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What are you looking for in an SUV? Are you really going to go off road? Do you need to tow? Do you need a third row of seats?

We had a 2006 Lexus LX470 (the tarted up Land Crusier) for about 4 years and it was a truly impressive vehicle. Absolutely unstoppable in damn near any condition with bulletproof build quality. BUT... it drank gas like a ****, had clumsy road manners and was honestly just way more vehicle than what we needed.

For my money the new 958 Cayenne is a very impressive bit of kit. Yes, it can get quite expensive with options but it drives so much better than just about any of the competition. No disrespect intended to anyone here but IMO the Range Rover is nothing but badge snobbery crap. Those things look beautiful inside and out but they are built like 1970's lincoln log sets. I would NEVER, EVER, EVER own one of those out of lease. The Audi Q7 is much more "trucky" than the 958 Cayenne but does get you a third row if you need that. It's based on the last gen Cayenne platform so has an arguably more robust AWD system but it's heavier, clumsier and thirstier (unless you spring for the diesel).

As someone else suggested here, the X5 makes for an excellent leasing candidate if you're not going to do any serious off roading. BMW subsidizes a lot of their leases and the paid maintenance is a huge benefit.

 

I am in the market for a SUV end of June. I have narrowed it down to BMW x5 (3.5 gas or diesel) and Cayenne. My dealer provided me with a 2012 Cayenne S Hybrid for two days. Nice car and the gas mileage was in the upper 20s. But the switching from electric to gas and no engine running at a stop light was getting hard to adjust to.

The leasing will run about $150 a month more for the Cayenne compared to a comparably equipped X5 and you pay for maintenance with the Cayenne. Not decided yet.

 

I have not driven the car but my friend drove both cars back to back to decide and liked the Toureg Diesel more .He felt it drove BETTER !!!

He said it had more torque and that most of the options are standard . He also noted that he often rents turbo diesel cars when overseas and in terms of gas mileage ,driving fun, 26K price gap -- the car was the better choice for an SUV .

 

No off-road, no towing, and no need for third row seat anymore. That is actually why I am even considering anything other than the LC/Lexus right now. However, I still want the ability to use the vehicle even if there is snow on the ground (so 4WD or AWD would be needed) and I also like the idea of foldable seats to make room for cargo when needed.

Today, I test drove the Toureg Diesel. At first the truck had no power, no torque. Something was wrong with it. After a restart, the engine was reset and it worked fine. I liked the Diesel powertrain; enough power and torque. But I did not care for the interior that much. It felt like too much plastic as compared to my LC. The Toureg had nice electronic gadgetry though (Bluetooth audio and a 120v outlet for example) which made me realize that I need to upgrade even if just to be up-to-date with the newest electronics!

The dealer also sells Audis but they did not have one Q7 in stock (apparently they are hard to come by; they said that they have a Q7 coming in about 2 weeks).

I drove a Cayenne Hybrid loaner a few weeks ago and was impressed with the way it drove and the interior finish. I am not interested in a hybrid, but at this time my thoughts are leaning toward some kind of Cayenne. Porsche has never been at the forefront in electronic gadgetry though. They must have been the last auto manufacturer to have an Ipod integration solution for their vehicles, but not sure where they stand today as far as the latest electronics.

 

If a model's life cycle is part of your decision matrix, then both Q7 and X5 are due for a refresh soon while Cayenne was just redesigned.

 

Thanks for the info! Yes, I like to consider a model's life cycle as I don't switch vehicles all that often.

 

 

Listen just a heads-up... I was slotted to get the 2013 Cayenne and found out that there's a face lift coming for 2014, which means next summer!
This was confirmed by the dealer (just do a google search).
Canceled my order and am now waiting to see what this face lift will look like.

Cheers!

 

Get the pepper. You won't regret it.

 

Just my opinion... Porsche still lags behind many others when it comes to electronic gadgetry. The new PCM/navigation systems in the 991 and 958 Cayenne are light years ahead of what is in my 997.1 and the last generation Cayenne but still not as cutting edge or user friendly as what's available in say the just released Audi A6 or even the Entune system that's available in the friggin' Toyota Prius.

That being said the navigation/bluetooth/Ipod integration available in the current Cayenne is perfectly workable. Unfortunately, Porsche continues to charge a bloody arm and a leg for a lot of things that really should be standard (HID's, roof rails, voice control, navigation, back up camera, etc.).

 

Former LX owner here and while I wholeheartedly agree with most of what you've said above (and think the LX is a FANTASTIC vehicle) the handling/ride and onroad performance of the current Cayenne and the LX simply can't be compared. It's not even close. And in my experience the LX is a lot more thirsty than the Cayenne (even the turbo) and really a lot more SUV than 99.99% of American buyers need.

But if you want a vehicle to survive a zombie apocolypse with (and you have acces to a lot of gas) the LX would be hard to beat.

 

Agreed. I had the X5M. The gadgets were awesome. I drove a lot. Love the new iDrive (hated the old one). The HUD with nav in it was terrific. The ability to e-mail directions to the truck from Google (computer or iPhone) was incredible. It all just worked really well. Was nervous going to new 991. It come to rely on all of it. Good news the 991 PCM is light years ahead of the old one. Would like to see some integration with iPhone apps but I can live without some toys because of the sweet music coming from the rear.

Marc

 

Very true... that's why I called the LX a boat... And hey, Dec 21, 2012 is just around the corner too... I will break out the Resident Evil DVDs and save a spot for ya...

 

Last week I test drove a VW Touareg Diesel. I liked the torque but did not care for the interior though. Dealer suggested that I take a look at the Q7 (they sell those too) but they did not have one on the lot.

Over the weekend I test-drove a 2012 Lexus 570. Talk about a luxury drive! Much nicer than my 05 LC (which was to be expected). It had the latest electronic gadgets which made me want to switch even more. But still not sure if I want to keep driving a vehicle that large.

Then I drove a V6 Cayenne. The Cayenne felt very nimble after driving the 570 and of course it is a much sportier vehicle. Did not have the torque of the VW Touareg diesel (which is expected) but the interior is so much nicer than the VW.

Today, got to see (not drive) the Q7 in person. It was a supercharged model (S Line). Very nice interior, I could live with it. Again I did not drive the Q7 as it was a pre-sold vehicle. (By the way, the VW Diesel is already gone/sold it lasted 4 days on the lot).

Whichever way I go, I think that it will be a 2013 model. Right now the top contenders are the Cayenne V6 and the Audi Q7. Here are the msrp prices of similarly configured vehicles:

*Cayenne Diesel, $70k (plus about $3k for 20 inch tires)
*Q7 Diesel (Prestige/S-Line), $67k
*Cayenne V6 Gas $66k (plus about $3k foor 20 inch tires)
*Q7 Gas (Prestige/S-line) $62.4

BTW I just realized that the Audi actually comes with 20" tires which would add about $3k to both Cayennes which were originally priced with 18 inch tires.

Thoughts?