Picked up a diesel(!) Porsche Cayenne

[NCGS]

Yes, Porsche has finally started importing the diesel Cayenne to the U.S.

I've been driving a Chevy HD2500 crew cab with the Duramax Diesel and Allison transmission. I bought the big truck to pull a big trailer, which I needed because I owned 9 bikes, and I'd find myself wanting to haul a bunch of them to a rally or ..

I sold 7 of the bikes, meaning I no longer needed the big trailer so I sold it. Doing so meant that I no longer needed the big truck. I'd been looking at VW Touaregs with the 3.0 TDI drivetrain, and after driving one I thought that I'd go ahead and pull the trigger and bring one home. They I could latch onto a smaller trailer, since I only need to haul two bikes.

But as hard as I tried, I couldn't put a deal together on a Treg. I drove to Raleigh to look at a '12 Exec model, which was loaded, and which the dealership's owner had been driving for a few months. The car had 4600 miles on it, so I thought I could get a decent discount, and maybe they wouldn't kill me on my trade.

No so.. they wanted full MSRP for the car ("But sir, it's never been titled".. "I understand, but it also has 4600 miles on it..") No deal, so I walked.

I went across the road to talk to a friend who sells Porsches, and after telling him the story, he said, "Why don't you buy a Porsche?" I wasn't aware that the diesel Cayenne was coming to the states, but he assured me it was - in August (all the VW shenanigans took place in June and July). I told him to give me a call when one came in, that I'd like to drive it.

He did, I drove the car and I bought it on the spot. The bottom line with the car is that you don't know you're driving a diesel. The car has 406 lb ft of TQ, and 240 hp.. not a lot by today's standards, but more than enough for a daily driver that might find a trailer being towed behind it on occasion. I've already bumped up against the 30 mpg figure, and that's with less than a thousand miles on the odo.

I will likely never own another GM car/truck/whatever. I have personal reasons for feeling that way. I've been a huge fan of Porsches since I wa a kid, and now I'm fortunate enough to own two.

Life is good.. it's really good if you bust your ass and work for a living.

[sailah]

Sweet. Where are the stackz?

[_cy_]

sweeeet... 30 mpg

[AtlantaViking]

That's my kind of Porsche...well any Porsche is really my kind of Porsche

Just curious how much more did the Cayenne end up over the T-Reg? I'm thinking if VW was too proud to negotiate seriously I would never have expected Porsche to work with you...but what do I know. Nice rig either way.

[djb_rh]

Very interesting. I'm a car guy, and a Porsche guy, and a fell North Carolinian, and *I* didn't know the diesel Cayenne was here, either. Hmmph.

My wife drives a Honda Pilot (2011) and I *hate* it. Been looking around for something better for a while. When we bought the Pilot, we really wanted something with a usable third row, and that fit the bill as good as anything we could find at the time. But now we have a diesel Sprinter passenger van, so we don't need her daily to be a three row vehicle. I *do* need it to be something that can tow a small trailer occasionally, and want it to be something that gets decent fuel mileage.

The most intriguing vehicle to me has been the upcoming Mercedes GLK250 diesel. It'll be here Dec/Jan. The 2013 gas models have hit lots now, though, and I'm going to demo one overnight next week to see if there's anything about it that I hate. If not, I'll order a diesel one that I can still test drive and turn down if I hate the drivetrain for some reason (having a friend that owns a Mercedes dealership is nice).

But if that looks bad, I will have to look at the diesel Cayenne, too, for sure.


--Donnie

[Attico]

I wanted the cayenne diesel, but couldn't wait. I bought the touareg, which is basically the same car. I love it. I've had a couple of little fit and finish nit picky stuff, but i really enjoy it.

[NCGS]

Originally Posted by AtlantaViking

That's my kind of Porsche...well any Porsche is really my kind of Porsche

Just curious how much more did the Cayenne end up over the T-Reg? I'm thinking if VW was too proud to negotiate seriously I would never have expected Porsche to work with you...but what do I know. Nice rig either way.

A Treg Exec will run you $60+K. The Exec model I looked at was $60,700.

A diesel Cayenne starts at $55K. Porsche is very prould of their accessories and 'packages'. My car retailed just over $70K, and with a small discount (I couldn't expect much - the car is too new), I'm probably in at $10K over the Treg. But.. I have to believe that the Porsche will hold its value a bit better than the VeeDub.

That, and I swear.. if you look at the front end of a Treg, you're looking at a Passat, or a Jetta, or a Tiguan (a Touareg looks a helluva lot like a Tiguan). I'll never say anything bad about a TDI Touareg; they're a very nice car. But VW really needs to build some 'individuality' into their model line.

[Tripl Nikl]

If the price isn't an issue, the $10K for the Porsche seems well spent, IMHO.

[troidus]

Originally Posted by NCGS

That, and I swear.. if you look at the front end of a Treg, you're looking at a Passat, or a Jetta, or a Tiguan (a Touareg looks a helluva lot like a Tiguan). I'll never say anything bad about a TDI Touareg; they're a very nice car. But VW really needs to build some 'individuality' into their model line.

I don't get why they don't put a diesel in the Tiguan.

[lethe]

Just read that the same V6 TDI is going in the Audi Q5. That engine will be a beast in that one. Wasn't expecting that, i thought we'd be getting the 2.0 TDI Q5 here in the states.
Told my wife we might have to trade her Q5 in. (no chance yet, hers is only a year old now)

[soldierguy]

Very nice! The 3.0 diesel & 8 speed automatic is a great combination, with just a tiny bit of turbo lag off the line, then a solid shove of torque. I've only got a little under 500 miles on my '12 T-Reg TDI and haven't refilled yet to calculate fuel economy by hand, but if the computer is anywhere in the ballpark, I'm sitting above 25 mpg in mixed city/highway driving (computer shows 27.6 mpg). Not too bad for a 5000 pound full-time 4WD vehicle.

Tomorrow mine is going in to have the VW hitch and wiring harness installed so I'll be set up to haul the motorcycle trailer. Your Cayenne is probably the same in this respect as the T-Reg...removing the rear bumper skin is necessary to add the hitch since the hitch replaces the bumper bar behind the skin, and the wiring harness requires VAG-COM (there's probably something very similar or identical on the Porsche side of the haus) so the ECU will recognize there's a new wiring harness attached. Just throwing that out there in case yours doesn't already have the hitch on it.

If you haven't been there already, a couple of resources worth checking out are:

- Fred's TDI page (tdiclub.com). Most of the activity there centers around the 4-cylinder TDIs, but it's a good resource nonetheless for VW/Audi diesels. The forums are VERY active.

- Clubtouareg.com is pretty good as well...worth checking out since the Cayenne is a platform-mate of the Touareg.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by troidus

I don't get why they don't put a diesel in the Tiguan.

+1

I've reluctantly liked the comfortable ride in several of the small SUVs I've rented while traveling for work (think Chevy Traverse) but the engines are always anemic and the mileage is mediocre vs. a wagon...

A small SUV with a diesesl that actually handles worth-a-damn would be sweet... If Mazda gets their act together and offers the CX5 with the diesel here, it would be right at the top of my 'alternatives to a sedan/wagon/hatch' lists....

The Tiguan with a diesel seems like a no-brainer to me.. I don't see why they wouldn't do it here.. they can't seem to make the rest of the diesels fast enough...

[NCGS]

Originally Posted by soldierguy

Very nice! The 3.0 diesel & 8 speed automatic is a great combination, with just a tiny bit of turbo lag off the line, then a solid shove of torque. I've only got a little under 500 miles on my '12 T-Reg TDI and haven't refilled yet to calculate fuel economy by hand, but if the computer is anywhere in the ballpark, I'm sitting above 25 mpg in mixed city/highway driving (computer shows 27.6 mpg). Not too bad for a 5000 pound full-time 4WD vehicle.

Tomorrow mine is going in to have the VW hitch and wiring harness installed so I'll be set up to haul the motorcycle trailer. Your Cayenne is probably the same in this respect as the T-Reg...removing the rear bumper skin is necessary to add the hitch since the hitch replaces the bumper bar behind the skin, and the wiring harness requires VAG-COM (there's probably something very similar or identical on the Porsche side of the haus) so the ECU will recognize there's a new wiring harness attached. Just throwing that out there in case yours doesn't already have the hitch on it.

If you haven't been there already, a couple of resources worth checking out are:

- Fred's TDI page (tdiclub.com). Most of the activity there centers around the 4-cylinder TDIs, but it's a good resource nonetheless for VW/Audi diesels. The forums are VERY active.

- Clubtouareg.com is pretty good as well...worth checking out since the Cayenne is a platform-mate of the Touareg.

Fortunately, my CD came with the hitch already installed. Interestingly, it came with the wiring harness and a blanking plate cover for the 7-pin trailer wiring connector, but no recepticle (huh?..). I stopped by my friendly neighborhood trailer sales place and picked on up for 20 bucks. I can't imagine why the car didn't come with the recepticle already installed. Fookin' Germans!..

I'm registered at the Treg forum, but not the TDI club. I'll do that pronto.

Thanks,

[68deluxe]

Let us know how it holds up, I was contemplating a pepper a few years ago but they were having issues getting tires to last.

[DirtMerchant]

Any new feedback? I'm thinking about picking up a 2012 T-Reg TDI