My new/old toy - marmite but I love it.....

[MadDad]

Porker demo plus one owner for 13 years, 3.2 V6, full history, lots of toys and gadgets, just had the wheels re-furbed in dark metallic gunmetal. A bit marmite, personally I love it but I think I'm in the minority..........regardless, a lot of car for less than £6k!!

[MadDad]

Thanks, to be honest nobody has a need for a car like this!

127k when I picked it up, previous owner was a property development millionaire so it's wanted for nothing! In the last 6 months it's had all discs and pads replaced, full service, new battery, new plugs and coil packs, new air cond compressor and condenser as well as a few small jobs. Having spent the past few years in a diesel Passat it's a nice (but unessicarry) change!

[MadDad]

Thanks for the comments, I'm loving it but I think I was one of only three people globally who liked it when it was launched!

It is a hell of a lot of car for the ££'s - it has a thirst on it but I knew that when I bought it, difference between mpg on the m'way and around town is roughly 2 mpg!!

It's also a great drive, it handles a lot more like a family saloon than a 4x4 - I challenge anyone to drive one and not be impressed, if you can get past the 'only it's mother could love it' looks' it's quite easy to fall in love with it. Aside from the way it drives the cabin is a nice place to be (especially if like me you spend half your life in traffic), seats and trim are of an extremely high quality - mine has been a family hack for 13 years, the leather is 'weathered' but not worn - no discoloration, no cracking - the odd scratch from a childs toy or edge of a handbag but I can live with that, I'll post up a couple of piccies when I get the chance.

I agree with the comment on the newer Cayenne's, there is something a little more Porsche-ey about the gen 1 955's in my opinion - but I guess it's all down to personal taste.

As for a middle aged man with bikes, a big dog and no ego that needs feeding with a new car it made total sense. I had £6k aside for a deposit on a 'desirable' car on PCP - was thinking of an AMG C43 estate or similar - when it came to it I couldn't face handing over the cash - spending £450-ish a month on a lease and then still not owning anything at the end of the agreement. I accept the potential repair bills might be a bit eye-watering but I've got a fairly comprehensive warranty so hopefully most things will be covered, even if they aren't if you take a 3 year view I should still be ££ better off and have a lump of (old) German engineering at the end of it.

The powerplant is the VR6 engine but build by Porsche, I believe it is the EA390 lump - the Audi Audi FSI V6 only came as a 2.8 normally aspirated or a 3.0 turbo lump.

I would have loved to have gone for a V8 but the fuel bills are slightly more frightening than mine, also - I spoke with a couple of Porsche independents for advice before parting with any ££'s - they all said the V6 was bullet proof (apart from a centre prop bearing which fails on all models) but the gen 1 V8's were much less reliable and suffered from all sorts of (expensive) gremlins!

Either way, I am still loving it - nice to have something a bit different and in an age when even 18 year olds are able to drive a brand spanking new car, I think there is something ever so slightly 'cool' (showing my age) about driving an older car! Each to their own I guess.......

[MadDad]

Luke. said:

Re the V6, I'm pretty certain it's VW and the one from the Golf R32 someone mentioned earlier. I doubt Porsche built it to be honest. Not that it matters at all.

I think you're right - I read on a Porker forum that it was built by Porsche using VW blueprints but a bit if googling tonight seems to confirm it was sourced from VW and 'tweaked' by Porsche to produce another 20 odd bph over the unit that went into the Tourag - every day is a school day!

[MadDad]

spreadsheet monkey said:

BuzzBravado said:

These now make a lot of sense for the price point they are in. I wonder how well they would suit a DIY'er.

I would imagine it's comparable with maintaining a big-engined German exec saloon of a similar age. People manage to do their own servicing and maintenance on those, but obviously they are more complicated than the average car.

As others have said, the engine is the 3.2 VR6 from VW and is well understood. Assume there is no air suspension, so no air bags or compressors to worry about.

I think it depends on what work you would undertake as a DIY-er; servicing, brakes etc all straightforward, things like prop-bearings (which fail) are easy to do, ancillary belts and tensioners all easy enough to access, wheel bearings seem straightforward (not that I'm planning on finding out) - I am sure there are some tasks you wouldn't want to undertake but the majority of service items seem straightforward! Unlike my wifes Meriva (POS) where everything is 'leccy and even changing the brake pads required a 'chat' with the ECU!

Given the heart of the car is a VR6 engine with parts being widely available I'm hopeful it won't turn into an emotional journey of ownership but I'll let you know!

[MadDad]

scottos said:

Thought it must be the same engine, looks like it's got a posher inlet manifold though! I've had a mk4 r32 and currently have a mk5, the noise those engines make is awesome. Even at low speeds and part throttle you get a lovely noise, im sure you're finding the same with the bus!

Oh ,yes, on tickover it's throaty but not 'rude' and under pressure it shouts a bit! - I spend a fair bit of time sat in traffic to/from the office, no need for the radio! ;-)

[MadDad]

TheJimi said:

That's tremendous value for money, if it's as good as it looks.

Is it? What's the overall condition?

I'll be honest - I don't have the requisite fortitude to buy something like this.

I'd describe it as 'honest' for a 13 year old family car, couple of scratches on the passenger side but nothing major, 'graze' on the o/s/f bumper where it's scuffed a post or something but not really noticeable but cleaner than most 2-3 year old cars. Inside is full leather, there are a few marks and a tiny hole in one of the rear seats - looks like a child has pushed a pencil through the leather or something, and a few areas where the trim has been worn through 13 years of use but overall it's as clean as it looks in the pictures. I'm torn on getting the little scratches fixed, at the moment it does not look like it's ever had any bodywork so all of the paint is the same age, I don't want to get the blemishes blown over and end up looking like a patchwork quilt!!

[MadDad]

andye30m3 said:

I've recently occasionally found myself looking at Cayennes, I'd never seen the appeal until a couple of years ago when an OPC gave be the big engined Diesel one as a loan car whilst they serviced mine and I was really impressed.

I can't stretch do a diesel but at £5-6k the petrol cars are appealing, although as with most people the MPG is a bit of a concern, how bad is it on the V6? I could stomach low 20's as my BMW 330 only does 26mpg but wouldn't want to be doing much less

It is extremely easy to live with, 3.2 gives 20-22 around town unless you pull away from junctions etc like you're being chased by a bear - then it's less frugal - I've not done many M'way miles yet but was averaging 24 mpg last week, that said I wasn't 'hanging around' so I think you could improve on that...