Having owned a Porsche Cayenne since late 2003, I can confirm that it is an incredible piece of engineering. The body is a strong as an army tank and when I first drove this car it tempted me into purchasing it. With safety and comfort second to none and a terrific bose sound system, it leaves most other SUV’s and cars behind with it’s excellent straight line performance and exceptional cornering abilities, and can even out perform a 4×4 Land Cruiser in the rough stuff.
The experience in owning this car however, has been very interesting, and it is more like a “love hate relationship”. When the car is running good it is awesome, however over the 4 years of ownership it has given me many hassles, more than any other vehicle I have owned, and I have owned more than 20 cars over the years.
Some of the bad experiences are; Wheel alignment issues, I have gone through 4 sets of tires in 90,000Kms, body rattles and squeaks from new, engine top-end rattle which led to Porsche having to replace all the lifters, little interior components failing such as the handbrake, burning 1lt of oil every 1000Kms (this is normal according to Porsche), failed components in the auto causing issues, 2 sets of rear brakes and rotors, 1 set of front brakes and rotors, engine coils failing causing the engine to mis-fire, coolant leak from top-end of engine.
The quality of this car is far less than many lower cost vehicles and although Porsche Australia has (reluctantly) fixed many of the issues, I think they need to take some lessons from the other local car dealer service centers in customer service.
Speaking of customer service and the Porsche dealership, although the cars they service are expensive precision engineered products they still use “monkey” mechanics and apprentices yet still charge a premium in doing so. This is like booking in for expensive cosmetic surgery and finding out the assistant did the job while you were asleep.
Some examples of poor quality service from Porsche are: tools left in the boot, the car is always given back dirty, I have even had greasy fingerprints on my car. Items have been left off, such as the internal engine covers and inspection cover grommets. The most frustrating thing about their service is that I cannot go to another dealer as they only have one service dealership that can do warranty approved work.
My Porsche Cayenne is up for sale, as I am having more pain than pleasure in owning this vehicle. The surprising thing about this car, is how it has depreciated as much (even more so) as a Holden commodore, despite what the Porsche sales people told me before I purchased this car 4 years ago. I know that cars lose money but as a prestige brand, this one tanks faster than any I have witnessed.
Although Porsche have some awesome technology, the overall quality and service is absolutely crap. Would I ever purchase another one? ………………I don’t think so!
Add New Comment
Viewing 7 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment