So to make my back story brief, I have never owned or driven Porsche until recently when i saw a gorgeous 2010 GTS. I currently drive a 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and have been a big fan of driving American, (and Cadillac - 5 now). I think the Cayenne is a perfect balance of SUV/Truck and sports car like experience. In fact, I have fallen hard for them!

My debate; I have narrowed my preference down to wanting a Turbo or Turbo S. To stay in the price range i want to be in (up to mid $50s) i see i have to go for an 06 or 08.

If it's between on 06 Turbo, or Turbo S or an 08 Turbo....
1. Are there big differences between the 06 Turbo vs Turbo S? The interior/exterior look exactly the same. Is it just the extra 50 or so ponies?

2. There's generally a $10-$20k difference between the 06 vs 08. Other than the newer stereo and slightly different exterior (front end and rear end?), anything else worth the money?

3. 06 doesn't have a sport button like 08 does (not talking about suspension), big deal? Or does the sport suspension also change the shifting in the 06?

4. In regards to reliability and cost of maintenance, are the 06 vs 08 the same or one have more expense parts and or harder time to maintenance DIY for the typical stuff? (oil, brakes, filters)

5. I know they have different motors, and i have driven an 06 Turbo S and 09 Turbo. I thought the 09 felt much smoother across the RPMs, but not sure if it's because the Turbo S has sat for two-three months. Thoughts?

6. Anything else i should be thinking about? (i will get a PPI, and i'm aware of the water hoses)

I really appreciate your time. I am one of those who research this stuff and get pretty **** about my cars.

*If you follow another popular Porsche forum (wont mention name out of respect for this forum), I have posted this there too. Sorry for making you read it twice.

 

I have been looking at the same thing. I think the 08 is a newer generation with a number of upgrades and technical fixes. I a have been looking for months and the 08' can be found in the upper 40's loaded. I found one 08' with only 9k miles in the upper 50's.

 

I don't blame you. I'm glad I bought my Cajun! It offers the best of all worlds IMO. Performance, interior comfort, looks (Doesn't look like your everyday SUV), off road capabilities.

I tried to answer some of your questions. Maybe some other members will hop in here and give you some good advice and info.
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My debate; I have narrowed my preference down to wanting a Turbo or Turbo S. To stay in the price range i want to be in (up to mid $50s) i see i have to go for an 06 or 08.

If it's between on 06 Turbo, or Turbo S or an 08 Turbo....
1. Are there big differences between the 06 Turbo vs Turbo S? The interior/exterior look exactly the same. Is it just the extra 50 or so ponies?

----There is quite a bit more parts that go into the Turbo S than the standard Turbo. I requested that another member list the parts here in the forums because he had found the list and IIRC it was pretty lengthy.

2. There's generally a $10-$20k difference between the 06 vs 08. Other than the newer stereo and slightly different exterior (front end and rear end?), anything else worth the money?

----That's kinda of up to you. Depends on which one appeals to you most in regards to looks, interior, etc. I personally love the way the GTS looks but it needs turbos!! j/k You can mod your regular CTT to the same power levels of a Turbo S. At some point (and money), the power/torque levels will be similar if you get the right tune and parts. The only thing with the Turbo S is that you start with a little better platform (intercoolers, TB, Factory tune) to accept mods. BUT you also pay for the Turbo S upfront as well. Is it worth it? Not for a guy like me, who is going to replace, intercoolers, intakes, downpipes, etc. but for someone that wants the extra power right off the bat and doesn't want to drop that much more in mods, it might be worth it. You should price out a mods/labor list (tune, exhaust, intakes) to bring the standard Turbo up to or beyond the levels of the turbo S..That may help persuade you either way.

3. 06 doesn't have a sport button like 08 does (not talking about suspension), big deal? Or does the sport suspension also change the shifting in the 06?

----I know there are "turbo S" suspension parts/calibrations...so I assume it handles better than a regular turbo model. Not sure about the shifting..it might. I've been told disabling the PSM helps to aid in shifting performance, but maybe someone with an 06 can chime in on that one.

4. In regards to reliability and cost of maintenance, are the 06 vs 08 the same or one have more expense parts and or harder time to maintenance DIY for the typical stuff? (oil, brakes, filters)

----I would think the 08 is more reliable, but that all depends on the car you buy/maintenance/how it was driven, etc. Brake stuff might cost more as the Turbo S has bigger rotors and calipers. But I wouldn't think maintenance other than that is going to be much different.

5. I know they have different motors, and i have driven an 06 Turbo S and 09 Turbo. I thought the 09 felt much smoother across the RPMs, but not sure if it's because the Turbo S has sat for two-three months. Thoughts?

----from the 4.5 to the 4.8 sure. I would think the 4.8 should be smoother and more torquey. Maybe someone else can chime who has owned both or driven both as well. Maybe test drive another 06 Turbo S if you can??

6. Anything else i should be thinking about? (i will get a PPI, and i'm aware of the water hoses)

---YOu sound like you do your research! Good luck with whatever beast you buy!! I'm sure you like either one.

I really appreciate your time. I am one of those who research this stuff and get pretty **** about my cars.

*If you follow another popular Porsche forum (wont mention name out of respect for this forum), I have posted this there too. Sorry for making you read it twice.[/quote]

 

- I just had the debate myself- Keep my 06 TT-S or upgrade to the 08 Turbo. I ended up going with the 08 Turbo. There were a couple of reasons that influenced that decision. My 06 had 84K miles - that was the main reason and I got a solid deal on trade-in. I will tell you from my experience -go with a low mileage vehicle if you can or be prepared to take a hit down the road. I suppose it is just a fact of life with the higher end cars. Folks are very adverse to buying a high mileage car no matter what the condition (mine was Mint). That being said - you are buying a 6 year old car versus a 4 year old car. I would say that the 06 is going to have substantially less depreciation of value over the same time compared to the 08 - if all things are considered equal. I dont know if this is a factor you are considering or not -

#1 - While most Turbo models are very loaded with options compared to the base models - you will want to check just to make sure. The Turbo S from the ones I have seen include nearly every option as standard. I think the only options you had were sunroof or pano roof, the entry and drive, and advance off-road package (not sure what that one is) -everything else was considered standard equipment. Mine stickered at 126K when new - so yeah when you can pick up one for 30K 6 years later it seems like an incredible deal. One thing to keep in mind -Porsche couldnt move these 120K+ machines at the time, so most were selling for 15-20K less than sticker when new. which would be on par with the Turbos at the time.

#2 - The radio did not change over until '09 -so you are still stuck with the crappy PCM 2.1 for 2008. Outside appearance did indeed change- I love the 08 exterior (looks meaner in my opinion) versus the 06 version. I feel it is worth the extra cost for the exterior appearance, but if you are talking about 10-20K difference for 2 vehicles with the same mileage then I dont think it would be worth it. I would think that the 08s generally have substantially fewer miles than an 06. I am ballparking an estimate here - I would say if you were to compare apples to apples 06 to 08 Turbo you would see a $1K increase in price for each 1K miles that the 2008's mileage is below the 2006. Hopefully that makes sense -

#3 - the 06 doesnt have the sport button, but you can put the air suspension in Sport mode and turn PSM off if you want and it will change your shift points on the the transmission. with the 08 it automatically switches you over to Sport mode on the subspension when you depress the sport button. That is the only difference ive noticed. I havent tried sport button and PSM off yet -

#4 - The Turbo S has the bigger brakes so they are more expensive because they are a little harder to find and you have limited choices. I would say outside the coolant pipes you are going to be pretty much identical on maintenance costs.

#5 -That smoothness you felt is going from the - 4.5 fuel injected versus 4.8 Direct-injected - I am happy to give up the 20 horses on the TT-S for smoothness of the 4.8. The difference is immediately noticeable.

Outside of the change in the exterior appearance, a vehicle with less miles the DFI engine was THE number one reason to look into the 06 versus 08. The 08 also has the option of the PDCC suspension upgrade. I do not have this on mine, so I dont know what I am missing in that regard.

Hopefully this helps you out - either way you cant go wrong!

 

Some really good feedback you all, thank you very much... I have been leaning towards the 08 because newer, smoothness, exterior slightly better, etc. But i feel i can make a more informed decision now, like the DI 4.8! Didnt know that!

Jason

 

go 08. let me know if i can help. We buy them all the time...

 

Wow, great information from everyone. I'm strongly leaning towards the '08 turbo also.

 

So a couple quick questions:
1. PDDC standard on 08 turbos?
2. Luggage racks removable or bolted on?
3. Known rattles or leaks with pano roof?
4. Seems like i see a few different seats in the 08-09 Turbos, any one able to describe the differences? the one with pleats looks comfy but cushy? What other options?
5. As for trim, i like the dark wood but also wouldnt mind putting in carbon fiber. Anyone here do that and have recommendation for good looks at fair price? I am OK with fake CF also.
6. Any other options you cant "See" that are a must?

Thanks again, you all have been so helpful.

 

JWall - PDCC was a new option available beginning in 2008. It was not standard on any model (maybe the 09 Turbo S???)

The Luggage racks are removeable - there is a built in track to attach them to the roof.

Yes - there are known leaks with the Pano roof - my personal opinion is that it looks really cool, but it is a problem waiting to happen. The 2 that I looked at before the one that I purchased had the Pano option, and after looking at the service history both showed that they had been in for service for leaks to the roof. I thought it wasnt worth the hassle -

As for the seating options - there are the regular, comfort (the ones with pleats) and the sport seats that I believe are standard on the GTS. I previously had the Comfort seats and they had the ruffled leather and I ended up going with the Regular seating package with the one I recently purchased. I have not seen any discernable difference in the 2. I am not a fan of the GTS seats, but there are alot of people that like them. Go try out the seats on your own to find which you prefer - my rearend was not happy with the GTS seats.

I've had the Aluminum trim in both of my models - from what I can tell you it is a very soft and scratches/dents easily. DS Vettes out of south texas was doing some trial run pieces for the Cayenne on the trim panels with carbon and alcantara - and they are very reasonably priced. I would check with them. They were really helpful and from my conversations with them I felt as though they would attempt to re-create any piece you wanted with whatever material you wanted.

I will say a couple of options I wasnt aware of - upgraded steering wheel to the fatter one, I didnt even know it was an option, but my 08 has the skinny version I guess. I have entry and drive option on the 08 as well. It is a nice feature to be able to leave the key in your pocket (although I feel this should be standard on a 100K suv).

Aside from PDCC and Pano roof, entry and drive - I think you will find that the turbo has every other option standard. At least I think - some other guys might be able to chime in with input as well.