2008 Porsche Cayenne S: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2008 Porsche Cayenne S
Only 6 defect reports have been filed with NHTSA about the 2008 Porsche Cayenne S, which is too few to compute mileage percentiles or a risk score. The reports reported other engine problem.
When each failure gets reported
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other engine problem | engine | 3 | 3 | — | 111k | — | 1.5 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Overheating | cooling | 1 | 1 | — | 129k | — | 0.5 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 10k | — | 0.5 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 120k | — | 0.5 | $300–$2,200 | High |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Other engine problem
The distributor collector coolant systems including the pipes has failed. However, I have been informed by the porsche corporate office there are no complaints or recalls on file. Unfortunately, they were unable to provide the number of complaints for this make/model/year. On the date of the incident I was driving the vehicle and the coolant light appeared (no other symptoms), I did not hit a bump, it was all of a sudden when my vehicle began to smoke as if it was on fire.
I was driving on the highway. Accelerating as I was merging into the highway. I saw smoke coming out the back. Check coolant light came on. When I stopped I saw coolant everywhere underneath the car. The dealership determined the glue from the coolant tubes failed and needs to install new coolant pipes. *tr
Overheating
Coolant distributor bolted to the back of engine block has a glued -in pipe that connects to a hose. The glued-in pipe is leaking and half way pushed out of the distributor. The imminent failure of this part could have caused immediate overheat and fire due to catastrophic coolant system failure. The repair is extremely expensive. Porsche has a new part that has the pipe threaded in instead of glued. Porsche should recall this and pay for the repair. This is an obvious design flaw and safety issue. Imagine 8 gallons of hot coolant discharging all over, say a motorcyclist going 70 MPH. This issue was noticed while doing other coolant system maintenance that was also necessitated by poor design of the vehicle.
Other powertrain problem
On my 2008 porsche cayenne s ( purchased in march 2007) I have at least 3 times experienced a incorrect downshift initiated by the automobile in all cases the car/computer obviously wanted to shift down to a lower gear ( going up a steep hill at highway speed, traversing a steep parking lot at low speed) etc rather than shifting one gear the car seems to have shifted 2 or 3 gears at one time the engine revved to about 5000 RPM within the red line limits- very noisy and disconcerting I exited the problem by manually shifting to neutral which cleared the problem then back to drive I reported the issue to my dealer who obviously could not reproduce the very intermittent problem, he also says he checked the computer log and could not find any report and that there no service bulletins relating I think that this could be a serious safety issue being potentially a major driver distraction. *tr
Recalls on the 2008 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2008 Porsche Cayenne S, affecting an estimated 1,972 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover exterior lighting:headlights. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
222,858 vehicles 2022-08-30- Defect
- Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (Porsche) is recalling certain 2003-2020 Porsche Macan, Cayenne, Panamera, and Cayman S, 2001-2004 Boxster, Boxster S, 2004 Boxster 50 JAHRE SPYDER 550 vehicles. Please see the recall report for a complete list of all affected models and model years. The caps that cover the low-beam headlight horizontal adjustment screws are missing, which can allow the headlights to be improperly adjusted. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and…
- Consequence
- Improperly adjusted headlights may not illuminate the road properly, or cause a glare to oncoming drivers, which can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the headlights for sealing caps and install missing caps as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 28, 2022. Owners may contact Porsche's customer service at 1-800-767-7243. Porsche's number for this recall is ANB4.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
Every year of the Porsche Cayenne S
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
What the reports on file say
The complaints recorded against the 2008 Porsche Cayenne S are other engine problem (3 reports, around 111k miles), overheating (1 report, around 129k miles), other powertrain problem (1 report, around 10k miles) and other fuel system problem (1 report, around 120k miles). With a sample this size these are anecdotes rather than a pattern, and they are shown because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see them than nothing.
Why this page is short
A model year needs about 8 reports before percentiles mean anything, and this one does not have them. Complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road, so a thin page usually means a rare car, a new car, or a car whose owners do not file.
Other years of the same model do have enough: 2004 and 2011. The mechanical parts are often shared across those years, so their pages are the better guide to what this one is likely to do, with the caveat that a shared part is not a shared production line.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed