Porsche 718 Cayman review - Reliability & safety

Although the Porsche 718 Cayman hasn’t been through Euro NCAP crash-testing, its mid-engined design means it has an inherent advantage when it comes to safety. Similarly, the Cayman was too niche a model to have featured in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, but Porsche has an enviable reputation when it comes to owner contentment.

Porsche 718 Cayman reliability

You won’t find the Cayman in the latest 2024 Driver Power survey, with too few owners responding for it to appear in the rankings. You will find Porsche itself in the brand survey though – right at the very top of the list. 2023 marks the third year in a row where Porsche has beaten all comers, with owners ranking their cars among the best (if not the very best) in the survey for driving characteristics, design, and build quality. 

It’d top the rankings for powertrains too, if not for the love electric car owners have for the powerful electric motors in cars from Tesla and Polestar. Making predictions about the reliability of individual models is unwise, but while Caymans and Boxsters from the early-to-mid 2000s have a patchy record for dependability, this isn’t true with later cars, which have proven to be robust.

Safety

Being a mid-engined car means that in the event of a frontal impact, the 718 Cayman’s bonnet can act as a crumple zone, absorbing the energy and forces from the collision. Porsche has also engineered crumple zones in the rear, while the 718 Cayman has super-stiff doors to help maintain the integrity of the passenger compartment, as well as thorax and head airbags. The driver and passenger airbags are clever items that can inflate to two different stages, depending on how serious the crash is.

It's possible to boost safety further by delving into the options list, with an ISOFIX child seat mounting point for the passenger seat, lane change assist, speed limit indicator and adaptive cruise control (that can also boost braking in an emergency stop) all available.