Buy a $300 Porsche Cayenne S. What Can Go Wrong?

The Cayenne is a historic vehicle, the first SUV in Porsche history. Together with the Range Rover Sport and BMW X5, it convinced the world that high-riders were really cool and could be sporty as well. But like the other two, it's immensely complex and potentially unreliable.

Nowadays, the regular Cayenne might have a turbocharged V6 engine co-developed with Audi. However, back in 2005, this bad boy came with a big V8 engine. No turbochargers, just a 4.5-liter sending 340 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. Wouldn't it be cool if you could have one of those for just $300?

The YouTuber took a gamble and purchased the SUV at auction. Of course, it's a non-runner, but that's just one of many things wrong with this picture. The Cayenne is covered all over in dents, has a bad re-spray, and the interior has seen better days. But $300!

The budget for this build is $3,000. Even though it's ten times what the car costs, this doesn't sound like enough. The first issue that needs addressing is the lack of a battery. Putting one in isn't as easy as in a Tahoe, as Porsche placed it under the seat.

Then comes the true nail-biter. The V8 cranks fine and has fuel. Ignition doesn't appear to be the problem at first, but then it all goes to hell. While they're doing a compression test, the engine locks up, and they discover the ignition coils are burned because of a common cooling problem with these Porsche setups.

So, the 4.5L is dead. The cheapest replacement would have cost $1,300. Thankfully, the guy gets a "new" one for free, which must be one of the perks of being popular.