Driver’s door popped open whilst driving!

W1NGE

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The most bizarre thing happened today that ended up being a little scary and a concern that it happened at all. I was driving home when the driver’s door popped open triggering the red warning alert and tone. The door did not open fully but the window dropped and the door was slightly ajar but still on the latch.

Anyone experienced this on their Taycan?
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The most bizarre thing happened today that ended up being a little scary and a concern that it happened at all. I was driving home when the driver’s door popped open triggering the red warning alert and tone. The door did not open fully but the window dropped and the door was slightly ajar but still on the latch.

Anyone experienced this on their Taycan?
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It does sound like owning a Taycan is similar to owning an Alfa :eek:
That sounds a very disconcerting experience.
 

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Is it possible there was a piece of clothing partially stuck in the door or something similar, so the door latched but didn't get a full seal? Were the conditions cold and/or possibly icy?

A door closing enough not to trigger a warning but still able to partially open (while remaining latched) usually happens when something get stucked between the seal.

I'd consider one time to be a fluke and nothing to be concerned about, just make sure the door shuts solidly. The fact that it remained latched and the alerts came on seems good.

If it happens again, check to make sure nothing was impeding the door and if not, take it in to get the latch checked.
 

raharris

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Im sure Porsche marketing will pitch it as a feature; just like the battery starts a pre-heat before you get to your charging destination; the car start to open doors as you get near to your destination as an exit optimization. :)
 


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W1NGE

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Is it possible there was a piece of clothing partially stuck in the door or something similar, so the door latched but didn't get a full seal? Were the conditions cold and/or possibly icy?

A door closing enough not to trigger a warning but still able to partially open (while remaining latched) usually happens when something get stucked between the seal.

I'd consider one time to be a fluke and nothing to be concerned about, just make sure the door shuts solidly. The fact that it remained latched and the alerts came on seems good.

If it happens again, check to make sure nothing was impeding the door and if not, take it in to get the latch checked.
Clear sunny and dry day (for a change) and no coat caught in the door.

The window was also sealed and no additional road noise so I'm 100% certain the door was closed fully.
 

PanameraFrank

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Let's be honest here, there's no way you could be 100% certain the door was fully closed. Who gets in their car and triple checks the door?

It's possible your latch is faulty enough that it jiggled over a bump or something allowing the door to partially open. I've known people with cars (not Taycans) that have had to have latches replaced.

But if it happened one time only, it's also just possible the door wasn't as shut as you thought it was.

If the Taycan had electronically opened the door, the latch would have disengaged. So either the door not fully closed or your latch being loose/defective are the two most likely causes.

I believe the window will drop if the door is forced open through any method, in order to prevent it from breaking due to the frameless design.

If it happens again I'd take it in right away, obviously. You could take it in and have them inspect the latch.
 
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W1NGE

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Let's be honest here, there's no way you could be 100% certain the door was fully closed. Who gets in their car and triple checks the door?

It's possible your latch is faulty enough that it jiggled over a bump or something allowing the door to partially open. I've known people with cars (not Taycans) that have had to have latches replaced.

But if it happened one time only, it's also just possible the door wasn't as shut as you thought it was.

If the Taycan had electronically opened the door, the latch would have disengaged. So either the door not fully closed or your latch being loose/defective are the two most likely causes.
I think I would know plus the car would complain if the door was not shut fully.

Agree it is probably a fluke or a pending latch issue but it's the only Porsche I've had in 26 years that has embarrassed itself this way.
 


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W1NGE

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Im sure Porsche marketing will pitch it as a feature; just like the battery starts a pre-heat before you get to your charging destination; the car start to open doors as you get near to your destination as an exit optimization. :)
Haha - you can't have soft close doors but we can make them pop open when you least expect it!
 

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This happened to @W1NGE ??? He is usually the guy on here who explains the things that people report, not the guy things happen to. ;)
 

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Haha - you can't have soft close doors but we can make them pop open when you least expect it!
This idea entirely depends on whether you have your car setup to only open drivers side door only on unlock but could it be that if the key was in your front pocket and you accidentally pressed on it causing an unlock event? Not even sure if the car would allow that to happen TBH but can def test I guess.
 
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W1NGE

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This idea entirely depends on whether you have your car setup to only open drivers side door only on unlock but could it be that if the key was in your front pocket and you accidentally pressed on it causing an unlock event? Not even sure if the car would allow that to happen TBH but can def test I guess.
Thought of that too but I'm set to open all doors at once and in this instance the door opened and not just unlocked itself.
 

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Let's be honest here, there's no way you could be 100% certain the door was fully closed. Who gets in their car and triple checks the door?
On most cars I'd agree, but with frameless windows, the windows only push up when the car thinks that the door is closed, right? So both driver and the car agreed that the car door was at some point closed...

Unless the driver was driving around with a partially open door AND a partially open window... but that is far louder than a closed window and something the average person would notice very quickly.
 

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The most bizarre thing happened today that ended up being a little scary and a concern that it happened at all. I was driving home when the driver’s door popped open triggering the red warning alert and tone. The door did not open fully but the window dropped and the door was slightly ajar but still on the latch.

Anyone experienced this on their Taycan?
As you know, I'm still waiting for Porsche to build me a Taycan, but I can share with you that Tesla Model S have had issues just like this, mine included (I've owned 4 Model S since 2013). The cause of random door opening always turned out to be a faulty door handle. With frameless windows the door handles are mostly electronic, mechanical latch is only a backup if electronic unlatching fails (heck, with the current Tesla cars they completely got rid of the mechanical handles, just buttons). At one point Tesla added a safeguard via OTA, that even if the external door handle signaled "open door" but the car was in Drive, the door would stay shut (but would open if the handle continued to signal and you put the car in Park).

The sucky part is that those can be hard to reproduce for service to fix. When it happened to people, they could not repro it so service would not touch it. Eventually the door handles fail completely though - with Tesla they often eventually end up presenting/unpresenting themselves for a few days 24/7, which brakes them dead, which makes it an easy service claim. Personally I just learned to fix the Teslas myself, when my door handle crapped out I took it out and found and fixed the wire that broke off, plus replaced all the proximity switches while I had it out since they are only $2 a piece and I already had the darn thing taken apart).
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