Hello Gents,

I am relatively new to the forum and new as a Porsche Panamera owner (2012 Panamera S just over 50k miles). I see several suspension posts so I don't necessarily want to start a whole new one, but I would like to know how many people here have had any air suspension issue to see if this is a recurring issue.

In brief, here are the issues I have experienced.
1) Air Compressor Died 100 miles into owning the car. Took back to dealership that sold, and they really struggled troubleshooting it, and I was not comfortable with their work.
2) 300 miles later the car would not lift. Ended up being bad front shocks. Both replaced at Porsche dealership this time.
3) 50 or so miles after that, I get new blue screen of death equivalent indicator (red suspension failure indicator). Took back to Porsche dealership and they are changing the air compressor, fuse, and relay. They wanted multiple days to test drive in different conditions/time of day to guarantee the problem is resolved. Luckily my extended warranty has mostly been cooperative, so has the Porsche dealership, and the loaner has helped tremendously (previous dealer where I purchased it doesnt have loaners).

I am scared to drive the darn thing, even worse taking it out of town to visit my brother who lives 2 hours away so I can show off the car. My car has been in the shop longer than I have owned it. Has this been a common issue for you guys? Whats the true reliability for these cars? Is this a daily car for most or just a project hobby car (at moment it is my only car). is there any other part I can expect to fail? I already took care of all the recalls.

Thanks alot

 

I have owned my 2011 PTT since June of this year with 45k miles on it, the following work was done, dealerships surprisingly don't seem to know much about working on this cars besides replacing everything they think is wrong. I have an independant tech.
-both front struts
-both upper and lower control arms on both sides (alomst every 970 Panamera will need this job done)
-coils and plugs (more of a preventative maintenance)
-both front wheel bearings
-front stabilizer links
-front stabilizer bar bushings being done in a week or so

essentially the front suspension of these cars was poorly engineer 2010-2013 model years and looks they didn't take into account the weight of the V8 in the front

 

2010 P4S here. I had to replace the front right suspension 1 month after owning the car 3 years ago. Dealership wanted to change all 4 suspensions when I don’t have warranty. Their argument was that the other 3 will eventually fail. They quoted $11K. Took it to an Indy and replaced only 1 suspension. No issues with the remaining 3. Been driving 20K miles since.

 

Mazurda, thanks so much for the feedback and for FSM recently. Looks like I will have an interesting time once I get my car back. But the mileage is about right; I had my issues at around 48000 miles. My extended warranty does cover bushings, but the key phrase is "in the event of total mechanical breakdown". A little pulling here and there, slight clunking or creaking may not be covered. If you have a moment, would you mind sharing why you changed the below parts? What kind of issues were you having?

-both upper and lower control arms on both sides
-both front wheel bearings
-front stabilizer links
-front stabilizer bar bushings

Thanks

 

Good to know. They charged extended warranty $4600 for the two front shocks, and another $2000 for the air compressor. I paid $2700 for the warranty so i did get my money's worth.

 

To get rid of the clunking which will only get worse and won't lead to total mechanical failure and creaking (still happens when car is cold), hopefully bushings help, will also tighten subframe. All my work was not warrantied but I am well under 4k with labor for everything done. Not to mention almost every performance mod except bigger turbos. good luck with it all

 

So far no clunking on my end, but I have not spent much time driving it. Thanks for the help. I hope this info helps someone else as well. I am in Houston so if anyone wants to connect send me a PM.

 

My fronts (PDCC) were done at around 60k and the rears were done prior. Have 120k on the car now, and no issues (thank god)

 

Holy crap... Only $2700?!? I wish to God the warranty offered by Braman (Miami) would've been that low, I would've bought it on a heartbeat. Unfortunately the warranty they offered was $7k and I did not have an additional $7k after the down payment I made. Damnit.

Anywho, the front suspension issues is a matter of when, not if. I knew that going into the purchase of an out of warranty, non CPO 2013 GTS with 47k miles (just a little over a year ago); got a killer deal on it. I had hoped the suspension would hold out longer, but I'm now in the process of securing upper control arms, new air struts, compressor and relay (car currently has 63k miles). Since owning it I've replaced 2 coils, all spark plugs, and all front filters which is part of the 60k mile service, but aside from that I haven't had any serious issues.

If I were to buy another in the future, I would do my best to spring for a warranty or CPO. I absolutely love my GTS and honestly have no idea what I would get in the same price range that offers what the GTS has. Would buy again.

 

I spoke to two local Porsche techs about my PTT system and they both said they are pretty good, usually leaks at the distribution box but that was about it. Both said they haven’t seen many shocks or compressors needing replacements.

 

I have been using the extended warranty offered by my credit union, cheapest for sure. I used to own an Infiniti M45S, and they paid for engine replacement, rear camera replacement, and alternator replacement. I paid $2600 for that one for 3 years. My current one is only for 2 years, should have purchased 3 for $4k. Also helped that i was just shy of the 50k miles, as the warranty is cheaper if manufacturers warranty is still effective. I planned ahead and ordered a credit card with points and paid the ext. warranty with that and got $800 worth of points which I have been diligently using for travel.




I will start looking for control arms now and might as well replace them now. I am also looking at the bushing replacement kit. I am sure the ride performance is degraded now, and I just dont know it. Thanks for the info.