I'll start off...

2005 Macan Turbo. At 40,000 miles I just experienced a rattle in the exhaust which happened to be a fractured/fatigued metal exhaust mount. It was repaired under warranty and only took a day to perform (gave me a new 2017 Macan courtesy car for the day). The Porsche tech at Manhattan Beach, California said it was a common issue and he knew exactly what it was when I walked in. He was proud and said he didn't see Macan's come in with any other issues other than this. I asked him what to 'expect' as the car climbs in mileage and he said he didn't know as the highest he had seen has 65k miles and didn't have any issues.

 

What model year is your Macan?

 

2015 Macan Turbo. Sorry, just updated my original post.

 

this will be a good threat to keep and eye from. i'm only at 32k and no problem yet.

 

sqeaks, seem to be getting worse at 28k. bringing the car in to see if they can fix

 

electronics gremlins. Not so worry of the mechanical aspects of the car though.

 

77k miles on a Macan S.

No major problems yet. More squeaks and rattles. The few that I had early on are getting louder, but still not obnoxious.
Wear and tear on interior pieces. I've got scuffs on the doors from shoes (even though I'm careful), worn out spot on my drivers floor mat, wrinkles in the leather seats, some light scratches on door panels, etc.

Maintenance items start to overlap. I've got an 80k transmission oil change coming up, followed by spark plugs again at 90k. And then 120k they overlap along with air filters, transfer/final drive oil, brake fluid. Thats going to be one **** of an expensive service.

I have yet to do brake pads/rotors, but they're going to be needed before winter. I had the right rear parking brake hand ever so lightly the other day, need to keep my ear out for it.

I would expect to have to do a air compressor rebuild eventually as well as a seals kit for the air suspension. But not idea when.

 

77k miles on a Macan S.

No major problems yet. More squeaks and rattles. The few that I had early on are getting louder, but still not obnoxious.


Second person to mention the ‘squeaks and rattles’. What are these and where are they coming from?

 

There's a few threads about transfer case issues. Mine failed at about 15K miles on my 2016 S.

 

UPDATE:
So at 44,000 my transfer case started ‘ticking’. It would only tick during acceleration and when turning left which was strange. The ticking sounds like a lifter tapping as you accelerate but I could tell it wasn’t and that it was something do do with gearbox or driveshaft or suspension so it had me beat (and I’m pretty mechanically minded but had never heard a faulty transfer case before). I could also hear the tick most noticeably when accelerating next to a wall or next to another car (the sound of the tick would echo off the car next to me).

So I took the Porsche tech around for a drive and it took a couple of corners until he finally heard it. They had no idea what it was but once he heard it he knew roughly what to look for. They took the car for 5 days and put audio sensors (like stethoscopes) on various parts of the car to identify where the sound came from as they test drove it and they identified the sound was coming from within the transfer case. I read through their report log and noted they originally tried replacing a few parts in and around the transfer case, putting it back and driving it to see if that fixed the issue but the ticking sound was still present. So after trying a few different things and replacing other parts they finally replaced the transfer case its self and the ticking disappeared. (And I got a bunch of other parts replaced for free along the way!) They said they were trying quicker, easier part replacements because they knew it would take 2-3 days to get the transfer case in.

All in all the guys at Porsche Southbay were super professional and thier service is outstanding. I had a brand new Cayenne loaner car for the week they had mine which was fantastic.


So breakdown of my repairs so far:

40,000
- Replaced broken exhaust mount as exhaust began to rattle on takeoff and rev (under warranty)
- Replaced Fuel Filter Flange (Recall/under warranty)

44,000
- Replaced transfer case and surrounding components to remove ‘ticking sound’ (under warranty)
- Replaced Passenger Airbag sensor (recall/under warranty)

 

In several of the threads I've read, those comparing Porsche or the Macan to other (generally Asian) cars, there's been the overwhelming assertion that Porsche quality is exquisite and so much better than whatever. That's not my experience so I thought I'd share the issues I've uncovered on my 2015 Porsche Macan S since buying it 2nd hand off a lot 6 months ago with 46.5k miles on it...

- Both front windows stick and are noisy when opening or closing (dealer "fixed" issue which started again a month later)
- The revered front console clock lost its hand for the seconds...I see it, it's laying there looking ridiculous.
- The left side of the passenger side seat belt touches the side of the center console. When driving on bad roads (basically all roads here in the Bay Area), hard plastic knocks on hard plastic, which is one **** of an achievement for an interior that has so little plastic in it but not the kind of achievement I want to experience.
- Something in the trunk also knocks or rumbles when driving on above stated roads. I haven't pinpointed the issue yet, but I suspect it is "only" the luggage compartment cover. Trying to fix that so it no longer makes noise is a pointless endeavor.
- When the engine is running and the car is stopped, there's a sound, which the Porsche dealership identified as vibration from a valve in the catalytic converter. It's an annoying sound and they kept my car for nearly a month to resolve this issue which was fixed but, surprise, surprise came back within a couple of months.

My VW GTI had a few issues when I purchased it new but I didn't mind so much because 1. I loved the car and 2. It's a $25k car! But having such issues on an $85k (new) car touted as Germany's gift to the world?... nah, it doesn't cut it with me

 

One factor that seems to occur in this discussion; when you buy a Porsche the expectations are very high. I think we are less likely to overlook any oddities, noises etc with an almost perfect expectation. In a VW or Honda you probably wouldn't even pay attention to the rattles, clicks etc because we don't have the same reverence for the car to begin with.

Not saying any of the issues you cataloged are acceptable, they aren't. I've just noticed in reading our posts, we complain about things with the Porsche's that we'd probably shrug in other cars (of course those cars cost 1/2 as much).

 

I purchased a 2017 Macan base a few months ago. I have driven $25k to $40k Toyota's and Hondas for the last 30 yrs. and found them to be mostly bullet proof. I averaged about 50k miles a year before I retired. I personally had no problems with "any" of them and normally traded when they reached 150k to 200k. Don't get me wrong, I have had no problems with my Macan so far. After reading the problems in this forum it makes me wonder if I made a good choice. I have read no one talking about putting major miles on a Macan. I agree that the interior and styling of the Macan is much nicer than what I was use to driving, but if the reliability is not built in its not worth it. Over oil consumption and replacement of clanking PDK transmissions seem to be a habit here. Any dealer who tells you using a qt. of oil every 1000 miles is acceptable has only one thing in mind, and that's protecting the dealer / car manufacturer.

 

I have 15k miles in just over 9 months of ownership. Been solid so far. I drive a lot.

Keep reading this forum and you will get spooked. Probably goes for any car forum. Trick is to separate the ‘wheat from the chaff.’

This is my 5th consecutive VAG product. One of them was a really bad vehicle and I dumped it after 11 months. The others were solid. My Macan is solid so far.

 

Mine's too new (2 months) and no issues yet and don't expect them. But playing devils advocate - there are no car manufactures out there that don't have a percentage of their cars which have a higher percentage of issues outside the norm. True for Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and all other top brands. Some just have a smaller percentage (which in some cases comes from small volume of sales if your comparing one made against another). Both mercedes and bmw techs have said if you have one of those higher than expected cars having issues -- sell! or it may start taking chunks of your wallet when the warranty runs out. We just got rid of my son's ford fusion that was one of those cars - only 1.5 years on the road from a new purchase and had nothing but one issue after another. Finally got through to him to trade it in on something else. Now has an acura and living an issue free life...

 

Not sure why so many people think that buying a much more expensive car means a car with less issues.

In my experience the exact opposite is true as there is generally a lot less to go wrong with a much cheaper car. And the much more expensive cars tend to have more state of the art technology with plenty of bugs left to be worked out, versus older, more proven technology used on cheaper cars.

Of course I'm speaking in very general terms, but this definitely has been my experience.

 

Not sure why so many people think that buying a much more expensive car means a car with less issues.

Dunno...the price? Sure they come with high end gear and technology but at the end of the day the expectation is that buying an expensive car should mean fewer issues.

I don't want to suggest my car has lots of issues. Rather, they are puzzling issues. The seconds hand on the clock? Really?? I'd thought they'd mastered that clock by now...

I can't be the only one dealing with the passenger seat belt knocking the side of the center console... am i?

 

Just a little over a year old, pushing close to 18k miles, other than routine maintenance and one very flat tire, the Macan has been flawless. Did a 2800+ mile road trip, and the Macan was superb, from sea level to over 9k feet. Averaged 26.9 MPG overall. Still puts a smile on my face every morning when I get in and every afternoon when I go home.

 

There’s a huge difference between anecdotal accounts and statistical reliability. All makes have problems posted on their Forums. The Lexus RX sounds like a nightmare anecdotally. Is it really that bad?

I owned what is one of the most bullet-proof motorcycles made, yet the forum for that model described many problems. Stator failures were reported all the time, yet a poll showed about 4% of bikes experienced stator failures. Suzuki eventually launched a stator recall. One rider logged over 420,000 miles without any serious repairs, but generally only the bad news gets posted on forums.

My 2008 Honda CR-V didn’t have squeaks or rattles, at last not that I could hear over all of the road, wind, tire, drivetrain, and other noise. A car as quiet as the Macan isn’t as forgiving. My rear deck bounces on terrible roads. I might remove it altogether but am getting used to it and blame it on the DOT rather than Porsche.

 

OP, I'm sorry to see you've had so many problems. That would definitely sour me on the vehicle & potentially the brand. I'm pretty lucky in that I've had few problems with my 2016 Macan. I had a front drive shaft & transfer case replaced under warranty 9 months into ownership, but I've got no real complaints beyond that. No squeaks or rattles that aren't from something I've actually put in the car. No engine issues, no other problems. It may be that you were unlucky enough to pick up a bad unit & I hope the dealer can fix those things (permanently) for you.

I've consumed copious amounts of the Kool-Aid, so it's fair to say that I'm a big fan or Porsche, but they're not always perfect & I agree that at their price points, there shouldn't be squeaks, rattles & other irritations.

 

I am sorry to hear about your issues. Fortunately for me, my experience with Porsche has been stellar. My 911 has 101K Miles and practically bullet prove driven all year round in Buffalo weather since 2009. My Macan is 3 months old with 5100 Miles and excellent so far in frigid Buffalo. Both car were bought new and properly “break-in”, and serviced by dealer only. I tend to shy away from preowns due to potential poor maintenance and abuses, and my OCD condition disqualify me to drive someone else’s car. Good luck and I hope you get your car issues resolve.

John

 

Like many I bought a good 2 yr old model with 20kms on the clock. All good but on high expectations the little things can annoy. If you are under new car warrantee and you paid nearly 100k like I did you surely have the right to expect the quality to last, so feel free to haunt the dealer I reckon, but do it nicely and remind yourself that somethings may not be fixable or will not be worth demanding they tear your car apart doing it. Or, get active and fix little things yourself rather than using the time and stress of using the dealer. Or wait a while and group some things before going back. Or just roll with it as there's more to life than the tinniest detail. And considering the costs do think about extending your warrantee knowing the costs of parts and service for these things.

 

I have a few issues with my 4000 miles Macan S and brought it to the dealer 3x to have it looked at. All came back with a comment “working as intended.”

Exterior thermostat was off by 20 degree. It was stuck at 70 when outside temp was 92 (based on Iphone)

Backup sensors won’t beep at times and got a comment stating “doesn’t work under 5 mph.” I call that bs, how does one park the driving over 5 mph? SA didn’t have a comment. Took it in another time. The tech even said it’s strange and reset something and said it’s working properly. Today? Still wonky

This could be me but brakes are very squishy. It’s either nothing or grip when you depress the brakes. Letting go of the gas at low speeds it is very jerky. Dealer said it’s built like that. Driving manual solved the jerky part. Brakes are still meh

Brake squeeling. This is so annoying. Brought it in 2x. Nothing. It’s a porsche, the brakes squeeling is normal. Lol. What a joke. My 2nd time bringing it in. The tech just drove it around and said it’s fine. SA didn’t even bother documenting it. I took it to a different dealership and see if they could resolve it. (Brakes been bedded and warmed up and still squeels.). When i brake, least it grabs people’s attn to look at my ride

Other than those flaws, its a great car. However, Lost confidence in Porsche. One too many working as intended.

 

Can't comment on the brake feel and jerkiness as it's unclear what you are referring to, but I would certainly speak to the Service Manager or your salesperson about the squealing, thermometer, and backup sensors, and if they still don't fix it, contact PCNA.

 

Hi guys I'm new to this. I want to know is general reliability, what year to buy, wich not buy. I want owner's advices. The Macan S with the 3.0L TT is interesting. But I want to get informed first.

Thanks guys.

 

18 Macan S, so far zero issues, but only have 10k on it. Previous Macan base, traded in with 22k miles, absolutely no issues. At least youo can use as a data point.

 

I can't tell you about a Macan's reliability because I just got mine but I have had 8 other Porsches and I've never had a problem with any of them.

 

What about 2015-2016-2017 Macan S? Is there something we need to check more often?

 

PCM/Navigation interface was changed for the 2017 model year, if that is something you need to take into account.