SKJSS0307

I'm sure there are other threads on this, but I didn't find them on a quick search, so please humor me a bit. Brief summary....wife and I own a 986 and 996, love them both. We are looking at buying my wife a new daily driver. We had been looking at things like an older 3 series (E90), E class, etc...I don't want to dive into the deeper end of the used car market due to the insane prices right now. I just wound up buying a dedicated HPDE car, so we're now shifting focus and thinking of getting something capable of towing the car. Wife would prefer German, so we're looking at older MB ML, X5 or Cayenne. I don't know much about the reliability of these things. I understand it's a Porsche, but in relative terms what's overall reliability like? V6 vs V8? 4.5L vs 4.8L? What are known weak points for them? The car would be used 99% as a street car, but it will serve occasional tow pig duty hauling approx. 4500lbs including trailer. Thanks!!

TRINITONY

https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...his-first.html

957austin

Out of what you listed I would consider the 2012-2015 ML and the Cayenne 957-958. The Cayenne is the far better driver while the ML is the better soccer mom car. Pick whatever your wife wants more. I personally think 958.1 Cayenne (2011-2014) is the sweet spot right now based on price and would love to upgrade to one but since I barely drive my Cayenne anymore I can't make myself spend the money.

SKJSS0307

Oh good grief....I can't believe I overlooked that sticky, I was looking at the threads below that line. I'm a moron....

Thanks!!!! and sorry....

957austin,
We're looking toward the ML and Cayenne mostly, with the X5 a distant third. The 958.1 may be out of the range we want to spend right now. Funny your comment about the soccer mom thing. My kids play lacrosse...and my wife said about the MB "So I'm going to be THAT lacrosse mom, huh?" Frankly, we'd prefer the one that is overall more likely to be dependable. Yes, I know that depends largely on prior maintenance and such...but presuming equal maintenance, what will be least likely to leave her on the side of the road?

Petrolhead_007

try to find a well maintained 2009-2010 or 2012 or newer Cayenne
All the issues of each engines are well documented so it's up to your risk appetite whether you want base V6 or Turbo. If you'll be towing then an air suspension and extra power is helpful, but not necessary. Majority of base or S models were not ordered with air suspension, but GTS or Turbo came with it standard

Petza914

Stay away from the BMW. I bought my daughter a used X5 with only 90k miles and the "bulletproof" inline 6 and the generation before DFI so that I wouldn't have to deal with carbon issues those have, and over the 18 months we've owned it, the thing has consumed more maintenance and repair time of mine than my 6 Porsches combined.

If towing, get the Cayenne Turbo - the air suspension and torque makes it an excellent tow vehicle. The 6 cylinder really isn't a great tow rig. Avoid the 08 model year as those V8s have a higher than average issue with cylinder bore scoring. Early 958s have transfer case issues and a problem with aluminum cam gear bolt heads snapping off. Both of these are covered under recalls and extended warranties, but seems like even the replacement transfer cases fail and I'm not sure for how long Porsche will continue to replace them. They're about $4k each time one fails and some owners have been through 2 or 3. I think the sweet spot is the 09-10 957 GTS, Turbo, and Turbo S and why that's what I bought (09 TTS).

Find one from a warm climate with good service history and under 100k miles.

DrJupeman

I have an '09 Turbo S and it has been, perhaps, surprisingly reliable for its 17x,xxx miles. I keep wondering how I could ever replace it, given all the utility it provides (I tow a 20' enclosed trailer with it from time to time - used to be my primary tow rig, now my RV is).

SKJSS0307

Thanks all! As for the towing part, that's the balance I'd have to find. The car would be 98% non-towing duty, basically a daily driver. However, a handful of times it would tow 4500ish lbs anywhere from 60-120 miles each way for HPDE days. So I definitely want something capable of doing it, but don't need overkill. Definitely understand the risk appetite when it comes to German cars. My daily is a 128i 6spd, and as I mentioned we have a 986 and 996. Nothing like living on the edge...LOL.

CTTS520

You already own a 996 and a 986. Forget the MB and BMW. You have to complete the collection with a Cayenne. Just think, your cars could all share the same repair shop. But seriously, I have an 06 Turbo S that has been a very reliable driver and an excellent tow vehicle. My wife daily drives a 987 Boxster S and loves it. I have towed my old Airstream trailer about 12 hours to Angel Fire, New Mexico on several occasions very comfortably. I have also used the low range 4wd and special terrain mode to pull the trailer over muddy ranch roads into some incredible boondocking sites. When unhitched from the trailer, the Cayenne is a pure joy to drive while site seeing along the highways that make up the Enchanted Circle in Northern New Mexico. If my Cayenne's engine catastrophically failed tomorrow, I would pay up for the highest quality rebuild because the car is worth it to me.

rd929

I have an 08 CTT and as long as the cardan shaft and the coolant hose issue is fixed ahead of
time you’re mostly in the clear. But in the end it’s still an older vehicle so all these sensors and smaller things can add up.

tbh for a towing vehicle I would most easily look at the e70 x5 35d. I’ve towed with it and had it as a daily driver. To this day it’s one of the best vehicles I’ve ever driven. If you want to get crazy you can also delete and tune it to push some serious power and even increased reliability and MPG’s. But stock it can tow like a monster while still clocking over 20mpg no problem

DIYDanCars

If reliability is key, then I wouldn't buy a Cayenne S or TT. I bought my Cayenne Turbo as a one owner trade in from a Porsche dealer with just a little over 40k miles on it and just about every single month month something would break. I bought the car when I was young and ambitious, so working on it at the time was somewhat fun. After about the fourth year of ownership, the constant neediness of the car became tiring and a bit ridiculous. While I loved my Cayenne when it ran right, the quality of these cars leaves a lot to be desired! If I couldn't work on the car myself, I probably would have had out of pocket repair expenses between $15k-$20k depending on who I had repairing it (independent vs dealer). I bought my car with around 42k miles and sold it at 96k miles and I don't even want to do the calculations on how much money that cost me per mile. While it was a fun car to drive! It was also infuriating at times to own! My intentions are not to scare you about owning one of these cars, but to inform you about my own personal experience after owning one for 5 years and putting 54k miles on it. If you plan on buying one and using it as a daily driver, then make sure you have a reliable backup daily driver because you will need it!

I did make youtube video about the reliability of my Cayenne after 4 years of ownership and boy did I get a lot of flak for it. Believe it or not, I'm still getting death threats emailed to me about it. Porsche fans can be triable so be careful what you say in public about their cars.

Petza914

Death threats for your helpful videos - that's ridiculous. I bought mine with 28k miles and it's now coming up in 50k and I haven't done a thing but oil changes, tires, and a conversion to PCCBs, but it's also not a DD and is a family trip and dance competion car. It sees about 5k miles per year and probably only leaves the garage 8x a year.

Going to do plugs and coils at the 50k mile oil service. Might replace the PDCC reservoir with filter at the same time.

slavie

If you want a German SUV, I assume you understand that it will be more expensive and less reliable to own than a Toyota. But, more prestigious and sportier to ride for sure.
My use case is basically same as yours - I daily my 110k+ mi 08 'GTS and use it to tow my 240k+ mi $500 Toyota Celica racecar (24 Hours of Lemons) to the track a few times a year.
If I take out performance modifications on the racecar and look purely at maintenance and fixes, the 1996 Toyota is more reliable despite being tracked... I seem to average about 1 check engine a year on the Cayenne, plus oil, brakes (more frequent than other cars), deferred maintenance like suspension overhaul due to mileage being over 80k.
I do my own work, so only pay for parts. If I were to rely on a shop, I'd need to budget $1000-2000 a year on the Cayenne for maintenance & repairs, which seems to be the accepted standard around here.

Decide what your priorities are. If they line up with a Cayenne, you won't regret it.

957GT-YES

It's nice to be in the position to even consider the option to DD a Cayenne. I have an 09 Turbo S after coming from an 09 GTS. Both were (and still are) running well and amazing DDs. With the GTS, I bought it with 125K for super cheap, knowing it needed the usual drive shaft and fuel pump replacement. After that, it ran perfectly for the year and 15K that I had it. Literally gas and go. For the Turbo S, I bought it with 85K-ish and I'm at 105K. I did have to replace the A/C compressor last year and did the water pump while I was in there (preventive). I also did the in-tank fuel pumps myself as one of the in-tank pumps died. It didn't leave me stranded, however. Mostly, the 20K has just been "gas-and-go." If the usual maintenance is done on these, they are pretty rock solid. Whatever you buy, just budget $2-3K to get it all dialed in and you should be good to do. In my opinion having had both the GTS and Turbo S, no doubt the Turbo is a monster, but the GTS feels more "sporty," which makes since as is was designed that way. Best of luck in your search. Cheers!