Porsche Cayenne

2037 messages,  Last post on Mar 26, 2013 at 1:03 PM

You are in the Porsche Cayenne Forum.

What is this discussion about? Porsche Cayenne, SUV

#1073 of 2037 msingerbmw, mudman, et al by habitat1

Jun 29, 2004 (4:56 am)

Reading your posts reminds me of why I may never own a Porsche, in spite of their positive attributes.
 
We will be replacing our SUV this fall with a 2005 model. It's 50/50 that we will go with something with a third row seat, but I'm hanging on to the possiblity of a 5-passenger one, so I thought I'd drop in. I'd like something fun to drive, so the X5 and Cayenne are on my list.
 
Unfortunately, as much as I appreciate Porsche's engineering prowess, I really don't have much tolerance for "you'll just have to put up with ____, since it's a Porsche."
 
Two and a half years ago, when in the "fun" car market, I considered the Boxster S. My neighbor was also in the market and was pro-Porsche. I confess, after looking at a supposedly $49,900 base priced Boxster S and finding a laundry list of options that took it to $60k+, I wasn't having much "fun". It wasn't the cost as much as the attitude of the dealer. My neighbor bit, and I ended up "skimping" on a $32k Honda S2000 with absolutely no options even available. We recently traded the S2000, but in two and a half years and 18k miles of ownership, we had 4 oil changes, two scheduled maintenance visits, all at a grand total service cost of under $500. Not a single repair or problem. I'd even get calls every few months from Honda North America executives just to make sure I was happy and asking if I had any suggestions for improving the S2000.
 
My neighbor traded his Boxster S a few months ago. He loved it, in spite of being into the dealership at least a half dozen times for unscheduled maintenance and repairs. He was given $35k on the trade-in, meaning that his cost for 2 years of "fun" was about two and a half times mine. Different strokes, as they say.
 
I'm not here to disparage Porsche. Maybe I'm just too old or corrupted to want to put badge prestige ahead of a hassle free experience. Unfortunately, Honda/Acura don't have anything fun to drive in the SUV category. So I'll suck up and try to test drive the Cayenne with an open mind, as long as the steering wheel isn't optional.

#1074 of 2037 I have got to chime in by jimscays

Jun 29, 2004 (7:51 am)

Finally got my handle changed from bmwx5jim to my new handle Jim's cay S. I can't speak to Boxster vs Honda 2000 because I can't fit in anything that small anymore since I am 6'5" tall (although I did drive an Austin Healy bug eyed sprite in my college days), but I can testify that in the SUV class and even in the high end Luxury class, you would be hard pressed to find a more luxurious and fun to drive vehicle. I have owned S class, 745i, Jag, et al, but for 2004, My Cay S has more luxury, amenities, and yes great looks, and we have not even mentioned a blast to drive yet. My key fob works perfectly and has much better range than the MBZ does. If someone is looking for a premium SUV the Cayenne has to be on the short list if one is being honest. If you want something bigger ,there is the Range Rover, but despite the great exterior looks, the interior is a mess IMO. And the ride is like driving an 80's Town car. It is overpriced as well. The Lexus LX is over priced and underpowered as well as looking like the rebadged Landcruiser it really is. The X5 is nice, I traded mine in for the Cayenne, and in my view is certainly worth considering.
IMO the Navigator is a consideration if you want a huge SUV, and the X5 and Cayenne if you want a Luxury SUV/sports car, and everything else if you want an SUV and don't particularly care about the luxury sport aspect of it, ie Honda, Ford, Infiniti(rides like a truck or older corvette), GM , Chrysler, etc.

#1075 of 2037 now that we've gone this far by msingerbmw

Jun 29, 2004 (8:07 am)

I clearly want to say that the Cay is the best vehicle out there in its class. It is the best by a wide margin. But I do think that the Porsche engineers and marketing department could have an attitude adjustment. Customers are looked upon to be tolerated. The lengths that Honda, Toyota, Lexus go to to satisfy their customers is mind boggling.

#1076 of 2037 manual trans. by davidc1

Jun 29, 2004 (10:21 am)

I heard somewhere that Cayenne might be available with manual trans. next year? Can anyone confirm?

#1077 of 2037 Re: now that we've gone this far [msingerbmw #1075] by highender

Jun 30, 2004 (4:34 pm)

Replying to: msingerbmw (Jun 29, 2004 8:07 am)
although I have had a few Porsches before the Cayenne, it is the best and most luxurious for the money. It has more stuff for the driver than other Porsches. I do agree that their customer service has to improve, and include a wash, good response time, factory engineers available to solve problems, etc...
 
ON the past weekend trip to Redding, he cayenne was just cruising along at 2200 rpm, between 68 to 75 mph, and I got in excess of 17 mpg. And I was just applying gentle peddle pressure to the accelerator. The cmputer was noting 16.9 mpg, but that was after 2 hrs of freeway, it went/crept up slowly, from 15.8 all the way up to 16.9. I think the computer does not calculate instantaneous MPG, but the average, where if you drive a lot of local roads, and are getting 14 mpg, and then drive freeway, it will be awhile before the computer registers 17, since you have to makeup for all the low local fuel mileage.
 
  The Prius that I was driving ( rental while the Cayenne was in the body shop) had a computer that gave me instantaneous mpg...it would go from 0 mpg (while I was idling) to 99 mpg ( when you are coasting down hill, with engine off, and just gravity moving the car) It calculated every second or so. It also had a average mpg for the total trip. I think Porsche should think about incorporating this feature into the computer.

#1078 of 2037 remote by highender

Jun 30, 2004 (4:36 pm)

spockcat has a toureg, and the toureg owners also have a similar problem with the remote. It turns out that there is a way to move the remote antenna to the door pillars ( A pillar ) and thus get better remote range. He is nice, and will forward the info about moving the antenna...
 
I'll try to see if I can post it ...

#1080 of 2037 Re: picking my cay 6 on tuesday [thebest2003 #1064] by highender

Jun 30, 2004 (4:53 pm)

Replying to: thebest2003 (Jun 25, 2004 8:40 pm)
congrats thebest2003 !!
 
hope you like it .. .. and don't be put off by the small stuff...
 

#1081 of 2037 Re: msingerbmw, mudman, et al [habitat1 #1073] by highender

Jun 30, 2004 (4:59 pm)

Replying to: habitat1 (Jun 29, 2004 4:56 am)
hi habitat....
 
good to see you here....
 
I like the Cayenne and recommend it highly, but only to people like you who understands and appreciates performance . Cay may not have the reliability of some current SUVs, but I think the teething pains will be corrected. (hope VW will listen also, since they are responsible for some of the problems...)

#1082 of 2037 V6 impression by thebest2003

Jun 30, 2004 (8:34 pm)

Took delivery of my V6 last night. Went for a bit of a drive today. Still amazing that it's built like a tank.
 
PCM has a learning curve to it. The manual isn't very well written so the only way you can learn is just keep playing it.
 
Xenon light does have condensation.....I've read that's an ongoing problem so should I bring it to the dealer or fix it myself? I'm not confortable to do it myself.....
 
Bose stereo is good, but not great. Loudness is plenty, but bass is a bit to be desired, consider there's a subwoofer in the back. the mid and highs are very good, though.
 
Ride quality is better than what I remembered from my test drive. In fact, the V6 has a "softer" ride than the S, due to the lesser weight of the engine. Around town, the V6 is very responsive. Once on the highway, it needs a little more time for power to build up speed compare to the S. It'll only become faster once break ins are reached.
 
This is my first Porsche. I have to say it's not as easy to learn all the functions compare to a Japanese car. It is a very sophisticated vehicle.....the Germans really showed their ingenuity with the Cayenne.
 
Before I bought it, I was 50/50 in getting a Tourag V8 or the Cay 6. No doubt that if I went for the T-reg I would of gotten more power and feature with less money. But the thought of owning a Porsche was the tie-breaker. You can't beat the feeling that everywhere you go there are people staring it.
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