Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Porsche 911

22 model years on record, 1,040 complaints filed.

Which generation to buy

A nameplate is not one car. Measured on recalls, not complaints: this comparison spans a decade, and complaints pile up with age and with sales, so they would rank the oldest generation worst whatever the cars were like. A recall is issued once, by the manufacturer, conceding a defect. Each generation is scored against the median for model years of the same age.

The one to buy: the 2005–2011 car — and within it, 2009, which carries 1 recall.

  1. 2005–2011

    Fewer recalls than its age-peers

    Median 2 recalls a model year, against 3 for cars the same age — 0.67×. Best year 2009 (1), worst 2010 (4).

  2. 2012–2019

    About as many recalls as its age-peers

    Median 2.5 recalls a model year, against 3 for cars the same age — 0.83×. Best year 2015 (2), worst 2017 (5).

  3. 2020–present

    Far more recalls than its age-peers

    Median 8 recalls a model year, against 2 for cars the same age — 4×. Best year 2023 (8), worst 2020 (8).

The years to look at closely: 2022 (other), 2015 (get), 2007 (very). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • coolant 2007, 2008 peak 86% of that year's complaints
  • other 2017, 2022 peak 70% of that year's complaints
  • since 2015, 2023 peak 66.7% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 nothing on record 0 complaints
  2. 2025 2 recalls 0 complaints
  3. 2024 4 recalls 7 complaints
  4. 2023 8 recalls 78 complaints
  5. 2022 other 210 complaints
  6. 2021 8 recalls 65 complaints
  7. 2020 8 recalls 68 complaints
  8. 2019 2 recalls 46 complaints
  9. 2018 2 recalls 21 complaints
  10. 2017 5 recalls 46 complaints
  11. 2016 3 recalls 38 complaints
  12. 2015 get 160 complaints
  13. 2014 4 recalls 5 complaints
  14. 2013 2 recalls 38 complaints
  15. 2012 4 recalls 51 complaints
  16. 2011 4 recalls 4 complaints
  17. 2010 4 recalls 11 complaints
  18. 2009 1 recall 9 complaints
  19. 2008 2 recalls 41 complaints
  20. 2007 very 100 complaints
  21. 2006 2 recalls 16 complaints
  22. 2005 2 recalls 26 complaints

What does a Porsche 911 say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.