Porsche Cayenne... any advice?

I am late to this discussion but we have owned an '04 Cayenne Tirbo for almost a year and 12,000 miles. The car has never left us stranded although it is not without its quirks. We are getting infrequent odd phantom errors (such as air compressor failure and ABS failure) when we start the car but they immediately go away, this is supposedly indicative of a weak and dying battery. Dealer said it was fine this summer, but with winter who knows, probably time to change it.

The rear lid also will not stay up when it is very cold, typical of these cars as the shocks are barely adequate, in the cold they lack that extra bit of force to hold the considerable weight of the door up. We will see if gets worse or continues in the spring.

50/50 mix of town/hwy has probably resulted in 15-16 mpg overall. 18 or so on the highway, more like 12 or even less in town. It is the only vehicle I have ever seen which the average fuel mpg will actually go up sometimes sitting still in traffic. Not sure how it is calculated, but proof that it is cheaper to let it sit than drive it I suppose.

I would definitely drive a Turbo before deciding to buy. If speed and massive acceleration are your thing, listening to the whistle from the hood as you hit 100 mph at the bottom of the on-ramp will be satisfying. The premium is not that much over an S, and you get basically the same fuel mileage. The air suspension and ride height adjustment is really nice to have. Relatively rare option on a non-turbo, standard on the turbo. Our has the factory tow package, which could easily tow a car trailer if we wanted to.

I'm not sure how long we will keep it, maybe sell it in a year and go back to an Mercedes ML or GL, or maybe look for a loaded 2008 Cayenne in V6 form. I find I rarely use the power, and never actually need it.

 

tundraphile, why would you go from a cayenne to a merc ml? i thot the mercs interior looked very cheap. test drove the merc gl450 and was not impressed. it drove like a truck w/ a booming drone from the large rear space. i'm currently considering the cayenne s and bmw x5.
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I had an ML500 until 132,000 miles, only normal maintnenace and a power steering pump. Super vehicle. We passed on the latest generation of ML350 to get the CTT, the interior of the earlier M-class ('06 MY) did seem cheap. No comparison to the leather everywhere on the Porsche. But later versions of the ML (expecially the ML63) look better.

A later model Cayenne might be what we end up going to, hard to say. It is a couple of years off. We might even do a Turbo again, but that is more for the standard options on those that are uncommon on the "lower" models.

With 20" chrome wheels and stainless trim on the outside, our silver CTT does have presence and we get people asking about often. It certainly doesn't look like a 6 year old car that cost less used than a new Buick or Lincoln.

 

I had an ML and now have a Cayenne.

The ML was alright but the Cayenne is so much netter (in every way) it isn't even funny!

 

I also had a 04 turbo, the only good memory I have of the car was that it brought my twins home from the hospital. Other than that is was nothing but trouble.

 

I love my PDE3, just the seats are little uncomfortable.
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i have two turbo cayennes.
an '04 and an '08.
the '04 has 75K miles on it, the '08 has 20K miles.
the '08 has been to the dealer twice for oil changes. no issues whatsoever.
the '04 had many small issues which were repaired under warranty. it seems to need a $300.00 to $500.00 repair every 6 months or so.
i had a BMW X5 and feel there is no comparison between the vehicles. i would never get another x5!. i strongly prefer the cayenne and would consider another, however we just took delivery of an '11 panamara. i consider the panamara a cayenne with a lower profile!!

 

The cayenne is a great sports SUV that handles amazing for what it is, but that statement is going too far (unless you're driving a 911 with flat tires and 500 lbs of lead in the trunk and another 500 in the cabin...)

 

why is the Grand Cherokee a long shot?

I'll probably buy an SUV in the next year or so, and my top 3 are Cayenne S (used), Grand Cherokee (new), Tahoe/Suburban (new or used)

 

yeah, the new GC is a bit blingy, as are most American SUVs now. I'd have no concerns about long-term durability, my family has owned six or eight (lost count) Jeeps over the years, all driven to over 100k miles with no major issues except a few front diffs here and there. plus the new GC is basically a Mercedes ML with a hemi in it.

and you're right there's no way I'd buy a new Cayenne S...a, I can't afford it, b even if I could I'd let someone else take that first $30k in depreciation