After reading the threads about replacing this and that....just curious about the general overall reliability of these vehicles. I have friends with BMWs that have gone 125,000 miles with no service problems. My Toyota Highlander is a 2002 with 93,000 miles and other than inspections and oil changes....nothing. Most of my friends with MBenz tell me the same thing.

I am not questioning the handling, ride etc but what is starting to spook me a bit is the reliability. Is this thing so performance tweaked that it is not as reliable as one would expect?

Thanks for any input on this.

 

My Cayenne has been very reliable. It has had a few parts replaced, but parts wear out. Buy one that has had the common issues addressed and it should provide reliable service.

 

This is going to be a brand new 2014 Diesel...so fingers crossed. (particularly since the closest dealer is 245 miles away)'

 

You should be fine. Porsche is into the fourth year of the current gen. The engine has been used in the Touareg since 2009. I had my AdBlue pump replaced at 1100 miles in TDI, which was a known issue. Congrats!

 

German luxury cars cost more to maintain than Japanese microwaves and toasters. Do you want reliability or soul. The cayenne will cost more to maintain. Do you care about xfactor? Do you like to DRIVE or is a car just something to get from point a to point b? You have to pay to play. That said most cayennes won't bury you but stuff will come up.

 

Trying to earn enough euros, dollars, rupees and shekels so I can join the party and play.

 

The "common" issues you read about are the coolant pipes (V8s only) and cardan shafts (haven't followed that at all), but as best I know they are limited to the older Cayennes. Of note is that the V6 has always been pretty reliable which makes some sense since it's VW's VR6 which saw wide use in the VW and Audi lineups before making it to the Cayenne. The TDI is also VW's and also has a pretty good history prior to Porsche putting it in. The CD has also been available in Europe for some time, so it's not an unknown quantity at all.

The only "common" issue I know of for the 958s is a batch of early 2013s that had problems with the dash clocks after they made them standard (hey Steve, tick tick tick ), but the main issue for people was just the availability of getting a new one.

There is always someone that ends up with a bad car (I've known people that have had horrible BMW experiences) and there are also Range Rover owners that never have a single issue Overall I think the Cayenne is a pretty solid car and while Porsche has had some notable gaffs (RMS/IMS in the 996s and 997s, fuel rails in the 993s, coolant pipes in the S and TT Cayennes), overall they make a pretty reliable car and do try to take care of you (if you have a good dealer anyway).

I have an Oct build CD and hopefully it will stay with me as long as my wife's 01 996 (starting year 13 next month!) and be equally cheap to maintain (a few window regulators, major service that didn't happen until it was 12 (e.g. way overdue by time), 2 batteries, vaguely regular oil changes, and more tires than I like to think about). Our history/luck with the 911 was a big part of paying a lot more for the CD vs the X5d I had been planning on getting.

 

Having owned my '06 from new, my assessment is that Cayenne's reliability is about average. Over a long term ownership, you'll find it to be more reliable than most British makes, but measurably less reliable than Japanese or Korean makes. The thing about the Cayenne is that its problem areas are very consistent. If one car has a problem, most of them will have the same problem in due time. The good news is that if you frequent these forums, you will be able to find out about how to address the problems, either proactively or reactively. Another factor to think about is the equipment level a car has. A highly optioned car has more things to go wrong as the car gets older.

Is the new generation more reliable than the old generation? It's hard to say. Porsche cars have very high initial quality, as demonstrated by the JD Powers & Assciates results. The real question is how reliable is the vehicle 50K miles later. Having owned my car for 67K miles, my unequivocal answer is that reliability is average.

 

I consider my '05 S to have been reliable. It had two of the three "known problems"; coils, cardan shaft, and I did the coolant pipes electively. It never burned oil and did not have electrical gremlins.
I have only had my '12 V6 for a month or so and cannot comment on it yet.

 

Since we bought our Cayenne S, in Feb 2007, we have now 100'000 miles, and I would consider the reliability as the best of all the SUVs we had, i.e.: 5 Range Rover, 2 Grand Cherokee, and before that, 2 "family" cars, i.e.: 2 x BMW 728i.

Recently, I had a problem with my Panamera (..the coolant pipes did hit again !) and had it towed on a Porsche Assistance flat bed. One of my questions to the flat bed Driver was (for sure) : "what brand do you have on your flat bed the most often ?" ..His answer was immediate : BMW ! and then said, Porsche, ..this is very rare.

 

Thanks for all the input on this. My wife and I don't really do all that much driving so it will be a matter of age vs mileage. I suspect the 100,000 mile mark will be hit by one of my heirs! :-)

 

My 2004 Cayenne S is certainly below average and it is around 45,000km on the odo. Never had "a major" issue but here is a short list:
1. The basic CD/Radio unit was replaced a few times under warranty.
2. Air-conditioning making annoying sound occasionally (never dealt with, I lived with it.)
3. Right front directional turning light goes is on its 4th bulb. I managed to replace the last 2 myself after the dealer asked for an arm and a leg for a $10 light bulb.
4. Rear Park Assist not functioning - currently outstanding. Electrical connection faulty?
5. Engine/Emission Control Warning light - currently outstanding, ignition coil mis-misfiring error code. Seems to be a $1,000 or more job at the dealer but trying to get my mechanic to replace all ignition coils for less.

Overall, you can see that it is a list of issues that relates to "electronics or electrical" issues. Item 5 above appeared to be an old TSB and the dealer is probably going to charge me $150 just to take a look and probably out of warranty / dates / age specified in the TSB.

I tend to agree with some of the comments above that BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc. have their own issues too?

Would I buy another Porsche again? Probably but I would try to get myself into a situation which would allow me to replace it before the warranty expires. Yes it is sad but ... my story was that back in 2005, people are still stopping by and asking me in a public parking lot, "What car is this? I have never seen it before?" It was the first generation Cayenne and not many people recognized it as a Porsche.

 

Your friends with Benz's must have older ones. Newer ones are nightmares of unreliability.

The flat-bed story is great. SWMBO's 2003 5-Touring ended up on the flatbed about 4x in 100k miles. Some of the trips were for repeat problems (coils, cooling system explosions.)

The Porsche hasn't (knock on oak-grain-formica-desk) been on the bed yet. It's at about 80k miles now. I've done preventive stuff (the cooling pipes), and I had the dealer do some things I could get done under CPO, but overall, reliability hasn't been awful. It's been better then the BMW.

That said - when the BMW became so reliable I could expect to reliably spend $600-700 a month in repairs - I decided it was time to move on. My #1 goal for the replacement was something SWMBO wouldn't complain about. So - she ended up with a Lexus RX-350. As a comparison to the Cayenne - it isn't even really close for interior quality, handling, performance. For comfort - it's fine, and it's fast enough with the V6, and it doesn't drive off the road or spin out of control by itself. Lexus dealer relations have been exceptional (it came with a free carwash for life from the local dealership.. which I take advantage of about once a week. They actually do a very nice job, and aren't even there with a hand out for a tip.) The RX is rated by several organizations as THE most reliable vehicle made today, and the resale values reflect that (a 3 year old CPO retains about 80-85% of it's new value.) So - SWMBO is happy. We took it on a long trip (about 2,000 miles) and it was nice driving a vehicle where I never gave a thought to it breaking down on the road.

I am willing to sacrifice some reliability for driving pleasure. But - I won't be buying a recent model BMW anytime in the near future, it appears their reliability is simply getting worse and worse. Despite that - every month they report record sales. I would consider buying a more recent CPO Cayenne, I had a loaner 2011 for 3 days around the holidays when my '06 was in for it's final CPO go-around, and it wasn't easy giving that truck back. It was a great deal of fun to drive.

 

How does the coolant pipe issue manifest? Slow leak and smell of burning antifreeze, or catastrophic failure and calling for a flatbed? I just had a major service last year. I like my dealer, but I hadn't really hung out here yet and didn't know what to ask them. I don't blame them for not proactively coming clean with all the normal failure items, and when I complained after the fact that I would have replaced the ignition coils had I known, they were nice enough to replace them for the price of the parts, no labor. I didn't know about the coolant pipes. What should I expect?

FWIW, I've been through three, an '03 S, an '06 Turbo, and the current '06 Turbo S I'm in love with. I'm at the most miles I've ever been on a Cayenne now, 67,000. My gut told me to get rid of the '03, was feeling a loss of power and a little roughness at about 30,000. No idea what became of the car. The Turbo drank oil too fast, a quart every 5-600 miles and had telltale signs of a nightmare service history on the panorama sunroof. When I noticed the interior work, I had the dealer replace a b pillar piece that had been removed and replaced to where it was barely hanging there. I almost never opened the back half of the panorama roof out of concern it would be stuck open.

All of them have needed the hatch pistons replaced, if that's the word for it. One of them had the shifter switch issue that keeps you from being able to remove the key. Two of them have had the sticking emergency brake. All of them have useless rear defrosts. But in the grand scheme, I've been extremely pleased. This is little stuff. Compared to our MB, they're a dream. We need a GL in the family for the kids. It's our 4th MB and they've all had major issues from time to time, computer issues, suspension issues, power steering rack, very annoying and expensive. I have yet in ten years of driving Cayenne's to experience an expensive repair. Since I love my current TTS so much, eventually it'll happen. But compared to MB's, our Cayenne's have been a dream.

 

The 958 Cayennes have been very reliable so far. Most of the issues mentioned above are for the previous generations.