ML500 i have 3 in stock, i will give him a great deal, there is only one car that is better, yes the fx. :wink:

 

Get a Cay Tur-

... oh. Never mind!

In all honesty though, those should be going for a relative steal on the used market, and since with only ONE exception all of the CTs I've seen on the street have been driven like they're made of glass I suspect they haven't even been abused (which for a modern turbocharged engine is probably just as problemmatic as being beaten up).

 

What about the BMW 4.8is?

 

My girlfriend just bought an ML500. We looked at the X5, Cayenne S, and ML. The X5 seems a bit dated. The car handles very well, but they are due for a new model soon. Also, there are many X5’s on the road; she wanted something a little different. The Cayenne S was probably my favorite. Although the car is quite heavy, during an extended test drive in the twisties, it felt the lightest and best handling of the bunch. The tiptronic transmission works as advertised. Off the line accelerations of the Cayenne felt the slowest of the three. The car has allot of power, but has to haul all that weight. In my opinion it felt bank vault solid. There have been claims of questionable quality, but I really can’t speak to that, I’m sure research on the internet can uncover any problems. The biggest strike against the Cayenne is price. With decent equipment the MSRP is between 65-70k. You can get a stripper version, but you won’t get squat in options or find a low mileage used one. If price is no object, I choose the Cayenne S.

She went with the ML which is not really a bad choice. I am not a huge fan of the styling, but it is a big improvement over previous models. I was shocked at how fast the ML was off the line. It felt just a tad slower off the line then my 45. Handling is decent, but feels the most heavy of the three. The ML had the nicest interior IMO. She got the package with Alcantara leather (suede), and aluminum trim. Neither of us like wood interiors, and it was nice that MB has an aluminum package. Finally she has the silver grill, and different bumper. All that being said…..it looks surprisingly sporty (not as mini-vanish). I guess MB will be coming out with a new 8 cylinder engine, so you may want to hold out for it, but the current one is pretty good. My final take on the ML is that it seems more geared towards women. The shifter is on the steering column, so there is room in the middle for a purse. The suspension is more luxury then sport. I will have no problem driving it, but would never personally buy one myself.

My vote is the Cayenne S.

 

He's leaning in the right direction. It always cracks me up when people say the Cayenne S is somehow slow :lol: . You can haul a school band in that thing, plus it has sick brakes, good build quality, outhandles FX, and with proper tires you could drive this vehicle thru a swamp.
Then there's the X5 4.8is - which btw has Alpina engine - that will kill anything this side of Cayenne T. On the downside is the ride that tends to be of a kidney buster variety.
The thing with ML is that it has no conventional gear lever. They borrowed this " brilliant " idea from BMW where in order to shift you have to jerk a wimpy lever ( if one can call it that ) now mounted to the steering column :roll: . But, hey, you can now place you designer coffee in that vacant spot. All 3 gallons of it :twisted: .

 

Thanks for all the good opinions...

Just want to clarify on a couple points. The X5 4.8is was the second thing I lobbied for after the CayTurbo. Same result. Hahaha.

My father puts a lot of miles on his "work" vehicle. He's a contractor in Phoenix, and it's not uncommon for him to put literally hundreds of miles on his Escabling on any given day. As such, he likes to buy new to stay under warranty as long as possible, then tends to sell and move on once out of the warranty period.

Honestly, the Cayenne S, X5 4.4i, and ML500 all fall into a pretty narrow price band. We were fiddling around last night with options and such, and I think there was maybe $3000 between the highest and lowest priced based on the option packages we chose. In other words, price wasn't enough of an issue to go one way or another.

Truth be told, my father is an old man - well into the fuddy-duddy years. He thinks he likes fast cars, but he just pulls his Carrera S in and out of the garage to wash and wax it. He kept talking about fuel mileage estimates... I think the BMW was marginally better in those regards, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go that way for that very reason. :roll: Some people... Hahahahh.

Matthew

 

What about a VW Touareg? Is it good?

 

my suggestion

X5 - dont get it new model coming 2007 i think

ML - i think its for girls

CAYENNE S is AWESOME get it

i have another suggestion

RANGE ROVER - SPORT! or just a regular RANGE ROVER...they have REALLY NICE INTERIORs
but downside they are now carrying JAGUARS engines in them so don't know much on reliability issues.

 

What about a VW Touareg? Is it good?

Consumer Reports and a handful of other reporting agencies and magazines say that the Touareg (as well as the Cayenne) are amound the worst in terms of reliability.

 

RANGE ROVER - SPORT! or just a regular RANGE ROVER...they have REALLY NICE INTERIORs
but downside they are now carrying JAGUARS engines in them so don't know much on reliability issues.

Is that Ford engine? Ford owns Jag. right?