Porsche Panamera
Reliability, NHTSA Complaints & Recall History

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

The ride height sensor on the right front suspension is mounted to the upper control arm via a plastic bolt and bracket. This plastic mounting component failed under normal driving conditions. The failure caused the ride height sensor to malfunction, which directly affects the vehicle's air suspension system and its ability to maintain proper ride height and handling characteristics. When driving, I received multiple chassis height warning messages stating that the chassis was too high or too low or malfunctioning. The ride height sensor is a critical component of the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system. Its failure can result in: - Incorrect suspension height, affecting vehicle stability and handling - Suspension system faults that may trigger unexpected warning conditions while driving - Potential loss of driver control in the event of sudden sensor failure at highway speeds This failure is not isolated to my vehicle. A review of Porsche owner forums including Rennlist and 6SpeedOnline reveals similar plastic mount failures on the ride height sensor across multiple Porsche platforms, including the Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera. The fact that Porsche has since revised the replacement hardware from plastic to metal strongly implies the manufacturer is aware the original design was inadequate. However, no recall or Technical Service Bulletin has been issued to proactively notify owners or provide a remedy at no cost. When the plastic bolt and bracket failed on my vehicle, my dealership replaced it with the current Porsche-supplied metal replacement hardware because the plastic parts have been discontinued. However, the updated metal bolt and bracket are physically incompatible with the existing control arm, requiring the control arm to also be replaced. Owners who are unaware of this incompatibility may drive vehicles with an improperly secured or non-functional ride height sensor, increasing safety risk.

The main water pump on my 2018 Porsche Panamera 4S failed prematurely. This is not a simple external coolant leak; the internal seal failed, allowing pressurized engine coolant to migrate into the vehicle's vacuum system. The coolant traveled through the vacuum lines and contaminated the vacuum solenoids and change-over valves. This failure mode presents a significant safety hazard because the vacuum system controls critical engine components, including turbocharger wastegates and exhaust flaps. Contamination of these components can lead to sudden loss of power, "limp mode" activation while driving at highway speeds, or unexpected engine behavior, increasing the risk of a crash. Cross-Reference to Known Defects: This vehicle utilizes the EA839 V6 engine platform, which is shared with Volkswagen and Audi vehicles (specifically the Audi S4, S5, SQ5, and Q7). Audi and Volkswagen have already acknowledged this specific manufacturing defect in the class action settlement Fiscina v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Case No. 2:21-cv-11251). Under that settlement, Audi extended the warranty on this water pump to 10 years/80,000+ miles for the exact same failure mode (coolant migration into the vacuum system). Despite my vehicle using the same engine and suffering the exact same mechanical failure, Porsche refuses to offer coverage or acknowledge the defect. I am requesting an investigation into why Porsche models equipped with the defective EA839 engine are excluded from the safety remedies and warranty extensions provided to Audi owners.

The contact owns a 2018 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the message "Engine Overheating - Park Vehicle" in red letters was displayed on the instrument cluster. The contact pulled over and turned off the vehicle. The contact stated that there was a burning odor inside the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer, but was not diagnosed; however, the contact was advised by the dealer that the failure could be related to the coolant pump. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

This vehicle has an engine which has rocker arms that are known to fail. The manufacturer has not issued a recall to fix this issue which can result in a catastrophic engine failure. They have acknowledged the rocker arms in pre 2018 models to be defective and insufficiently reinforced to handle the strain of the valve train.

The contact owned a 2018 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated that when he was parking the vehicle, as he had shifted from reverse (R) to drive (D) to straighten the vehicle in the parking spot, the vehicle had inadvertently accelerated at an unknown speed. The contact stated that the vehicle ran through an intersection and crashed into five parked vehicles. The contact stated that he had depressed the brake pedal and was not able to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that his vehicle was stopped by the last vehicle he had crashed into. The contact stated that the police had arrived and issued a report. The contact stated that the vehicle air bags had deployed and that he was transported to the hospital by ambulance. The contact stated that he had bruises on both his ankles and calves and that he had bruises on both wrists and hands. The contact stated that the driver's front fender, door, and quarter panel had been damaged by the crash. The contact stated that the driver's front wheel had sheared off the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle had been towed to an impound lot and his insurance provider had declared the vehicle a total loss. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.

On my 4th visit to the Porsche dealership and the problem is still not resolved. There are MANY references to the same problem online. The problem: error message on the dash stating REVERSE NOT AVAILABLE and car goes into 3RD gear only and stays there. Only final solution is new transmission which Porsche resists doing It has happened 6 times now. attaching a photo and I have many more of these from 2024

Transmission fault causes car to be stuck in gear and will not shift. This issue appears to be happening quite frequently with these ecars, regardless of mileage. It's dangerous, especially if it occurs on the highway .

Porsche dashboard leather shrunk and pealing out. Vehicle will not deploy the airbags if in accident. It needs to be replaced. It is a common issue. It is a safety hazard.

The contact owns a 2018 Porsche Panamera. The contact received notification of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V033000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and advised the contact to park the vehicle outside the garage until parts became available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Technology change from 3g to 5g. This discontinues the safety notifications including crash /location alerts. Porsche offered a free replacement, and after dealers had difficulty in installing, Porsche offers a minimum compensation, instead of fixing problem. this will affect all Porsche from 2018 and prior that were set up for 3g network connection . Thank you

The auto in question was, and is, under the new car warranty - While driving forward, one of the automobile's display screens displayed an error message stating "Transmission error - Reverse gear not available"; this in itself is not a major issue as the car was in a forward gear. The major safety issue is that the car would not shift gears once this error message cam up. The error has occurred multiple times and, thankfully, did not happen at a critical time - i.e. merging onto a highway. The first time this happened was on August 6, 2020. Porsche was notified of the issue and I was told there was no fix at the time. It happened multiple other times and every time the dealer told me that there wasn't a fix. Porsche did apply a "temporary" fix in the November/December, 2020 timeframe, but this was not permanent and the error happened at least once more after the fix. I continued to check in with the dealer and was always told there was no resolution. In June, 2021 I reached out to Porsche directly, they responded one month later and said they would investigate. In July I was told that there might be a fix by the dealer, but was never called back. I have requested that Porsche buy-back the vehicle given this history, but they indicated that there was a fix and that they would not provide any further resolution. The dealer has applied a software "fix", but I have no faith that this will be permanent, given their history and that it took longer than a year to possibly resolve. This is not unique to my vehicle, per online message boards

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 PORSCHE PANAMERA. WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN AT 10 MPH, THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. AFTER THREE ATTEMPTS, THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED MULTIPLE TIMES. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER (PORSCHE WEST BROWARD, 4641 SW 148TH AVE, DAVIE, FL 33331, (954) 719-0199). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,186.

I was parked on surface parking lot with no cars around me, when I put the vehicle in reverse to back out of the parking space, within 2 or 3 seconds the steering wheel airbag exploded without warning. I did not hit anything backing out and there was no collision. I simply put the vehicle in reverse when the airbag exploded. The vehicle was towed to the dealership Porsche Dallas, 6107 Lemmon Ave., Dallas Texas 75209, and has been there since the incident happened on Feb. 1, 2025. All of the diagnostic data from the vehicle was sent to the engineers at Porsche Cars of North America in Atlanta. As of this date I have not been advised why the steering wheel airbag exploded. My left forearm was severely injured and I was treated in ER clinic. I have photos of the Vehicle immediately after the airbag exploded showing the Vehicle had backed up only a few feet when the airbag exploded. Also photos of my injury.

The contact owns a 2017 Porsche Panamera. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V033000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2023 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated that while stopped at a red traffic light, the vehicle independently shifted from drive(D) to neutral(N), and the instrument panel failed to display critical safety information. The messages "Speed Limit Display Limited”, “No Navigation Data Available", "Left Taillight Fault - Check Taillight", and "Right Taillight Error”, and “Service Necessary" were displayed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the failure was not duplicated. The CPU was replaced; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

A message appeared on the dashboard indicating a "Critical Electrical Failure" and "Park Safely" when I turned the key to start the car. This car is a plug-in e-hybrid (my 3rd of this model) and I always assumed that in case of a major failure, I could either use the engine or the electric propulsion system. This was not the case. Although the instruments had power the transmission could not be moved from park and the steering was inoperative. The vehicle was totally immobilized. And the advice to "Park Safely" is ridiculous because there was no way to move the vehicle. Fortunately I was parked when this occurred. But if I was at a traffic light or this happened while I was underway, the safety implications are frightening. The vehicle would have been an immovable obstacle on the roadway. Plus there is not any kind of emergency "neutral" release so the vehicle could at least be pushed. The flatbed tow truck sent by Porsche Connect had to drag the vehicle on to its bed. And if I had not been in a nose in space as I was, even towing would have been nearly impossible.

To whom it may concern; I am writing you with deep disappointment as I am experiencing dissatisfaction with the quality of car that I leased on December, 06, 2021. Panamera was always my dream car, however, today it is a life threat to me and my family. The car is experiencing failure during drive, it self shifts itself to neutral while driving as well failed AC system. Yesterday, 3/19/23, on freeway, I almost got into car accident because of that shift. The car suddenly stopped, and almost got hit by other 3 cars behind me. The problem started since December 2022 with a frequency of once or twice a month. I made an appointment with Rusnak Pasadena dealership shop to run diagnostics. They found nothing… based on 15-20 min drive. The problem started increasing in frequency to 2-3 times a week. It is extremely unsafe now. During time I was leasing car, I never missed any payments, was compliant with due dates, being a proper customer to Porsche dealer (which counts back for many years now). Again, I love the car, it is my dream car, however it is a threat now to my life and my family life. I beg your attention to this matter, as it is frustrating and disappointing experience now. Thank you for your time and business, I would like to remain good customer of Porsche in future, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

I call to your attention the potential safety issues resulting from manufactories furnishing only one key. the single key fob won't start traveling with no dealer access lost or stolen key fob battery dies etc., etc. Duplicate key fobs are essential Porsche Cars USA is negligent

The Adaptive Cruise Control keeps faulting randomly and triggering the seatbelt warning ️. Also when the adaptive cruise control fails the cruise control disengaes altogether. This is very dangerous when driving. I have taken this car to the dealership 4 times within 2 months for this problem and no one can fix it.

Received Manufacturer Recall Number APA1, NHTSA Recall Number 23V033, which states that "on the affected vehicles, there is a possibility of humidity ingress into the external coolant pump for the climate control system." The recall notice stated that "this could cause a short circuit and, in some instances, thermal damage. This can occur even after the vehicle is turned off, if the engine residual heat function is activated by the operator by pressing the AUTO-REST button on the central control panel." The notice stated further that "THE REMEDY FOR THIS RECALL IS NOW AVAILABLE. Remedy is to replace the external coolant pump and related connection." The notice also stated that "[i]f the manufacturer has failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall for your vehicle in a timely manner, please contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at: 1-888-327-4236 or TTY: 1-800-424-9153 or file an online complaint with NHTSA." Contacted Porsche South Bay in Hawthorne, California regarding the recall notice and Porsche South Bay failed to remedy this safety recall.