Dennis C

At ten years old and showing over 132,000 miles on the odometer, the Cayenne has been retired as a daily driver. It has been my wife's daily driver for the last 5 years and it has served my family well. We aren't getting rid of the Cayenne. It's worth more to me than I'd ever get for it if I decided to sell it or trade it. It will stay with us and be relegated to use as a dog hauler, airport mule, bad weather vehicle. This will allow my Carrera 4S to spend more time in my garage, especially during foul weather.

We considered many small SUV options, including a new Cayenne. At this point in our lives, our kids are both off to college and we no longer need a vehicle as large as the Cayenne. We would look at the Macan if it was available, but it's not available quite yet. We narrowed it down to three choices: Audi SQ5, BMW X3 xdrive35i and Mecedes GLK350. We did give serious consideration to the diesel options offered by Audi and Mercedes, but ultimately decided against this. The Mercedes was quickly eliminated from our list because it's simply too small. The interior space is considerably smaller than the Audi and the BMW. We were really pleasantly surprised with the BMW. It drove very nicely and we were both really impressed. It's a nice car. Ultimately, the Audi came out on top.

I put a deposit down this morning on a 2014 SQ5. It has already been manufactured and it is currently in transit to the USA. It's Estoril Blue Crystal with black Fine Nappa Leather interior. It has the 21" wheel package, along with the MMI Plus navigation package, Side Assist Package and the Atlas Carbon Fiber interior trim package. We're hoping to have it in about a month.

kalyan

Very nice, Dennis! Congrats and enjoy in good heath!

Slow Guy

Congrats. Don't think I've seen the SQ5.
Love the Blue.
Many happy miles!

Dennis C

Thanks. It was launched in the US in the last few months. It's the performance oriented version of the Q5. It has a sport suspension, a supercharged V6 producing 354 HP and 346 lb. ft. of torque. It has Brembo brakes with 15-inch front rotors.

It's the fastest compact SUV on the road right now. The Macan Turbo will change that, but it will be considerably more expensive.

mcbit

Aaaahh, you're here too!

Dennis C

Yeah, I actually meant to post this here originally.

EnigmaWmn

Congrats, Dennis! It's a nice little car, I got to drive it around for a few days last month. Mom couldn't wait for the SQ5 though but should have, IMHO. Her blue is Scuba Blue and looks very similar to yours:

mcbit

Dang! My favourite Ukranian has returned!

DWPC

The Audi is a great choice; I put 90K miles on a 2.7T and it was the 2nd most trouble free car I'd had in almost 50 years of driving (after a '71 Corolla that needed only $4 coil in 120K). Make sure you drive the Cayenne enough to keep it loose; sitting in the driveway is hard duty.

Dennis C

Thanks Pops! We're excited about it. The Cayenne will still get plenty of use in the years to come...

dryadsdad

Well, Audi's are recently a solid pick so I doubt you can go wrong but if you aren't in a rush, why not wait for the Macan to see if you will prefer it? My guess is that the Macan should be a grade or two above the best Audi as I can't see VAG making both head to head competing for the same customer and Porsche is the premium brand at VAG (aside from Bug, etc.).

Dennis C

If it was going to be my daily driver, then I probably would have done just that. However, the new Audi will be my wife's daily driver. She prefers the "boxy" look of the Audi to the new Cayenne and to the photos she has seen of the new Macan. It appears that the Audi has a bit more cargo room too, which is nice.

dryadsdad

Oh, no doubt that the prime driver should be the prime mover in its choice. Really can't see going wrong with the Audi.

Cole

That is the funniest thing I've ever read on these forums! As a loooooooooong time Audi owner, Audi club member, Audi driving instructor, and generally very deeply rooted in some deep Audi sources, you are the only person on earth that must have had good luck with the 2.7t being "trouble free"

The 2.7t is easily the most loved/hated engine Audi had ever produced! It's the very specific reason the V6 in Dennis's new Audi is Supercharged and not Turbo charged. That engine nearly bankrupt Audi in warranty repairs.(okay, it cost them a HUGE chunk of change)

Dennis C

We had an Audi Allroad Quattro with the 2.7T engine. It was a maintenance nightmare, but the engine wasn't the main culprit. It certainly contributed, but that car had lots of problems. That being said, we loved the vehicle!

Cole, I've been thinking about putting big offroad tires on my Cayenne like you put on yours. I'm liking that idea more and more as I think about it...