Owners have filed 102 complaints on the Porsche Panamera, covering 2010–2025. The system named most often is Engine (26 reports). Worst years by volume: 2011, 2018, 2014; cleanest: 2017, 2022, 2025. 5 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 6.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Porsche Panamera
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 102 Panamera complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 26 Read
The contact owns a 2020 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started losing motive power, jerked, and the vehicle would not properly accelerate. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired.…
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…
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…
Electrical System 22 Read
Vehicle was parked and yellow smoke began billowing out from under glovebox on passenger side followed by fire flames between dash and window. And under glove box melting entire passenger side under glove box area ABS floor. Fore reignited after being put out icompletely initially
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…
Received a recall notice from Porsche yesterday regarding a potential wiring problem with the climate control coolant pump that, under certain humid conditions, could result in an electrical short and engine fire. In the notice, they recommend “out of an abundance of caution” to “park the vehicle outside and away from…
Power Train 17 Read
The contact owned a 2016 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated that while driving at 2 MPH and while the contact attempted to make a right turn when the brake pedal was depressed, the brakes failed to engage inadvertently. The steering column also became inoperable. The vehicle would not stop and the steering column…
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",…
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…
Air Bags 6 Read
The contact owns a 2015 Porsche Panamera. The contact stated while his wife was parking the vehicle and shifted gears to park when the vehicle accelerated independently and crashed into a building. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. The driver sustained injuries on both…
I was driving very slow out of my driveway to turn left into the street of my subdivision , but the steering wheel did not turn and the car suddenly accelerated , I hit the rakes nothing happened and the car kept going strait hitting the fence and the house ahead and crashed on the break wall , air bag did not…
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…
Exterior Lighting 4 Read
The contact owns a 2016 Porsche Panamera. The contact received a phone call and was notified of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V656000 (Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer notified the contact of the recall and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The…
I called the Porsche dealer regarding my open recall and they are unable to check my vehicle for 2 months. That is unacceptable. What are my next steps?
A few times there has been condensation collecting in the passenger front head light. This time the condensation has damaged the headlight to where it does not work anymore
Suspension 3 Read
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…
I purchased the above-referenced car in July 2020 almost immediately after purchase the indicator light came on with Chasis failure and the car lowered to a safe distance to the ground. Unbeknownst to me the car had been declared unsafe to drive previously. The airbags had been deployed and placed backward the front…
Coolant warning light on - seeing leak Coolant warning light for coolant level comes on. Seeing a leak at a hose. Leaking at coolant bypass hose under intake. Coolant pipes in thermostat housing are coming loose at the epoxy joint. Chassis system failure, The car will stop abruptly on roads. And if here's that these…
Vehicle Speed Control 2 Read
The car was driven slowly (5 mph) to the back of large parking lot. As the space was entered and driver attempted to stop car, the car accelerated and continued through the end of the parking space, went over the grass divider, down a hill and hit a parked car. Driver was attempting to step on brakes to stop vehicle
The car accelerated unexpectedly. This has happened approximately 4 times after the 1st. Incident. The dealer was unable to find any problem. The car now has about 3,500 miles on it. Each time I was able to immediately hit the brake and avoid an accident. It only happens at low speed or engine idle with my foot off…
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
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…
2011 porsche panamera. Consumer letter writes in regard to slow response of intake camshaft. The consumer is requesting reimbursement for repairs to the vehicle
Panamera years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2024 | Lane Departure,forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2023 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2022 | Seats,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2021 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 2020 | Electrical System,engine | — | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | 1 | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2016 | Exterior Lighting | 1 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags,vehicle Speed Control | 1 | — | |
| 2014 | Air Bags,service Brakes,engine | 2 | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2012 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2010 | Electrical System | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 74 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.2 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 4. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Panamera?
By complaint volume, 2011, 2018, 2014 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Panamera years are the cleanest?
2017, 2022, 2025 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Porsche Panamera have?
102 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2010–2025. Of those, 5 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.