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When the Porsche Cayenne made its debut in 2003, it was a pioneer of the sporty luxury SUV segment. It gained popularity extremely quickly, and was embraced by most automakers around the world. It remains one of the few SUVs in the automotive world actually lauded for being fun to drive. But, the second generation of the Cayenne shared VW’s PL72 platform with another model from the VW Group’s roster, the Volkswagen Touareg, and that SUV is worth a closer look if you’re shopping for an upper-crust sport utility vehicle on the used car market.

With a specific focus on luxury and comfort, the Touareg was Volkswagen’s most premium SUV until it was taken off the US market in 2018. The Touareg was around $10,000 cheaper than the entry-level Cayenne at launch, and today examples of both are widely available on the used market. Could a 2017 Touareg be a good alternative to an equivalent Cayenne for the used SUV buyer on a budget? Let’s see how they stack up.

Performance Comparison: Touareg vs. Cayenne

The 2017 Touareg is only available with one powertrain option (there has been diesel version as well, but it was taken off the market after the Dieselgate scandal). Power comes from a 3.6-liter V6 engine, producing 280 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. This propels the Touareg to 60 mph in just under eight seconds, with a limited top speed of 130 mph.

There are three trim levels available, starting with the entry-level Sport version. The previous mid-level Lux trim had been axed from the lineup for 2017 and replaced with the Wolfsburg Edition – the top-level Executive trim completes the lineup.

The Cayenne family is a very large one, and there is a wide choice of both gas-powered and hybrid versions available for the 2017 model year. For the sake of comparison, we will focus on the lowest trim level, the base Cayenne, which is closest in price to the Touareg; even the most expensive Touareg trim, the Executive, only surpassed the starting price of the base Cayenne by about $600 when the two models were first launched.

The Cayenne is also powered by a 3.6-liter V6, with a power output 20 hp higher than that of the Touareg; this results in a faster 0-60 sprint by half a second, as well as a slightly higher top speed, though the Touareg does have a limiter.

What About Fuel Economy?

The two SUVs share a platform and an engine, although with different outputs and acceleration times. Here’s how they compare in terms of fuel efficiency, as listed by the EPA:

Despite having higher outputs, the Cayenne achieves more miles per gallon than the Touareg does, but the expected spend on fuel is higher for the Cayenne. The main reason for this is that the Porker requires the use of Premium gasoline, while you could get away with regular gas in the VW.

Design: Slick Elegance vs. Athletic Aggression

The Touareg takes a few design cues from its Audi and Porsche cousins when it comes to aesthetics, resulting in a sleek, smart-looking SUV that blends practicality and style. The front end is dominated by horizontal lines, with a four-bar grille that incorporates the Bi-Xenon headlights and LED daytime running lights. At the rear end, LED taillights are standard. A variety of wheel options are available depending on trim level, including a 10-spoke 18-inch option or 20- and 21-inch five-spoke options.

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In a similar way, the 2017 Cayenne also arrived at the tail end of its generation, however its design still felt fresh and modern. The Cayenne combines iconic Porsche styling cues, such as the shape of the LED headlights, and adapts them to an SUV body shape, creating a vehicle that feels sporty and dynamic despite being large enough to comfortably handle a family’s everyday transport needs.

With a slanted rear window and a sloping roofline, the second-gen Cayenne also softened some of the blockier lines that had characterized the model’s previous generation. 18-inch wheels are standard fare on base models in the lineup.

Interior & Tech: Sensible vs. Sporty

The Touareg’s interior uses materials such as chrome trim and brushed aluminum to give the cabin a premium fee, while also offering wood trim in some models. The seats are plush enough to handle a long road trip without compromising your comfort; you can select a number of optional extras to make your journey even more comfortable including heated, ventilated, and 14-way power-adjustable seats.

The infotainment system is controlled by an eight-inch touchscreen, and navigation features could be added as an option at the time of sale. The system’s built-in hard drive comes with 60GB of space to store your personal content, such as music playlists. This may not be overly useful these days, but some people don’t mind (or even prefer) older systems for multimedia playback. Other necessities included are a DVD/CD player with MP3 playback and an HD/AM/FM radio, and there is an interface in the glovebox for an iPod, SD card, and DVDs. 10 speakers are standard.

The Cayenne’s interior also offers plenty of luxury and comfort features, with leather upholstery and power-adjustable front seats, which can also be heated and cooled depending on which options you select. It was also highly customizable, which means there will be a certain degree of variation between the vehicles you might find on the used market today: everything from climate control options to the color of the seatbelts could be selected according to the owner’s preferences. The cabin of the Porsche isn’t necessarily more opulent than the Touareg but it does provide a sportier feel with racy colors and materials on higher trims.

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The infotainment system is controlled by a screen smaller than the Touareg’s by an inch; however, it offers Bluetooth connectivity, navigation features, and a 10-speaker sound system as standard. This also comes with some optional extras, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as a Wi-Fi hotspot to keep everyone connected on the go.

Safety & Driver Assistance

The availability and technological level of driver-assistance features has made leaps and bounds in recent years. While on the performance front there are plenty of cars from a decade ago or even older that can hold their own against today’s models, there is no substitute for the driver assistance tech available on vehicles in the current era. However, both the 2017 Touareg and the 2017 Cayenne are fairly well-equipped for a car heading toward a decade in age.

As a luxury SUV that maintains a family-oriented character, safety is one of the Touareg’s main priorities: a wide range of driver assistance features are available, including the following on the Sport trim with Technology Package:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Foward-collision warning
• Automatic emergency braking
• Brake hold
• Passenger occupant detection
• Brake override: Intelligent Crash Response (ICR)
• Front and rear parking sensors

The Cayenne also offers a variety of safety and driver assistance features, but in typical Porsche fashion, many of them are optional rather than standard, or only available on higher trims. Standard safety features are:

• Curtain airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, front and rear side airbags
• ABS and stability control
• Front and rear parking sensors

For an extra cost, you can add several optional driver assistance features as well: these include lane departure warning, lane change assist, front collision warning with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, and a backup camera. When shopping used, then, it’ll be important to the check what features have been added by the original buyer.

Price & Conclusion: An Unsuspecting Winner

When the 2017 Touareg and Cayenne were first launched, their starting prices were just over $10,000 apart: The Touareg cost $49,495, while $59,600 bought you a base Cayenne. This difference in price is reflected in today’s used car market: a good, low-mileage example of a mid-level trim Touareg can be found around the $15k to $25k mark, while a base-level Cayenne from the same year will set you back anywhere from the higher-$20k to mid-$40k mark.

As the two models share the same platform, a similar powertrain, and realtively similar performance metrics, the Touareg can be considered a budget alternative to the Cayenne if you’re shopping for a used SUV and want something with plenty of luxury and comfort.

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The benefit of looking at the Touareg models from 2017 is that you can easily find a higher-specced model with more optional features added for less money (or at the higher-end, similar money) to a base Cayenne from that era, which would likely have only the standard-fit features. Sure, the Cayenne does offer you more in terms of status, a smidge more performance, and likely a bit more fun to drive, but if a bargain for luxurious family duty is what you’re after, don’t pass over the Touareg – it’s worth a closer look.EPA

Sources: Kelley Blue Book, Autotempest, EPA, Porsche, Volkswagen