ML v GL v Cayenne

[aporschefan]

I'm in the market for one of the above cars with a budget of £15k. With all cars I'm interested in the 3l diesel engines although not fussed about mpg. Could consider bigger engines too depending on responses to below questions.

I will be doing approximately 25k miles a year (90% motorway) so am looking for something comfortable.

I have a small family but the 2 extra seats in the GL are a nice to have rather than a must have.

The ML is looking like a 2012, the GL 2010/11 and the Cayenne 2009/10. The ML would have average miles. The GL and Cayenne might have closer to 90k or 100k miles.

I'm only considering a 4wd car at the moment.

I need someone better informed than me to help me with the following:

1. Which will best suited for long and frequent motorway journeys?

2. Which is likely to be most reliable? This is really important as I can't have the car unavailable for long periods or often.

3. Which is likely to be least reliable? (I'm happy to look at alternate engines if it means I would end up in a more reliable car. Again, not fussed about mpg at all.)

4. Is there another option? Don't want a BMW. Considered Audi a8 but the rear seats don't fold so not practical enough for my needs. Might consider a VW Tourag (2012) if I fail to find a suitable car from the list above. I just don't know enough about them and never heard of them as being the most reliable or comfortable etc. Not a fan of Volvo so not considering an xc90.

5. Are there known issues with any of the 3 cars that I should be aware of?

Your thoughts on the above please.

Thanks in advance.

Eta question 5

Edited by aporschefan on Friday 16th March 21:22

[Luke.]

Shame you don't want the X5. It's the best option really, went from a cayenne Turbo to a 4.8i X5. No regrets at all.

[aporschefan]

Had a first generation x5 a long time ago and have another BMW in the household.

Time to try something different.

Edited by aporschefan on Friday 16th March 21:35