Help me choose between two cars... Wagon vs SUV

So I've decided that I no longer want car payments and I've sold my S4. Buyer picks it up tomorrow.

I've narrowed my choice of next car down to these two contenders...

2010 BMW 535xi Wagon 6 MT, 79k miles In Boston 1 owner All records including window sticker New tires BMW maintenance free until 100k miles

2005 Cayenne Turbo 67k miles In Tulsa 1 owner All records, all maintenance done, new brakes/tires. Coolant pipes/cardan shaft done

Both cars I'll have to get transported out to me as I'm in Denver and don't have the time for a fly n drive.

The way I see it is the BMW is a total unicorn, it's really hard to find one of those with a manual transmission, as such resale will be higher. It's got more space and will get better mpg. The Cayenne can tow, go off road and handle a large snow storm better than the BMW. Since it's an automatic my wife can also drive it, which gives us two cars in the garage she car drive.

Price between the two is similar, BMW will be a little more to purchase and transport.

Thoughts?

The Boston car will likely have rust problems, if not now, in the future. Or, at least, it has a much higher likelyhood of rust problems than the Tulsa car.

I would not ship in a car from a rusty climate like Boston.

For this reason, my answer is Tulsa Porsche.

99% of the time I would say BMW. But being in Denver, with the epic snow you all receive the extra ground clearance might not be that bad of an idea, although the rest of the year the CG of the Bimmer would be a nice thing to have.

I give the nod to the Porsche (I haven't seen a modern BMW rust no matter where it is. Not saying it doesn't happen I just haven't seen it.) for the wifey and life factor.

... and Just from the fact of Turbo V8

Yeah, I'm not too concerned with rust on the BMW. I lived in Boston for 12 years and the modern cars, particularly the German ones don't seem to rust much.

Working on them is a bitch though, as all the bolts are incredibly seized in place.

I've always been a sucker for a 6MT wagon, but I'm also thinking it might be nice to have something completely different.

I'd go for the BMW, simply because maintenance on a Cayenne Turbo is a nightmare. Almost Allroad levels of expensive.

I have a 530ix wagon and love it. That said, I'm not so a sure an MT in it is much of a benefit beyond the unicorn factor (yeah, I know, GRM blasphemy). E39s should be manual, E61s I'm not so sure. They just don't feel as agile even though the performance envelope is bigger

G_Body, I thought the Cayenne's were pretty solid once you did the coolant pipes and cardan shaft?

Eh... a 2010 BMW wouldn't worry me too much about rust, even in Boston. I think I know the car you're looking at - I looked at the same autotrader ad last week. Very tempting. These aren't quite unicorns, but I can't imagine clean, lowish-mileage examples like this one will be around for long. I can't believe the price - this was a $20K+ car a few years ago.

Is the MT worth it in a car like this? Maybe not, but European automatics scare the bejesus out of me. I don't see me ever owning another one out of warranty.

It's the dark blue one in Northborough. Are you near there Ian? I need someone to put eyes on it and drive it for me...

The manual transmission ones seem to hold their value much better than the auto's. Plus the BMW auto's are horrible as far as reliability. If fluid flushes haven't been done on them every 30k miles (and nobody does that) they tend to die around 120k miles and cost at least $5000 to replace.

The prices on these seem to ticking up and a good one is selling for at least book if not more.

In reply to docwyte:

Unfortunately, no. I'm down near Philly. When I search for these once in awhile I enter a 500 mile radius.

docwyte wrote: The way I see it is the BMW is a total unicorn, it's really hard to find one of those with a manual transmission, as such resale will be higher. It's got more space and will get better mpg. The Cayenne can tow, go off road and handle a large snow storm better than the BMW. Since it's an automatic my wife can also drive it, which gives us two cars in the garage she car drive.

Will you be towing or going offroad? Those things are nice but if you'll never use them they aren't real factors.

On the other hand, if your wife can't drive a manual that seems like a big sticking point.

Bogus. Anyone in the West Boston area that can take a look at this thing for me? I need to know what it looks like cosmetically, whether it's been painted, how it drives, etc.

I'd go for the BMW for the car like driving dynamics and b/c MT Wagon

stuart,

Well, I haven't done a lot of towing or off roading because I've never had a vehicle that could do it. Honestly I don't see myself towing very much, most of the events I do are in state and my 951/LSx is licensed for the street. I would tow it when I head out of state though. Haven't done that in a bit, my son is still a toddler and I don't have the free time. I hope to start doing it again though.

Kinda the same thing with off roading, I doubt I'd do serious trail work with the Cayenne, but I wouldn't have to worry taking it up fire roads etc the way I would with the BMW.

The manual transmission is a double edged sword. It's both a benefit and a curse if I have an automatic, as my wife can drive it. So it gives us another car she can drive in case something happens to her GX470 (unlikely), but it also lets her drive the Cayenne and bruise it up as she has a tendency of doing...

docwyte wrote: G_Body, I thought the Cayenne's were pretty solid once you did the coolant pipes and cardan shaft?

Once you fix those, they're more or less solid. However, if anything goes, it's going to break the bank.

You didn't say the other car is a GX470. That thing is a tank. Yeah, get the Bimmer. You take the wife factor out of my previous decision process and the wagon takes the lead.

A Porsche beats a station wagon any day. If it were me, I'd look for the VW Toureg V10 Diesel. You skip the Porsche Tax, get all of the utility with a tradeoff in overall speed for massive towing capacity.

Buy me a plane ticket and I can drive the Porsche from Tulsa to Denver for ya.

That V10 Touareg is the epitome of a money sucking vehicle. There's no way I'd own one without a comprehensive warranty. Plus the Cayenne tows the exact same amount as it, the Toureg will get better mpg tho. A friend just had the tranny go out on hers, $9000 to replace it. Luckily she has a warranty...

z31, LOL, I just might. I've contacted a guy I know who's driven two cars out from Boston area for me in the past to see if he's still doing that. He is, so transport costs for the BMW wagon will be pretty cheap, maybe $5-600.

Still waiting to get the email with service records, window sticker and underbody shots from the dealer that has the BMW...

for what it is worth.. my Discovery is registered as a "wagon" here in NJ.

As for Rust.. my old 318ti came from western Mass. While the body came down with all the usual E36 rust around the rear wheel arches and the floor rotted out due to a bad accident repair.. I -never- had an issue with rusty fasteners. The closest I came to an issue was the exhaust clamps that I had to burn out.. but I do not consider them fasteners to worry about as the clamps were getting tossed either way

Wagon. Just not...that wagon. Cayennes scare me.

Tough call, both cars have their advantages and potential downsides. If you can live with it my vote is for the beemer. Five years newer goes a long way in product refinement. And a wagon should be a more engaging drive than the cannon of a Porsche.

pinchvalve wrote: A Porsche beats a station wagon any day. If it were me, I'd look for the VW Toureg V10 Diesel. You skip the Porsche Tax...

Hmm... hard to say what's worse: P-tax or diesel-tax...

I vote cayenne. I am normally pretty anti-suv, buy I think that (gasp) the Cayenne might be less work and more engaging long term. It will have higher consumables but anymore, Porsche makes cars that last and BMW doesn't.