My Cayenne has a sticker in the driver's side door jamb stating snow tires shall not be used at speeds over 150MPH.
A friend regularly runs his Cayenne Turbo S on track at Palmer, MA. He's got a tune and a bit more power than I have, 600HP vs 550HP.
It really is quite ridiculous even for a brute SUV.
As always, it's an Olde German Car with everything that stands for.

 

Also now that you have opened the auto trans can of worms you might consider a high miles 996 Turbo Tiptronic. Those might be available in the 30's as they are not sought after.

 

I had no idea the Cayenne Turbo S was spec’ed like that! But yes, at 12 MPG I’d just get a damn 928 and be done with it. That’s just too thirsty for me (though it sounds like a ton of fun.) The Golf R is a serious contender though.

Sadly in my experience, the Tiptronic discount generally isn’t as deep as advertised—at least not here in LA. Anything with a Turbo in the title will be well out of my price range.

The 996 is not officially out of the picture yet though! There’s still a ray of light or two poking through the clouds of nonplussed-ness.

 

A general question about Panameras and Macans: they are indeed plentiful on the used market and almost always suspiciously cheap with about 80K-100K miles on them. I’ve never driven either because they always felt like imposter Porsches to me but I’m trying to keep an open mind. That said, am I write to be concerned that these high-mileage family cars are probably about 100 miles away from a massive $10,000 repair bill?

 

I mean, that issue about repair costs could be any Porsche with the same age and miles.

Panameras are inexpensive simply because they are not popular. They are sort of the Duckbilled Platypus of luxury cars. Too big to be a sports car. Too-sporty looks that aren't as refined as the S-Class, 7-Series, LS, A8. Who wants a full-sized luxury car with a hatchback? This is also why the Panamera Sport Turismo was so well received. It took the car from being awkward to, "Hey! It's a wagon! German sport wagons are cool! A Porsche sport wagon is the coolest!". (I still don't know why they discontinued the Sport Turismo variant).

There is a lot of engineering in them.

In my humble opinion, the "imposter Porsche" is the Macan. That's the one people get right out of college.

Go drive a Panamera and report back. Also drive a Macan, too and you'll sense how substantial the Panamera feels and how light (and cheap) the Macan feels. We had a brand new Macan loaner for like 2 weeks as my wife's Panmera was in the shop. It felt like what I think VW Tiguans feel like (seriously).

edit:

I'm guessing that the Macan is the entry-level Porsche that introduces young buyers to the brand in hopes that they become loyal buyers for decades. Every luxury brand has those and that branding philosophy works. So, instead of a Porsche being something that you have to wait for mid/late career to own. You can now get one early/mid career. And Porsche hopes that these buyers stay loyal to the brand.

 

Thanks—this makes a lot of sense. The hatchback is a major plus for me, while the “lot of engineering” is obviously major drawback. Might be worth a look, though!

And yes, I see what you mean about the Macan. I like the form factor but if it’s just a variation on every other entry-level luxury compact SUV, it’s probably not a car I would eagerly pay the Porsche tax for. (Also they’re almost as common as Teslas in this town, which is a major turn-off.)

 

Anyone want to chime in on this one for fun? Seller was responsive to my question, despite the feedback rating of 0…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/40513395904...mis&media=COPY


That’s a lot of miles but it seems to have a service records folder to match…

Edit: alas, I think I’m too much of a chicken to buy it sight unseen. (And I suspect the deal won’t go through if the price doesn’t crack the $15K mark at the very least…)

 

Actually sold for $15,300. Maybe I blew it? Oh well!

 

I thought it might go for $17k, looks pretty well sorted, but the miles and auto tranny helped keep it low. Looks like a nice car though!

 

If it had been within driving distance of me I would have probably nabbed it. I’ve always liked that color combo and it came with a lot of essential peace of mind upgrades, unlike the local gold/champagne C4 that I’m still hung up on. Obviously this car has been maintained diligently (hence the recent water pump replacement) but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about its history.

That said I would probably have been less hesitant about bidding if it had been on BAT. We’ll see if the eBay sale actually sticks…

 

The question you have to ask yourself first is...

Do you and your wife want a sports car or a sporty sedan, station wagon or SUV? Once you answer that question, it gets a little easier.

Regardless, all used cars will cost you the purchase price and then will cost you out of pocket service/maintenance costs to get it to be dependable, and then it will cost you every year for ongoing service/maintenance to keep it running. Just the way it is with mechanical things.

 

Indeed! And answering that question is proving to be harder than expected 😂

Since my last post, my wife has come around on the idea of a 996, so the spousal hurdle is no more. And as a fun aside which is further helping my case, she had to drive the Honda to work this morning while I took the RAV4 in for its scheduled maintenance. She hadn’t driven it in a few months since buying the Toyota, and as soon as she got to work she texted me, “OMG you need a new car.” Ha!

And as luck would have it, I was a few hours too late replying to this CL ad for a properly sorted beauty with only ~90K miles on it:

It sold in 14 hours. Goddammit!

The silver/champagne lining appears to be that there are indeed a lot of these cars in circulation, and that the right one will surely come along if I’m patient.

As it stands two alternatives are still on the table: a GTI, and a Polestar 2. I drove the latter again and had forgotten how fun they are to steer, and how well they cling to the road. I’d say they’re a coupla notches above the other EVs I’ve driven in terms of the fun factor, and the used market is flooded with them right now which makes them an appealing buy at $25K. I could see myself being decently happy in one of those for a while…

 

 

Your disapproval is entirely warranted.

But listen, the P2 really is a fun ride (despite lacking a soul.)

 

Hey, wait a minute—I think I may have found my car!

About 101K on the ODO, two owners (current owner bought it from his neighbor in 2012) bog standard Tip C2 in a “dentist chic” silver on gray leather. Comes with juicy upgraded brakes and about $2.5K worth of other upgrades that were never installed (coilovers, sway bar, struts, etc.) Asking price is a very reasonable $15K.

It’s pretty clean in and out, apart from a slightly cracked tail light and a very minor ding on the engine lid, and the usual fading gray paint on the centre console. Drives great, no smoke at startup, smells good, sounds good, clean radiator grills, no leaks or soot on the left exhaust, and good vibes all around from the seller. BUT it’s only seen about 20K miles and only semi-regular fluid maintenance over the past 12 years, so I think I’m gonna go ahead with a PPI to make sure I know what I’m getting myself into. (If anyone has a favourite indy shop near Irvine, CA, I’m all ears!)

So I won’t be able to take ownership before my birthday tomorrow, but the associated buzz is admittedly still pretty nice.

Also: it’s not a Polestar or a GTI!