Macan, worth it?

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Discussion

ghost83

Original Poster:

5,477 posts

190 months

Saturday 4th November 2017
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Went to Porsche in Leeds and wow they've got some lovely machinery including 2x918s

Had a good look at the macan and I must say I love it, boot is huge compared to the golf

Going to arrange a test drive this week

ghost83

Original Poster:

5,477 posts

190 months

Saturday 4th November 2017
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What options are a must as I just spec'd a gts to 78k

Do many of you spec many options?

Also does the options make much difference to the final payment?

andyglos

271 posts

202 months

Sunday 5th November 2017
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“At the end of the day the Macan isn't a proper Porsche, it's a tarted up old model Audi Q5, enough said.....”

Soon to be a tarted up new model based on the Q5. But at least it doesn’t look like a tarted up C class taxi with a bolt on cheap iPad for sat nav etc similar to Mazda and a plethora of other “cooking” brands.

At the end of the day it’s “horses for courses” and each to their own...... both good cars with different interpretations of getting from A to B which even a Dacia Duster will do for a lot less than both the C63 and the Macan.

Koln-RS

3,863 posts

212 months

Sunday 5th November 2017
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ghost83 said:
What options are a must as I just spec'd a gts to 78k
Do many of you spec many options?
Also does the options make much difference to the final payment?
I'd say the longer you intend to keep and use the car, the more benefit you'll get from some of the options. Some are very nice to have and improve the driving and ownership experience, others just enhance the appearance. Yes, they will make a difference to the total cost, but buyers do assess the spec when buying used.

Not driven a GTS, but driven Diesel and Petrol S models with different specs. Nicest was the Diesel S with air suspension, pasm, sports exhaust and the adaptive sports seats, and I got 40mpg on a run.

ghost83

Original Poster:

5,477 posts

190 months

Sunday 5th November 2017
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See I fancied a diesel but I can see it losing money quickly with the way diesel is going which scares me a little! The salesman also said they will be releasing a facelift in the next 12-18 month and depending on car and spec it would take between 4-12 month if I ordered today so said it might be worthwhile waiting,

I told him I've got 18 month left on mine anyway so he said definitely wait for the facelift then as some options should become standard on it,

Also said I will get a better price on my golf for staying within the vag group (forgot Porsche was vag owned)

One thing I will say is my colour choice is either decided on the sapphire blue the night blue OR the nice grey in the brochure (it looks lighter than volcano but darker than silver)

I was also suprised how long the 918s are in the flesh

ghost83

Original Poster:

5,477 posts

190 months

Sunday 5th November 2017
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Trouble is I don't like estates i also want a higher seating position and I think the Tiguan is too expensive for what it is £40k for the model I liked the q5 isn't that far off the Porsche in price either, but neither carry as desireable badge as the Porsche does!

I always get scoffed at for driving a vw as a poor mans audi yet I'm not massively keen on audis as I find them dull, BMW will lose a ton of money, I think mercs are generally horrid with the stuck on screens, stepmum has a merc e class convertible 13 plate and it's just so dated but again I find Mercedes are crap for retained value, cost of that car was £45k and at 3yr old and 20 odd thousand miles they've told her it's worth 14k at least the Porsche looks good lovely interior and holds its value well

my only issue would be if I used it for work occasionally which I need to would it upset customers? As my industry customers are struggling and someone turning up in a Porsche to collect money off them at 34yr old might upset them slightly,

Koln-RS

3,863 posts

212 months

Tuesday 7th November 2017
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Yes the Air Suspension does improve the ride - most noticeable for rear seat passengers.


ghost83

Original Poster:

5,477 posts

190 months

Tuesday 7th November 2017
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Well I've got a test drive in a gts this week
And I've also got a test drive in a RS3

2 very different cars I know so I will see which I like the most

Pompey1962

114 posts

98 months

Wednesday 29th November 2017
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ghost83 said:
Well I've got a test drive in a gts this week
And I've also got a test drive in a RS3

2 very different cars I know so I will see which I like the most
How did the test drives go ?...I'm considering the GTS as a daily, I've got a test drive in a Turbo this weekend as they don't have a GTS but also considering the RS3 / RS4.

nsm3

2,831 posts

196 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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Was intrigued by the Macan/Q5 comparison, but read somewhere that the Macan is only 30% the same, under the skin? I do know that the bonnet release catch is identical biggrin

I will show this for people to compare. The 'Porsche' (?) is a much better drive, but then, as it was 50% more expensive and has a 3.0 V6 vs 2.0 IL4, it ought to be?


Cheib

23,245 posts

175 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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We've got a fully specced Cayenne S Diesel as a family car....recently had a brand new Macan S Diesel as a loan car for a day which I really enjoyed driving but whilst it's obviously got less bulk than a Cayenne the Cayenne is surprisingly "nimble" for such a big car....sure if you really want to hussle it along country lanes the Macan is a much better drive but the Cayenne's cabin is a nicer place to be and the V8 engine in the Cayenne is night and day better. If I was doing mileage and was considering a Diesel I'd probably look to see if I can do a good deal on some of the S Diesel's OPC's currently have...I don't think there would be that much in price between speccing a Macan S Diesel and buying a Cayenne that an OPC has in stock.

charliedb2

74 posts

132 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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We picked up our petrol S on Friday and we are absolutely chuffed with it. As stated before we never really considered the diesel and the noise on start up of the petrol is fantastic, a proper cultured burble. I honestly did not think it would have that level of tone and it puts a smile on your face when starting up.

In terms of options, we are using the car as the family car (my daily is 997) so it will be driven by the OH in the week and used as the family car at the weekend. With that in mind the GTS seemed a bit to driver focused for what we would use it for. We optioned the 18 way sports seat (seems good value as you get leather then chucked in rather than alcantara which would not be good with kids), 19" turbo alloys and stayed with standard suspension though seriously considered the 20" sport design - glad we stayed with the 19" as the look is good and ride is nice. heated seats and roof rails, bi-xenons (standard are halogens, very 90's) along with a handful of other cosmetic things.

Sheepshanks

32,752 posts

119 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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ghost83 said:
..... and I think the Tiguan is too expensive for what it is £40k for the model I liked....
You might be aware of this but ignore the list price on Tiguan - availability of some models/engines is a bit iffy, but you should be able to nudge 20% off in terms of discount.

nsm3

2,831 posts

196 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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Cheib said:
We've got a fully specced Cayenne S Diesel as a family car....recently had a brand new Macan S Diesel as a loan car for a day which I really enjoyed driving but whilst it's obviously got less bulk than a Cayenne the Cayenne is surprisingly "nimble" for such a big car....sure if you really want to hussle it along country lanes the Macan is a much better drive but the Cayenne's cabin is a nicer place to be and the V8 engine in the Cayenne is night and day better. If I was doing mileage and was considering a Diesel I'd probably look to see if I can do a good deal on some of the S Diesel's OPC's currently have...I don't think there would be that much in price between speccing a Macan S Diesel and buying a Cayenne that an OPC has in stock.
Agree on the engine, the V8 is lovely (for a diesel!) compared to the V6. I'd initially gone along to buy a stock used Cayenne Diesel S after having a loaner, but didn't completely fall for the example on offer, so just switched to the new stock Macan in the showroom. The Cayenne was only about £3k more, but I did get a £4K better trade-in for my Cayman against the Macan.

May go used Cayenne next time as I like the looks and those glass 'switches' they are now fitting?

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

225 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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nsm3 said:
Was intrigued by the Macan/Q5 comparison, but read somewhere that the Macan is only 30% the same, under the skin? I do know that the bonnet release catch is identical biggrin

I will show this for people to compare. The 'Porsche' (?) is a much better drive, but then, as it was 50% more expensive and has a 3.0 V6 vs 2.0 IL4, it ought to be?

Spookily enough, I had an almost identical Macan S as a courtesy car a few months back and sook almost the same photo against my wife's 2016 Q5 S-Line Plus - except her's is in white with the black pack and dark grey wheels.

What I took away from my time with the Macan is that it's a fantastic machine and looked great in black with black wheels - one of the nicest looking combos I've seen in the flesh. That being said, my wife sat with the spec sheet of the Macan with the RRP at the bottom and at the end of it decided that for the extra money over her Q5 she didn't feel like it was worth it - which was great news for my wallet!! She is, however, legendarily unpredictable so chances are when it comes time to change we will end up back at the OPC poking around the Macan. biggrin

For me, it looks completely different to the Q5 both inside and out, has a different engine and also drives differently. Any narrow 'tarted up Q5' comments, are often made by pillocks who don't really know what they are talking about. All in my humble opinion of course! winksmile


tuffer

8,849 posts

267 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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I was offered a Macan GTS last weekend, car was in stock and ready to go but no deal to be had, full list price. Looked a lovely thing but seemed a lot of money for what it was.

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

225 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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I think because what it is is still fundamentally a family car. And with that in mind it can feel like a lot of money for other equivalent 'family cars'.

I am inclined to agree with anyone who says you pay more for the Porsche badge, but to be honest that's totally fine. It does no more or less than an equivalent Q5 (compared for obvious reasons, but mainly because of a close build quality match) but costs a chunk more. Yes, it has a larger engine which is nice, but really you buy one because you want one - and as such it's worth whatever it costs you.

Whilst my OH is happy with her Q5, then I am happy to save a few quid when renewal time comes. If she decides the Macan is the way to go, then that's ok too - I feel confident that any additional cost up front will be covered by retained value at the other end...so cost of ownership will probably be much of a muchness.

Cheib

23,245 posts

175 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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PhantomPH said:
What I took away from my time with the Macan is that it's a fantastic machine and looked great in black with black wheels - one of the nicest looking combos I've seen in the flesh. That being said, my wife sat with the spec sheet of the Macan with the RRP at the bottom and at the end of it decided that for the extra money over her Q5 she didn't feel like it was worth it - which was great news for my wallet!! She is, however, legendarily unpredictable so chances are when it comes time to change we will end up back at the OPC poking around the Macan. biggrin
Let's hope your wife doesn't work out that once you take depreciation into account the Macan might be the cheaper car to own!

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

225 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
quotequote all
Cheib said:
PhantomPH said:
What I took away from my time with the Macan is that it's a fantastic machine and looked great in black with black wheels - one of the nicest looking combos I've seen in the flesh. That being said, my wife sat with the spec sheet of the Macan with the RRP at the bottom and at the end of it decided that for the extra money over her Q5 she didn't feel like it was worth it - which was great news for my wallet!! She is, however, legendarily unpredictable so chances are when it comes time to change we will end up back at the OPC poking around the Macan. biggrin
Let's hope your wife doesn't work out that once you take depreciation into account the Macan might be the cheaper car to own!
Ha ha - I hinted at as much in my post above. I preferred the Macan to the Q5 as the Macan had more guts (V6) and I liked the interior styling. I am storing the 'depreciation' card up for when I feel like currying favour with the OPC. biggrin

Deep

2,066 posts

243 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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I take back what I said earlier.

I test drove a Macan petrol S when I went to collect my 991 and absolutely loved it. It handled so well and was an absolute pleasure to drive. I am by nature a bit anti SUV and have never owned one but am now a convert.

It's not mega fast but revving that engine is quite enjoyable.

There have been quite a few comments regarding the Macan on this thread and others including

1) It's basically a tarted up Q5. My sister owns the latter and i've driven it and I can tell you the driving experience is not even remotely comparable.

2) A C63 handles much better. I have a C63 estate (NA version) and though the C63 turns in better the Macan gives it a run for its money

3) A Golf R estate handles better. I test drove one of these and I personally preferred the handling and engine character of the Macan by some margin.


You can tell that the Porsche DNA is in the Macan, no other vehicle of this size and weight has handling that compares.

If funds allow my plan is to chop the C63 estate in for the petrol S or GTS. The Macan won't be quite a practical as a load lugger but I'm smitten!