I went shopping for a Cayenne the other day, for my wife. (me too ). We test drove a few S's. She found the car to be a bit harsh on most roads so we test drove one with the air ride suspension. Much more to her liking. My wife drives a 740iL BMW and I found the power to be bit lacking below 4000 rpms and abundant above 4k.(This is in straight auto mode, I am sure once we learn to drive the Tip it comes to life)

I did not drive the turbo but being a turbo nut I would be interested, my wife well the S is all she wants.

All in all we are looking at a fully loaded S for about $72+k when the salesman said he would make me a deal on a new turbo he had. It's a green turbo with full leather tan interior, loaded minus of all things memmory seats and came stock with aluminum trim and 18" wheels otherwise all other options included. He said he would sell me the car for $80k. The car lists for $92+k.

What I am trying to figure out is whether the deal makes any sense. Why would they offer me one of several turbos at a discounted price yet hold firm on the others in the lot. Are there isues with the turbos that may be apparent on a new vehicle they are not willing to disclose? Does the lack of memory seats and wood trim make the car $12k less desireable?

I really don't want to spend 80k on this vehicle but if I am going to sink $72k to get all the bells and whistles on an S why not go for the extra 120hp for only 7k more.

Any input?

 

My wife recently went from a 750iL BMW to the Cayenne S. No matter what you do the power in the S lives above 4000 rpm. These are pretty heavy trucks and even with decent power the "S" isn't fast. For only $8k more I wouldn't hesitate, the TT would be very nice. The difference is that with the S you have to plan a little, with the TT you have power in reserve. There aren't any TT specific issue that I have heard of. In fact most '04's have been pretty good from what you read here and the dealer tells me.

I passed on the TT this spring because there were no such deals at the time. I also did not want the nav system or some of the other standard electronic goodies on the TT. I wanted to keep it simple, in fact I would love the TT engine in my lightly equipped Cayenne S.

 

Cobalt,
First of all you should receive a similar discount on the CS just like the Turbo. If your salesman will not do that go to another dealer. Your $72K sticker on the CS should retail out around $60-$62K. Just look at the resale of Cayennes right now. They are not holding their value. I bought a new CS with a trade for $58K with a MSRP of $68K. Mine has air sus, nav, aluminum... and only 1000 miles I doubt it is worth more that $55K.
So assuming you can get a similar deal on both you must decide if the Turbo is worth the extra money. The Turbo is a different vehicle, anyone who says different is in denial or lying. I went with the CS but I also have an 02 996 TT in the garage so I don't feel like I'm missing out. The turbo is awesome and sometimes is is hard to get into the CS but I am still very happy with it and think it is the best handling SUV out there. But an extra 110 HP would not be bad either. Either way you will be happy but if you get the CS get the air suspension. I think it is a "must have" option.
Hope this helps.

 

You can never get enough horsepower. Go for the turbo. The only issue I have had with mine has been oil consumption: about a 1 quart per 2k miles. This consumption rate has held steady up to 14k which is where I am at now. If you look at the number of turbos being sold it is dropping off quite a bit. The color combination in my opinion is nice but not as popular as black, titanium, silver, jarma beige and lapis blue. You can add the wood trim later.
I have driven both the TT and S and while I like both the extra horsepower is worth the money IMHO.

 

Great advice.

Although I will always think all Porsches look best in black I can never allow myself to buy another one. To much work to keep them looking good.

I must admit I find the color combos a bit lacking for the asking price. Porsche has too many great colors to limit it to eleven basic colors. I do like the Basalt Black Metallic. However a nice Midnight Blue or Arena Red would improve sales considerably, IMO.

I would take the Carmon Red Metallic or Lapis Blue but the salesman would not budge when I asked him to make me the same deal on the ones in the showroom. I guess its time to shop around but I never enjoyed dealing with the other dealerships in the area. I know they are giving the 996's away and making some decent deals on the TT's but it did not appear that they are budging very much on the nicer color combo Cayennes.

Blade-MD,

What do you contribute the oil consumption to? I am used to the early 911's burning oil but that seems a bit high for a water cooled engine even if it is a turbo.

I concur power is addictive and too much is not enough.

Thanks

 

Cobalt,
I was alarmed when I had to add my first quart at 4500 miles. I did a search of this board and also posted on Roadfly regarding oil consumption. Oil consumption was all over the map. There were people who had identical experiences to mine and others who had consumed absolutely no oil at 8k.
One response was from another TT owner in Alaska who had a TT with probably the same build date as mine (1/03) and was also consuming oil. However, at 8k he had consumed in excess of 10 quarts! (or some unbelievable amount) His engine is being replaced right now.
I spoke to Wayne Stone (770-216-7555) at the Atlanta dealership, in addition to multiple other service managers. All provided reassurance that my consumption was within Porsche guidelines of 1qt. per 1k is still OK.
At the end of the day I still don't know why my consumption is as high as what I have said. No other problems.
You may wish to contact the Atlanta dealership and see if they'll cut a deal for you on a TT to your specs. Covered shipping would probably be about $1k to Jersey. Don't worry about getting mistreated by the service department if you purchase from another dealer. They are totally separate.

 

Cobalt....All good advice. The TT is simply a different machine than the S. The power is beyond your expectations for such a large vehicle. Nimble may not be the right word for its handling but it sure doesn't drive like its 2.5+ tons going down a winding road. You may have to add oil from time to time but you MUST buy a Valentine 1.......LOL

 

Here are some quick links to previous posts regarding oil consumption:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...&highlight=oil
http://forums1.roadfly.org/porsche/f...4449858-1.html
http://forums1.roadfly.org/porsche/f...5169196-1.html

 

Sounds good,

I think I will try calling around, to see what pricing I can get on a TT.

The green color was not bad but for $80k why settle with a car that is not 100% to our liking. The more I think about, it since the two of us will be using it, memory seats are a must. The more I look through the brochure the more I am liking the idea of the new targa type roof they are coming out with in Jan 05. It may be worth holding off and ordering one.

I agree on the V1. My turbo 3.6 does 0-100 in 8.5 seconds I can't drive the car without one or keep it under 100 for some reason

Thanks again for all the info

 

Yes, absolutely, order exactly what you want....memory seats,particularly are a must. They adjust to driver's "key" so they set as you open door. The Targa roof seem a bit of overkill to me....but I'm not a convertible guy.....lol. The noise level of an open sunroof is more than I like. Although they promise early 2005 delivery on Targa roof who knows when they will actually deliver them.....you may be waiting a looong time for your TT.

 

Cobalt,

I think you will have trouble getting a similar deal anywhere. Your dealer is probably having a tough time selling the green beast, simply because of the color.

I believe there is only around $11-$12k total profit to be made on the car, and even less on the S, so you must permit a dealer to earn profit if you want him to stay in business.

So, it is a very good deal assuming you like the color and options. I bought a Crystal Silver TT, but I wasn't really in love with any of the colors, and it took me a very long time to finally decide on color.

The wood package can be added at any time for under $1k.

Best of luck!

Jeff

 

Jeff & everyone else,

Thanks for the advice. I agree the colors are not to my liking either. It is not that they are ugly, I just don't think they compliment the vehicle. I have not seen the crystal silver and the dealer seemed to think they were hard to come by. Then again he insisted the wood could not be added later. (Salesman talk)

The more I think about it the lack of memory seats on a $92k vehicle is ridiculous.(even at $80K) Whoever ordered that car was not thinking. Then again these options should be standard, just like almost any other vehicle in that price range. I decided good deal or not, it is not worth it. I have become accustomed to the memory seat option since my wife and i share the vehicle, it is much nicer to just hit a button and have everything adjust to your previous settings.

Ironically the salesman called me on Saturday, has another turbo deal. Only this car is missing Litronic lights and heated seats, but it does have memory seats. I guess they are desperate to unload thes oddball turbos. Eventually we should come across one that is missing something I don't care about.

By the way everyone is saying that these cars aren't holding there value, yet I just saw a 2003 with 22k miles sell on ebay for $70k that is not bad for the mileage.

 

Anthony,

I think you're right to pass on this one. You should be able to buy a vehicle with options that are important to you. Just remember that doing so may not always produce the best deal!

Btw, I'd be interested to know of other similarly priced vehicles that DON'T lose much value when you turn them over a few years later.

Jeff

 

Anthony, Some of the East Coast Dealers have huge inventories of Cayennes. Use this link and go out to 500 miles from your zip code, you will find your car and your deal! In fact, the inventories are so big that PCNA is holding the release of the 05's in an attempt to reduce existing inventories. Good Luck..... http://www.porschedealer.com/dealer/index.html

 

Cobalt, Bi Xenons are standard on TUrbo....Dont buy one that doesnt have them.. Give me a call, ill run through my inventory with you..