Hi all. Im a three Porsche owner (Boxster Carerra4s,CayenneS) I love my 2004 Cayene S but while replacing the water pump and ignition coils recently, the dealership said my plastic coolant lines needed replaced at a cost of approx $1500.00 or else the leaking coolant could damage other components. Luckily Excellence Magazine just identified the coolant lines a major problem, along with the ignition coils that Porsche North America is now reimbursing owners for via a silent recall. I just sent the ignitioin coil reimbursement form into Porsche along with a request that Porsche contribute to the cost of replacing the defectively designed plastic coolant lines with the new metal lines. No response.Greg Travalio, a lawyer in my law firmlooked at the matter for me and thinks this would be a good class action lawsuit by currentowners of the 2003-2005 Cayennes.Greg taught law for over 25 years at the Ohio state Unv Law School and is the author of the Ohio Consumer Law handbook.Greg says the federal courts sitting in the 6th circuit recognize an implied warranty theory that would give current Cayenne owners a right to sue Porsche North America for this coolant line defect even if the car was purchased used and is outside the mgfr warranty.If Porsche doesnt agree to at least contribute toward the cost of replacing my coolant lines, Im filing suit.Anyone else interested in suing Porsche to have this repair performed free of charge?

 

Extremely interested. Especially considering the poor customer service from dealers with the ignition coil issue. I love Porsches in general, but am definitely finished with their lack of customer service and poor service departments.

 

Extremely interested since I have been shaking in my boots about these breaking on my CPO 2005 CT. Porsche North America and Porsche dealerships (at least my local one) seem to be all about milking us for all they can get.

On this forum I have heard of bills as high at $9,000 in repairs due to the failure of those time bombs atop our engines. It is insane of PNA to neglect this known aspect since it places so much more at risk should and when the pipes fail.

I have decided that I will replace them at my expense when my CPO warranty expires June 2011 if they haven't failed during the warranty. However, I will have the work done at a reputable independent shop with a master Porsche mechanic NOT at the only dealership in my area.

My local dealer drove the poor fellow off. They've a habit of not treating their mechanics--or customers--well.

I will never buy a new Porsche and I won't buy another used CPO one. I will buy used and take mine to a more reasonable fellow who knows more than the area dealership and its staff. I don't want to be strapped by a CPO warranty to the dealer again.

I hate the fact that the dealer chooses not to honor Porsche's own parts warranty of two years. They have just about lost my business and it's obvious they don't care.

While they push me claiming 'buy a new one and everything will be covered,' future performance is best guaged by past performance and current behavior. Since they are shaming themselves [and me] right now, there's no sense hoping for better performance by (unnecessarily) rewarding them. They've taught me my lesson.

However, getting those pipes fixed and preventing costly repairs is paramount. Every time I accelerate my rear window vision becomes obscured and I worry my pipes have broken.

While they assure me it doesn't happen in colder climates. My car spent it's first four years in the desert. Besides, the dealer had one CayenneS in the shop for a few days fixing the blown pipes on it.

Why wait?

 

At a time when Porsche AG wants to expand and double it's sales in the US from 75,000 to 150,000 cars per year, Porsche is making the mistake of spending their money on Public Relations campaigns and buying accolades [JD Powers] rather than relying upon a satisfied existing customer base.

They've even taken to advertising on television--which is a first and it's a mistake. Reminds me of Microsoft's campaign to sell Vista instead of fixing their ragged OS.

These are errors from which they will learn the hard way.

Lack of customer service and poor service are deal breakers.

We buy these because historically they've been reliable and can be kept up to performance spec. But that history and affirmative track record seem to be fading in the past.

 

+1 .. count me in!!

 

Can you elaborate on the silent recall? i've only heard of the existing TSBs and multiple iterations of parts/part numbers. What for did you use, etc.

 

Very interested... since the coolant pipe failure ended up costing me my transmission seals 48 hours later and me having to trade in my 2004 CTT at a loss.

 

Those are major damages. I hope you can prove them.

This is an example of the time bombs PNA is knowingly allowing.

Excellence details the possible damages from the pipes and they can be far more extensive than one can imagine.

 

Been a while since I have been in the forum, but logged on and saw this post. I bought my 04 CTT about a year and a half ago. A few months after I got it I had to replace the ignition coils. A few months later I had a coolant leak and failed transmission seals: all issues discussed in the forum. Interested to know what issue of Excellence had the article and the form for the ignition coil issue. Definitely unhappy with mine and even moreso with the dealership if they had knowledge of these issues and didn;t say anything to me. Thanks for the info....

 

I recieved a notice in the mail from Porsche per the ignition coils. One of mine failed a year earlier and was addressed under CPO. [PNA refused to replace all eight coils which seemed the logical and cost effective thing to do since the coil in question was the most difficult to get to and the labor costs would have been the same.]

excellence Dec 2010 Cover Feature "Used Cayennes: A Good Idea?" page 131 TECH FORUM 'Used 2003-2006 Cayennes: A good idea?' by Tony Callas and Tom Prine, pages 131-138.

If you search the forum (and others) you'll find the coolant leaks of 2004 vehicles was well known. So, well known that I assumed Porsche must have changed the pastic hoses for aluminum as soon as they were aware it it. After all, Porsche has had an updated parts kits available for the fix for several years.

Nonetheless, Porsche did not change those hoses until they enlarged the engine in 2008!

You must get the back issue. The authors did an excellent job in documenting areas to watch.

 

Failed transmission seals and failed starter are among the effects of leaking coolant pipes.

Furthermore, ALL V8 Cayennes are at risk of failure of the coolant crossover manifold at the rear of the engine. Repair requires removal of engine and transmission.

These coolant leaks place the starter and torque converter seal at risk, the latter is a $3,000+ fix!

 

reading thru some articles in the internet, i found this (it was published on 11/30/2010) - http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/30/t...npage_autoblog

reading thru the coolant pipes issue with the 955 cayenne's in forums makes me think that toyota "voluntarily repairing" a relative issue with the prius can be a precedent for the cayenne's issue? in the article, it noted that it's "not" a "safety" issue but more of a "service" issue, but can there be a chance to push a petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to "force" Porsche to make a "service" action for this known "design" defect?

is there any other government body that we can file a petition? or we just have to wait until one major headline hits until this issue can be noticed nationally (e.g. toyota brake issue)? or maybe i am just over reacting? the thing is, not every 955 owner have deep pockets for the ridiculous repair costs for something that could have pro-actively addressed (the fact that even Porsche have issued an "updated" aluminum coolant pipe for replacement - which means they are all aware of the problem but plays everything by ear, similar to the coils issue that they released an updated version and actually have it a "partial" recall - which still made us the customer breathe a little bit easier - esp those that are already out of warranty).

 

The most expensive reapirs due to coolant pipes I have read on this forum is $9,000 worth of damage--all covered by the CPO warranty.

Compare that to $1,500 worth of prevention the dealership charges.

 

I think publishing the nature of the problem and the fact Porsche WILL NOT fix it under warranty as a prevention issue smacks right at Porsche's beloved, highly coveted JD Powers Award and any and all reliability awards. This notice with auto rating systems may suffice.

J.D. Power says Porsche and Lincoln are most dependable http://content.usatoday.com/communit...-dependable-/1


J.D. Power Dependability Study: Porsche Least Problematic, Land Rover Most Issues http://www.insideline.com/porsche/jd...st-issues.html

Consumer Reports ranks Porsche 911 best performance car http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/01/c...rformance-car/

There are plenty of other auto ratings sites and systems.

Urging buyers to insist that coolant pipes have been replaced BEFORE taking delivery is another approach.

The fact is, Porsche refuses to replace plastic pipes which have not (yet) failed as a preventative measure under warranty--either their original new car warranty or their used CPO warranty.

Since the marque is always under scrutiny, publicizing this problem may get Porsche to take proper action.

 

Why not MY 2006?