Day after purchasing Taycan 4S Electrical system error and bricked car in the middle of the highway.

[Day1taycan]

As one who will be taking delivery of my Taycan RWD in a day or two, this is not welcome news that anyone one wants to hear that has a Taycan or will be taking delivery soon.
However, we are early adopters and as such there are bound to be some teething pains.

You speak of the engine fires in the GT3 with their 2014 991 GT3.They responded with a stop sale and replaced all the suspect engines. These replacement engines did not have the fire hazard, they just stopped working due to a poor engine design with finger followers on the variable cam. This was known as the E engine. Porsche tried to fix the issue and and on later 2014 and 2015 had a newer design to cure the finger follower oiling issue in their F engine. Unfortunately, this did not do the trick. Porsche replaced the F engine (when it failed) and on the 2016 MY with the G engine and essentially copied the RS engine with a smaller bore and stroke but a different oiling system than the previous two engines. These engines seem to be holding up. PCNA was approached by a group of forum members. Porsche (in a negotiation with the RL group) agreed to extend the engine warranty on on all 2014-2016 GT3 engines for 10 years or 120,000 miles, whichever came first. This sounds like a manufacturer that tried to make a bad situation tolerable.

Give Porsche some time to sort this out, the last thing they want is to have this new model's reputation tarnished. I am not trying in anyway to diminish the seriousness of a loss of motive power, especially on a highspeed highway. For those that have not yet ordered, you do not have to order. For those that are taking delivery shortly, you have the option to cancel. For those that have taken delivery, you also have options, whether it be to wait for fix or, use a lemon law equivalent or approach Porsche for compensation for loss of use etc.

At this point I don't want anything apart from my money back. This happened the day after receiving the vehicle. Whether I got a lemon or not I do not feel safe driving this car ever again.

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[RCorsa]

Are we certain this is a real post/real owner. Seems a little odd that they joined today and this is a first post. Just wondering what the reason for such a post would be if you’d never been on the forum before??

 

[Day1taycan]

Are we certain this is a real post/real owner. Seems a little odd that they joined today and this is a first post. Just wondering what the reason for such a post would be if you’d never been on the forum before??

I don't want to disclose too much info incase this turns into a legal issue. Don't know what resolution would be appropriate apart from refunding me.

 

[dckyoto]

A friend had a similar issue, and a similar angry response to yours, but the car went in, had a software update, something tweaked to do with the suspension and the error log cleared, and he's been driving it fine ever since and says he loves the car more than any other car he has owned.

 

[1AX]

Under 7 minutes as we werent able to get to a place to pull over.

A brand new car should clearly not have this issue but if it does have the issue and gives you 7 minutes of warning about it then you should probably take some responsibility for continuing your journey in the 'middle' of the highway...

The warning is there to warn you, why ignore it. At least pull to the side if there is no exit

 

[Filback]

So does the car stop very quickly when it dies or does it coast and you can just pull over?

 

[ljump12]

A brand new car should clearly not have this issue but if it does have the issue and gives you 7 minutes of warning about it then you should probably take some responsibility for continuing your journey in the 'middle' of the highway...

The warning is there to warn you, why ignore it. At least pull to the side if there is no exit

im a bit confused as well.This is certainly a serious issue, but I imagined it as completely losing power (without warning). OP seemingly says his warned him, then he drove for 7 minutes then died in the middle of the highway. This seems like an “acceptable” failure in that you receive warning and have time to manage the situation.

perhaps I’m misunderstanding it though!

 

[Day1taycan]

Not sure how long the time was exactly but certainly just a couple of minutes. I wasn't able to find a place or an exit to pull over before it shut off. And no it doesn't coast or anything it just comes to a complete stop and everything shuts off. Hazard lights should at least automatically come on if the car bricks. Can only imagine what would have happened at night.

 

[benver]

For what it's worth, I called my PC representative and asked him about the sudden death issue. He said over six hundred Taycans sold in Holland, not a single sudden death reported.

I wish we could get more hardware and software details about our car by simply pushing a few buttons...

My previous car was an Opel Ampera(=Chevrolet Volt). I used an OBDII dongle and accompanying software and could inquire every single module in the car to get a status report, including software version.

A few days ago the LTE icon disappeared, so today I rebooted the PCM.
Have a look at https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/pcm-engineering-mode-contains-pcm-reboot.5090/ where my wish above comes true

 

[manitou202]

Is you Taycan at the dealership now? I'll be curious to see what they say after investigating the issue.

If you are serious about having Porsche buy your vehicle back my guess is you are going to need to get in contact with Porsche North America. The dealership will not have the ability to simply buy the 4S back.

Edit: Two more things. You should absolutely get a loaner vehicle in the meantime if you don't have one already.

Are you a previous Porsche customer? Have you purchased vehicles from this dealership before? If so I would definitely use this as leverage. Most Porsche dealers don't focus on volume, they focus on long term customers. Niche brands need to rely on repeat customers.

 

[Day1taycan]

Is you Taycan at the dealership now? I'll be curious to see what they say after investigating the issue.

If you are serious about having Porsche buy your vehicle back my guess is you are going to need to get in contact with Porsche North America. The dealership will not have the ability to simply buy the 4S back.

Edit: Two more things. You should absolutely get a loaner vehicle in the meantime if you don't have one already.

Are you a previous Porsche customer? Have you purchased vehicles from this dealership before? If so I would definitely use this as leverage. Most Porsche dealers don't focus on volume, they focus on long term customers. Niche brands need to rely on repeat customers.

thanks for the info. So you are saying the dealership can’t just refund me? If it’s at the dealership I still haven’t heard. First time Porsche purchase for me. Any info on how to get in touch with Porsche NA?

 

[Dan3141]

Google the name of the Porsche USA CEO and SVP of support. Send email.
They will hold your car for 30 days and then issue refund (assuming you are in CA and lemon law applies). Very sorry to hear about this.

 

[manitou202]

thanks for the info. So you are saying the dealership can’t just refund me? If it’s at the dealership I still haven’t heard. First time Porsche purchase for me. Any info on how to get in touch with Porsche NA?

I'm not saying the dealership can't refund the money, but my guess is they won't. Once the car has been sold, Porsche North America would need to handle the buy back transaction. The only way I could see a dealership buying the car back without Porsche North America is if you were a long term client of that dealership. They would lose money on the transaction and would only do it to keep your business.

You can look at Porsche's website to try and find a number to call. Maybe someone else on the forum can provide a better method of getting a hold of Porsche.

 

[manitou202]

thanks for the info. So you are saying the dealership can’t just refund me? If it’s at the dealership I still haven’t heard. First time Porsche purchase for me. Any info on how to get in touch with Porsche NA?

Also, if you use the Porsche App (assuming you installed it and set it up) you can see where your car is located. I would get on that ASAP and make sure it's at the dealership. You are still responsible for the car at the moment and I wouldn't want it in possession of anyone but the dealership.

 

[D’Roc]

Are we certain this is a real post/real owner. Seems a little odd that they joined today and this is a first post. Just wondering what the reason for such a post would be if you’d never been on the forum before??

This did remind me of stuff my 17 y/o does; create an account with a name like Timmy (SouthPark reference) and lives in “the metaverse”. He and his friends post things just for reactions.
Folks on this forum are kinder and more believing than I am I guess. Best to error in the side of caution I suppose.

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