after years of only owning benzes[i have a few - '79 6.9, '86 560sel, '87 560sec, '95 e320cab, '97 s500coupe, '06 cl500] i planning to make a road excursion for a month of the desert southwest. a part of the usa that i have flown over in a light twin[b model baron] but have never experienced from the ground.

and i wanted a truck/suv for the trip. but i didn't want any of the m-b offerings. i have driven them all for extended periods of time as a feature of staying at a certain hotel in bevhills. i find them all horrible.

i thought a turbocharged engine would offer a nice advantage for driving at high altitudes. this took me to bmw and porsche.

i preferred the porsche cayenne turbo and found a very cherry, virtually unused 2008. and have acquired it. though pretty well loaded, it is not equipped with the oe option[$650] of a remote 6-cd changer.

i asked the selling dealer if he could retrofit such a changer. and i received an outrageous quote[+$2400]. when i questioned him about this, i was told that they had to do extensive rewiring, etc to make this addition.

hmmmmm. i talked to a porschephile i know, he thinks that the head unit and wiring is already compatible with an easy hook-up to such a changer.

is he correct? anyone out here in benz aficionado land know?

thnx for your indulgence of a non-benz query.

I have never heard of a Porsche dealership having an inexpensive or reasonably-priced "fix" for anything. However, after having one car really screwed up by having someone install satellite radio in it and bugger up my wiring, I would just caution you to be sure whoever you have do that really knows what they're doing.

Otherwise, you may be running out of your house/office/clients' offices at all hours of the night and day to turn off your car alarm.

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1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
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thnx your response.

i decided to research this issue by visiting the new and only indy porsche dealer in houston.

first i visited with the parts manager. i priced a new changer at approx $1,100. but then he said something interesting, "let me see if a remanned changer is availble". and it is. with the core charge, he could sell me the remanned changer for $740.

then i went to introduce myself to the service manager. first we talked about alloy wheels and replacement or repair. he was pretty confident that he can get cayenne wheels successfully reconditioned for a fraction of the new price.

i know he is right about this. with some exceptions, alloys can be reconditioned. i had that done to the 15" bundts on my 6.9.

so i asked him about retrofitting a cd changer. no problem he said. all the wiring was run at the factory. as he said, it is almost plug and play. he said that the changer had to be mounted in the location that the factory had prepared. that the wiring connections had to be made. and that the head unit had to be reprogrammed. a 4-6 hour labor rate job. and they do it all the time....no big deal.

so, very interestingly, i found the only indy porsche dealer in houston interested in helping its [potential] customer.

i also asked for and got a nice tour of his shop. as clean as the benz shops. and with the latest and greatest gear. especially the alignment, tire mounting, balancing, and evaluation hardware.

i prefer indy dealers to the chainers[autonation, et alia].

so, there are some indications that this cayenne turbo can remain in my possession/operation beyond my desert southwest excursion.