A Taycan Owner Buys a Tesla: Informal Battle of Two (Very Different) EVs!

[hitmonlee]

Surprised no one has brought up the lack of customization options with Tesla (sure you can do aftermarket mods but still), which Porsche happens to be really good at. I for one don’t want my car to look identical to 20% of the cars I see on the road here in Bay Area.

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[thecoloradokid]

Surprised no one has brought up the lack of customization options with Tesla (sure you can do aftermarket mods but still), which Porsche happens to be really good at. I for one don’t want my car to look identical to 20% of the cars I see on the road here in Bay Area.

I have seen some pretty fugly wrapped Model 3's out there trying to distinguish themselves from the standard five colors offered by Tesla.

Hurts the eyes!

 

[daveo4EV]

there are two really really ugly color Tesla's in the Santa Cruz area - honestly I don't know what they were/are thinking.

 

[B61]

Except my instrumentation cluster (main dashboard in old speak). Makes driving fun when you can't see your speed among other things ...

Never happened to me.

 

[Margrock]

Then I guess my question is…why did you leave Tesla? What were you looking for in the Taycan?

As I said in my initial response to the question about experiences with Tesla and Taycan, my husband (who owns and loves his Porsche GT3, and yes, I know that the GT3 is an ICE car) convinced me to get a Taycan. I also had friends who had owned Porsches for a long time suggest that if I wanted to stay with an EV, since I had already had the Tesla experience, to go for the Porsche. However, they did warn me that the Taycan was experiencing problems, and Porsche was struggling somewhat with the digital EV concept. I like driving it, I just think that the user experience with the issues I have with the PCM, all displays not coming on, car not turning on, not connecting to CarPlay etc shouldn’t happen with a company with such high standards.

 

[Jhenson29]

(who owns and loves his Porsche GT3, and yes, I know that the GT3 is an ICE car)

I just think that the user experience with the issues I have with the PCM, all displays not coming on, car not turning on, not connecting to CarPlay etc shouldn’t happen with a company with such high standards.

GT3 (and other ICE Porsche cars) have a PCM, car play, etc. many of the same things. No? I’m not sure I completely understand the distinction.

 

[Margrock]

GT3 (and other ICE Porsche cars) have a PCM, car play, etc. many of the same things. No? I’m not sure I completely understand the distinction.

His GT3 is a 2018, and while it does have a touch screen, it isn’t of the same vintage of the PCMs I have seen with the application icons. It doesn’t have the same icon type GUI and while it doesn’t have the functionality of the newer PCM design, his works reliably. Mine is very hit and miss. I never know if I am going to get the screens to come on, including the climate control screen, etc. Or if my phone will connect. The dealership has admitted that it is “buggy”.

 

[daveo4EV]

yes Porsche is struggling with the software angle of vehicles - these days excellent mechanical "manners" are minimum requirement - and software will become more and more important (if it hasn't already) - Porsche has yet to demonstrate mastery in this space and I believe more and more customer demand 'both' - not just good mechanicals - for the Price quality reputation the PCM is substandard - I also doubt it will get "better" with out purchasing a new vehicle, since Porsche does not yet seem to fully embracing updating legacy hardware in this space...

time will tell - but if you want excellence in technology/software Porsche is not my first thought.

 

[Jhenson29]

His GT3 is a 2018, and while it does have a touch screen, it isn’t of the same vintage of the PCMs I have seen with the application icons. It doesn’t have the same icon type GUI and while it doesn’t have the functionality of the newer PCM design, his works reliably. Mine is very hit and miss. I never know if I am going to get the screens to come on, including the climate control screen, etc. Or if my phone will connect. The dealership has admitted that it is “buggy”.

I don’t dispute you’ve experienced abnormal issues with your car; I just dispute that there are significant differences between the EV and ICE porches in this regard. What you are talking about now is generational, not drive trains. The 992 has a similar if not same PCM and while the 992.1 still has an analog tach, it’s rumored to be replaced with a Taycan style instrument cluster for the 992.2.

I would see if you can trade the car in if there are that many issues. Maybe if you have them keep it for repair, it could be lemoned. As others have stated, I don’t think most of these are considered common problems and I would hope a replacement car would be better. The exception is being the German nav bar as I have that as well and have heard it enough to believe it may be common.

Of course, if you are done with the car out of frustration, then I would just sell/trade it and move on.

 

[daveo4EV]

https://apple.news/Ad457gzaJRaWpNQK87BZd2A

Car & Drive's 40,000 mile report of their Tesla Model 3 - my Taycan has been out more than 8 days of service just receiving "OTA" updates at the dealership - and more days for actual problems - actually vs. _ANY_ of my Tesla's the Taycan has been "less" reliable and in for service more - I have at least two upcoming service appointments - long brake pedal "fix" - and another recall for some wiring harness or what not - let's please keep some perspective on "how bad" Tesla's really are - and "how good" other brands might or might not be…C&D's report largely mimic's my ownership experience with 5 Teslas since 2013 (never more than 2 at once - '13 Model S P85, '14 Model X P85D, '16 Model X P90D (Lemon), '17 Model X P100D, '18 Model 3 Performance)

my son is currently rock'ing a '22 Model Y Long Range and my brother-in-law the same…they both love their Tesla's

and other data - including a great report on now the vehicle got better over time due to OTA updates.

summary/TLDR;

Not as bad as some car people want to believe - not as good as Tesla fan boys want you to believe. all in all a decent car with some quirks.

 

[RCorsa]

I will say my 2022 electronics has been much better/faster than my 2021. Airplay pops up immediately, cameras and diver assistance systems all work great. Only issue I had was a single software recall and the interior alarm issue. Both fixed In 4 hours at the local dealership….

 

[Archimedes]

I have one problem with my 2022 Taycan 4S - Car play doesn’t always work right. I have one problem with my 2021 GT4 - Car play doesn’t always work right. I had one problem with my 2019 M5 - Car play didn’t always work right.

In fact, of the three, it’s now working best in the Taycan.

 

[thecoloradokid]

I will say my 2022 electronics has been much better/faster than my 2021. Airplay pops up immediately, cameras and diver assistance systems all work great. Only issue I had was a single software recall and the interior alarm issue. Both fixed In 4 hours at the local dealership….

Dave, thank you for sharing that the electronics on the '22 are more fluid than on previous iterations of the Taycan.

My '22 CT4s arrives at the dealership in 3 days, and I will be trading in my '21 4s. I am looking forward to more fluid PCM start up and operation in the new car.

 

[RCorsa]

I have one problem with my 2022 Taycan 4S - Car play doesn’t always work right. I have one problem with my 2021 GT4 - Car play doesn’t always work right. I had one problem with my 2019 M5 - Car play didn’t always work right.

In fact, of the three, it’s now working best in the Taycan.

Yep my wife has a 2022 X5 and CarPlay works about 90% of the time. Better than my 2021 Taycan but worse than my 2022

 

[FrozenRobert]

From the OP: Wow, didn't think I'd get 6 pages of responses! Thanks everyone for your input.

Upon reflection, here's some further notes:

TAYCAN

1. Contrary to others' posts (and I really feel for you guys) I have NEVER had a bad software glitch or OTA problem with my 2021 Taycan 4S (May 2021 build). The software interface has worked seamlessly 99% of the time, except when signal quality is poor -- but that's understandable and forgivable.

2. The Taycan is a truly a driver's vehicle. There is not a SINGLE day when I get into that car, even to run the most mundane errand, and I don't have a smile on my face. It's a blast. And it has been since day one.

3. I've had over 12+ Porsche OTA updates and again, no problems. Seamless integration. The only thing is the annoying "frau" voice that comes on to announce in a harsh schoolmarm tone about your Teutonic superiority.

TESLA

1. Definitely a low-speed "Comfortable" city car. Without the admittedly luxurious air suspension of the Taycan, the conventional coil springs just don't cut it for "comfort". Here in Canada, we get lots of frost heave and our roads are just a pothole delight. The Tesla transmits every tar strip, pothole, gravel clump -- you name it. I just can't get used to the interior noise. But at 35mph (50km) residential speeds, the interior is quiet and tolerable.

2. The interior is not worth the money. Especially with the recent price increases. I mean, everything is put together in that Scandinavian / Spartan "clean" manner, but it's just boring. At least the 2022 has a wood strip and they got rid of the piano black console material (it's matte now).

3. I know this is totally vain and superficial, but I get NO looks from anybody in this car. It's so bland and inoffensive. I feel like I'm a driver in a subcompact that's anonymous. Sure, I could get some wild wrap, but I don't intend on keeping it.

4. Software: Yes, +1 for Tesla on this one, the screen is fast, and I'm slowly getting used to the hierarchy of use. But I really would appreciate just a simple speedometer at the driver's line-of-sight. Just a small one. Please.

VERDICT:

FWIW I've decided to sell it while we're in this bizarro used-car universe where used cars are selling for MORE than new ones.

Again, even with a couple thousand miles on the odometer, I can flip this EV for a $8K-$10K gain. Possibly more. There is so much pent up demand for Teslas here in Canada it's insane.

A few more photos before I place the ad next week:

P.S. This last photo was hilarious: my GF was torn between the two cars, and I think she secretly lusted after the 1940's Dodge (?), but said the Tesla was "cooler".