My LS430 spoiled me. I had a beautiful 02 LS430 UL. I bought it as a CPO when it was four years old, and I drove it for twelve years. I finally wanted something new. Since I am a Porsche vendor, I had been pondering a Cayenne Diesel. Once the big lawsuit was over, and dealers could sell them again, I sold my LS (106,000 miles), and bought a 2015 Porsche Cayenne Diesel (CPO and a "diesel warranty." Diesel warranty is pretty impressive....way more than powertrain....computers, fuel system, etc.). I really enjoy the Cayenne. I like the way it looks, comfortable seats, and performance. I t has 407 foot pounds of torque, and for a heavy SUV I get over 30 mpg on the highway. I get 20mpg in town, and diesel costs the same as mid grade gasoline.

What I never thought about was maintenance. Lexus dealership maintenance is cheap compared to this Cayenne. It now calls for a 4 year or 40,000 mile service (I only have 31,000 miles on it). The service is anywhere from $1,400 to $1,900, depending on the dealer. Mine is $1,850. An oil change is $360 (with a Porsche Club of America discount). Customer service is not as great. I know responses will include, "well what did you think you were getting into."

I do wish Lexus was making an SUV I like, but I don't. I love the new LS500, but it is out of my price range. I do miss the maintenance of the LS430. The Porsche puts their money into performance, brakes, suspension, etc. The paint quaility, and interior was better on the LS. The semi-aniline leather on the LS was better than the Cayenne leather.

 

Long story I bought a Porsche new and I found it to be a double whammy. Hard to DIY and extremely expensive at another level. Lexus imho is extremely expensive to maintain at a dealer. It's like they make up $1600 jobs on new cars (ask my buddy his wife took their '16 to the dealer and was 4 figs poorer when she left. laughable because the car was in the 20k miles range). At any rate, I used to bring my Nissan to an import specialist who specialized in Porshe Audi. I would always find it remarkable to see 3-4 y.o. Porsche 997s in there. I always thought I'd be back in a 911 someday, well, that ship sailed long ago. I have a 6 y.o. and that's gonna be a no can do. At any rate my involvement with Porschephiles leads me to conclude a 911 is best used, and 5 y.o. Do I dream of a 992? Not really. An AMG is way more realistic (used). But I love Porsche events, zero sales pressure and drive their cars to your heart's content short of turning off PSM. I see a couple of Cayenne S electrics in our garage, but those folks get stipends....

p.s. for those who don't believe Porsche is another level, there's an indie maybe 3 miles from my house. He has so many cars on the lot there's no place to put them (40+ cars). The license plates are as far as VA (what 4 hours away to get your car serviced?)

 

Porsche labor costs are artificially inflated in the books, best example is replacing the cat/header on a cayenne V6 due to the flex joint section cracking. The book says it's a 13.4 hour job and the part (includes upper cats) is $1200, funny enough the car is exactly the same as a VW tourage and the same part costs $380 and labor lists at 7.5 hours and in reality took 4 and change. They are quite nice though.........

BTW I did look into the 550 AMG for you and I couldn't find any real concerns past the usual chance small stuff will break for no reason and the suspension fails. I would say it will be the usual merc to keep running so expect to spend at least $6000 a year on repairs.

We have some customers who drive 9+ hours for certain jobs as well lol

 

thanks! The guy online called the Wizard says S class up to 2013 is average reliability.

When I took a tour of the local Porsche dealership (that was the Boxster launch, not the 4 cyl but the one before), I was amazed to see relatively new 997's with their engines completely out of the vehicles (the 991 was the current model). There comes a point in life where our wallets are tested and we don't need to be foolish about what we can, and cannot do, because these are toys for big boys. A guy who retired from my office had a 997 Carrera S, and he told me, "Don't worry, it took me 30 years to get that car, you have plenty of time!" I think to tell you the truth time ran out! (business is good someone got a 991 Turbo S--of course, used--that's the pattern, 5 y.o. is the sweet spot). Personally? I would love to have a Cayenne GTS stick, which is very rare. S**** the 12 mpg I'll live with it--heck, I"m getting 14 now with the LS!

 

About 6 years ago, I was seriously considering a new Porsche Cayman. Every option pushed the reasonably priced base car into the stratosphere. I ultimately decided against it. What I remember was.....when discussing the possible purchase with other Porsche owners to be prepared for excessively high maintenance costs, just to keep the factory warranty valid. That was enough to turn me off permanently.

 

Back when my BMW was only 5, get a call from the dealer need a new muffler, $1200. I was livid and said, I have never heard of a 5 y.o. BMW needing a new muffler. The response was, you haven't heard, but plenty do. (what a total con job)

So I said no, I don't want the work, and I want to see my car on the lift when I pick it up so you can show me I need a new muffler. SA said fine.

When I came to get my car the next day, it was simply brought around so the chances of seeing what they're talking about was about zilch. So I said I want to talk to a foreman. The first one says oh, we never said you had to replace the muffler, it says there is a sound in the flap of the left actuator, and that doesn't come separately, so you'd need a new muffler if you didn't want to live with the sound. I said what sound, can you duplicate it? Guy says I can't and my hearing isn't very good, I'd have to get the younger foreman and you can drive with him and he'll point it out. dag. lol (I do know the sound now, it's the flap opening and shutting--usually BMWs have one outlet closed to keep the car/drone quieter, even those tiny 4 bangers have it)

edit p.s. when I was new on the BMW scene they were talking about a golf tee mod. Some guys disabled the actuator altogether by removing the vacuum hose, and plugging it with a golf tee, because they wanted the loud drone sound by keeping the flap always opened. Why not just do what Toyota does on the Camry SE, just have two fake outlets lol Now you got the looks of 4 and the sound of 2! Or go even further a la Audi Q5 and have plastic blanks that aren't even real exhaust pipes!

 

Audi is similar. I had a 2014 CPO A8L for 3 years and maintenance was super expensive. Front rotors are OEM only at $700 for just rotors. Even changing the cabin filter was a royal pain. Very over engineered and difficult to work on. The saving grace was it did not leave me stranded and oil changes I did myself at 1/4th the dealer rip-off price. Really did enjoy the A8 but would not own one outside a warranty. Hence why I got rid of it.

Few examples of repairs through the CPO. Only cost me $50 per incident but it would of been:
​​​​​​Trunk motor - $1800
Engine mounts - $2600
Suspension level sensor - $900

 

German cars are fun to drive, but maintenance is not fun at all. There is a very good indy shop in town. They specialize in Porsche, BMW, Range Rover, and exotics. The Porsche guy there takes care of a lot of Cayenne's and Cayenne Diesels, like mine. Porsche cannot invalidate my warranty if I use them. I just have to have all of my receipts. These guys took care of my Range Rover once it went out of warranty and did a great job. They are also extremely honest and don't add "extras" to the maintenance schedule. I have always used the dealer for maintenance in the warranty period. I've looked at an Audi Q7, which I like. It is not as much fun to drive as the Cayenne, but it is built for a different purpose. Maintenance on it is reasonable, especially if you buy Audi Care, which simply prepays your services. Don't know what I am going to do. LIke I said in my first post, I do wish Lexus was making an SUV that I liked....that's where I would go.

 

I investigated Audi Care pretty close and it will cost you almost triple vs a good independent shop / minor self service as a heads up. At least for me. Your results may vary. Audi is rated the highest among German cars as far as reliability according to Consumer Reports. The new Q7 is a lovely SUV. I still drool over the S8.

 

Audi is the brand I would pick having worked extensively on all of them. Drives great and not insane to repair or service, kidna wished they were more durable though but that's the trade off.

 

I have a good friend who’s the General Manager of a large Audi dealer. How about a RS6 Avant for your garage? I’ll have to catch up with him after Christmas to figure out the timing on orders.