Broken heat pump and high maintenance costs 2-year maintenance

[JoH]

I had a defective heat pump electric header and, since the car is almost two years old, I asked for maintenance to be carried out immediately.
During this maintenance, a pressure test was performed and the air conditioning gas was replaced, which was charged to me.

In addition, the rear brake pads were replaced at 13,000 km (8,125 mi). This seems very early to me, as I have read everywhere that these brake pads can handle many more kilometers.

A service that should normally cost €725 excluding VAT ended up costing €2,350.

Shouldn't the gas always be replaced when replacing the heat pump?
Couldn't the rapid wear of the brake pads be a defect? And shouldn't the costs therefore be covered by the warranty?

Edited: heat pump, not the heat pump but electrical heater was defect

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[gamueller]

In the States we would say "ya got ripped off". No way brakes, in particular the rear, would be worn out on ANY car at 8k miles, especially for a car using regenerative braking.

 

[W1NGE]

I had a defective heat pump and, since the car is almost two years old, I asked for maintenance to be carried out immediately.
During this maintenance, a pressure test was performed and the air conditioning gas was replaced, which was charged to me.

In addition, the rear brake pads were replaced at 13,000 km (8,125 mi). This seems very early to me, as I have read everywhere that these brake pads can handle many more kilometers.

A service that should normally cost €725 excluding VAT ended up costing €2,350.

Shouldn't the gas always be replaced when replacing the heat pump?
Couldn't the rapid wear of the brake pads be a defect? And shouldn't the costs therefore be covered by the warranty?

Brake pads - how hard are you on the brakes?

I got 20K miles (2 years) and no replacement at the the 2 year service. I am a gentle driver and aimed to rely on motor braking where possible.

Heat pimp should be free on warranty.

 

[JoH]

The car was driven very calmly, with 80% of the mileage being commuting. That is very heavy traffic where you don't even have the chance to drive fast and brake hard.
As far as the air conditioning is concerned, it is not clear to me that the air conditioning gas always has to be replaced when the heat pump is replaced. The heatpump itself was a replacement under warranty.

 

[tomtom901]

My dealer mentioned on the 3 year service recently (50.000 km's) that the rear break pads are beginning to show wear, but they have not hit the indicator yet. As such, I did not approve replacement yet. When the indicator light comes on for the breaks, I will go to an independent Porsche shop to swap these out for half the money that the dealer asks.

 

[prj]

For the PSCB and Steel brakes you can get aftermarket brake pads from OEM suppliers (TRW, Brembo, Bosch, Delphi) for very little money. You don't need to go to Porsche to swap them, there's really nothing special about it.

If you have PCCB though? Enjoy your 2.5k EUR brake pad change.

 

[Dee]

As far as the air conditioning is concerned, it is not clear to me that the air conditioning gas always has to be replaced when the heat pump is replaced. The heatpump itself was a replacement under warranty.

The gas is always removed to work on the circuit, standard procedure.

 

[B61]

I had normal/standard brakes in my CT4…after four years, 65k km, no needs for replacement

 

[JoH]

The gas is always removed to work on the circuit, standard procedure.

Probably my first post was misleading, I had no defect heat pump, but a defect electric heater

WSD8 campaign was carried out under warranty: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2025/MC-11017927-0001.pdf

I cannot find in the technical information that the refrigerant R134a (gas) needs to be replaced.

Only the liquid coolant 00004330516 is mentioned when repairing the passenger heating for campaign WSD8.

 

[Scandinavian]

Probably my first post was misleading, I had no defect heat pump, but a defect electric heater

WSD8 campaign was carried out under warranty: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2025/MC-11017927-0001.pdf

I cannot find in the technical information that the refrigerant R134a (gas) needs to be replaced.

Only the liquid coolant 00004330516 is mentioned when repairing the passenger heating for campaign WSD8.

I think they have charged you far too much for the repair and service.

I now see that you had the cabin heater replaced WDS8 and that will certainly all be under warranty.

You may also have had the aircon gas topped up and for that the charge can be between 80 to 250 Euro depending on garage???

But rear brake pads to be replaced at 13000km sounds very wrong! Especially since you state that you drive quite carefully. I have 80,000 km on my car and have not had to replace any brake pads, but will likely have to at the next service which is the 6 year service. Seems mandatory at that stage??

Had you had an ICE car like a BMW M5 rear wheel drive it would be possible that the rear pads need changing at that mileage due to traction control. But then you will have driven it quite hard in acceleration.

What is the cost breakdown on your invoice. Is the main costs the new brake pads?

 

[JoH]

What is the cost breakdown on your invoice. Is the main costs the new brake pads?

2 year maintenance service € 750
Brake fluid € 180
Whiper € 185
Cleaning cooling holes and cowl plate € 170
Airco maintenance € 230
Replace brakepads and parking brake adjust € 890

So I assume all "normal" costs except the brake pads related costs.

 

[W1NGE]

2 year maintenance service € 750
Brake fluid € 180
Whiper € 185
Cleaning cooling holes and cowl plate € 170
Airco maintenance € 230
Replace brakepads and parking brake adjust € 890

So I assume all "normal" costs except the brake pads related costs.

Brake fluid is part of the service and priced in. I don't think you should be charged separately.

Challenge the pads and ask for a report on their state of wear.

Materials are cheap but Porsche labour rates are sky high.

 

[Scandinavian]

As said above, the labour rates are very high! Wiper blades normally cost about 70 to 80 Euros and fitting them is a few minutes. I am very surprised they did not quote you for all of this beforehand.

The 2 year service for the Taycan is basically change of brake fluid, change of cabin filter, new wiper blades and a general check of the car for prolonging the warranty after expiry of new car warranty. My invoices for this has been in the region of 500-600 Euros in total. Any extra work has been quoted separately and sometimes approved.

As an example how Porsche have tried to slam on extras was the first 2 year service. They quoted quite a large sum for checking the openable sun roof. When I told the service guy I had not found that feature on my car, could he please show me! The costs were directly taken off and the service manager apologised sincerely for their ””data system”” problem!

 

[gamueller]

As an example how Porsche have tried to slam on extras was the first 2 year service. They quoted quite a large sum for checking the openable sun roof. When I told the service guy I had not found that feature on my car, could he please show me! The costs were directly taken off and the service manager apologised sincerely for their ””data system”” problem!

They treat customers like they are idiots. They don't deserve our business.

 

[Scandinavian]

They treat customers like they are idiots. They don't deserve our business.

Well it is down to each dealer to set prices, since Porsche do not own them. They need to make up for the loss of all service revenue that was associated with ICE cars, especially a Porsche. Oil change, spark plugs, belts etc etc. But I guess the Porsche dealers are quite happy at the moment with all the recalls and problems that the Porsche EV have. Their income stream seem to have been saved, at least when you judge by the long wait times to book a service.

There is very little service requirements for an EV. We had a Tesla earlier for more than 5 years. The service requirement was brake fluid change (really check they said ) every 2 years! Wiper blades, cabin filter we could do ourselves. Only other maintenance costs were a set of tires and one tyre rotation.

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