2012 Porsche Cayenne
Complaints about this year name transfer case far more often than the other years of this generation — 45% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 12.2%.
Generation 2 of the Porsche Cayenne, which began in 2011 and ran to 2018. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 165 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 53 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transfer — 50.3% of this year's complaints, against 17.4% across the other years of this generation (2.9×).
- check — 18.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (6.6×).
- camshaft — 14.5% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (5.2×). Owners wrote it as: camshaft, engine light, check engine, suffers.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- under warranty — 15% of complaints, 36× usual
- gear — 15% of complaints, 36× usual
- jerking — 12% of complaints, 30× usual
What owners wrote
CLUNKING / SURGING (ALMOST FEELS LIKE A MISFIRE) AFTER CAR WARMS UP IN SECOND AND THIRD GEAR. SEEMS TO BE WITH THE TRANSFER CASE. PURCHASES CAR USED 30 DAYS AGO AND THIS ISSUE STARTED TO APPEAR AFTER I HAD THE VEHICLE AND DRIVING IT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. NOW F…
THE TRANSFER CASE IN THIS CAR IS FAILING AT 53,000 MILES CAUSING UNSAFE, JERKING ACCELERATION LEADING TO TOTAL BREAKDOWN/SHUTDOWN IF NOT CORRECTED. NUMEROUS OWNERS EXPERIENCE THE SAME ISSUE. THE [VIN] ACKNOWLEDGES THE DEFECT AND IS NOW PROVIDING NEWLY DESIGNED…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V169000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 12V065000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 12V329000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 22V656000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 15V016000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Porsche Cayenne was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Porsche Cayenne? What happened to yours?
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