Hello All:

I have a 2013 Panamera S which has ~43K miles on it. I bought it with 5k miles in 2016 and so have put about 8k/yr on it. Over the past couple of years, I have had several front suspension "annoyances" which seem typical of the '00-'13 Panameras and have had upper and lower control arms (twice) replaced, left bearing replaced, and left strut replaced. After the latest repair where the strut was replaced, the car would not stay at the high level and would return to its lower level after about a 100yds of driving. So, it is back at the shop where I asked that they thoroughly test the suspension and make sure that all relevant components are replaced. I also called PCNA to highlight the issues; however, PCNA did not commit to doing much other than to calling the dealership to make sure that the issues were property diagnosed and addressed. Once I get the car back, I am considering selling it. Much as I love the car when it runs well, I am getting tired of having the car in the shop so often and for extended periods of time each time. I am extremely fortunate that I had the foresight to get the Fidelity Platinum warranty on this car. They have been great and have covered most of the costs of the repairs (see table below). I wanted to get the forum's thoughts on whether I ought to consider selling or am I at the "tail" end of the issues and can expect a relatively stress-free ownership for the next 40K miles at least from a suspension perspective -- I understand that the suspension components were redesigned and, hopefully, the new designs have been installed in my car. Would appreciate any thoughts/advice here. Thanks!

 

The UCA/LCA bushings are pretty much a given, as are the air struts failing. The strut failure is not specific to Porsche either - every single car with air struts will require repair/replacement at some point. Why were the control arms replaced again? That sounds like they were not installed correctly. The only other thing to budget for is the right air strut going south at some point, but once that's done, you seem to have hit the usual suspension issues. Of course, you'll also need to budget for coils and plugs, as well as transmission and diff service. Coils and plugs should be done at 50k(ish). Trans should be done at 60k.

 

Thanks for the input! Yes, I believe that the control arms were installed incorrectly the first time although the dealership did not say so much. And there was collateral damage to one of the front rotors as a result which they replaced under warranty.

I am ok with the scheduled maintenance for the transmission and other service as I can plan for these. However, the suspension failures were ad hoc and often took multiple trips to the dealer before they agreed to an issue and had the relevant part replaced. Frequently, I received the "this is normal" answer when reporting sounds. At any rate, once I get the car back this time, I may take it to an independent to double check everything before deciding on next steps. Any other opinions are welcome.