• E-Hybrids offer promising economy
• Regular engines will be thirsty
• Should prove reliable

What are the running costs?

The Cayenne is a large, heavy and fast SUV from a luxury manufacturer. If you’re overly concerned by running costs, this isn’t the car for you. 

Following the 2023 facelift, regular petrol-engined Cayennes are broadly good for around 21-26mpg, according to the official WLTP figures. Not particularly frugal, but you should be able to get close to this in everyday driving if you aren’t pressing on. A heavy foot on the accelerator can easily send the fuel economy into the teens.

The E-Hybrids can do a lot better – the latest trio of PHEV models have official fuel consumption figures of more than 141mpg. But you’ll need to make maximum use of the battery pack to achieve decent real-world economy. In a week’s worth of testing on UK roads, we averaged 32.0mpg once the car’s battery pack had been depleted. However, it’s significantly improved by keeping it topped up and using it as a hybrid, where its large battery can help deliver decent mpg figures.

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WLTP says as much 46 miles of electric-only driving per charge is possible, and there is some clever technology working behind the scenes to maximise this. Including a brake-energy recuperation system that now works all the way down to 1mph and active recharging of the battery when your driving, especially in the higher-performance settings.

But if you find yourself totally out of juice, you’ll not only be dragging around a lot of weight – killing the fuel economy – you’ll also not be able to access the E-Hybrids’ maximum power. That’s at least two reasons to remember to regularly plug your Cayenne into the mains.

Servicing and warranty

New Cayennes come with a three-year warranty and three-year assistance package that includes European breakdown cover. That’s not particularly great, but the official Porsche extended warranty packages can cover you for up to 15 years with no mileage limitation, which is a strong offering well-worth considering.

Servicing costs will be high, but that’s the same with other premium brands in the large SUV sector. Porsche service intervals are two years or 20,000 miles in the UK (except for the 911 GT models), though an annual check is still recommended. Porsche does offer fixed-price service packages, and has a good reputation for customer service.

Reliability

• Reliability should be very good
• Many parts used elsewhere
• Read owners reviews

A lot of attention to detail goes into Porsche design, development and production, and the result is a truly premium car. The Cayenne shares plenty of parts with other Volkswagen Group products, so there are even further levels of testing and integrity beyond the work Porsche does itself.

However, a quick search on the UK government official car recall site reveals there have been some problems, suggesting occasional issues with the production process. These issues should have been fixed by the dealer network, but it’s worth checking before buying a used car.

Head on over to our Cayenne owner’s review section to see what this generation of Cayenne is like to live with.