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What 62 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Porsche Cayenne Diesel

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (62)Crash / fire / injury (2)Engine (33)Transmission & drivetrain (18)Airbags (3)Brakes (3)Electrical system (3)Engine & cooling (2)Lights (2)Speed control (2)Driver assistance (1)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (1)

1 of 62 complaints match · Driver assistance · clear filters

Dec 30, 2024Driver assistance

AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, RANDOMLY A SERIOUS UNSAFE TO OPERATE 'SERVICE NECESSARY' WARNING APPEARS ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTIONS; ABRUPTLY SHUTTING OFF. WITH THE SERVICE NECESSARY WARNING INDICATED, THE VEHICLE IS UNSAFE TO OPERATE. THIS UNSAFE VEHICLE IS NOT DRIVE-ABLE WITH CRUISE CONTROL. ERROR WILL GO AWAY ON ITS OWN. THIS BREAKDOWN APPEARS TO BE KNOWN TO PORSCHE BASED ON WHAT I HAVE SEEN ON INTERNET COMMUNITY SITES

NHTSA ODI 11633034

Working with the data? Download all 62 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 25, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2011 Porsche Cayenne Diesel verdict →