Who considered Touareg purchase...
 

before buying the Cayenne?

The reason I ask is my wife is wanting a SUV and likes the Cayenne. We have not looked at the Touareg (is that how you spell it?) and I wonder what others have thought?

Is there a bulletin board for VW to talk about the Touareg?

Thanks all for the input!!!

I considered the Tourag but never looked at it. The price was too close to the Cayenne S in order to justify getting a VW. My wife also preferred the Cayenne over the Tourag. The interior of the Cayenne looks much better. There's a pretty good article in the latest Road & Track comparing the Cayenne Turbo to the Tourag. One of the commentaries talks about the differences between the two in terms of how they're designed and manufactured.

Not quite but a close friend of mine actually bought a V8 Toureg, but has already ordered a Cayenne S to replace.

Initially he thought the price differential was important but having driven mine a few times he was not happy with his purchase and will move in about 2 months.

I drove his by the way, it was not bad at all, but it is a big step down in the overall feel of the car.

Chris,
I did consider the Touareg. Although the chassis and air suspension are identical, in the end it was post sale service which made the decision to go with the Cayenne.
The difference between my local VW/Audi service departments (I owned a 2002 S4 which required 4-6 service visits) and the Porsche service departments was the determining factor for myself.

If you head over to the 996TT forum, PorschePhd (Stephen from ImagineAuto) recently purchased a very nice V8 Toureg and posted a lot of pictures and comments. He seems very happy with the purchase.

Chris,

The VW forum is located at http://www.vwvortex.com/ .

For the price difference (which isn't much once you factor in all the add-ons for the Touareg to get it like a Cayenne and the Cayenne's discount) the service for Porsche is far superior to VW's. At my Porsche dealer, they give me a Boxster to drive as a loan car, whereas at the VW dealer, I think they give you the finger instead. :)

Chris, I was at my Porsche dealer this weekend
dropping off my car for some work and I cruised around
looking at the Cayennes. They are not a huge dealer
and still had 2 that were in the 55K range. My question
is if I were in the market for one, would I buy the
55K Cayenne or teh 51K Toureg. I would assume there
would be some discount there somewhere. I think
it would be on hell of a decision with the hat falling
on the Porsche side.

Looked at both and chose the Cayenne, mostly due to service at Porsche dealership vs the VW. Just dropped mine off for service and got a loaner Cayenne S- would echo the above observation that at the VW dealership I would have just gotten the finger.

Also just like the Cayenne better than the Touareg.....

Man, I thought I was the only one......

I had a Cayenne for a day. I drove it to the VW Dealer to test the Touareg.

It was a good idea having just driven the S. I found the weight of the vehicle pronounced in the Treg. Mine is a work vehicle so the interiors were not important. I tow (boat) 6000lb into high altitudes so power is critical. I preferred the S, but not enough to buy it yet.

I brought my Jeep to a Jeep/VW dealer. After dropping the truck with a polite service rep he directed me to the room to wait for the shuttle that runs every 20 min.

After a half hour the room had filled with about 12 people, waiting for guess what... I thought it would take me an hour to get back to work & did I want to do this again with a new tech vehicle - the next three years?

I bought the S within a week. I'm very pleased.

The issues I had was a Euro trailer plug (has been replaced) and a dead battery (my fault - left three doors open at the job for 3 days). I'm not that crazy about the attention it gets; I feel a little guilty using it for work.

Read the Vortex board, the tow hitch thread is a flamer. If performance or tow capacity is not important the V6 may do it for you. The contributers to this board are willing to pay a premium for performance the Vortex board has your value shoppers. Good luck.

I think Stephen (PorschePHD) from Imagine Auto purchased a T-egg recently.

John from WA

I just visited the Toureag column (thank you Karl) and found it to be a pretty useful forum. Judging from the prices offered by dealers (in the list of dealers selling at MSRP or less- very useful- maybe here????) the T is significantly cheaper than the C. If neither or both are discounted you're talking at least 10K and really closer to 15K or even $20K for a very similar vehicle. Whether that is worth it is debatable- but the list prices certainly aren't very close.

The loaner policy does appear to be different- it appears most VW dealers apparently only offer "drop-off" service (unacceptable IMO). My local P dealer will provide a loaner but it is either an Enterprise rental or a dirty unkempt Audi- which may not seem much better than a drop-off- esp. if you just dropped almost $100K on a Turbo.

Cayenne v. T-reg
 

I echo the sentiment expressed so far. I have silver 2004 “S” and I did evaluate the two vehicles, a lot. Since I have a 911 to get sideways, I had trouble rationalizing the extra $7 to $10+ for what I wanted…..a great all wheel drive SUV or wagon. I quickly eliminated wagons (Volvo, Audi, BMW, MB) and any other SUV.

Initially, I liked the VW’s exterior better but I always loved the Cayenne’s minimalist Porsche design interior. That has changed since living with my Cayenne…..I love the 911 styling cues all the more now and find the VW pedestrian in comparison. Not a dis, just more designed for the focus group and my personal preference As I said, the interior is just marvelously functional. I do not get why on the VWVortex boards so many people complained about the interior of the Cayenne as looking cheap or whatever…..

The real trouble I had was the way they drove. The VW’s 50/50 bias felt to me to be a bit thick, unconnected, nowhere near as nimble as the Cayenne. I drove a VW with a V8 and air suspension and felt, OK, I could live with this fine, but it was not thrilling. When I drove the Cayenne, wow.

So I had to get over the cost difference. I actually ordered a VW V8 with every option you can order topping out with a MSRP north of $55K. The kicker was a November delivery, at the earliest, and this was late August. Thankfully gave me time to think. I figured I could get an “S” with what I needed for an invoice price of $60K’ish (list of $68K). So I went to the local Porsche store, saw gorgeous silver one with my name on it and made a deal for $1,200 over invoice.

Net net, I cannot be happier. Yes I have had the little glitches you read about here (the service department has been super, loaned me a Boxster or Cayenne, my choice), but what you notice is NO ONE is talking about problems with suspension, engines, brakes, etc…..the vehicle is amazing and everyone that rides in it with me wants one. It may seem counterintuitive that it is like a hippo that can do ballet (and that probably confused some auto writers initially), but as an every day vehicle, there is no substitute.

The Cayenne interior is REALLY nice.
 

I am VERY picky when it comes to interiors. Porsche did an awesome job on the Cayenne. The VW does not even come close. The only other interior I like is the Audi's. Just look at the steering wheel on the VW --- not even close. If it were more simple, I would be okay with it.

The Porsche should also give a higher resale value so the price differential may not be as large as some think.

Bottom line. Drive the 2 cars if you can't decide. If you're not sure after the test drive, I would get the VW.

Re: Cayenne v. T-reg
 

Man I love that quote. A hippo that can do ballet. LOL.

Hippo? Ballet? Did you get the call from Disney yet for copyright?

OK the hippo thing was not cool, but when I think of Disney it is more flattering. Well, still respecting the basic laws of physics, I have not yet fully explored the limits of the vehicle, but I thought an appropriate plate for it to be "HEVY996", so I ordered it...that will send the purists into orbit. I plan to autocross my "truck" as well.....along with a '88 911.