Comfort Cruiser SUV?

[Drew Dowdell]

You can't go by Jeep's overall brand rating. Every vehicle they make is designed by a different company. 

The one knock I know of against the GLE is no Android Auto.

[G. David Felt]

15 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Jeep is a perennial bottom dweller in every reliability study, only Fiat consistently ranks lower and Jeep is often worse than Land Rover and Mitsubishi, and Dodge and Chrysler are down there too every year since they share so many parts with Jeep.  

I would look at a Porsche Cayenne used also, Porsche is known for their quality and reliability and they have great resale value too.

According to JD Powers, Seems they are rated the same! 

So this comes down to cost and repair cost which MB is notoriously higher on as everyone knows.

[Drew Dowdell]

The GLE does depreciate enough to put it in the same running as the GC Summit Hemi.

0-60 doesn't matter to me as much as smooth torquey acceleration. I'm certainly not going to worry about a 1 second difference when either of them will blow away the vehicle it is replacing.  That said, there are only a few GLE400s listed on Auto trader.

[Drew Dowdell]

The Cayenne is intriguing, but I wonder how comfort tuned they are.  On the GLE, at least I can get Airmatic, which I love. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The Cayenne is intriguing, but I wonder how comfort tuned they are.  On the GLE, at least I can get Airmatic, which I love. 

I thought the Cayenne had that airmatic type or Hydromatic like my escalade for raising and lower it for clearance but also comfort in regards to driving dynamic.  Gonna have to make a stop out at their web site as I thought they had that type of tech.

[Drew Dowdell]

Raising and lowering is not the same as suspension firmness. Airmatic on comfort is cloud-like

[G. David Felt]

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Raising and lowering is not the same as suspension firmness. Airmatic on comfort is cloud-like

Got it, I can understand that, found a really good detailed explanation of the two types of suspension that they use on these so their basic steel spring and the airbag suspension.

http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/11/04/air-or-steel-springs-the-porsche-cayenne/

Lucky you can find plenty on Autotrader and they do seem to hold their value better than MB or just about anyone else.

Here is what their own website had to say about their air suspension:

[smk4565]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

The GLE does depreciate enough to put it in the same running as the GC Summit Hemi.

0-60 doesn't matter to me as much as smooth torquey acceleration. I'm certainly not going to worry about a 1 second difference when either of them will blow away the vehicle it is replacing.  That said, there are only a few GLE400s listed on Auto trader.

True, I haven't looked to see what GLE400s are out there.  I have a friend with a GLE450 coupe that is pretty quick and has easy torque and the 9-speed.  I have driven the GLE350 with the naturally aspirated V6, it is fine for daily driving, I imagine it is similar to a Pentastar Grand Cherokee.   The downside to the GLE350 is you live in the 3-4,000 rpm range a lot when accelerating, where as with my car I can be at 2,000 rpm with the V8 torque.  I bet there are ML550's out there getting cheap and all V8 Mercedes have Airmatic.

I don't know anything about the Porsche Air suspension, Mercedes uses Bilstien air springs, same ones are used on the BMW 7-series and Range Rover.  I had to have my air springs replaced last month, I have 97,000 miles on my car, 10 years old, it varies how long they last.   One was totally shot, and the 2 rear were leaking, they replaced all 4 and it drives like it just rolled off the factory, it is unbelievable how good the ride is in that I have hit expansion joints on a bridge and heard it, but couldn't feel it.  The dealer only charged for parts on just the front and took $200 off, charged labor on front and rear and then took 10% off the whole bill at the end.  

[Drew Dowdell]

I won't be going old enough to get an ML

[smk4565]

2014 ML550 for $34k at North Coast Auto mall in Ohio, only 30,000 miles.  443 lb-ft of torque, 0-60 in 4.9 seconds.  

I was looking at Porsche Cayenne's, hard to find any under $50k that aren't over 5 years old, or 2014 with the base 300 hp V6.  You'd have to really hunt for a Hybrid or V8 Cayenne under $50k.

[Drew Dowdell]

0-60 means nothing to me, but the torque number does

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

2014 ML550 for $34k at North Coast Auto mall in Ohio, only 30,000 miles.  443 lb-ft of torque, 0-60 in 4.9 seconds.  

I was looking at Porsche Cayenne's, hard to find any under $50k that aren't over 5 years old, or 2014 with the base 300 hp V6.  You'd have to really hunt for a Hybrid or V8 Cayenne under $50k.

Even the older Cayennes have very low miles, so if you want a Porsche, then why not go 6 to 10 years old to get the price down since I have found plenty in the $30 K range with only 25 to 45 thousand miles on them.

Plenty of Diesel and Turbo models in the 2011 / 2012 that are around 40K miles for around 35-40K. Not bad price.

Auto Trader shows plenty of Jeep GC that are in high 20 to low 30 thousand miles with V8 summit, SRT, etc. versions all 2013 to 2015 in the 40-45K range. Go a couple years older and you get the 2010-2012 and your in the 30K range with 40 to 55 thousand miles. Some pretty loaded and nice GC for prices that average 10-15 thousand less than a MB with less features.

[smk4565]

The Jeep will be cheaper for sure, I imagine used Lincoln SUVs are dirt cheap too.  Obviously a Mercedes or Porsche is going to be at the top end of the price spectrum, they cost the most new and have good resale.  

Edited January 1, 2018 by smk4565

[ocnblu]

*Wildebeest is still thrashing around in the pond*