2013 Porsche Cayenne
Complaints about this year name low far more often than the other years of this generation — 16% of them, about 40× the usual rate of 0.4%.
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 | 225 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 53 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- jerks — 8% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (40×).
- wife — 8% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (40×).
- pull — 8% of this year's complaints, against 0.5% across the other years of this generation (17.1×).
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
- transfer case — 37% of complaints, 3× usual
- common problem — 13% of complaints, 33× usual
- transmission — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
What owners wrote
TRANSFER CASE FAILS VERY OFTEN. IT CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO JERK AND UNSTABLE DURING DRIVING. PORSCHE HASN'T ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE EVEN THOUGH IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM ON CAYENNES.
THERE IS COMMON PROBLEM! THE ENGINE CHAIN RATTLING SOUND WHEN ENGINE STARTS VEHICLE DEVELOPED PROBLEM AFTER SOFTWARE UPDATE. THE VEHICLE JERKS AND DOES NOT GO SMOOTHLY ON LOW RMP 1500. THE SECOND HAND ON THE CLOCK FALLS DOWN.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V169000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 13V506000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 22V656000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING 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 2013 Porsche Cayenne? What happened to yours?
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