pinion

That off road experience looks to me like a carefully crafted set of obstacles that show capabilities that—while they may surprise drivers that don’t off-road often, are fundamentally safe and not hard on the vehicle. With the exception of physical scrapes or scuffs all the low speed putting around seems like the easiest life a Porsche might have at a PEC. If the car doesn’t show any scuffs (especially the underside) I wouldn’t give buying a car with this background a second thought.

As for one more data point on option build outs for demo cars, the Porsche Calgary dealer had a bonus allocation for a base Cayenne which they put something like $35,000 in options on… when I asked about it the salesman noted that I would likely never see another base loaded up so high but they had done it on purpose to highlight what could be done without going to the higher level trims. While I have my doubts about this explanation it does seem that adding lots of options to a base isn’t unheard of.

chassis

Close friend has an X5 M50i. Good power but it guzzles, and it’s not a Porsche.

Cayenne S is faster than the GLE53 and MB reliability is garbage.

Also +1 for Porsche North Olmstead, they helped me out of a jam with a flat tire replacement day before Christmas Eve. Good guys and nice facility.

Mattlar24

I drove a gle53 and the cayenne S is night and day faster. It’s not even close and the gle drove like a POS IMO. Creaky , stuff ride , interior didn’t feel nice, lots of hard plastic, laggy infotainment. It’s totally out IMO, only nice thing is has it the limousine like back seat legroom. It’s awesome.

m50 is the only other consideration at this point but despite the almost full second better 0-60 it is so much less fun to drive. The S felt like the perfect car for my driving style / needs.

Oldboy52

In my opinion, the Porsche adaptive cruise is the best I’ve experienced. It is very responsive, and unlike others, doesn’t grow a gap that allows others to dive in front of you in stop and go. I really like it and specifically looked for this option. Highly recommended.

Mattlar24

Thanks. It sounds great, but based on my driving needs, I don’t think I’d wait for a CPO with it type of thing.

matthewr87

Whatever you decide to do, please learn from my recent 120k CPO mistake and for the love of all things Holy get a PPI before you buy the car. I've learned the hard way that the CPO inspection isn't worth anything at all.

Mattlar24

PPI?

Needsdecaf

When choosing a CPO Porsche, I found that it's best to have a wish list of options / colors. Rank them in terms of negotiability. You'll never find exactly what you want, but you can get close. Other than that you'll either have to sacrifice a few "nice to haves" or you'll overpay for things you didn't really want to.

matthewr87

Pre-purchase inspection

Schnave

Excellent advice. I might add — get the Pre-Purchase Inspection from a shop other than the dealer; less bias / conflict of interest.

A PPI should range from $250 - $300. Money well spent. Here’s the results of a Cayenne I rejected after these findings:

- REAR BUMPER HAS BEEN PAINTED
- CAR NEEDS ALIGNMENT
- SLIGHT WEEPAGE AT THE LOWER PART OF BELL HOUSING WHERE MEETS BLOCK. MOST LIKELY REAR MAIN CRANK SEAL 😳
- EXCESS CARBON BUILD UP ON EXHAUST TIPS. CARBON SPLATTER ON BACK OF TRUCK.

Mattlar24

ah so given it’s sight unseen - pay a 3rd party to go check over the vehicle for me. Makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

matthewr87

Even if you can physically see the vehicle yourself, always get a PPI. I looked over my car myself. I even brought a flashlight with me for that purpose. But unless you are going to spend 1 hour looking over the car on your hands and knees, you are going to miss things (like I did). I just put too much faith in the vaunted CPO inspection. This was my first time buying a used car. Live and learn.

Mattlar24

but were the items you missed covered by cpo? That’s most important in the end.

Schnave

Each of my last three sellers agreed to drive the Cayenne to a local shop of my choice. I made the appointment and gave them my credit card and email. The shop conducted the inspection, emailed the report (complete with photos), and called me to discuss the results.

When I was satisfied with the PPI, I flew out to the Cayenne’s location. In one instance, the seller picked me up at the airport and let me drive it overnight. (Thanks again, Clay!)

Even with a clean PPI, don’t close the deal until you have given it a thorough test drive and visual inspection.

Plan on one day of travel, one day of test drive and closing the deal, and depart the next morning on your road trip home with a big smile!

Mattlar24

Appreciate the advice here. I wish I had 3 days to invest into a car purchase. Not being able to, I accept some risks.