Purchasing a used car can be a fraught experience. But anyone looking to buy a used luxury vehicle should be mindful of a recent TikTok alleging a nightmare experience of buying a used Porsche Cayenne.
Nurse and TikToker Zoe (@zoetalley74) found herself in the market for another vehicle after her husband’s Kia required an expensive and unaffordable engine replacement. But she claims finding the “perfect” replacement vehicle was just the beginning of a saga of malfunctions and mechanic visits.
Zoe posted the first part of her story in a post that currently has over 21,000 views. She has expounded on her tale in two different follow-up videos after which she states that the vehicle in question was a “hasty and ultimately horrible purchase.”
Why Zoe needed a new car
In her initial video, Zoe states she and her husband were in the market for a new vehicle after one of the couple’s two vehicles, a 2014 Kia Optima, needed a motor replacement.
“I had been driving that car back and forth to work,” Zoe claims in the video. After bringing the vehicle into the shop several times to address engine light warnings, she says they told her the entire motor needed to be replaced. She states, “It was going to cost us $6,000.”
Zoe states she found a vehicle via CraigsList at a small dealership near them. She claims she took the car, a 2012 Porsche Cayenne with 140,00 miles on it, for a test drive and says she “loved the car.”
“I had driven other high-mileage vehicles in my life already and I knew that some cars, some brands, are reliable enough to at least take you to 200,000 miles,” she tells her viewers.
She says she and her husband were planning a move to another state and that they expected that they would sell the used Porsche when that happened.
She claims the dealership informed her the car “was in great shape, has been maintained, well-serviced, it was [the seller’s] personal vehicle for the past two years.”
“And I bought the car for $12,000,” she says.”
She then claims, “That’s when the problems began.”
What happened after she bought the car?
In Zoe’s first follow-up video, she claims the “nightmare” experience with her used Porsche began shortly after she closed the sale.
After purchasing the vehicle, she claims she noticed several things that were “wrong with it,” including issues with the car’s heated seats and power steering.’
“I had been told that this car had been serviced and maintained meticulously [by the dealer] … all major fluids had been replaced, power string, transfer case, transmission, cooling, all that had been serviced most recently,” Zoe claims.
She states that she checked on the power steering fluid and claims “It had gone from green to brown.”
Zoe then says that the seller replaced the fluids free of charge after she sent him a picture of the steering fluid.
She claims that after a month the car’s steering was still sluggish and she brought it in to the seller again. She says they went on another test ride where the seller told her, “I think you’re just paranoid.’”
“I ended up just taking this vehicle to another mechanic and having him look at it,” Zoe states to her viewers.
According to Zoe, the new mechanic asked her if the car had been in a wreck.
Allegedly, the car had been in multiple wrecks, and all the rotors needed replacing. She further alleges that the power steering pump was “covered in green fluid” due to a leak.
She claims that the mechanic did not charge her but wrote up an invoice of “over $4,000” for the work needed to fully repair the vehicle.
“He needs to offer you to fix all these problems or to buy the car back,” Zoe claims the new mechanic told her.
@zoetalley74 My car-buying nightmare #cars #carbuying #kiaproblems ♬ original sound – Zoe
What did the seller do?
Upon contacting the seller, Zoe says he asked to have his own mechanic check out the vehicle.
In part three of her used Porsche “nightmare” experience, Zoe claims she revisited the seller with the car and her husband to have the car looked at by the seller’s mechanic.
She states that after the mechanic confirmed the leak they offered to contribute to fixing it but did not agree to front the total cost.
Zoe continues that she and her husband then debated the pros and cons of keeping the car.
Surprisingly, Zoe states, “I loved this car. It was a beautiful car. It drove great for maybe the first week I had it.”
She opted for the repair. However, she claims that even before the repair she began to notice issues with the car’s transmission. “It felt like I was scrubbing a gear just trying to make a U-turn,” she says.
After an oil change with the second mechanic, she says she was told the vehicle’s all-wheel drive was malfunctioning. This seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Zoe elected to get rid of the Porsche. After several different attempts to get trade-in value for the car, she was at last able to get a deal on a 2021 Mazda 3 hatchback.
How reliable is the Porsche Cayenne?
You should probably be wary about buying a Cayenne, according to RepairPal.com.
The site gives the vehicle a low rating of Below Average and tells customers to expect frequent shop visits and expensive repair costs.
According to the site, the Cayenne has an “average total annual cost for repairs and maintenance on a Porsche Cayenne is $1,231, compared to an average of $807 for luxury midsize SUVs and $652 for all vehicle models.”
It also states, “Porsche Cayenne owners have to bring their vehicles into a repair shop for unscheduled repairs an average of 1.1 times per year, compared to an average of 0.6 times for luxury midsize SUVs and 0.4 times for all vehicle models.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Porsche via email for a statement.
Per Car and Driver, it’s always best practice to request a vehicle’s history through an agency like AutoCheck.com or CarFax.com before purchasing. Not to mention have a third-party mechanic check it out if possible.
Viewers weigh in
Most viewers were quick to point out that she was better off with the Mazda. Several noted that buying a luxury sports car was bound to be a bad idea for a second vehicle.
Idiocracy (@mikehuntburnswhenipee) wrote, “Never a car like that, or BMW, or Mercedes, parts are expensive! Older Honda Accord. It will last forever! My 2011 Accord has 220k on it, and runs good! No rust!”
“Toyota, Honda, Mazda,” one viewer simply stated.
Another viewer added, “Yep Porsche. Expensive repairs. Most people give them up around 60000 miles due to the mandatory service at that mileage. About 3-5 thousand.”
Another stated, “German cars are the worst. And expensive to maintain and fix if it breaks.”
However, at least one viewer defended the vehicle, stating he was a “Former Porsche Cayenne owner. They can be very reliable IF the maintenance is done. Unfortunately too many are not maintained like they should. A pre-purchase inspection would uncover these issues.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Zoe via TikTok messenger and comment for further comment.
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