The year is 2019 and we are full into an era where a first generation Porsche Cayenne can be had for the cost of a German Shepherd puppy. Seriously these, along with its hunky cousin Volkswagen Touareg, are trading for shockingly low prices thanks to the classic formula of low demand, low quality and higher than normal repair costs at a higher than normal rate. Buying one of these now is a gamble that I don’t think anyone is really ready for because while money can fix anything, you can’t buy more time from the inconvenience that these things can cause. If you wanted to snag one for a pure hobby knowing that this is going to be a bumpy ride, there is one special build that is worth looking out for: the 6-speed manual.
For whatever reason, Porsche brought over a handful of 6-speed manuals mated to their 240 horsepower version of the 3.2 VR6 in the 5,000 lb. base model Cayenne. I’m sure every dealer who were allocated these had thoughts about not setting the parking brake and letting them roll away given how hard these were to sell when new. While Porsche also brought the 6-speed manual in the GTS model, that one was mated to a 405 horsepower V8 and sold as a performance model, so it made sense in a way. Here we are now some 14 years later and a handful of these bounce around on the used market in conditions you would expect an old Porsche SUV to be in. Everything is sticky, it smells like crayons and the center carrier bearing probably needs replaced again. Still, this example up for sale in Chicago might have you thinking about it if you are just crazy enough.
