Planning a return back to the fold (long version...)
Discussion
Its been a lonely 1.5 years since my pork journey was put temporarily on hold...
following a succession of old stuff starting with a 944 s2 then a 964 and latterly a 968 cs, a house move and growing family took grip and forced me into something more practical
i landed a golf mk4 r32 for the station run and sold that after 12 months... i am just about to pull the trigger on its replacement which was intended to be an e46 330 coupe until i spoke to vendor last night who said "shame to use a car like this for a 1.4 mile journey" when we were talking about my intended use (the station run is a 3 mile round trip)
it struck such a chord with me that ive been in a daze of inspiration this morning...
truth be known, we dont need 2 cars as the past 2 months with just one has shown me. so with some careful man maths and the obvious realisation that my wife needs a car more than i do i thought why not upgrade her current stead, a trusty low mile e39 sport touring, to something that copes with snow and adverse terrain more (we are in the chilterns and even light snow is a pita given where we live).
with a 13k budget (the sale proceeeds from her car, my old golf and about 5k top up) in mind i started looking through the classifieds... first stop was the c5 rs6. i then spent more time reasearching the running costs. my search stopped shortly after that.
ive always liked fast estates but secretly i think my wife fancies a car with more ground clearance and with some traction in snow. we have 2 boys in 2 car seats and getting them in and out as many times as she does when you bent over double is a real pita...
so with tail in between legs with the realisation that getting an rs6 might be cheaper than looking after one, i went to the PH classifieds and used the funky search engine to pull up a marque agnostic search for stuff with a V something engine and 4 wheel drive.... lingered on the range rovers for a while but after all the sheet ive given my mates about the cliche, i then stumbled across a PORSCHE!!!
it was a great moment...even more so when i realised it was a cayenne (possibly the ugliest contemporary porsche to be made)
anyways, its a porsche and i need one back on my drive so over to you lot to tell me what to do! the budget is what it is but i have no clue about them!
following a succession of old stuff starting with a 944 s2 then a 964 and latterly a 968 cs, a house move and growing family took grip and forced me into something more practical
i landed a golf mk4 r32 for the station run and sold that after 12 months... i am just about to pull the trigger on its replacement which was intended to be an e46 330 coupe until i spoke to vendor last night who said "shame to use a car like this for a 1.4 mile journey" when we were talking about my intended use (the station run is a 3 mile round trip)
it struck such a chord with me that ive been in a daze of inspiration this morning...
truth be known, we dont need 2 cars as the past 2 months with just one has shown me. so with some careful man maths and the obvious realisation that my wife needs a car more than i do i thought why not upgrade her current stead, a trusty low mile e39 sport touring, to something that copes with snow and adverse terrain more (we are in the chilterns and even light snow is a pita given where we live).
with a 13k budget (the sale proceeeds from her car, my old golf and about 5k top up) in mind i started looking through the classifieds... first stop was the c5 rs6. i then spent more time reasearching the running costs. my search stopped shortly after that.
ive always liked fast estates but secretly i think my wife fancies a car with more ground clearance and with some traction in snow. we have 2 boys in 2 car seats and getting them in and out as many times as she does when you bent over double is a real pita...
so with tail in between legs with the realisation that getting an rs6 might be cheaper than looking after one, i went to the PH classifieds and used the funky search engine to pull up a marque agnostic search for stuff with a V something engine and 4 wheel drive.... lingered on the range rovers for a while but after all the sheet ive given my mates about the cliche, i then stumbled across a PORSCHE!!!
it was a great moment...even more so when i realised it was a cayenne (possibly the ugliest contemporary porsche to be made)
anyways, its a porsche and i need one back on my drive so over to you lot to tell me what to do! the budget is what it is but i have no clue about them!
buy one!
try to make sure all of the usual stuff (coolant leak) have been done to avoid a £1200 bill. not much other than that and you should be in a reasonable 05 4.5S.
mine's done big miles since buying new in 04 and has been great all that time. SWMBO also loves driving it as it doesn't handle like a typical 4x4 unless you want it too.
Air suspension and 18" alloys make it comfier than the non-air on fatter wheels (then it feels like a 911, but not in a good way).
try to make sure all of the usual stuff (coolant leak) have been done to avoid a £1200 bill. not much other than that and you should be in a reasonable 05 4.5S.
mine's done big miles since buying new in 04 and has been great all that time. SWMBO also loves driving it as it doesn't handle like a typical 4x4 unless you want it too.
Air suspension and 18" alloys make it comfier than the non-air on fatter wheels (then it feels like a 911, but not in a good way).
They are totally awesome! I was lent one recently for 10 days when my 930 was getting serviced and my god it totally stole my heart!
This was a 04 s 115k miles cat d and it's just the most fun and capable car I have driven in a very long time - it handles like something half the size, (it weights 2.35 tons!) and goes like stink.
Don't bother with the non s - it's fuel economy is the same as the 4.5 l s and it has not enough go.
Get air suspension
They cost nothing and pre 2006 (I think) you pay a lower rate of vechicle tax.
The only thing that stops me buying one is the mpg - mine averaged around 15 mpg during my 60/40 motorway/traffic usage.
With petrol costing around £6.50 a gallon and my doing only around 5,000 miles a year I would spend £2,167 a year on petrol.
If I stuck with my Renault Kangoo (I know ...) which does 45 mpg I would only spend £722
£1445 a year diff or just over £100 a month - not too bad but worth considering.
They are amazing cars
This was a 04 s 115k miles cat d and it's just the most fun and capable car I have driven in a very long time - it handles like something half the size, (it weights 2.35 tons!) and goes like stink.
Don't bother with the non s - it's fuel economy is the same as the 4.5 l s and it has not enough go.
Get air suspension
They cost nothing and pre 2006 (I think) you pay a lower rate of vechicle tax.
The only thing that stops me buying one is the mpg - mine averaged around 15 mpg during my 60/40 motorway/traffic usage.
With petrol costing around £6.50 a gallon and my doing only around 5,000 miles a year I would spend £2,167 a year on petrol.
If I stuck with my Renault Kangoo (I know ...) which does 45 mpg I would only spend £722
£1445 a year diff or just over £100 a month - not too bad but worth considering.
They are amazing cars
good tips as i was wondering whether i should be holding out for larger wheels as the 18s look too small in those arches!
the fuel economy is miserable though my wife will use mainly for stop start shopping and school runs etc so looks like she will struggle with getting near to 20mpg
should air suspension be a deal breaker?
the fuel economy is miserable though my wife will use mainly for stop start shopping and school runs etc so looks like she will struggle with getting near to 20mpg
should air suspension be a deal breaker?
was for me.
originally had an 03 non air on 19" (nicest looking imo rims). thankfully it was one of the first in the country and promptly fell apart, leaving Porsche to have to offer a replacement foc.
I ordered the air & 18" as the steel springs were driving me mad, far too stiff for a car that needs to ultimately be a 4x4 (was also replacing a S2 Disco which is as soft as they get). If Mrs used to a firm set up and it's not going to do big miles you might be ok (also one less thing to go wrong) but the roads round the Chalfonts are probably no better than where I am.
personally if I updated I'd insist on it before any other bit of kit other than 4 wheels!
originally had an 03 non air on 19" (nicest looking imo rims). thankfully it was one of the first in the country and promptly fell apart, leaving Porsche to have to offer a replacement foc.
I ordered the air & 18" as the steel springs were driving me mad, far too stiff for a car that needs to ultimately be a 4x4 (was also replacing a S2 Disco which is as soft as they get). If Mrs used to a firm set up and it's not going to do big miles you might be ok (also one less thing to go wrong) but the roads round the Chalfonts are probably no better than where I am.
personally if I updated I'd insist on it before any other bit of kit other than 4 wheels!
RC1 said:
would the air plus larger than 18" wheels be a no no?
At least the previous owner of my car decided he didn't like the 20s that were on it when he bought it, and he changed for 18s. I agree they do look a tad small for the arches though.Note - get the car inspected. I thought I'd got a bargain - until I took it to my mechanics to sort a few issues out. I collect it on Saturday, and I already know roughly what it's cost me - it doesn't seem so much of a bargain now!
However, on the plus side - I like the car far more than I expected to, and am still glad I bought one.
davek_964 said:
At least the previous owner of my car decided he didn't like the 20s that were on it when he bought it, and he changed for 18s. I agree they do look a tad small for the arches though.
Note - get the car inspected. I thought I'd got a bargain - until I took it to my mechanics to sort a few issues out. I collect it on Saturday, and I already know roughly what it's cost me - it doesn't seem so much of a bargain now!
However, on the plus side - I like the car far more than I expected to, and am still glad I bought one.
ive read a few posts on here about items that do rack upNote - get the car inspected. I thought I'd got a bargain - until I took it to my mechanics to sort a few issues out. I collect it on Saturday, and I already know roughly what it's cost me - it doesn't seem so much of a bargain now!
However, on the plus side - I like the car far more than I expected to, and am still glad I bought one.
pipes are often mentioned but the one that scared me was the scored bores which apparently are less of a risk after a certain vintage when the lining changed to nikasil?
what were the hidden nasties with yours?
Leaking air suspension was the expensive surprise
Also needed brakes all round (discs, so new pads too). Water pump leaked, so new one needed. Car ran fine but diagnostics said it wasn't - new coil packs needed. Various other bits that i probably could have lived without (e.g faulty rear door micro switch). Window regulator snapped a couple of weeks after purchase.
All adds up, and getting the credit card out Saturday will hurt! But hopefully it's sorted for a while now.
Also needed brakes all round (discs, so new pads too). Water pump leaked, so new one needed. Car ran fine but diagnostics said it wasn't - new coil packs needed. Various other bits that i probably could have lived without (e.g faulty rear door micro switch). Window regulator snapped a couple of weeks after purchase.
All adds up, and getting the credit card out Saturday will hurt! But hopefully it's sorted for a while now.
RC1 said:
would the leaking air susp be evident in a ppi?
also, ive just done the numbers looks like not much in it between the turbo and S re running costs etc
does the non S turbo lose anything in terms of spec over the S or would i need to hold out and pay up for a turbo S?
I'm sure the leaking air would have been found in a PPI. In fact, I should have noticed it myself (car was slightly not level) but it was parked half way up a kerb when I viewed it.also, ive just done the numbers looks like not much in it between the turbo and S re running costs etc
does the non S turbo lose anything in terms of spec over the S or would i need to hold out and pay up for a turbo S?
Running costs are likely to be similar between S and turbo and turbo (rather than turbo S) is very highly spec'd - more so than the S, unless the S owner ticked a lot of boxes.
But, turbo will cost you more to buy - for similar money you are likely to get a lower mileage / younger S than you would a turbo. I wasn't prepared to up my budget enough to buy a turbo - and I must admit, although I like fast cars I have no regrets. The S is plenty quick enough for me - given the kind of car it is. If I was buying again - I'd still buy an S and not a turbo.
thanks for the insight david
do you know when in 2007 the facelifted ones came out?
im still trying to come to terms with getting one but nothing else seems to tick the boxes...i always said id never have a 4x4 but the rs6 would be a liability and the cayenne seems to offer relatively good value for what it is
do you know when in 2007 the facelifted ones came out?
im still trying to come to terms with getting one but nothing else seems to tick the boxes...i always said id never have a 4x4 but the rs6 would be a liability and the cayenne seems to offer relatively good value for what it is
RC1 said:
would the leaking air susp be evident in a ppi?
also, ive just done the numbers looks like not much in it between the turbo and S re running costs etc
does the non S turbo lose anything in terms of spec over the S or would i need to hold out and pay up for a turbo S?
Turbo S models are quite rare and don't come up that often, the basic exterior and internal spec on these is very similar to the turbo model. They were offered in an exclusive to the model met blue colour along with the std cayenne colours. The Turbo S model has some engine mods that give you an increase in bhp along with larger front discs setup which can be very costly to replace at service time. There is a whole host of factory fit options on the Turbo and Turbo S including panoramic roof, reversing camera, tequipment aero kit on and on.also, ive just done the numbers looks like not much in it between the turbo and S re running costs etc
does the non S turbo lose anything in terms of spec over the S or would i need to hold out and pay up for a turbo S?
Standard on the Turbo and Turbo S is air suspension, alcanterra roof lining unless very early 03 model, bose sound, haven't seen one without PCM (sat nav and phone) and heated memory electric seats along with full leather, dash door cards etc. It's a very nice place to be when you are driving along.
unclepezza said:
Standard on the Turbo and Turbo S is air suspension, alcanterra roof lining unless very early 03 model, bose sound, haven't seen one without PCM (sat nav and phone) and heated memory electric seats along with full leather, dash door cards etc. It's a very nice place to be when you are driving along.
My S has most of this. No alcanterra, but I have air, BOSE, PCM, heated memory seats + steering wheel, parking sensors etc.Do it. I've just moved to a Cayenne myself and very impressed so far. I came from SL55 ownership and TVR Tuscan prior to that, so with our first born arriving last month needed something far more practical. With this in mind, and having suffered many of the usual SL55 and TVR issues (including air suspension on the SL, and engine problems with the Tuscan) I opted for the 3.2 V6 with mechanical suspension. Totally agree on MPG Vs the 4.5, but really had my sensible head on this time around, wanting something useable day in day out, without the worry of major breakdown or expensive repair bills.
On another day, and perhaps with more distant memories of air suspension issues, I may well have gone for a 4.5 with air, and possible the Turbo - but right now for me, the seemingly bullet proof V6 engine and mechanical suspension won out!. Either way, if I'm this impressed so far with the V6 without air, then I can't imagine you'd go wrong with any further enhanced model. Provided as always you enter into ownership with eyes open. For a big heavy 4x4 they truly are a magnificent drive.
Keith
On another day, and perhaps with more distant memories of air suspension issues, I may well have gone for a 4.5 with air, and possible the Turbo - but right now for me, the seemingly bullet proof V6 engine and mechanical suspension won out!. Either way, if I'm this impressed so far with the V6 without air, then I can't imagine you'd go wrong with any further enhanced model. Provided as always you enter into ownership with eyes open. For a big heavy 4x4 they truly are a magnificent drive.
Keith
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