happy the tow hitch was there, would've been more damage to the SUv without it, so it was the sacrificial piece.

Got the truck back, they ended up not replacing the tow hitch.  Came out looking good.  Car was due to emissions, have to take it to a diesel service shop that also does the emissions.  After paying the bend you over $80 fee, it passed no sweat.

I also had to fill up the DEF.  Car was going to shut off in 400 miles.  Had to remind my wife, again, to not ignore what the car says to her!  I swear she's gonna be stranded one day.

Found out on Rennlist there's a service campaign to update the DEF heater, made the appointment today for that, dealer will fix it in two weeks. 

Payed the renewal fee for the plates, OUCH!!!  State tacked on $100 of fees on top of the actual registration fee.  Dammit....

Otherwise another oil change in 1000 miles and it's running fine...

Interesting.  I’ve been thinking about ditching my RAM and getting a 2013ish Cayenne GTS instead.  Same power, same towing capacity, better offroad, roomier.....  and a Porsche.

In reply to AnthonyGS :

I think its the most reliable of the Cayenne's.  Performance after the "Fix" from Porsche/VW has suffered some.  My wife doesn't care.  When I drive it it's such a huge upgrade from the GX it's nice.  Throttle lag is what I notice the most about it vs the NA V8 in the GX...

Pressure washed the car today since it was filthy due to the storms we've been having.  Washer fluid warning is on, so I go pour some in.  To my dismay, it pours right out from behind the passenger front wheel!  Argh! 

At least its under warranty, so this is now the dealers problem.  It's already going to them on February 15th for a recall, they're replacing the DEF heater element.

Update!  SUV has been running well, my wife really likes it.   It needed more DEF so I filled the tank with 4+ gallons and did the factory reset procedure to clear the light.  Which went off, then a few days later came back on.  Argh!  Nothing I did could make it go away, so it had to go to the dealer to have them reset the light.  Happy for the warranty.

Last night I did another oil change and I tried out a new tool.  The oil changes on this SUV are incredibly dirty, partially because it's a diesel, so the oil is full of soot but also because of where the drain plug is.  The oil splashes onto the cross member, then splatters everywhere, no matter where you have your drain pan.

I've had a Griots Garage oil extractor for close to twenty years but it hasn't been working well, so I haven't been using it.  Turns out the thing has a lifetime warranty, so I returned it for a store credit (which I used for car washing/detail stuff) and I bought this oil extractor from ECS Tuning, Bav Auto used to sell it.  It's both manual pump and air supply powered and it can hold 10 quarts.

Worked like a charm!  Easiest, cleanest oil change on this SUV to date!  Sucked up around 8.5 quarts of oil, which is what I put back in.

Clean up was easy, just pour the oil into my oil tank.  What I really like is the tool has a spot for you to put the oil tubes so they drain back into the reservoir.  That way they don't drool used/dirty oil everywhere.

Solid win here, tool worked great, sucked the oil up using my air compressor in no time flat, was super clean and easy to use.  Whole oil change got done in maybe 20 minutes?  I can also use it on my Golf R, which is enlightened enough to still have an oil dipstick even in 2019.  My 911 Turbo doesn't have one but when I eventually drop the motor for maintenance I can add the one from a GT3.  Since that motor is  adry sump I suspect I'll still have to drain oil from underneath tho.

Sweet ride!

I too have a buyback Diesel, a 2.0 Golf. Love it so far for my 120+ mile a day commute, at about 75k now, bought it with 13k. Averaging 46 MPG, with just the stage 1 fix done.

Where is the oil filter on the bigger diesels? Thats the only pain on mine, its tucked up underneath by the radiator.

In reply to Georges1991 :

It's up in the engine bay, front passenger side of the motor.  Cartridge style, so with this extractor you don't have to get underneath the car, remove the bellypan and drain from the pan.  Everything is up top, same as my Golf R.  My 911 has the filter up top too, but since it's a dry sump engine with drains on the turbos too, I won't be able to use the extractor on it.

This car isn't as mandatory to put snow tires on as my R, since it's running DWS06's all seasons but (and it's a big but) my wife has a much longer commute than me, isn't nearly the driver I am (yes, I did just pat myself on the back) and the DWS06's are at the wear bars.

So on go the Hakka's for her car too.  Inspected the brakes, I need to do front pads/rotors ASAP and might as well flush the brake fluid at the same time.  Awesome.

Ordered up all the brake parts (pads, rotors, pad warning sensors, pad retaining clips) last Wednesday.  They were supposed to get delivered this past Saturday so I could install them and bleed the brakes this Saturday morning.

Well, FedEx brought me one box Saturday morning, everything but the rotors showed up.  Argh!  Since a signature is required I had to have them sent to my local FedEx store, who got them today.  Oh well, guess I know what I'll be installing this coming weekend...

Sweet. At 80k I haven't had to touch the brakes yet on my TDI but the box with rotors and pads is sitting in the garage. I bought them because they were on sale. Oh well lol.

What's the avg economy so far?

In reply to Georges1991 :

Think she's getting in the upper 20's mpg wise with it.

Picked up the rotors for it last night.  Will do the front brakes and bleed/flush the system this Saturday,

It's a looker!  I keep wanting to upgrade to a newer model, but I also want a Quattroporte GT-S. And another 911. Blehhhh. 

In reply to Vigo :

Just buy them all!

Did the brakes yesterday.  Pretty straightforward job but I don't like these monoblock calipers.  Having to put the pads in from the bottom vs being able to pop them in from the top is a pita, especially when you have to compress multiple pistons etc.

It stops MUCH better now and the pedal feel is outstanding again and will just get better over the next week or so as the pads break in more.

I made the necessary blood sacrifice to the german car gods, of course

Old pads were definitely done!

Porsche released a new software update for the "fix".  I had it done a few weeks ago and I'm happy to report that it drives *much* better!  Nowhere near the throttle lag it used to have and much smoother.  My wife says she can't tell the difference.  Ha!

Jumped in it to take my son to a playdate yesterday (still recovering from ankle surgery, hard to use a clutch) and glad I did.  Dash was lit up with warnings, tpms, oil service and AdBlue.  Which is the worse one, she had 250 more miles left!  The truck will literally turn off if you run it out of AdBlue (DEF) which I've warned her about ad nauseum.

So yesterday I took care of it all.  Oddly enough the almost brand new, air powered oil extractor refused to pull any oil out of the dipstick tube.  Don't get it, I've used it on this truck twice before without any issues.  Luckily the weather was nice enough for me to get the 911 off the lift and toss this on so I could do it old school.

Filled the DEF, it took ~4.5 gallons!  Also set the tire pressure, so hopefully the truck is good for another 5000 miles.  In another month or so I'll swap the summer wheels/tires back on, which need new tires.  If this virus thing is over with I'll get new tires.  Next oil change it's also due for a fuel filter.

55,000 miles on it so far, still working pretty well.  Warranty covered the analog clock on the dash, the seconds hand had fallen off.  No other issues with it, we have CPO coverage for another 1.5 years or so and emissions/powertrain coverage for another 4.5 years.

Ordered up the parts for 60k maintenance, part of them came in so I started knocking it out yesterday. 

Full list is:  Oil change, fill DEF, fuel filter change, engine air filter, cabin air filter, brake fluid flush, wipers and serpentine belt.

I got the filters  and wipers done.  I was about to do the serpentine belt when I checked the part number of the one on the truck, glad I did!  Turns out the one I got is 5mm too long, Pelican sent me a new one and an RMA#, so I'll send this one back.

Waiting on oil from ECS, then I'll do the rest.  SUV is running well, going to the dealer at the end of the month as the side mirror control switch isn't working anymore and the side mirror housings seem loose...

Just out of curiosity, how quickly do you go through AdBlue? I bought a cpo vw passat tdi about a year ago. So far, I have had about 2.5 gallons. This is my first modern deisel with def.

I fill it every time I do an oil change, so every 5000 miles.  It seems to go thru around 3.5-4 gallons in that time period, with my wife driving it.  (she drives like a grandma, I'd probably burn thru more)

Thanks.  I have only had the oil changed once in the time we have owned. I know the manufacturer says to change it on 10,000 mile cycle. I had my oil changed at the dealership because I currently do not have a garage and my driveway is gravel and not exactly level. I did not pay attention to how much they added to top off the def with the oil change. It does not get driven since my wife has been unemployed since the end of March.

BTW, I really like your Cayenne.

In reply to Chesterfield :

Porsche calls for 5000 mile oil changes, surprised its not the same in your VW.

Thanks! The Cayenne diesel is a unique vehicle, really economical, really nice to drive.  We'll see how it treats us over the next 40k miles and then decide if we're going to keep it outside of warranty...

We really like our Passat, it is not as sporty as the Acura it replaced, but the Passat gets significantly better gas mileage. Currently, diesel is cheaper than regular unleaded around where I live. The VW CPO had a pretty warranty as well.

Pelican Parts sent me the wrong serpentine belt twice.  Not their fault, their system said the Continental 6PK2523 was the right belt while the Porsche OEM belt is a 6PK 2518.  I returned both the Continental belts and ordered the Porsche one today.

Finished up the rest of the 60k service this morning.  Oil change, brake fluid flush and cleaned out the cowl drains.

Brake fluid flush was going fine until I started on the front calipers.  Much to my surprise two of the bleeders were blocked.  Luckily I'd kept the spare bleeder screws from the 996 GT3 calipers I had, so I put two of those in while I tried to clear the stock ones.

Got one totally unblocked and another one partially unblocked, so I left in my good 996 GT3 bleeder and finished up bleeding the brakes.  Hmph.

Cleaning the cowl drains is something you need to do every so often so you don't come out to a pond inside the car after a rain storm.  Pull down the backs of the front inner fender liners

Pull off that black rocket launcher thing and then clean all the leaves and crap out.  Do this for both sides.  Quite a bit in there!

Reset both the oil change and service lights, its all done now with the exception of the serpertine belt.