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Porsche Cayenne Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward
By Mike Holter
A nationwide class action lawsuit regarding the cooling system in Porsche Cayenne vehicles continues to plod its way through court after U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost applied the law of 11 states to the consolidated case. Claims included in the consolidated Porsche Cayenne class action lawsuit now include consumer statutes, warranty claims, unjust enrichment and various tort claims.
Consumers in the 2011 Porsche Cayenne class action lawsuit allege they purchased a Cayenne that came equipped with defective plastic coolant tubes that cracked, leaked or otherwise failed after the four-year warranty period, causing engine coolant to leak into the engine, potentially leading to significant engine damage. The class action lawsuit alleges Porsche knew of the defects and that using the plastic material for the coolant tubes “virtually guarantees” they would prematurely fracture.
Plaintiffs in the Porsche Cayenne class action lawsuit allege that when they attempted repairs, Porsche did not offer replacement plastic tubes, but instead offered an “OEM update kit” that contained aluminum coolant pipes that cost between $1,500 and $3,600 per vehicle.
The Plaintiffs argue that the Cayenne’s coolant system was inherently defective and that the use of plastic coolant tubes “implicates serious safety concerns.”
Class Members of the Porsche Cayenne class action lawsuit include any one who owns or purchased a 2003-2008 Porsche Cayenne model with plastic coolant pipes. Judge Frost has not yet certified the class. Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are asking the court to force Porsche to recall all Cayennes with plastic coolant tubes and fix the problem by replacing them with aluminum tubes (or a stronger alternative). They are also seeking money damages to compensate the proposed Class.
The case is In re: Porsche Cars North America, Inc., 2012WL2953651, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio.
Updated August 21st, 2012
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27 thoughts onPorsche Cayenne Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward
Does the repair have to be done at a Porsche dealership in order to receive any proposed relief?
Just yesterday my 04 cayenne experienced the same problem, got it towed to my office and thinking what to do with it. The service manager mentioned this issue to me a while back, then I thought how can a reputable company allow this to go on without recalling and fixing all the vehicles involved.
I own a 06 Porsche Cayenne S with 83k on it. I drove from Maryland to Cincinnati, Ohio when my coolant system burst. I had to pay $2500 to replace and repair the coolant kit. I then rented a vehicle from Avis, kept my truck in Ohio and drove back to Maryland. Now I have to drive back to Ohio to return the rental and pick up my truck. I’ve always praised German engineering, but this is completely uncharacteristic. Please take care of your customers.
I was doing 75mph and severe smoke starting comming out from the engine like crazy…. Same issue( Coolant Pipes blow up… costly repair.!
Two years ago I had to replace the pipes after they failed just a few months out of warranty. Now, two years later another pipe failed against the firewall and requires the same amount of labor to replace. I am doing it myself, twice. Its painfull and a bit bloody to get in there. Poor design and paying the dealer $2500 each visit would have been absurd. The vehicle is great, but when the factory makes a significant change to design because of so many failures, it should be covered.
I had the exact same experience as Eric above… 2004 CTT, mine was out of warranty, pipes, starter, transmission bushing all when in short order… each time costing a bundle $10K or so.. They were well aware of this problem.. they need to do the right thing for their customers like those damn ignition coils that keep cracking..
This happened to me as well at ~80K miles on my Cayenne S : $3,000+ fix to replace coolant lines with metal lines (original plastic lines melted in heated engine area – not rocket science) and now car experiencing other problems – back in shop. Porsche should make its loyal customers whole on this one. Sincerely, upset Cayenne owner in California.
My pipes burst on the highway when i hit 70k miles and had to get the car towed and paid 2500 dollars which inlcluded the rental car i needed. this is complete crap and porsche should be held liable for these damages. They KNEW this would happen how convenient they sell an upgrade to metal…
I’m the owner of a 2004 porsche cayenne turbo. while the car was still under warranty i started to smell coolant while the car reaches operating temperature. T took it to the Porsche dealer and i was told that it’s nothing, meanwhile i tried to convinced them that I occasionally had to add additional coolant . they finally decided to check it and found that I had to pay $3,800 to have it repair. i was very unhappy. i felt like they ripped me off. Two years after had it out with them, after spending close to $10,000 in maintenance cost, even before the can was out of warranty, i took took it to another porsche dealer, about 24 miles away, they told me that i have to change the cooling pipes before the engine breaks, I informed them that it as recently done just two years prior to. they told me there is a leak coming from the same area. any how, because the pipes was replaced i thought i might have been residue left over from before, so i continued to drive my car. again, occasionally I often time added more coolant. after some time, the starter started going bad. i decided to take action and replace it. after the car was disassembled to repair the starter, it was found that the one of the clamp that holds the coolant pipe was not tighten enough and as a result the coolant leaked out into the starter over a period of time and destroyed it. i recently had the starter repair and the coolant pipes redone. this was a hugh cost to me.
I had to get the car towed, tubes replaced, the coolant killed the starter and ate the rubber bushing on the tranny causing tranny fluid leak and another costly repair.. Porsche should have immediately recalled the tubes the first replacement and new metal tubes were made.. are we to believe they are such brilliant car designers yet too dumb to know that heat kills plastic?!? Especially with the Turbos.. The whole car is plagued by bad plastic in the drive train.. plastic and drive trains don’t mix.. intakes, fine.. the coolant tubes, the vacuum lines and the shift linkage all have gone.. Porsche, do the right thing.. make your customers whole.