Choices, choices

[thebook]

Morning all,

I am heading towards the end of my 3 year contract on my E350 coupe.

As such I am now finding myself drawn towards the big decision of what to replace it with.

As much as I love the car, a coupe isn't really going to cut it with a growing family.

My choices currently are:

E350 estate
C350 estate
CLS
Porsche Cayenne Diesel

I suspect it will be one of the first 2 as I don't really want to pay more tax than I do already, but I love the CLS, and really like the Porsche .

Any opinions?

 

[st4]

I'd go with the C350 estate unless you need a really large car it's ample space wise.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I'd always had saloons and convinced myself because we had three children that we needed an estate so I bought an S211.

Turned out to be a waste of time, you just carry even more crap in your boot than normal, so I sold it and went back to a saloon.

From what I can tell, would a W212 E350 CDi not tick most of your boxes?

 

[thebook]

I am inclined to think the W212 would probably be a good choice although I am still undecided on the styling (I actually prefer the look of the estate), hence why its not listed as an option - its just a little 'run of the mill' which I why I chose the coupe last time around.

 

[Dr-Nab]

Well I'll let you know how I get on with the Cayenne Diesel I've got from tomorrow until Monday.. there's something about the new ones that I quite like... really rather expensive though not much change from £70k for the spec I'm looking at but they have initially offered well against the GL without me negotiating the price

 

[thebook]

I wouldn't be able to get one at the same spec as you, but agree the facelift has made them much more appealing to look at.

I would be prepared to bite the tax bullet as a result, would certainly appreciate hearing how you find it after your test weekend.

 

[Dr-Nab]

I'm quite looking forward to it but not sure what to expect as the only other experience I've had with the VAG 3.0TDI lump was in a rather wallowy '60 A5 S-line cabriolet, sat in a hybrid Cayenne in the showroom and was impressed with how solid it felt and how comfortable it was.

This is the car I'll be having, does look nice just strangely missing xenon headlamps from the spec (as was the new ML350 Bluetec I took out last week)

Porsche Approved Used Car Locator - Great Britain - Porsche Cars Great Britain Ltd.

 

[Dr-Nab]

Just got back with the Cayenne, really impressed so far so looking forward to having a nice long run in it tomorrow morning, will do some town driving in it shortly.

All in all compared to the new ML350 Bluetec and facelift X164 GL350 its really impressive. Not as quiet as the new ML but not a great deal of difference, handles and rides very well on all surfaces with the air suspension despite having 21" alloys on it.. new ML on 21s with airmatic was still a bit crashy over bumps. Few pics...

 

[acej]

Looks nice they have come on leaps and bonds from the early models. The interior is in a different class. Enjoy

 

[st4]

That Cayenne looks the biz. Buy that....

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

As above, Looks the dogs....

 

[st4]

As above, Looks the dogs....

Were you parked up on Renfield Street on Thursday? Can't be too many CL600's about?

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Hi Steve, not me. If you see it again set fire to it

 

[st4]

I was going to loiter by it to cadge a lift some place but the plate didnt ring any bells so I ended up on foot

 

[Dr-Nab]

It's a brilliant car lol I might well have to go for one.. only thing that may be changed is if in the time it takes for Porsche to allocate/confirm a build slot for the car the Diesel S model is announced I'll have to change engine spec to that one plus whatever other options I choose.

Don't think I could go for this model because they've decided they will keep it as their demo until September by which time they envisage it will have covered 6-7k miles - at that they will only let it go for 4-5k less than the list price but it doesn't have xenons and I can't see a point in spending so much on a car if it isn't exactly how I'd want it.

The options list is pretty long though for what I want, Porsche seem to be particularly stingy on the standard kit front! Will be popping back on Tuesday as well to go for a ride out in a couple of 991 911s