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What 33 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Porsche Cayenne S

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 (33)Crash / fire / injury (1)Transmission & drivetrain (17)Engine (6)Electrical system (2)Fuel system (2)Seats (2)Airbags (1)Brakes (1)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (1)Equipment Adaptive/mobility (1)Speed control (1)

1 of 33 complaints match · Transmission & drivetrain · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Mar 1, 2019Transmission & drivetrainCrashFire

WHEN DRIVING CAR, IT FEELS ROUGH AND IS HARD TO ACCELERATE SO I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS THE TRANSFER CASE. THE TRANSFER CASE SEEMS TO BE A MANUFACTURE PROBLEM AND IS COMMON AMONG THESE CARS. IT'S UNSAFE AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY .

NHTSA ODI 11183519

Working with the data? Download all 33 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 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 2012 Porsche Cayenne S verdict →