Common problems 2011 S?
 

Hey guys....I am looking to pick up a 2011 Cayenne S with 47k miles. Any known issues to look for? I have attached all the options the car has. I felt a slight shudder at highway speeds...they are going to road force balance the wheels and I am going to re test drive. Please feel free to vent out your gremlins stories here.

Not a lot of issues - but there are a few. After reading here, I'd suggest visiting rennsport to do some more reading.

Issue log entry #1

Plastics seem to be an issue with this car.

1. Vent sliders are made of the most brittle plastic and just break off in your hand while in use. 1 in the front and both in the rear are broken.

2. Silver trim on driver side window button just broke off (taking a piece of the black with it)...cant replace just the button...needs the whole window switch replaced.

Vehicle is at 49k miles.

Taking her in for recall on brake pedal and an annoying almost stalling type feeling when decelerating quickly. Its almost as if engine and transmission are not in communication.

The transfer case is a massive issue with the Cayenne (958) and you can read about its failing all over the place. I would definitely add this to the list.
$3200 for the parts and labor at the dealer would make the replacement into the $5k+

3k miles in....no further issues (knock on wood). I purchased warranty on it for 25k miles...so all good until then. I will def flip to something else once the miles are up. Truck drives great and hauls the whole family nicely.

Really? Can you point us to where we can read about it failing all over the place?

Color me curious - but joined in August and 3 posts - this being one of them.. doesn't bring credibility to the forefront. I've been here a while, and on other Cayenne forums and I've heard of 3 maybe 4 or 5 confirmed transfer case failures - which on Cayenne scale doesn't mean a "massive" issue IMHO. If they were going to be a massive issue - I'd suspect the turbo would be first to experience it (lots of torque going through the case), and that would have put it on my radar.

My extended warranty is quite clear that it covers transfer cases and all lubricated internal parts - so it's not a huge concern to me.

Of much more concern for most 2011 V8 Cayennes is the Variocam aluminum bolts issue. That DOES happen - and it might be a case of "when" not "if". If it does go and Porsche doesn't goodwill it - you're looking at around $32,000 for a Porsche rebuilt engine with installation.

I would suggest that ANYONE purchasing a reasonably recent German car of any brand and paying a reasonable (>$30k) sum for it should consider an extended warranty. If it serves no other purpose - sleeping at night is a nice thing - and it helps make that possible.

I hear you Don. A handful does not make a massive issue.

The transfer case issue is mostly limited to the Turbo... Porsche downsized a lot of the components on the 958 to reduce weight... The transfer case was one of the components... It can't handle the torque of the CTT... According to the lead tech at my Porsche dealer they have replaced the transfer case on almost every 958 CTT they sold or service... My 2013 CTT has had 2 transfer cases replaced... Unfortunately the lead tech also told me that Porsche never tells them whether or not they fixed the issue, they just send a new part... I expect it to fail again...

what exactly fails? (if you know)

Not sure of the scope of the issue or what exactly fails....
But my 2011 S did fail and they replaced the whole thing at 75k miles.

It was repaired under the CPO warranty free of charge.

Symptoms? So far, 65,000 miles that hasn't failed.

Vehicle feels like it is loading up and not going too well then up and goes. Shudders/thuds for some gear changes. At least that is what the mechanic at the dealership told me during a test drive last month for a different issue my 2015 S had/has. He did explain to me what fails in the transfer cases but I honestly forgotten. He also said they have seen so many failures that they are having a hard time getting replacements in. Take that for what it is worth, certainly did not leave a warm and fuzzy feeling for me.

nice, I'm just over 25,000. I want 175,000 or about 7 years

new issue....new battery (installed in July) now wont crank car...the one it was replacing was put new in January. There is definitely some sort of battery drain issue.

Battery drain or charging. I'd suggest putting the voltmeter up on the multiline vehicle display pod on the dash.

In non-sport mode, normal charging is 13.2-13.7V. In sport mode it may go as much as 1V more - up to around 14.7V or so.

Take a look - that should answer if it's a parasitic current draw problem or an alternator problem.

There is a procedure in the service manual complete with tables and charts for measuring parasitic draws - but it's somewhat complex and requires the use of a decent (not Harbor-Freight variety - Fluke would be preferred) VOM with an ammeter function.

If it's not the alternator (the display on the dash should confirm or disprove that rather quickly) let me know and I'll look up the other tests if you decide to pursue it yourself. The same test is likely on ALLDATA if you have an owner subscription.