Is a Porsche Cayenne Turbo a reliable car?
Is the turbo a good car? Anyone with a turbo have major problems with the car?
Preventative maintence is key with the Cayenne. http://www.edmunds.com/porsche/cayenne/2014/?trim=&style=200465920&zip=34957#/porsche/cayenne/2014/st-200465920/review/
Pretty reliable all in all. As long as the coolant tubes, kardan shaft bearing and coil packs are replaced, not much goes wrong
With proper care the car is reliable.
The 2011 Cayenne Turbos have problems with coolant failure (water distributor connection using Loctite adhesive), and recently issues with Camshaft Adjuster Bolt snapping and causing internal engine damage. See the 6speedonline discussion here: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/cayenne-958/319690- snapped-camshaft-adjuster-bolt-engine-brake-hydraulics- failure.html
For the cooling system, the problem is with the Water Distributor, located at the back of the engine. 6speedonline describes it here: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/cayenne-955-957/345323- cayenne-957-coolant-pipe-issue-water-distributor.html
YouTube has a 52 second video that shows what’s failing on the 2011-2014 Cayenne V8, NA & turbo models: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEZ8-C-ZsSA
The camshaft bolt shearing problem affects 2010-2012 Cayenne V8 models (S & turbo). The bolt in question is an aluminum/steel core version, and Porsche's recommended update is all steel. Bolt shearing happens in different places, especially the head, and the affected engine will have varying degrees of damage, up to full replacement, which according to various Cayenne forums, happens frequently. Panamera V8 engines from the same & earlier time periods are also affected. Porsche issued a Workshop Campaign (WC-22 issued March 2013) to address a subset of affected vehicles. Some failures have occurred on vehicles outside the campaign. A Porsche dealer can run your VIN thru the WC system to see if your Cayenne is covered. For failures not covered by WC- 22, you can ask your Service Advisor to contact PCNA to authorize a repair or engine replacement under the Emissions Warranty which is 7yrs/70K or 8yrs/80K depending on multiple factors including the state the car was purchased in. The Federal Emissions Warranty is 8yrs/80K.
On the Emissions Warranty, remember that the Camshaft controls timing including emissions from each cylinder, so if the camshaft fails because the bolt is shearing off (based on their WC-22 memo), then the emissions from the vehicle would be affected, and the damage caused would be covered under this warranty.
