BrendonSF

We're just shy of 100k miles on our '16 GTS, and I am thoroughly impressed by how well it's aged. There's been some small stuff (window regulator, battery), but aside from that the car has been solid. It's even still on the original TC, after going 80k miles before it's first fluid change.

Sudar

I bought mine with 85k in brand new condition with zero rust underneath. Just some wear from cargo loading

luciano136

Haha, I've owned every single one of them but I'm indeed staying away from newer BMW's; they lost their soul anyway. The last one I had was a 1999 with the smooth as butter 2.8 inline 6. I supercharged it as well; fun car. I used to love BMW but they've lost their way a long time ago unfortunately.

leftlane

Yeah I had an 08 650 convertible that was pretty good, but then a 12 750 that was a POS. The N63 engine was terrible and had so many problems it should have been lemoned - injectors, turbo issues, electronic gremlins, brake problems - it was constant. I swore off BMW as a result of that car. My Porsches have all been a piece of cake compared to the Bavarians.

luciano136

Agreed! I'm down to two Porsches and one Mercedes now. Used to have a VW GTI for 10 years as well; also a great car and mostly trouble free.

Eskimo1

I think with new shocks and some bushings replaced, my 108k mile CD will drive as good as it did when I got it with ~40k.

BoostPower

Just sold my 04 955 CTT yesterday, it has about 218k miles. It definitely got it's ups and downs, I did most of the repairs myself, but overall a pretty reliable car. car still runs strong when I sold it, and I am planning to pick up a 958 to replace it.

DAVfoto

My 13 GTS was great at 104k miles. Traded it but I really enjoyed driving it hard and it handled well!

PbCTTv8500

2011 Cayenne turbo V8tt.

Bought it 5 years ago with 55k now has 127k and counting.

At 100k I did a full fluid swap front to back. literally every single fluid item in the car was replaced with OEM fluids, diffs, transfer case, engine oil, coolant, PDCC hydraulic fluid, the list goes on snf on but you get the point.

I've had some maintenance items pop up, like a leaking PDC hose, leaking air shock, replaced all coil packs, brakes ($1000 in parts alone for the front OUCH). I'm meticulous about maintenance snd try to do as much preventative stuff as I can. Like water pump, engine mounts, misc suspension bushings, etc.

Knock on wood, this thing has never once let me down or left me stranded. I'm hoping to get 200k miles or more out of it, and/or drive it until it explodes.

Funny thing is, I considered getting rid of it. I test drove at least 25 comparable cars and not a single one even came close to the Cayenne. The cayenne out handles, is way more comfortable and feels more solid/better built.
I test drove an X5m, X7m, Audi Q5 SQ5, SQRS Q8, Jeep grand cherokee trailhawk, Mercedes GL, ML, C class E class (all AMG's), Tahoe, Denali, audi a6 a7 s6 s7, even. a panamera turbo.

not one single car I drove felt anywhere near as good as my Cayenne with 127k miles.

leftlane

Very similar experience for me with my 14 GTS - now at 120k miles and did all the fluids front to rear at 100k, plus I’ve been on top of the 40k services with new plugs etc. (just had it done again last week). Rock solid, no issues, great car. Did have a small rattle last week behind the passenger ac vent but figured it out and no more noise. Love it - this is a keeper for sure.

PbCTTv8500

What else have you done?

any suspension components? Fuel filter? Water pump?

tmlima

Based on my experience, the Porsche is much better than the Mercedes. MB has gotten awful reviews lately.
I still have a 2014 Cayenne diesel with 177k miles. No issues on the cars part.
My business partner has a Mercedes SUV (2016?). He's had many issues. The major one is the brakes just lock up on him. It has to be towed to the dealer. Twice.
His son has a MB S class with 50k miles. He just had to replace the timing chain for $10,000. They are both looking at Porsche for their next cars.

jonUF02

I'll give an update for my experience. I had a 2011 Cayenne S for about 1.5 years and sold almost 2 years ago, replaced with a 2015 ML63 AMG. The Cayenne S had 116k miles on it and I had full service records. Nothing too major, but it did have the vacuum pump replaced, had issues with the evap system just before I bought it and the thing by the gas filler was replaced. Also a few other issue like rear sun shade regulators, peeling dash and bad transfer case previously replaced under warranty. In my ownership I only added about 10k miles including a few hundred mile trip each way towing my double jet skis. I replaced almost every fluid and fixed little things like broken AC Vents. Just after I sold it the guy said it developed a coolant leak at the rear of the engine.

The CS was never really fast enough for me. I added a tune and secondary cats delete. In the end I just wanted something with better acceleration and I decided to upgrade to the 2015 ML63. I had a few Mercedes V8 cars before the Cayenne and I just like the way they feel and deliver the power better. Mercedes has the best interiors hands sown. They deliver effortless acceleration with a ton of torque starting really low in the power band. I did test drive an equivalent 958 Cayenne Turbo, but it really 9nly put on the power from mid to top end, down low it felt kinda similar to the S.

My ML63 I don't have much history. I was able to contact the previous owner and he said that it had a few maintenance things done like plugs and coils which I later found out was false or someone ripped him off because a coil failed and I replaced them all and found a few different branded coils with different production dates. Honestly it came to me a bit neglected at 89k miles. I spent a good amount of cash refurbishing it, but only a few mechanical things like leaking radiator and new engine mounts. One little issue with the hydraulic suspension valve block. After getting it all sorted I've added about 10k miles and no significant issues.

My wife's GL550 is a different story. Mainly it has been a headache due to multiple episodes where a plastic coolant fitting fails, pukes all the coolant, and leaves her stranded for my rescue. I recently spent about $3500 at 80k miles to replace all the coolant lines to the turbos, thermostat, and re seal the front cam covers which are all common failure points for this series of biturbo V8. I'm probably going to do all the same for my ML63 preventatively by myself for about $800 in parts. I now have a spare car so I can afford the downtime to do it at my leasure.

So to summarize, each has it's own issues, but I didn't really enjoy the Cayenne S experience like I enjoy Mercedes V8 experience. Just get whatever you like. All these German high performance cars are heavy on maintenance cost and each will have their issues. I'm even considering replacing the GL550 with a BMW x7 now that the 40 series engine, whatever it's called, is proving pretty reliable. They worked with Toyota to refine that engine design for reliability when it was put in the new "Supra".
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luciano136

German cars are always a bit of a gamble. Seems like their economy variants are typically solid but you have to be careful with the higher end models and research years and generations for common issues. My w164 ML CDI was not great; the GTS has been solid so far. The driving experience is also lightyears better; the ML was incredibly comfortable for long distance but doesn't handle on back roads. The GTS does both very well; still blown away by the handling.

Spicy

I purchased my 2015 CD late last August at 120k miles, it felt great then. I am sitting at 153k miles now, lots of dirt roads, still feels great. I love this car!