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I don't think you understand- I did not mock your vehicle. You comment that I don't have [a] clue mocked my initial response.
As I said therein- I wouldn't buy one but have one friend who likes his and another who doesn't. I also stated that given the amount of discounts one can receive on new ones (tens of thousands) they are certainly worth looking it. That's hardly mocking them. My negative remarks were harsh but were also prefaced with one very important provisio- IMO or In my opinion.
I'm not down on Cayenne's per se. I'm glad Porsche built them. But Porsche could have made them a great SUV and a great PORSCHE. In my opinion they did neither- even after starting with a clean sheet of paper. And while you "don't buy Japanese" (maybe you are prone to the prejudice that you accuse me of?) and don't buy your cars for gadgets a lot of people do care about more aspects of a vehicle than 60 to 130 acceleration times- especially in an SUV. They want an Ipod connection or a navigation system that's at least the equal of a $500 Tom Tom or seats that fold down without having to remove the headrests. How fast it accelerates from 60 to 130 is not very important in a vehicle primarily used for towing, taking the family on vacation or toting the soccer team to practice. Of course performance is important but be real- what sane person wants to be doing 130 in their SUV on public highways in crowded metropolitan areas? That's going to put you in jail- providing you don't kill yourself or others first.
As for reliability and resale value- here's another opinion that seems to be pretty middle of the road (not bad not great but fairly honest IMO- from "Canadian Driver"):
"According to Consumer Reports, the Cayenne has a similar spotty reliability record as other recent Porsche models (apparently, an older 911 is a very safe bet, but that's a story for another day); as with other high-end German cars, its electrical system components seem to let it down.
According to posts in the Cayenne forum at Rennlist.com (forums.rennlist.com), ignition coils appear to be a frequent trouble spot (a potentially expensive fix, as there are as many as eight of them - one for each cylinder), as are transmission/powertrain control modules. Also, a couple of owners mention having to have the air compressor that keeps the air suspension aloft replaced, but it's hard to say how common this issue actually is. A couple of minor problems include a rear hatch that won't stay open on its own due to weak hydraulic struts, and wipers that chatter.
While Internet forums are hardly a scientific way to find out if a vehicle is reliable or not, I'd recommend spending some time in the Cayenne forums listed at the end of this article in order to get a good idea of what things to look out for. These threads - one at Roadfly.org and another at Rennlist.com - are good places to start.
Despite the cachet of the Porsche brand, the Cayenne's resale values aren't that strong: a 2003 model is currently worth about half what it cost new, according to Canadian Red Book, a rate of depreciation similar to that of a Kia Sorento from the same year. That doesn't make a used Cayenne particularly affordable, however. Values range from a little more than $41,000 for a base 2003 model to a high of $128,700 for a 2006 Cayenne Turbo S. Canadian Red Book's $59,200 retail price for a 2005 non-turbo Cayenne S seems like a decent deal for a quick SUV; go back to 2004 and Red Book suggests you should be able to find the same model for about $48,000.
The Cayenne is a capable vehicle and no doubt an attractive proposition for drivers looking for something with the practicality of an SUV with the performance of a Porsche. Purchasing one through Porsche's certified pre-owned program would be wise, as would looking for a Cayenne with some of the original factory warranty left. In any event, a used Cayenne should be a rewarding vehicle to own if you shop wisely and go into the deal prepared for pricey maintenance and repair costs."
And while there are certainly other sources that rave about the Cayenne you probably don't want to know that Car Magazine (one of my favorites- from the UK and highly respected) called the Cayenne Turbo "utterly pointless" and found the BMW X5 to have handling superior to the Cayenne S.
So that's kind of it on the subject for me- but I do have a question- you alluded to friends driving Cayennes in DEs. Can you name the PCA region in which that occured? I understand that PCA National has specifically disallowed them- due to their mass and safety and liability concerns. I know our region and all the sister regions I'm familiar with (including NNJR) won't allow them.
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