High Voltage Battery Recall EXPANDED - ARB6 & ARB7

[Bryan]

I have asked my dealer about the battery recall since the car is in Germany right now for the brake line campaign and the answer was:

"We have no further information about additional recalls. We will do everything on your Tacan that is prescribed by Porsche Germany, everything will be fine."

Porsche probably won't recall the battery in Europe because consumer rights here are very weak compared to the US. Unfortunately.

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[whitex]

Related to the last point, the true impact of the potential battery short circuit on real customers is unknown (i.e., how many customers have actually had a battery short occur that started a fire).

Therein lies the problem. If you don't tell customers what the risk is, they will fill in the gaps with their own imagination. Heck, Porsche could have not even said much, but instead do what Tesla did, add a specific clause to the warranty that covers any fires caused by a battery. That calmed people down quite well. Porsche could have copied that move, unless of course they expect a lot of fires might happen before they get their act together to contain this situation, and cannot afford the liability. See what I did there, I filled in the gap in information from Porsche with a corner case my brain came up with. Vacuum of information always gets filled in with scary corner cases - hence a lot of people are afraid of the dark.

 

[whitex]

Porsche probably won't recall the battery in Europe because consumer rights here are very weak compared to the US. Unfortunately.

Interesting. A decade with Tesla and the only successful consumer protection cases that I ever heard of were all in Europe, whenever Tesla tried to pull a fast one (before they got really good at fine print). US folks were told we'd have to sue, and that will cost more than what we'd win.

 

[lcarron]

I have been without the car for 3 months due to a defect in the manufacturing. I should have the warranty extended 3 months at the minimum in my opinion. Considering I also had to pay insurance premiums on the car during those 3 months I couldn't use it I just feel they aren't doing enough to keep me as a returning customer. This is my 5th EV, the most expensive and the most recalled. Not the experience I was expecting when paying a premium. The car is amazing to drive, but the time to resolve recalls is unacceptable.

If you are paying a loan for it you should ask for a refund of it. Will they extend the loan by 3 months?

 

[Metoo]

I have a feeling that they are trying to minimize costs on battery recalls as much as possible until they are out of warranty, and then... good luck.

Sounds like a page out of Ford's book. The HVBJB of the Mach was admittely insufficient, resulting in it to welding open or shut, causing the car to either shut off completely while driving or not turn on the next time you tried started it. A recall was issued. However Ford found a way not to simply call all Mach-Es in for a battery replacement. Instead they created a software patch to detect high restistance and put the car in limp...whcih means it can still drive and not leave you stranded. This allowed Ford to make the real repair under warranty only. This allows many cars to fail after the warrant expires and Ford can get paid to fix it.

 

[GoDucksYellO]

If you are paying a loan for it you should ask for a refund of it. Will they extend the loan by 3 months?

I contacted Porsche North America and they are refusing to compensate me in anyway. I even asked if they could do something creative and they said no we don't do any type of compensation for warranty work. It's ridiculous and definitely not what I expected from a premium brand. I have had GM treat me better in the past when it was a manufacturing issue with a pickup truck than what I have received for multiple issues on this car from Porsche.

 

[whitex]

I contacted Porsche North America and they are refusing to compensate me in anyway. I even asked if they could do something creative and they said no we don't do any type of compensation for warranty work. It's ridiculous and definitely not what I expected from a premium brand. I have had GM treat me better in the past when it was a manufacturing issue with a pickup truck than what I have received for multiple issues on this car from Porsche.

Welcome to post-COVID world. Companies got spoiled by shortages of product, where they didn't have to do any customer service or selling - products were flying off the shelf (lots?), so they lost that skill completely (or learned customers will stay even if unhappy). I remember trying to buy a Taycan during that time. One Porsche dealer wanted a 15 grand just to take my take my name to put on a waiting list with zero guarantees I would ever get one (I am not kidding, the guy literally refused to take my contact info unless I agreed paid him $15K). I remember I had an internet company raise my rates, even though was on a term contract with them. When I called about about it, they said, "we don't really care, you can leave if you want to, consider your contract voided". I recently had my cell phone bill go up twice, even though, again, I am on a contract (indirectly, the government made them not offer contracts anymore, so they spread your trade-in value over 24 or 36 months, so if you leave early, you just traded in previous generation iPhone for example for just a few dollars). Funny thing is, I've been with that cell phone provider for decades now, they only started pulling shit like this now. I used to recommend them to people, since they've always been a premium provider (costed a bit more than others, but you could always get a human customer service who would resolve your issue, however rare, call you back when done, rather than you having to call back multiple times and talk to a computer) - it seems most of it evaporated over the pandemic (I remember spending hours on the phone having to straighten out their mistake billing, smack in the middle of COVID).

I think it will take a significant downturn of the economy for businesses to rediscover customer service (and rehire people who know how to provide such service). US economy is due for a downturn (the market is increasingly irrational, like during the dot-com bubble). Nobody knows when the market will downturn, but perhaps next year we'll start seeing customer service return. As a side note, there are still a few businesses which care about customers, lucky for me the Porsche dealer where I service my car is one of them. I've always held good customer service very high on a list of reasons to patronize a business, willing to pay premium prices for good, honest service. By good customer service by the way I don't mean free stuff, like free swag, or lattes and scones at the dealer, I mean honest communications (e.g. if you don't know, tell me you don't know), honoring made deals / contracts, and admitting if they made a mistake - mistakes happen, I'll work with you if you own it. I left Tesla after a decade of driving them (4 Model S'es) primarily because they started to screw their customers with fine print (that infotainment screen that yellowed after 9 months is a wearable item, your own fault you exposed the screen to sunlight and oxygen). They used to have stellar service before the Model 3/Y came out. I remember them being open and honest about stuff, and you know what, I didn't care if the loaner car they gave me was partially disassembled, they asked if that's ok, I said sure, if that gets me in the shop faster, why not, I don't care if the one door is missing an inside panel. I also remember the shop foreman driving my car to my house and pick up my loaner on a few occasions - my house was on his way home, so why not, he turned it in for me the next morning. The relationship was based on trust - they don't screw me, I don't screw them, and yes, I get they are in this to make money, as is every business.

So I guess if you like good customer service, you're rooting for a recession.

 

[DerekS]

One Porsche dealer wanted a 15 grand just to take my take my name to put on a waiting list with zero guarantees I would ever get one

Absolutely outrageous. I've never been treated like that at any dealer, especially not a Porsche dealer.

 

[Bryan]

Interesting. A decade with Tesla and the only successful consumer protection cases that I ever heard of were all in Europe, whenever Tesla tried to pull a fast one (before they got really good at fine print). US folks were told we'd have to sue, and that will cost more than what we'd win.

In Europe it's impossible for a private citizen to sue a big corporation, that's why the european car companies are so incompetent. It's appaling.

 

[whitex]

In Europe it's impossible for a private citizen to sue a big corporation, that's why the european car companies are so incompetent. It's appaling.

Who can sue big corporations then? Only other corporations and governments? How do private citizens resolve issues, say a business took their money for a job but never completed the job, or violated the contract in some other way (say caused damages while doing the work)?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Who can sue big corporations then? Only other corporations and governments? How do private citizens resolve issues, say a business took their money for a job but never completed the job, or violated the contract in some other way (say caused damages while doing the work)?

The government. (It is Europe, after all.)

 

[whitex]

The government. (It is Europe, after all.)

And government refuses to fight for your rights in the contract you have with the business, do you get to sue the government, or you are out of legal options at that point?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

And government refuses to fight for your rights in the contract you have with the business, do you get to sue the government, or you are out of legal options at that point?

It is the government- it always fights for your rights. Not only that, it knows best - so if you think it’s not fighting or doing the right thing, you’re wrong.

 

[lcarron]

I contacted Porsche North America and they are refusing to compensate me in anyway. I even asked if they could do something creative and they said no we don't do any type of compensation for warranty work. It's ridiculous and definitely not what I expected from a premium brand. I have had GM treat me better in the past when it was a manufacturing issue with a pickup truck than what I have received for multiple issues on this car from Porsche.

if you are based in the us get a lemon car lawyer and they will do the work. It is worth trying and it will cost you nothing.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Recommended watching: jump to about 20min in for how they work with PAG, how PCNA often has no idea; 22:50 in for the segment on Taycan batteries.

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