Porsche recalls Cayenne models for headlights falling out

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a recall of over 20,000 Porsche Cayenne sport utility vehicles over a concern that the headlight assemblies could detach from the fender and fall out of their proper mounting points.

This new Porsche recall, which affects 20,278 2011 and 2012 model year Cayenne SUVs (all of which were built between March 8th 2010 and January 2012), has been announced over a concern that the headlight assemblies in these luxury sport utility vehicles could fall off of the vehicle. This recall affects the entire range of 2011-2012 Porsche Cayenne models, including the base model, the Cayenne S, the Cayenne Turbo and the fuel sipping Cayenne Hybrid.

Evidently, the fasteners used on the headlight assemblies of the 2011 and 2012 Porsche Cayenne could work themselves loose over time and, in the worst case scenario, the headlights could rather themselves right out of the vehicle. This presents a clear risk to the driver or passengers should the vehicle be driven at night when one of the headlights falls out of the vehicle. Not only would it get very dark on one side of the vehicle thus vastly decreasing visibility but there is also the sudden distraction factor for both the driver of the affected Porsche and other drivers on the road. Finally, when the headlight fastener system fails and the headlight falls out of the Cayenne, there is a better chance than not that it will bang against the body of the luxury sport ute on the way out – doing damage to the high priced SUV. While that aspect doesn’t post any danger to anyone, no Porsche owner wants their Cayenne literally falling apart while driving down the road.

There are no reports of accidents, injuries or deaths stemming from this unusual problem with the 2011 and 2012 Porsche Cayenne lineup but with the obvious danger of losing one (or, in theory, both) of your headlights while cruising down some dark country road in your pricey German SUV is clear enough for the company to bring the sleek sport ute back into dealerships for repairs. This roomy yet high performance SUV has been very popular in the US since being introduced and the odds are good that this recall will have little impact on the sales of the Cayenne in the US market; especially considering how quickly the company is addressing the possible issue.

The Porsche Cayenne headlight recall is currently underway and owners of the 20,278 SUVs affected by this recall are being contacted and asked to return to their local Porsche dealership. Once there, the dealership will replace the headlight locking assemblies to help ensure that the headlights stay right where they are – lighting the road ahead of the high performance SUV. Owners of these 2011 and 2012 Porsche Cayenne models can contact the German automaker at 1-800-767-7243 in reference to recall number AC01.