2011/12 cayennes - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Looking at 2011/12 cayennes, In general how reliable are the 100k+ 3.0D autos? I know you can get a lemon on every brand/model but if these have a bad rep I’d probaly steer clear

Great cars, but a few things to check for in any car you’re considering. Air suspension struts can leak. You’ll notice ride height has dropped after a few days of parking. Often necessitating replacement, but repair kits are available. Std suspension, or PASM dampers are far more reliable. Transfer boxes are known to fail, check for replacement, and make sure transfer case oil has been regularly changed. Auto gearboxes very reliable, but check for fluid and filter change at correct interval. Every 50k miles would be preferred (Porsche suggest 160k or 16 years which is too long) Electrically they are really reliable, but cars with pan roofs which haven’t had the drains cleared out regularly can have water leaks into the boot causing electrical gremlins. Lift up all the boot carpets and make sure it’s bone dry in there, with no evidence of water leaks in the past. My choice would be a car on PASM dampers, 20” wheels, and no pan roof

If it is any help to you; I have a 11 plate Cayenne Petrol Turbo - it is my 'dog car' completely crated out in boot for my 4 dogs (we do a lot of miles for competing and training). I also have a motorhome, and a 2 seater Porsche, so it is not my only vehicle. 20k when I bought it at 2.5 years old. I now have 120k on clock Had a series of electronic faults which were a royal pain in the ar$3 - the NO KEY FOUND - BEEP - NO KEY FOUND - was the worst of them because no way to stop continual BING. Also seat belt warning lights, airbag warning, suspension warning. etc etc - when they plug it in, they can find no trace of the errors. I have kept the warranty on the entire life of it and have used it a fair bit on various things that have come up but all pretty minor. Other than that, the only major one was my prop shaft went on the M25 lane 4 at (70)mph...... Friday rush hour evening.... had to 'coast' across 4 lanes into a SMART lane ....or should I say; the place people go to be killed alongside their little puppy in the boot, by a Polish Juggernaut. Someone was actually looking down on me that day, and I managed to maintain enough speed to get into a services by the skin of my teeth. Awful. Had it wrapped which looks really cool, refurbished the alloys which got really pitted and looked s tty. There are a few niggly things broken such as the window lever tabs and one of the doors doesn't unlock. Other than that, has been very reliable indeed. In fact I have struggled really hard to replace it.... so will probably get another one exactly the same in a year or so.

My gen 2 Cayenne has also had a few electrical gremlins. Rear door actuator, wiring issues on near side affecting window and door mirror adjustment, air bag warning light. Under warranty so was happy enough driving a new Macan while the OPC got the parts in. I don't think these type of things are uncommon so check every single switch (or get someone else to) before you buy

When you get it get someone who knows to clean all the drain holes as water ingress can cause all sorts of issues with ECUs. I’d get the battery replaced too if it’s >6yrs old.