jeff spahn

I am in a conundrum. I have a lead on a nice 2012 Turbo. I currently have my 2005 S that is flawless (except for the ding the tool put in it the other day at a parking lot). The S has 203,000 on it and I can see it easily going another 100,000 based on oil analysis and general condition. Granted, that's not without any regular maintenance like hoses, belts, sensors, bushings, etc.

Do I buy the Turbo with 109,000 on it or stay with the Devil I know? I mainly use this as a daily driver back and forth to work, pull the boat 5 miles to the river and back and then back and forth to Vail 5 or 6 times a year (900 miles). Or, do I switch gears completely and get a 2014-2016 Cayenne diesel and lose a little performance but double my fuel mileage?

I hate first world problems.

phatz

yes absolutely

jeff spahn

Very clear, concise and definitive, thanks!

Libast

Me personally I would go with the Turbo.

More power, better interior.

deilenberger

You only live once. Might as well not drive boring cars.. turbo it is..

hatchetf15

^^^+1

Pharcydeabc

+1

Shawn Stanford

Unless there's a compelling reason, and it doesn't sound like there is, I'd stay with the devil I know.

jeff spahn

So you are saying if I had a lead on a 2006 Turbo S I should let that go as well? It would be in addition to my current S. I only really know the S, not a lot about the turbos. If I maintain the Turbo S and I do my S, could I expect the same maintenance experience?

GDA

Enjoy life. Sounds like you can maintain it to so all the more.... Go for it!

Turbos eat tires and brakes but other than those items, I'd say quite a few maintenance items have similar lives - suspension arms/links, coolant hoses, vacuum hoses and valves and all Cayenne's have the HVAC servo issues as they get older. All the V8s and turbos are similar in that they will have the do it while you are in there aspects - water pump/pulleys, thermostat, starter / coolant pipes and coolant t's etc etc.

EMC Cayanne

If you can buy the 2006 and keep your 2005 S also, thats what I would do. If not, I would have a hard time deciding also. My S is FAR from slow, but the Turbo is, as my son would say "Stupid Fast". My problem with (and I havent seen it) is that at 100k miles, I am sure it has lots of little quirks that you probably would not have let go on your S but will annoy you until you fix them, If your like me, you will spend the next to months shaking it down and fixing every little thing.

The more I type this and think about it, I would probably buy the 2006 knowing it would need some love, and keep my S. (if they are the same color I might even figure out a way to hide it from my wife for a few months!

Pillow

Stick with the horse you know IMO.

DWPC

For me, the ongoing consideration in keeping my 06 Turbo (@ 98K mi.) is how much I'm willing to reinvest for repairs vs its market value. I wouldn't put so much faith in oil quality tests. Its the non-drivetrain bits that simply can become impractical to fix due to cost as they age, wear, and give up the ghost. How many of those 209K miles on the S were your miles, and how much do you know about how the Turbo was maintained and actually driven?

jeff spahn

I have put 40,000 on my S. As for the turbo S don't know much beyond car fax. Figure I can fix anything and it only has 110 k or so. That should put me beyond bore scoring.

Wisconsin Joe

Would you be keeping the S and adding one? Or replacing? I think you could likely get all your money back from the one you have (I remember when you got it and about what you paid).

Do you want a newer one? Or are you happy with having a 'beater'?

I don't know a whole lot about the newer Cayennes. A 2012 would be a 958.1 (I think). No low range on the transfer case. I don't know if you use that for backing the boat trailer in or pulling the loaded trailer up the ramp, but some do. Slower speed and more torque.
From what I've heard, the 2012 might have a vario-cam bolt issue and a transfer case issue. But overall the car is as reliable as the earlier ones. I think bore scoring was largely solved by 09-10. Not 100%, but there were changes that made it less of an issue. Again, not sure about the 958 models. I don't spend a lot of time reading that board. Most of what I know is from before the split.

In general, at least for the 955/957 cars, the Turbos don't need much more time/money for upkeep than the S models.

If you can get the newer one for a good price, I'd say go for it. But I'd read up on the 958 before you make any solid decisions.