blacklab

Hi there! I am looking to replace my '06 Cayenne Turbo with a certified '08 Q7 and wanted to know what current owners think about it. We have a baby and need the extra space - it will be the family car for running around town and going to the mountains (Tahoe) for skiing. What do you think about your Q7? Would you buy it again? Has it been reliable? What options do you consider must haves? Most Q7's seem to have the 3.6L but do you think the 4.2L might be better for the mountains? My Cayenne has been excellent in the snow when I mounted special ice&snow tires so am also interested in snow and ice performance opinions for those that have driven in snow. The other SUV we are considering is the Lexus LX470 but it was a lot less fun to drive.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Aggie88

Can't imagine going from a Porsche Cayenne to Lexus LX470. Q7 is a stretched version of the Cayenne. If you like your Cayenne, you will like the Q7. Many chassis parts are common. Your snows will bolt right up.

arU4ic

I have an 08. It eats tires and brakes. But as far as the 4.2, I go to Tahoe a lot (like 10-15 times per year) and the 3.6 has always been more than enough. In-fact I've always been glad I didn't spend the extra money and got more options instead.

Favorites: Sunroof, Bluetooth. MMI, Nav., Xenon Lighting

Not so favorites: 21" wheels (no M+S tires for that rim and majorly bad rolling noise IMO), factory racks (noisy and every mount is custom).

Jusforfun

08 thumbs up! If you want to tow then get one with factory or port installed hitch not retrofit.
previous discussion
and here (ignore 07 specifics)

blacklab

Thanks - good threads and discussion. I should have been better on search.

kristatos

Any reason you aren't considering the TDI? I got a Q7 for basically the same reason you are considering it - increasing family and road trips. It is a great car for both purposes. For getting up the hill the TDI will have plenty of torque and you'd be able to make it to the lake and back on a single tank of fuel from many locations in the Bay Area.

At any rate, whichever you go with you'll be traveling in style. I couldn't live without the Bluetooth. The MMI Nav+ is neat but I typically know where I am going and it's more just fun to look at that necessary in my case. I do like the Sirius radio. The massive sunroof is overkill.

For accessories I like the tow package - interesting point by jusforfun on the port/factory install vs dealer install.

Other accessories that may come in handy for family road trips are running boards and roof rack. I am not sure how easy it is to find a CPO vehicle with any of those accessories, but the running boards make it easy for my 2 y/o to step up into the vehicle and for me to load/unload cargo or skis/snowboards from a case on the roof bars.

blacklab

Thanks - we are going Q7 and have been looking for about 2 weeks. There are lots of 07 and 08's coming off lease so there are many to choose from but some options I want, like a trailer hitch (and we have boats/snowmobiles)and AMI are hard to find. I guess everyone wanted Nav and the large sunroof as they all seems to have those. Running boards is a good idea as we have a 1 yr old and another coming . . . but haven't seen many of those either.

We didn't consider the TDi b/c the premium is about $10k and I'm not sure it is a good investment given we only plan on keeping the car until the warranty runs out (3-4 yrs) and by my math the TDi saves about $750/yr in fuel.

2PUTT

keep in mind that the TDI might hold its value a little better. do a search for TDI on ebay. you will see Jettas and TRegs with tons of miles but still fetching a good price. i say test drive both gas and diesel. you will not regret it. =)

kristatos

This is an excellent point and one that i rarely see brought up here as usually the calculation I see performed when folks consider the TDI is based on purchase price and fuel savings only, w/out taking into account the resale price.

I had to jump on Auto Trader when I saw the $10K premium being asked for on used TDI, but sure enough that looks to be about the case. Awesome news for those considering a TDI but not sure they will own it forever.