Is Porsche using cheap materials?

[whitex]

I've had my Taycan a month, 4K miles, my headlights look more beat-up (small pits all over0 than a 5 year old Tesla with 50K miles on it, with which it shares the garage. My 8 year old Tesla I just sold had headlights in a better shape! Has Porsche always used this low of a durability headlights plastics, or is this some new idea to boost profitability, their "road to 20" project?

 

[DCYL725]

can you post a pic?

 

[logic]

The angle (placement) of the headlight is more likely the reason.

 

[whitex]

can you post a pic?

Sure. I cleaned the light below as much as possible before taking this picture. All that dust/dirt you see are tiny scratches.

To be clear, I don't wrap my cars, I realize there will be an occasional stone ship. I buy my cars to drive them, not to pamper them, but I was really surprised how quickly Porsche headlights seem to wear, compared of other cars I've had.

 

[whitex]

The angle (placement) of the headlight is more likely the reason.

Didn't they test them for millions of miles, and if so, why not make the headlights out of glass, or whatever other material will withstand the damage due to the placement of the headlights? Or did they test glass headlights, then replaced them with cheap plastic to "optimize costs"?

 

[DCYL725]

Didn't they test them for millions of miles, and if so, why not make the headlights out of glass, or whatever other material will withstand the damage due to the placement of the headlights? Or did they test glass headlights, then replaced them with cheap plastic to "optimize costs"?

Imma go check mine now. Probably similarly messed up as yours lol.

will annoy me for one hour then realize there's nothing I can do ..

 

[tutis]

I wouldn't worry about it, this will have nearly zero impact on the performance of your lights.

If you are desperate to correct this, then a polish compound for headlights and a microfibre cloth will get this solved in a hurry.

 

[whitex]

I wouldn't worry about it, this will have nearly zero impact on the performance of your lights.

If you are desperate to correct this, then a polish compound for headlights and a microfibre cloth will get this solved in a hurry.

Neh, not planning on fixing it, especially that it would be something I would have to do often. I was just curious why the headlights "wear" so quickly compared to pretty much any other car I've owned.

 

[driver69]

This whole “road to 20” thing is ridiculous. They’re openly saying “we’ll milk you all”

 

[tchavei]

I wouldn't worry about it, this will have nearly zero impact on the performance of your lights.

If you are desperate to correct this, then a polish compound for headlights and a microfibre cloth will get this solved in a hurry.

It will have impact for me since here, all cars are required for a yearly (or two in two years until they're 8 yrs old) inspection once they reach 4 years of age and beams are the #1 reason for flunking in the inspection. Ignoring the cost of a "re-inspection" and a proper "headlamp" polish, it will be a nuisance if they degrade so quickly. Lately they even measure light intensity differential

 

[W1NGE]

I've had my Taycan a month, 4K miles, my headlights look more beat-up (small pits all over0 than a 5 year old Tesla with 50K miles on it, with which it shares the garage. My 8 year old Tesla I just sold had headlights in a better shape! Has Porsche always used this low of a durability headlights plastics, or is this some new idea to boost profitability, their "road to 20" project?

I doubt it but suggest holding back from vehicles in front (I'm paranoid about this stuff) as this looks to effectively be road rash on the headlights. Normal to get something but that looks quite severe.

Porsche won't make the lights and doubt it's of a lower grade per se given the use case for headlights but possibly the units are lighter to trim weight and with that comes softer materials.

 

[DCYL725]

This whole “road to 20” thing is ridiculous. They’re openly saying “we’ll milk you all”

That’s what happens when you become publicly listed.

 

[Atipical]

That's awful. Fortunately I got my headlights PPF'd but I still discovered a couple of nasty dings on the headlights during the last wash. The big thing that baffles me is how easily the windshield gets banged up. I have an obscene amount of chips and scratches on my 4-month old car. The fronts of these cars are just so vulnerable since the car is so low and the hood/bonnet is so aggressively sloped downward.

 

[JAGMAN]

It only takes a few unlucky moments behind a sand or salt truck to cause this or some other event that put sand or gravel onto the road. Two identical cars, driven similarly, could have a very different level of patina if you got stuck behind a sand or salt truck for even a short amount of time.

Or it could be soft plastic. If you put ppf over them now, the sand blasting will all but disappear.

 

[Tooney]

My PPF installer would not put PPF on Taycan headlights. Said covering Porsche headlights is a no no. Also, from manual: