BAD930

Currently have a SC and a 996, and now looking to buy myself a bigger car.

So have been looking around at ML, X5's, Range Rovers and Cayenne's

My heart says Cayenne my brain says ML.. the others I have ruled out

So why a Cayenne .. what are they really like as daily drivers?

btw - I'm looking at a 04/05 S not a TT ..

dp35

I'm in a similar situation, with a baby on the way. Here in the US, it seems there are a lot of used Cayennes available right now, some at pretty cheap prices. I think this is a result of our rising gas prices and the sudden departure of home equity loans that many have used to pay for vehicles.

I was also thinking of an S, but the prices of used Turbos are now tempting me. Its not just the horsepower, but all of the standard options (oxymoron) that make the Turbo so attractive.

The consensus on this forum seems to be that all Cayennes older than 2005 are to be avoided. The local dealer told me today that the newer 2004's had all of the same upgrades as the 2005's. But I'll take his info with a grain of salt, considering that he has several used '04's on his lot.

EnigmaWmn

Why does your brain say "ML"?

Targa Tim

used a 2004 CS as daily driver for 4 years and it was great. Lucky me as I don't have any major problem.

Had ML320 and ML500 before that and feel that the CS is better in every way.

The best buy will be a 2006 CS in titanium edition.

BAD930

I'm on my 4th Porsche and whilst I've enjoyed my time with all of them in different ways, I have always found them to be a bit more tempremental than other marques.

My daily driver is a C36 AMG and I flog it every where i drive, with around 130k miles on it she still goes strong and never misses a beat, and never had maintenance issues.

Where as I have never felt confident the Porsches put up with the same punishment.

The Idea of buying the Cayenne S is I'm beginning to take long trips away for weekends, and so I really want a car which is not going to leave me stranded.

rome

I have an '06 Cayenne S, and my wife has a new '07 ML.

The ML is REALLY nice. Very comfortable, luxurious and very smooth in the Mercedes type of way.

BUT, that said, the ML is no Cayenne S. The Cayenne feels like a big 911 the way it hugs the road and handles twisties.

Simply, the Cayenne S drives like a sports car...the ML drives like a sedan. I enjoy driving the Cayenne a lot more.

As far as punishment-- I drive about 25,000 miles a year-- including highway and daily commute into a large northeast city (which means bad weather for a good part of the year). The Cayenne has been nearly flawless in terms of reliability and performance (I now have about 48K miles.

PS-- Try to get an '06 if you can because they seem to be more reliable. Do a search here and you can read all about it)

dp35

I've read on here that 2003 and 2004 ("Alpha and Beta") Cayennes should be avoided, but that 2005's are good. Now twice on this thread people are saying 2006 is best.

Any explanation about why a 2006 is superior to a 2005?

rome

more time to work out the bugs

EnigmaWmn

You might want to go through the "Warranty/Repair" thread at the top. I have a 2005 CS and it had quiet a few things go wrong. So, go for a 2006. Better yet, go for 2008.

EnigmaWmn

A good question to ask my fellow forum members: did your Cayenne ever leave you stranded?

pdxjim

Never left me stranded. Put 40K on an S and have 41K on my turbo truck.

dp35

I'm beginning to think that I should expect some minor, nagging problems with ANY Cayenne, and that perhaps one reason the older ones have displayed more problems is because they've had more opportunity to do so. Five years from now, will owners of 2005 and 2006 Cayennes be talking about having the same problems that the 2004's have?

If in fact the 2005's aren't THAT much better than the 2004 Cayennes, then the current price difference might favor the '04.

If someone were to "go naked" with a 2004, how much more should they expect repairs to cost vs a 2005 or a 2006? Would these extra repair costs outweigh the purchase price savings over the next 5 years?

Cay-ute

I would not go naked on any model year, there's alot of expensive repair items beyond the minor stuff most folks experience. If you are going used, get an extended or CPO warranty. As for which year to get, I had an 03 and now have an 08, small issues with the 03, never left me stranded and I used it as a daily driver. The 08CTT has been flawless thus far (4.2K). However, the body of experience on this forum strongly suggests to get 05 and newer. Anyway you go, get a warranty.

sigs

You're really asking us to tempt fate, EW. I'm typing one-handed while knocking wood with the other - no strandings, SO FAR, in 2.5 years of ownership, which beats my record in my first 2.5 years with my ML by 4.

dp35, if you think the '05s and '06s aren't that much different from the '04s, you haven't read this forum thoroughly. Everything is a matter of probability, I guess, but I waited for the '05 for several reasons, many of which are detailed ad nauseum on this and other forums. Issues with my mid-year '05 have been annoying, but nothing like the alpha-betas. We may not have had enough time to tell how much better '06s will be than '05s, in general, but the verdict on alpha-betas vs. '05s has been in for some time, EnigmaWmn's misfortune not withstanding.

BTW, amongst my group of friends and colleagues, MB and AMG have been the LEAST reliable vehicles in the past 8 years, by far. If you want handling, go for the Cayenne, '05 or later to optimize reliability. If you really want reliability, get thee to a Toyota/Lexus dealership.

MadFox

I'm now at 1 year and 20K miles on my '06 Tit.S. I have had ZERO issues. Borrowing from above quote that should scare me to death to say it!

However, at this point with my Beta, I had been to the dealer over a dozen times and had every "glitch" detailed in this forum ad nauseum. I've been to the dealer twice.. once for enabling the towing software and once for an oil change (did it 5K early). I will be setting up an appt. for the coming week for 20K service and will have them try to stop a rattle in the moon roof shade (it is intermittent which means they probably will say unable to duplicate). And FYI, the BETA in 70+K miles and 3.5 years NEVER stranded me.... now having said all this.. did anyone see my lucky rabbit's foot?