Well, we're becoming a two Porsche family again. My wife selected a Macan S to replace her soon-to-be-off-lease BMW X3. Here's the build:


http://www.porsche-code.com/PH8AHX11

For those curious, here are the reasons for the switch:

1) The Macan has a much more solid feel on the road. I did the test drive.

2) The cockpit has a much nicer feel, she didn't even choose to drive it, she just said "Order me one" after sitting in one on the dealer lot.

3) The X3 has had a slight tendency to shed interior trim plastic pieces. It has happened with two different pieces, one of them came off multiple times. It is either a design or build quality problem, but it irks me.

4) The X3 has the !@$%!@$%!@#$% BMW on/off button for the ignition. This is a little thing, but both of us (and she's driven the bulk of the 30K miles) hate having to press it twice at drive's end, and sometimes not getting it right, and sometimes then restarting the car. IMHO, it is the worst single piece of user interface design in any car I've ever had.

5) The X3 was the third BMW I've had (X5d, 328i sedan), and each of them had the same issue with 3) above. I also have had unscheduled mechanical maintenance on each BMW I've owned. In one instance, my X5d sat at the dealer for over two weeks until they could ship a part from Germany. Dealer was great through the process, but still we drove a loaner in the interim. In contrast (knock on wood) I've never had unscheduled maintenance in over ten years of Porsche ownership.

6) The combination of the above issues has led me to the conclusion that the premium I pay for a Porsche is well worth the improved engineering/build quality. YMMV.

Once her S arrives (May delivery), I'll take a group shot of our "fleet" and post it here and in the 991 forum.