Interior on my '04 looks like new. Only issues I've had was adjusting the spring clip on the little door for the sunglasses holder and replacing the accordion cover on the shifter mechanism (critical because it also holds the magnets for manual shifting). The assembly looks and operates just like an old 126 film cartridge. If a dime falls on it and you move the shifter, it goes into one of the cylinders, jams and tears the whole thing up. It's always a dime! I think it was like $40 bucks and easy to replace.

As others have mentioned, parts are expensive but there are workarounds when you buy from places like Pelican. A new Porsche starter is $1,064.00, but they also offer a Bosch which is 100% identical down to the stamped numbers for $379.00. Cardan shaft support failure...the PO of my car spent about $1500 having it replaced at an indie. Or you can do the Jimi Fix in an Autozone parking lot with $5 worth of parts and it'll outlast the original Porsche support a few times over.

Read the stickies so you know what you're getting into, especially when it comes to the engine lottery. Pretty much anything can be dealt with except for scored cylinders. When that happens, the Cayenne is worth its weight in scrap metal.

 

Or an aftermarket starter for $185.

 

The only interior trim having an issue in our Cayenne is the soft touch plastic around each window switch on the door armrests. I'll probably get some alcohol and just remove the black material that's coming off and getting sticky and leave it black or make a template of one, German some woodgrain vinyl, cut it on the wife's silhouette machine and make it look like the other dark wood in the car.

My interior in my 09 TTS looks great, but it also only has 31k miles on it.

With your 944 experience and from your posts, you'll be fine with a 957 Cayenne and you'll love it. Get a GTS, Turbo, or Turbo S with PDCC.

 

I have only had mine for a bout 2 months and the air suspension is fine.

Now aircon.. my compressor went out last week (when it was over 110F). Granted its a 10 yr old car that has been in SW Texas and Oklahoma its entire life I suppose that might be expected

 

The bigger issue for modern cars is, what are the electronics going to be like in 10-15 years? What about full LED dash clusters and all the touch screen stuff?
I've driver higher end American makes for quite a few years. Like anything it really does depend on how you take care of things. My CTSV Coupe interior almost looked mint at 50,000 miles. The only wear was what it had from the previous owner! The SRT cars I've had really held up well. I had a 2006 Magnum SRT that was is near mint condition at 75,000 miles. Certainly the German cars have nicer, higher end materials, and I think you have to be more careful about what products you use to clean and keep things moisturized.

1) Some plastics get soft if you use the wrong kind of cleaners. Over time some cleaners work their way into the plastics, and once that happens its soft for good. Dawn soap and water is usually just fine....and stay away from any kind of products that leave behind sticky wet looking messes. That probably goes without saying, but those kinds of things have no business being used on a Porsche.
2) Not all of the leather surfaces are the same, nor should be cleaned in the same way. I am not an expert, and being a recent Porsche guy, I'm still learning. The leathers in the Porsche are very good quality, and many are actually real, meaning that Turtle wax **** from the parts store isn't what you should be using.
3) Keep the sun off of the interior. Tint your windows if you can, and keep a sunshade in it. Park in a garage as much as possible. Sun can suck the life right out of the car.

Doesn't Porsche rate right up there, typically top 5 of all makes or better, for the last few years on reliability. Certainly when they do break, it hurts more. Lexus and Toyota are usually the top. I guess kind of a down side of that, is they are very boring, uninspiring and even 2018 models look sparse and very dated. My GF's Highlander is fully loaded, and though nice, its nothing special for a 2018, $50,000 SUV. Now the plus side of that is, its probably not going to break and it will still be worth $40,000 in 5 years probably.

 

You got LUCKY! The new ones are absolutely atrocious. Seeing how Chrysler has handled this on cars that people waited until it got really bad just outside of the factory warranty has made me think long and hard about ever shopping there again. They have pretty much told all the owners to pound dirt.

Wrinkling dashboard leather:
https://www.google.com/search?biw=12....0.A5ppTjbjr8c

Peeling and warping carbon fiber:
https://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/...ing-loose.html

 

And don't forget Challengers that rust as bad as an old Vega. Foam in quarter panels that absorb water like a sponge...lol!