2016 Porsche 718 Cayman problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Seat Belts (2) · Visibility/Wiper (1) · Exterior Lighting:tail Lights (1)
Safety recalls (1)
Air Bags: Air Bag/Restraint Control Module 2019-07-17 · campaign 19V533000 · 7,517 vehicles
Defect: Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (Porsche) is recalling certain 2016-2017 911 and Boxster, 2016 Cayman and Panamera vehicles. The air bag Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may have a defective power supply capacitor that can result in air bag deactivation or inadvertent deployment of the air bags.
Risk: Deactivated air bags increase the risk of injury. Inadvertent deployment of the air bags increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Porsche will notify owners, and dealers will install new software and replace the air bag ECU as necessary, free of charge. Interim notices informing owners of the safety risk were mailed September 13, 2019. Owners received a second notice and the recall began February 12, 2020. Owners may contact Porsche customer service at 1-800-767-7243. Porsche's number for this recall is AKB4.
Service bulletins (452)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Power Train 2026-09-22 · No. 28-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
manufacturer's certificate for overview of approved porsche c40 engine oils. note that this bulletin covers all models back to model year 1984, for which c40 engine oils are allocated.
Power Train 2026-09-22 · No. 27-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
manufacturer's certificate for overview of approved porsche c20 engine oils. note that the bulletin covers all models back to model year 1984, for which c20 engine oils are allocated.
Power Train 2026-09-22 · No. 26-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
manufacturer's certificate for overview of approved porsche c30 engine oils. note that the bulletin includes all models back to model year 1984, for which c30 engine oils are allocated.
Power Train 2026-09-22 · No. 25-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
manufacturer's certificate for overview of approved porsche a40 engine oils. note that this bulletin covers all vehicles from model year 1997 to 2020, for which a40 engine oils are assigned. model years 1997-2001 are not available for selection in the system.
Wheels 2026-09-14 · SPTL2609 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
special tools and equipment information for alignment machines - q3 2026 software spec update available
Electrical System 2026-09-01 · No. 12-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical information for damage to nano plug contacts due to utilization of incorrect measuring equipment
Showing the 6 most recent of 452 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2024-09-16 · Exterior Lighting:tail Lights“tail lamps are prone to hairline cracks difficult to see, when driven in rain or car wash tail lamp floods and causes electrical system to short circuit resulting in death or accident in inclement weather due to low visibility.…”
2024-08-25 · Unknown Or Other“engine stalls when stopped if not in sport mode. electronic gauge display for oil level is confusing and shows low oil level in green, causing the user to add oil when it is full. steering rubs and knocks when turning.…”
2022-06-27 · Visibility/Wiper“windshield washer hose has snapped at the hood hinge which is preventing clearing of the windsheild of debris and obscuring forward visibility. this part was replaced by the dealer in 2016 during the first annual service for reasons unknown to me and has now failed.…”
2022-02-09 · Air Bags“trw automotive inc. airbag control unit (part no. 218737-124 ri; serial no. 11050089ri; produced: april 20, 2015) was equipped in 2016 porsche cayman vin [xxx] by porsche (vehicle production date: june 29, 2015). in 2019, trw recalled the aforementioned acu in nhtsa 19e-043. in 2019, in response to the trw recall, porsche recalled 2016 porsche ca…”
2020-11-17 · Engine · 7,800 mi“the variable valve timing adjuster sprocket bolts have a tendency to shear under high load. this is a documented issue that was also common in several other porsche models of similar production year ranges. the valvetrain loses timing, resulting in a catastrophic engine failure which disables a vehicle. my vehicle sustained such a failure and the c…”
2020-07-27 · Seat Belts“porsche has identified a previously unreported faulty airbag control unit serial number 11050089ri equipped in the 2016 porsche cayman in june 2015 by porsche ag mere days before the production date bracket start of july 8, 2015 for manufacturer recall akb4. the 2016 porsche cayman was ordered as a custom specification 2015 porsche cayman in early …”
2020-06-25 · Seat Belts“2016 porsche cayman has an error code 'c11005 ? airbag triggering unit, faulty' and the airbag light is illuminated but this vin was not included in porsche's recall (akb4) concerning this issue. porsche has not correctly identified the recall population of 2016 porsche cayman cars affected by manufacturer recall number akb4 (transport canada recal…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.