My Cayenne is now approaching 90k and I just sent this correspondence to Porsche USA. Has anyone ever sent them anything about this issue and what was the response? He is the email I sent them. Let me know your thoughts or stories please.


"
Back in 2012, I purchased my 08 Cayenne Turbo (58Kmiles). Several months after I purchasedit, a friend asked me if I had any issues with the center drive shaft mountbracket.He explained to me that around80-100K it will go bad.A couple ofyears later when I had taken my Porsche to my local Porsche dealership forroutine maintenance, I remembered what my friend had asked me and asked theservice center mgr. the same question.He 100% confirmed that it will go bad roughly in this mileage frame.I asked him that if he knows something ISgoing to go bad within a certain mileage frame, wouldn’t that be a defectiveissue which should be covered under a recall.He couldn’t answer me, but stated that all things to bad.I told him that I have a 04 Chevy Silveradowith 200K and I haven’t had any major issues.I then asked him to tell me what was going to go bad in the next 20K(which is the mileage frame that the shaft mount bracket goes bad), and hecouldn’t answer me.I recently took myvehicle back for routine maintenance and the dealership told me that thebracket is starting to crack and the rubber seal is starting to fail (Cayennenow has 90K).I can also feel avibration when I’m driving the vehicle.This is a dangerous defect that should be addressed by Porsche as a nocost recall.I’m not happy that I amgoing to have to pay out $2-2.5K for something that’s so commonly failing onthese vehicle – especially when this particular model is over $100K.I expected MORE from Porsche."

 

Don't hold your breath. You bought a used Cayenne that Porsche Cars NA had nothing to do with. They made no money by you buying it.

By buying it used you've indicated that you aren't their prime market candidate (someone buying a new vehicle for $100,000 say..). Mentioning a GM vehicle you drove for 200,000 miles just reinforces that message.

You also made it somewhat painful to read. End of line spaces, paragraph breaks and grammar checking will make for a much more presentable email.

At best you'll get a canned response, at worst no response.

The center bearing carrier problem has not been mentioned as being a factor in any accidents, do it doesn't rise to the level of a recall.

Good luck with it. If you search for the "Jimmi Fix" you'll find how to fix it for $15..

 

I see what you were talking about the grammar. I copied and pasted from my original email to Porsche, and I guess in doing so within this forum, it messed up the layout, but it was nothing like what happened when I pasted into the post. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I wanted it to be known to Porsche that there is a major issue with quality here. Whether I am the first, second or third owner, the point is that I have elected to purchase a vehicle based on it reputation of quality and style and that is something Porsche should stand behind 100%. Pertaining to what constitutes a recall is accidents/safety which I agree with you. I have had simple things like the cables that hold my tailgate when it's lowered recalled due that the previous one's were breaking and they were 100% recalled and replaced with stainless ones. Secondly, I don't think it should matter if I own other makes of cars and mention them within this correspondence. I actually have 6 cars between my wife and I, and I don't think Porsche makes a pickup truck, so I am limited on makers here. I choose Chevrolet in this case. The horns on the Cayenne (A HUGE SAFETY FRACTION) hasn't made the recall list as well. I have had mine now replaced 3 times. Porsche just needs to get a clue when it comes to customer satisfaction and stand behind their product.

 

I have no argument about what they should do - but the facts of life are - warranty repairs are booked under marketing. Warranty costs are considered sales/advertising costs. So unless you're a prospective new vehicle purchaser (the only place Porsche PCNA makes money - except possibly CPO) they give short shrift to any complaints from you.

I don't know of any vehicle without some warts. Perhaps your truck is such a vehicle, but as vehicles (or anything for that matter - cell phones, space rockets, nuclear reactors) become more complex there are more possibilities for something to go wrong.

On the horns - I'd take that into hand myself and put cheap Hella horns up higher in the cavity in front of the radiator. The ones that are there just scoop up water when you go though a deep puddle - bad engineering on where the horns go - not so much the quality of the horns.

Telling them about a GM vehicle that has been flawless isn't really going to make the case for you - GM certainly has a checkered history with the ignition key/lock failure that cost lives and they denied it - and knew about it. Not to mention going bankrupt and invalidating warranties on vehicles purchased before the bankruptcy.

ALL the German vehicles have warts - BMW and Mercedes have serious reliability problems. VW has dieselgate (as do Audi and Porsche) but overall - Audi and Porsche generally come out better on reliably compared to any other German make. I know it feels good to come out with a rant about the corporate lack of attention to their customers (I've certainly done it) - just don't expect anything to come of it.

BTW - if you're considering paying $2-2.5K to fix the driveshaft problem - you really owe it to yourself to do some reading here. You could save up to $1,985-$2,485 just by reading about the "Jimmi Fix"..

 

I "originated" the Jimi Fix. It WORKS BETTER than the Porsche part, by a factor of 5. Stuff some hose slices, zip-tie them all and be DONE with it...for good. The jury-rigged "handiwork" will never be seen... as the driveshaft cross-member obscures everything.

 

I did receive correspondence back from Porsche yesterday. I would encourage everyone (whether direct new buyer or used buyer) that has had issues with their carrier mount replacement or repair to write them as well. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky. The squeaky wheel will get grease eventually. I am going to pursue this with Porsche and I hopefully get resolution with them. Below is the correspondence I receive back.




Dear Mr. Campbell,

Thank you for contacting Porsche Cars North America. We are sorry to hear of the concerns you have had with your Cayenne Turbo.

We appreciate you taking the time to contact us, and to make us aware of the concerns you have with the drive shaft mount bracket in your Cayenne. Anytime a customer makes us, or their dealership, aware of a concern, we document this information, and make it available to the appropriate departments for internal review. If we begin to notice a repair trend with our products, we may address this by issuing a recall to assist our customers.

Porsche does review cases outside of warranty for possible financial assistance, considering age, mileage, care of the vehicle, and loyalty to your dealership and the Porsche brand. In order to ensure your request is given due consideration, we ask you to contact the Service Manager at your Porsche dealer who, after verifying and reviewing pertinent facts with Porsche Cars North America, can advise what, if any, goodwill assistance is available to you.

We thank you for making us aware of the matter and allowing us an opportunity to respond.
Kind Regards,
Brittany Loussia
Porsche Specialist, Porsche Contact Center
Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
One Porsche Drive
Atlanta, GA 30354

Phone: 1-800 PORSCHE (1-800-767-7243)
Fax: 1-866-334-5280
Email: customer.commitment@porsche.us

 

Good luck with this. I rather suspect since a majority of 955 owners and many 957 owners have experienced the same failure you did - that Porsche knows of the issue - and considers it normal wear and tear. But - ya never know. If your dealership tells Porsche they see you buying a brand new turbo shortly if treated right, Porsche may extend some marketing (aka goodwill) money to try to keep you loyal. If they do it will likely be some assistance on the part cost with your paying full boat on the labor.

Let us know how it works out.

 

Porsche will not do anything. I find it that they can engineer some of the finest driving automobiles in the world, but cannot design a simple driveshaft support bearing. There have been guys on here who have used zip ties and heater hose that have proved more reliable than the original Porsche design. Honestly, I think the driveshaft support bearing was designed like this intentionally to get a second wave of income from second hand buyers. Look at the other crappy design faults such as coolant pipes and coolant T's that were also deigned like this intentionally (my opinion). No engineer would recommend plastic for these components!

 

You have been quoted too much for the repair!

I replaced mine in 2015 (About 75,000 miles) for $650.00 [Parts & labor]. Independent shop, NOT the dealer.

 

At 108K, I just had to fix mine....

Sudden failure on acceleration


Trimmed excess rubber


I used 13 - 1" pieces of 3/8" air hose tied together with safety wire


Finished repair.... cost $0.00

 

Thanks for using my Jimi Fix!

 

Thanks for the idea! I really needed a quick and cheap fix and this is it. I think it will work til the bearing goes.....

 

Former Cayenne S (#0001) now has 108,000 miles post-fix....