[Cabin Pics]

As I said before, that sort of capability is the one thing that makes me like it. It's not the best tool for any specific job, but if you need to tow and want something you can have fun in, there really aren't many alternatives. They do seem to depreciate nicely, which means they aren't a terrible deal used.

They also, at least the SQ5, in my experience, lease very well.

 

[tincanman99]

They also, at least the SQ5, in my experience, lease very well.

According to that Leasehacker web site Porsches do not lease well. The money factor is very high and they want absurd amounts of money down. Audis are a different animal.

 

[GLI Dan]

According to that Leasehacker web site Porsches do not lease well. The money factor is very high and they want absurd amounts of money down. Audis are a different animal.

Porsche's don't lease cheap, but the Macan leases well for its price point. Granted, that was a few years ago so it may have changed.

 

[ghost03]

Porsche's don't lease cheap, but the Macan leases well for its price point. Granted, that was a few years ago so it may have changed.

Yeah, maybe it doesn't lease TFL well, but it does well enough to get X3 and GLC lessees in the door.

 

[DerSpiegel]

I think it looks great, but it’s completely useless as an SUV.

I'm in this camp. I genuinely think it's the best looking "SUV" out there, but the sloping back shrinks it to basic utility levels. It's like a super fancy, slightly bigger AWD GTI.

EDIT - after reading some of the previous comments, it appears I'm not alone in this assessment......

 

[The_Real_Stack]

I'm in this camp. I genuinely think it's the best looking "SUV" out there, but the sloping back shrinks it to basic utility levels. It's like a super fancy, slightly bigger AWD GTI.

EDIT - after reading some of the previous comments, it appears I'm not alone in this assessment......

It all depends on what you want from your SUV. If you want it to haul "stuff" then yeah, I get that it's compromised, but if you don't haul that much "stuff" and you more want a car with a decent back seat to haul kids or occasionally a couple buddies to dinner/lunch, that sort of thing, it is perfectly fine. I can say we could swap our RDX for one and have zero impact on usability; we just don't haul that much stuff.

 

[danny_16v]

are there any experts out there that know a bit more about the 2015-2018 Macan S with the twin turbo V6? Apparently this was not a shared Audi engine, but rather Porsche's own motor? How reliable is it?

I'm sure they drive great... I think these are starting to be a good value, even as a CPO.

 

[CoreyB]

are there any experts out there that know a bit more about the 2015-2018 Macan S with the twin turbo V6? Apparently this was not a shared Audi engine, but rather Porsche's own motor? How reliable is it?

I'm sure they drive great... I think these are starting to be a good value, even as a CPO.

Expert here:wave: Been working on the Macan since its introduction in 15 and the twin turbo V6 since it was first introduced in the Panamera S in 14.

The engine is based largely off of their V8 engine architecture, and by the point that it came out had most all its major mechanical kinks worked out. The V6 got many big changes from the DFI V8 that precedes it, the fueling system is updated and uses two high pressure pumps, also it has exhaust cam adjusters where the earlier V8 only had adjusters on the intake cam. It is one of my favorite Porsche engines and is really a gem. It's a short stroke V6 that has great throttle response and sounds really good.

The largest issue with them are leaks from the timing case cover which have been an on going issue with the Porsche built/designed V engines since there inception in the 9PA/E1 Cayenne. If I'm honest, you could completely ignore the leaks and it wouldn't affect driveability at all. Many shops do just flat out ignore them due to it being a major job to fix, plus very few ever get fixed the "correct" way due to it being a huge endeavor that pays very poorly. The massive belly pan also keeps any oil from leaking onto to floor so owners never see it in their garage/driveway.

Water pumps also leak, but this seems to be less of an issue on these than it was on the earlier V8's.

Outside of those two issues, they are pretty reliable in my anecdotal experience. I'm sure there are other things I've seen fail on them, but those are the two issues I see most often.

They do need spark plugs done every 30k and use about 9 liters of oil so service can be a little pricey.

The transmission in them is essentially the s-tronic transaxle from the b8 S4/S5 and is not a porsche designed transmission. I do believe that the transfer case is a Porsche specific part though. The transmission being an Audi unit is due to the Macan being built on an Audi chassis, which has been heavily modified to suit Porsches needs.

 

[DerSpiegel]

Expert here:wave: Been working on the Macan since its introduction in 15 and the twin turbo V6 since it was first introduced in the Panamera S in 14.

How about electrics, HVAC, other systems? Thanks in advance....:thumbup:

 

[tincanman99]

Expert here:wave: Been working on the Macan since its introduction in 15 and the twin turbo V6 since it was first introduced in the Panamera S in 14.

The engine is based largely off of their V8 engine architecture, and by the point that it came out had most all its major mechanical kinks worked out. The V6 got many big changes from the DFI V8 that precedes it, the fueling system is updated and uses two high pressure pumps, also it has exhaust cam adjusters where the earlier V8 only had adjusters on the intake cam. It is one of my favorite Porsche engines and is really a gem. It's a short stroke V6 that has great throttle response and sounds really good.

The largest issue with them are leaks from the timing case cover which have been an on going issue with the Porsche built/designed V engines since there inception in the 9PA/E1 Cayenne. If I'm honest, you could completely ignore the leaks and it wouldn't affect driveability at all. Many shops do just flat out ignore them due to it being a major job to fix, plus very few ever get fixed the "correct" way due to it being a huge endeavor that pays very poorly. The massive belly pan also keeps any oil from leaking onto to floor so owners never see it in their garage/driveway.

Water pumps also leak, but this seems to be less of an issue on these than it was on the earlier V8's.

Outside of those two issues, they are pretty reliable in my anecdotal experience. I'm sure there are other things I've seen fail on them, but those are the two issues I see most often.

They do need spark plugs done every 30k and use about 9 liters of oil so service can be a little pricey.

The transmission in them is essentially the s-tronic transaxle from the b8 S4/S5 and is not a porsche designed transmission. I do believe that the transfer case is a Porsche specific part though. The transmission being an Audi unit is due to the Macan being built on an Audi chassis, which has been heavily modified to suit Porsches needs.

Thanks for the info. Very informative

How about the 2019's V6 engine? In 2019 they changed the engine out. I believe its the same engine in the SQ5/ S5 /etc....

Any comments?

You mentioned that the chassis has been heavily modified - what kind of mods did they do - just out of curiosity.

 

[danny_16v]

Expert here:wave: Been working on the Macan since its introduction in 15 and the twin turbo V6 since it was first introduced in the Panamera S in 14.

The engine is based largely off of their V8 engine architecture, and by the point that it came out had most all its major mechanical kinks worked out. The V6 got many big changes from the DFI V8 that precedes it, the fueling system is updated and uses two high pressure pumps, also it has exhaust cam adjusters where the earlier V8 only had adjusters on the intake cam. It is one of my favorite Porsche engines and is really a gem. It's a short stroke V6 that has great throttle response and sounds really good.

The largest issue with them are leaks from the timing case cover which have been an on going issue with the Porsche built/designed V engines since there inception in the 9PA/E1 Cayenne. If I'm honest, you could completely ignore the leaks and it wouldn't affect driveability at all. Many shops do just flat out ignore them due to it being a major job to fix, plus very few ever get fixed the "correct" way due to it being a huge endeavor that pays very poorly. The massive belly pan also keeps any oil from leaking onto to floor so owners never see it in their garage/driveway.

Water pumps also leak, but this seems to be less of an issue on these than it was on the earlier V8's.

Outside of those two issues, they are pretty reliable in my anecdotal experience. I'm sure there are other things I've seen fail on them, but those are the two issues I see most often.

They do need spark plugs done every 30k and use about 9 liters of oil so service can be a little pricey.

The transmission in them is essentially the s-tronic transaxle from the b8 S4/S5 and is not a porsche designed transmission. I do believe that the transfer case is a Porsche specific part though. The transmission being an Audi unit is due to the Macan being built on an Audi chassis, which has been heavily modified to suit Porsches needs.

Awesome post! Thanks so much for the info, very informative indeed. I mean seeing some of these Macan S's currently at 36-40k seems like they're quite the bargain if you want one of the best handling and fairly fast CUV's out there, that is also a Porsche! They'll be big bargains as more continue to depreciate and more available. I'll be watching them!

 

[CoreyB]

How about electrics, HVAC, other systems? Thanks in advance....:thumbup:

The electronics are basically shared across the rest of the modern Porsche line up and are relatively problem free. The window switches break on a bunch of them if you treat them poorly, they had a recall early on for the seat occupancy detectors and since doing those, I think we've seen a few fail, but not much else that wasn't taken care of by Porsche during their roll out whether it was through recalls or campaigns.

The biggest issue is the PCM3.1 that is fitted to vehicles made from 15-17. I believe I have the change over year from the PCM3.1 to the 4.0 correct. The PCM4.0 is far more reliable than the earlier units and less prone to the issues that the 3.1 system had. The 3.1 had majors issues with freezing a rebooting and some would get to the point where they were essentially non fucntioning. The maps are also outdated at this point with the newest map packages available being a few years old. I would really recommend a 17 and up for this reason.

The HVAC systems are generally problem free, I've seen one or two with leaking a/c lines, but this was on early cars and the line got updated later on. The later cars did switch to R1234yf which they changed over to sometime in 17 so you just need to be sure that a qualified shop services one of those systems if there ever is an issue.

The chassis on them seems to be pretty tough, we've seen very few issues with control arms and ball joints despite them using the Audi 5-link set up. They seem to be more than up to the task. Wheels bearings we have seen fail somewhat frequently, both front and rears. The rears are a total pain to replace compared to the fronts. We have seen a few failed air compressors for the air suspension system also, but I would still pick the air suspension over the steel springs. I just like the functionality of the air suspension though.

Transfer case failures are definitely an on going issue with them, not nearly the epidemic that the E2/92A Cayenne's suffered, but all of them are getting replaced with stronger units when they are replaced.

Those are the major issues that I can think of off the top of my head. Overall I would say they are decently reliable little SUV's.

Thanks for the info. Very informative

How about the 2019's V6 engine? In 2019 they changed the engine out. I believe its the same engine in the SQ5/ S5 /etc....

Any comments?

You mentioned that the chassis has been heavily modified - what kind of mods did they do - just out of curiosity.

Yes the current engines are all related to the Audi line up. The S gets the 3.0 single turbo engine while the turbo will come with the 2.9 twin turbo set up. The 3.0 is still somewhat fresh having its debut for Porsche in the 2017 Panamera. They are now out in much larger volume in the Cayenne, but generally speaking in my experience have been trouble free. I will say that I liked the character of the Porsche built V6 over that of the Audi based engines, but Porsche's hand was clearly forced on this. They are still a good power plant and are well suited to the vehicles that they are being used in though. Plenty of power and pretty smooth power delivery also.

The chassis was modified from the Q5 in a few areas. The rear of the vehicle where the subframe bolts in had to be reinforced to handle the extra power and larger tires that the Porsche has. The front has reinforced impact absorbers, a transverse strut for rigidity and it also got a new transmission tunnel bridge. They also use more rigid subframes and spec their own suspension bushings to suit their desired needs for performance and handling. The braking packages are also specific to the Porsche's with the exception of the base model. Porsche designed their own uprights for the front to accommodate their brake calipers and rotors. The rear is unfortunately a sliding single piston caliper and Porsche really couldn't do much to fix that. This is most of what they list as changes from the Q5 it was developed from.

Awesome post! Thanks so much for the info, very informative indeed. I mean seeing some of these Macan S's currently at 36-40k seems like they're quite the bargain if you want one of the best handling and fairly fast CUV's out there, that is also a Porsche! They'll be big bargains as more continue to depreciate and more available. I'll be watching them!

The real gems are the GTS models. Definitely the best of the Macan lineup in my opinion. I agree with them becoming good bargains and seriously think they are the best driving of all the small CUV's that I've gotten my hands on. The interior is really a nice place to be too.

 

[tincanman99]

The electronics are basically shared across the rest of the modern Porsche line up and are relatively problem free. The window switches break on a bunch of them if you treat them poorly, they had a recall early on for the seat occupancy detectors and since doing those, I think we've seen a few fail, but not much else that wasn't taken care of by Porsche during their roll out whether it was through recalls or campaigns.

The biggest issue is the PCM3.1 that is fitted to vehicles made from 15-17. I believe I have the change over year from the PCM3.1 to the 4.0 correct. The PCM4.0 is far more reliable than the earlier units and less prone to the issues that the 3.1 system had. The 3.1 had majors issues with freezing a rebooting and some would get to the point where they were essentially non fucntioning. The maps are also outdated at this point with the newest map packages available being a few years old. I would really recommend a 17 and up for this reason.

The HVAC systems are generally problem free, I've seen one or two with leaking a/c lines, but this was on early cars and the line got updated later on. The later cars did switch to R1234yf which they changed over to sometime in 17 so you just need to be sure that a qualified shop services one of those systems if there ever is an issue.

The chassis on them seems to be pretty tough, we've seen very few issues with control arms and ball joints despite them using the Audi 5-link set up. They seem to be more than up to the task. Wheels bearings we have seen fail somewhat frequently, both front and rears. The rears are a total pain to replace compared to the fronts. We have seen a few failed air compressors for the air suspension system also, but I would still pick the air suspension over the steel springs. I just like the functionality of the air suspension though.

Transfer case failures are definitely an on going issue with them, not nearly the epidemic that the E2/92A Cayenne's suffered, but all of them are getting replaced with stronger units when they are replaced.

Those are the major issues that I can think of off the top of my head. Overall I would say they are decently reliable little SUV's.



Yes the current engines are all related to the Audi line up. The S gets the 3.0 single turbo engine while the turbo will come with the 2.9 twin turbo set up. The 3.0 is still somewhat fresh having its debut for Porsche in the 2017 Panamera. They are now out in much larger volume in the Cayenne, but generally speaking in my experience have been trouble free. I will say that I liked the character of the Porsche built V6 over that of the Audi based engines, but Porsche's hand was clearly forced on this. They are still a good power plant and are well suited to the vehicles that they are being used in though. Plenty of power and pretty smooth power delivery also.

The chassis was modified from the Q5 in a few areas. The rear of the vehicle where the subframe bolts in had to be reinforced to handle the extra power and larger tires that the Porsche has. The front has reinforced impact absorbers, a transverse strut for rigidity and it also got a new transmission tunnel bridge. They also use more rigid subframes and spec their own suspension bushings to suit their desired needs for performance and handling. The braking packages are also specific to the Porsche's with the exception of the base model. Porsche designed their own uprights for the front to accommodate their brake calipers and rotors. The rear is unfortunately a sliding single piston caliper and Porsche really couldn't do much to fix that. This is most of what they list as changes from the Q5 it was developed from.



The real gems are the GTS models. Definitely the best of the Macan lineup in my opinion. I agree with them becoming good bargains and seriously think they are the best driving of all the small CUV's that I've gotten my hands on. The interior is really a nice place to be too.

Thank you so much for the information! Very much appreciated!

 

[ghost03]

Thank you so much for the information! Very much appreciated!

Yeah, many Porsche models somehow escape the typical VWAG issues. Our Cayenne has 73k on it, and other than dieselgate, has had no unscheduled maintenance at all.

 

[HI SPEED]

The mid cycle refresh was a downgrade looks wise IMO

This looked way better IMO

Overall I really like the Macan. Even though on paper they probably aren't worth the price, this is still the small CUV I would most like to own.

They sell extremely well around me, and every once in a while they pop up for sale. If the asking prices are any indication, they command extremely high resale relative to a comparable Audi/BMW/Merc CUV

 

[oidoglr]

The mid cycle refresh was a downgrade looks wise IMO

This looked way better IMO

Overall I really like the Macan. Even though on paper they probably aren't worth the price, this is still the small CUV I would most like to own.

They sell extremely well around me, and every once in a while they pop up for sale. If the asking prices are any indication, they command extremely high resale relative to a comparable Audi/BMW/Merc CUV

After a bit of cooling off time, I've come to accept that the older rear tails actually do suit the character of the overall body design better than the light bar (and I adore the light bar on 911s, think it was done well on the 2nd gen Panamera...it's just that the body lines were sculpted to give the light bar a natural place to sit on).

This thread made me curious enough to see if used Macans have depreciated enough to be of consideration when my S4 finally sells, but the only ones within a 500 mile radius under $30k are base models with more than 100k miles on them, so if there isn't good lease support then at least they don't clobber people who buy or finance them with massive depreciation.

 

[ND40oz]

After a bit of cooling off time, I've come to accept that the older rear tails actually do suit the character of the overall body design better than the light bar (and I adore the light bar on 911s, think it was done well on the 2nd gen Panamera...it's just that the body lines were sculpted to give the light bar a natural place to sit on).

The light bar just does not work at night, I understand getting the corporate look across the lineup but it doesn't work on this gen Macan. They should have waited until next gen before incorporating it into the design.

 

[tincanman99]

The light bar just does not work at night, I understand getting the corporate look across the lineup but it doesn't work on this gen Macan. They should have waited until next gen before incorporating it into the design.

I am eh about it myself. Its ok. I dont believe in this branding theory that every product has look similar to the other products in your lineup.

 

[Hawk]

The light bar just does not work at night

Don't disagree. But explain more. What do you mean 'doesn't work'.

 

[masa8888]

I really like the light bar of new Porsche models at night, including the Macan