Had a coolantpipe break and dealer is telling me that it is a known problem that the plastic pipes do not last so they replace them with aluminum. Also telling me that this is not a warranted item. (huh?) My contention is that this should not be considered a "wear" item since it broke and did not wear and also because it is stationary and bolted to the car. Porsche obviously knows that they screwed up by using plastic or they wouldn't be replacing with alluminum. Anyone have a similar warranty issue on this or know of any background to the reason for change to aluminum?

 

I had the coolant leak as well. This so called smart truck, which is supposed to alert you before a big problem happens, didn’t. I accelerated into traffic and lights went nuts on my dash flashing coolant check now. I pulled over and coolant was leaking like crazy.
At the mechanic shop (my 2003 is out of warranty), they replaced the plastic tubing for the aluminum. The 3 tube one is the one that cracked; the lower plastic one held but was replaced as a precaution. I called a Porsche dealer and they told me that changing out the pipes at the dealer would have cost me $2200.00 minimum. He also changed my thermostat as a precaution as well. $1200 plus later, I get the truck back and not more than 3 days and only about 100 miles and my truck now squeals as its starting and has a hesitation (when attempting to pass or merge). It feels like a chugging and happens only when slightly pressing on the accelerator (one footed driver here). I turned it back in and now I am told that I need a starter.
It was $500 in labor to get to the broken pipes that sit above the starter. Now it’s another $500 in labor to get the starter out. My mechanic told me this morning that a new starter from Porsche will be $800.00!
The hesitation (a different problem) he says is from bad spark plugs (at $9.00 each). Though after reading a few posts here, I am not to sure.
I have 76k miles on my truck, with minimal issues until now. I don’t count anything I went through under warranty… who does? (But I do have a large stack of receipts for warranty work that has been done)
As a few others posted, I too am left wondering of the reliability of my truck now. I see quite a few older Cayenne’s on the market with less mileage. I wonder if they know something I don’t. I was once told by a mechanic that I shouldn’t keep my 1999 Mercedes CLK 430 past 75k miles. That is when everything starts going bad on the car. I have 74k on it and I am crossing my fingers. But is that what is happening to the Cayenne (another German product)? A good friend (a Porsche mechanic at a Porsche dealership), told me that after 75k, it’s a likelihood that the ball joints will need replacing. Which is a BIG MONEY fix.
I am left with questions and worries. Any thoughts?

I was also told that the coolant pipes will not be on any recall. They are just changing them as they come in (but not for free). But, from 2005 and newer, the trucks are built with the aluminum pipes.

 

I would assume that you went to the dealer. Did they tell you on whether or not your starter was under coolant when they opened up your engine?

 

After much duress, they covered it under warranty. It shouldn't have to be that way when they know they have put a faulty part into their vehicle. I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

 

Really! What year cayenne do you have? And how many miles when it happened? I just paid over $1200 for my replacement tubes and my truck is back in the shop now for a new starter and plugs which were damaged do to the leak. Believe me, I will fight for the warranty as much as I can. Like you said, it wasn’t anything that could have been done to the truck for wear and tear. Its all internal!

 

How did you discover that you had a broken coolant hose? I have a very small water/coolant leak and two local garages can't tell me the problem, but can confirm that I have a leak!! The second garage are saying that they need to drop the engine to take a look and talking at least two hours labour charge to cover that BEFORE any fix or parts!!! I don't live that close to Porshe main dealer, but wondering if I might have to make the trip??

 

I didn’t. I had a faint smell of coolant last year in mid-summer and called the mechanic. He asked if I seen any thing wet under the truck, but I saw nothing. I checked my fluid reservoir and it was about a half gallon low. After filling the reservoir, I had no other problems. The dash light never came on.
There was no warning this time. If you can call the faint smell of coolant a warning (there was no smell). I took off to get into traffic (so I got on it a little) and about the time it took the truck to cross the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic and get up to speed (which isn’t much time at all) the light on the dash came on. That was it. I pulled over and coolant was running out from everywhere.
The mechanic had to remove the intake manifold to get at the coolant pipes. It was an 8 hour job. The dealer I talked to quoted me $2200.00 for the job. I have a local mechanic that works on my 911 so I had him do the job. His hourly rates where half of what the dealer charges.
I would at least call and talk to a mechanic at your local dealer before taking it anywhere. They are pretty cool about answering questions over the phone.
Hope that helps you.