I came off a bad experience with a Mercedes SUV, now my wife wants a Cayenne. I drove an S and have to admit for an SUV its pretty damn good, but my concerns are;

A. reliability and that I live 35 miles from the dealer and the huge PITA it will be to have to have "small" problems that require a trip to the dealer for warranty repairs.

B. Value, SUV typically have poor resale, I don't expect the Cayenne to fare much better even if it is a Porsche. I guess I could just lease it?

I don't want to keep my wife from getting one, but there are a lot of good options at the 60K plus range. Can you guys tell me a little about your experiences so far. Much appreciated.

 

I love my S so much, it gave me some problems though, but when they are fixed, I am just so happy! and it looks much better than the touareq or ml or x5

I guess the late production does not have as many problems as the first one.

 

In general cars are not the greatest investment. Having said that, the value of the Cayenne is worth it. You won't regret it b/c it handles rides and especially BRAKES like no other SUV. For Family trips, unless you have a suburban type vehicle, you will need the roof transport system. The hard aero case is quite nice. Although it is heresy to say this, the TT has unnecessary power. You and your wife will get speeding tix for sure (you'll probably get it anyway but with the TT it will be while driving off the lot). The S is perfect for 99.9% of needs and you'll save a lot over the TT. The 6 cylinder is underpowered. And one last piece of advice: get the air suspension. Just my .02

 

James is right....the S is perfect 99% of time. BUT, if money is not the issue then the Turbo is the way to go.....YES INDEED. The recent cars built starting in the latter part of 2003 are pretty trouble free...so that is no longer a problem. My TT now has 2100 miles and hasn't been back to the dealer for a single glitch. Car is 2 months old and built in 11/03. Yes, get air suspension regardless of model you pick. IMO the Cayenne will probably hold its resale value at the top of the SUV heap and the TT will be at the very top.......unless gas goes to $5+/gal. LOL.

 

Thanks for the input guys. We went ahead and purchased an 04' Mercedes E500. I was really not in favor of another SUV, so my wife aquiesced and bought a sedan. We did go up and chat with the Porsche guys, a friend of mine is the GSM. No Cayenne but still planning on a 911 late summer/early fall.

 

E500 is a great car!! congrats!! where are the photos?

 

Hey Deetz, the car just arrived this morning Thurs. My wife is going to pick it up this afternoon. Not sure if its worthy of pics? But I gotta admit I'm looking forward to logging some miles. Mercedes isn't the most reliable car but it sure does drive nice and it pegs out the gadgetometer.