Taycan Turbo 2020, Electrical System Error Stop vehicle in a safe place

iltaycan

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I have been a Porsche enthusiast for a while or at least I was before I purchased a Taycan Turbo 2020 on 12/28/2020. My experience started being awesome as one could expect owning a Porsche! I loved the drive, the electronics, the sound system, all the options, etc... Very unexpectedly... two weeks into the ownership the issues started... I started getting this "Electrical system error Stop vehicle in a safe place" message when trying to start the car and the car would not start at all. At first I didn't think much of it after leasing many different German brands for over 25 years. So, I Googled the error and read that a simple switch off, lock the car and wait 15 minutes would clear the error; so, I did that and voila the error was clear and the car worked fine which I was OK since I had similar issues with other German brands many times. The issue started showing more often after a few days until about 3 weeks of ownership with 552 miles in the odometer the car would no longer start and had to be towed to a Porsche dealer. The tow truck driver tried to jump start the car 12v battery with no luck and we had to push it to move it around so he could get it on to the truck.
At first the dealer would not even give me a loaner; I quickly complained with Porsche NA and a Taycan 4S loaner was provided to me the next day. The dealer claimed diagnosis for these cars is slow and they had to be in close contact with Porsche of Germany. Three weeks after initial diagnose, the dealer sent me a text message indicating that a decision was made to replace the High Voltage battery on my Taycan and the order was placed with no ETA of deliver, but they would let me know.
I contacted Porsche of NA again and they told me I would get my car back some time in late March or April which I said it was unacceptable. I requested Porsche to at least take over my car payments while my Taycan was being repaired since apparently it was going to take around three months. So far today I still have not heard from Porsche NA or the Porsche of Atlanta dealer. May be I have been too patient and too nice with them, I have not called many times and I have not raised my voice even once and I have been very polite so far.

I have to say that I am a bit scared about driving the Taycan 4S loaner I have, but so far it is operating good. It had 200 miles when I got it and it now has a little over 1K. So far the only issues I had with this one was the trunk not always closing and while charging it, due to the car not releasing the charging cable. So far I have been able to get it released by pushing the main car start/stop button a couple of times which seems to reset the charging port and allows the release button to operate. The 4S loaner I have is pretty basic and has almost no options and less things to break.

I am posting this for two reasons:
One to inform the public about the issues that current owners like me are having with this product and weigh these real issues when making the decision of buying one. I deeply regret my decision of buying this car and I will do all that is possible in the law to return it.
The second reason I post this is to know if I am the only one person in this position or there are others. I read many bad stories and technical issues in this forum about this car that many users are having, but I am not sure how everyone feels about this, have we been taken advantage of by Porsche and should get together and do something about it or is this a normal situation and we should just accept it and go with the flow?
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caytan

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That is so bad. Did you look into the lemon law in your state? I would not be surprised if you have to get lawyer involved to get some results with them.
 

Mike in CA

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First, very sorry to hear of your issue. Unfortunately, your experience so far also does not speak very well of your dealer. There is absolutely no reason you should have had to go to Porsche NA to wrangle a loaner.

Group action can be successful but it's rare. I have some experience with this since my 2014 GT3 was involved in a stop sale due to engine fires in a couple of European cars which Porsche traced to poorly machined parts from a supplier. Ultimately, Porsche replaced all sold GT3 engines with brand new ones and compensated owners for the time out of service which in my case amounted to over $10K. The catch was that a coordinated, time intensive world wide effort by hundreds of owners was required to convince Porsche that monetary compensation was appropriate. A representative group of owners actually flew to Atlanta to meet with Porsche executives to make our case.

That's not to say that a world wide effort is needed to get you some compensation. It's fine that your dealer ultimately gave you a 4S but the problem is that you paid for a fancy Turbo and were give a plain jane no-option loaner. If you had a one week wait for your car to be repaired that would be acceptable but being without the car you paid for for 3 months is not. At the bare minimum, you should be compensated for the difference between the value of the car you're driving and the one you purchased.

If you choose not to go the lemon law route, I would start making phone calls, writing letters and working my way up the food chain at PCNA. You can be polite, but I think it's time to stick your foot in the door. Good luck.
 
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iltaycan

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Thanks everyone for your advice, I am not familiar with the lemon law, but I have a meeting with my attorney tomorrow afternoon to talk about this issue and see what are my options. It was a gorgeous car and I am sad to see it go for good, but I can see that most of you believe returning it or getting rid of it would be the best option here.
Chrisk - You are correct, the issue on the link you shared seems the same or very similar to what my Taycan experienced.
During the first two weeks I drove it I didn't experience any other issue and it droved and worked very nice. I never expected an experience like this from Porsche and such an expensive every day car, I guess you live and learn.
Porsche Taycan Taycan Turbo 2020, Electrical System Error Stop vehicle in a safe place IMG_9798
 


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iltaycan

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First, very sorry to hear of your issue. Unfortunately, your experience so far also does not speak very well of your dealer. There is absolutely no reason you should have had to go to Porsche NA to wrangle a loaner.

Group action can be successful but it's rare. I have some experience with this since my 2014 GT3 was involved in a stop sale due to engine fires in a couple of European cars which Porsche traced to poorly machined parts from a supplier. Ultimately, Porsche replaced all sold GT3 engines with brand new ones and compensated owners for the time out of service which in my case amounted to over $10K. The catch was that a coordinated, time intensive world wide effort by hundreds of owners was required to convince Porsche that monetary compensation was appropriate. A representative group of owners actually flew to Atlanta to meet with Porsche executives to make our case.

That's not to say that a world wide effort is needed to get you some compensation. It's fine that your dealer ultimately gave you a 4S but the problem is that you paid for a fancy Turbo and were give a plain jane no-option loaner. If you had a one week wait for your car to be repaired that would be acceptable but being without the car you paid for for 3 months is not. At the bare minimum, you should be compensated for the difference between the value of the car you're driving and the one you purchased.

If you choose not to go the lemon law route, I would start making phone calls, writing letters and working my way up the food chain at PCNA. You can be polite, but I think it's time to stick your foot in the door. Good luck.
Thanks so much for sharing this story Mike. Sounds pretty intense... What would be your suggestion here, return it (initial conversations with my attorney say that I can get out of it easy) or keep it and wait until it is fixed asking for some compensation from PCNA and knowing this issue will be on my car history? I agree that Group Action is hard and involves a lot of effort from many owners, but seems like there's a lot of issues out there.
 

NC_Taycan

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Keep in mind people are much more likely to post about negative experiences and problems. In all, I moved from a technology heavy Tesla to the Taycan specifically to get the vehicle platform, dynamics, drivetrain, and everything that makes a Porsche a Porsche, EV style. Do I realize sometimes Tesla is way behind on technology - yes. Does this diminish the smile from pushing the car - no. Do I wish we had to compromise like this - no, but am I willing to make this (would I do it again) - yes.
 

andrewket

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Keep in mind people are much more likely to post about negative experiences and problems. In all, I moved from a technology heavy Tesla to the Taycan specifically to get the vehicle platform, dynamics, drivetrain, and everything that makes a Porsche a Porsche, EV style. Do I realize sometimes Tesla is way behind on technology - yes. Does this diminish the smile from pushing the car - no. Do I wish we had to compromise like this - no, but am I willing to make this (would I do it again) - yes.
I think you meant Porsche is behind on technology and not Tesla? Typo?
 


daveo4EV

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I’m fine with Porsche being behind others in Technology - cause they have other “skills” - I just would rather they not try - rather than do it as badly as they‘ve done it in the Taycan...

if you’re behind - don’t release crap and pretend you’re catching up - focus on your strengths and then bring fully formed products to market - what Porsche has done is really really slap stick…and it’s starting to show.

OTA updates - ROFL - :CWL: - I’ll take $1 bets we never see an OTA update - and it’s not just technology for OTA updates - it’s mind set - software engineering process - culture - roadmap -porsche is too stuck in a model year mentality…and they don‘t do all their own software - most of their software is done by their supply chain - yeah releaseing sofwtare updates from 75+ different vendors - I wouldn’t release that either - testing and integration is a nightmare…
 

andrewket

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I’m fine with Porsche being behind others in Technology - cause they have other “skills” - I just would rather they not try - rather than do it as badly as they‘ve done it in the Taycan...

if you’re behind - don’t release crap and pretend you’re catching up - focus on your strengths and then bring fully formed products to market - what Porsche has done is really really slap stick…and it’s starting to show.

OTA updates - ROFL - :CWL: - I’ll take $1 bets we never see an OTA update - and it’s not just technology for OTA updates - it’s mind set - software engineering process - culture - roadmap -porsche is too stuck in a model year mentality…and they don‘t do all their own software - most of their software is done by their supply chain - yeah releaseing sofwtare updates from 75+ different vendors - I wouldn’t release that either - testing and integration is a nightmare…
You’re seriously making me rethink my pending purchase and keeping my Tesla. I wonder if Audi would be any different?
 

chrisk

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You’re seriously making me rethink my pending purchase and keeping my Tesla. I wonder if Audi would be any different?
I have owned 2 Audis and 2 Porsches in last 7 years. Audis always had a better infotainment, more user friendly and in generally all electronics of the Audi were better. So I expect that e-tron gt to have a better infotainment system. I am no sure about the online services. It is likely these will be at the same level as Porsche and years behind Tesla.
 
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caytan

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You’re seriously making me rethink my pending purchase and keeping my Tesla. I wonder if Audi would be any different?
You will be rolling the dice. I rolled it with lease on 2020 I did other day. I love how car drives, but I just hope I don't have these issues with 12v battery and dead main battery. Software on this car is just not good. On mine for example, voice command Hey Porsche worked on first day. Two days later, it does not. It says not available for language selected in the system... LOL

All connect crap they have on the car is not connecting. Nothing from the iPhone app works when car goes to sleep either.
 

daveo4EV

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I wonder if Audi would be any different?
have just spent a week with my friends audi eTron SUV
  • charger is identical hardware part numbers
  • many many physical parts are recognizeable
  • software looks different but has very simillar “features”
  • both vehicles connect/cloud features suffer greatly from unclear usage, bugs and a bizitine identity management system - I can ”see” the back end groaning and the un-necessary complexity
  • both vehicles have dual charge ports on each side of the vehicle
  • and many many many things are clearly x-pollinated between the Audi and my Taycan
  • the audi was delvered in a state where it COULD NOT charge - had to flatbed it to the dealer when it ran out of battery so they could apply and software update
    • the dealer apparently delivered the vehicle with 75% battery from teh factory and never plugged it in to see if would charge
    • that means it left the factory with firmware/software that for some reason prevented the vehicle from ever successfully starting a charging session
    • sales people and tech’s “insisted” “we were doing it wrong” and the car was not at fault
      • until they couldn’t get it to charge at the dealership
      • the same sales guys insisted to my friend the eTron could charge to 80% in 30 minute from a normal home outlet, cause he had been to the “training” with Audi where they talked about how fast the car could charge.
    • it took two days to get it fixed, and they had to “fly” in a tech with a special computer to ‘fix” the problem - no one at the dealership in silly-con valley knew how to update the eTron computer
  • my friends Audi “blue” is gorgous - I know because it’s exactly the same color as my Gentian Blue on my Taycan
so I’m thinking - no - it’s not different - it’s can’t be - VW/Audi/Porsche can’t afford the development cost to be different - any more than absolutely necessary to keep the product “separate” - everything that can be the same MUST be the same otherwise this will NEVER scale to VW/Audi/Porsche volumes…

NOTE: I respect what VW/Audi/Porsche are trying to do - they are trying to have 3 separate brands, but share development costs across different markets and prices points - this is hard - especially with a supply chain as complex as VW/Audi/Porsche - it’s a miracle they’ve gotten this far.

I’ve owned Tesla’s for 7 years - I can praise and slam them with the best of them - I appreciate the pros’ and I bemoan the con’s…equally

I’m divesting myself of Elon for the time being - but I may be back…

the Taycan drive’s better and has better physically attributes than TEsla - Tesla has superior software and forward looking/thinking culture, and is not risk adverse - they also are not trying to avoid tanking their existing business in ICE vehicles…so they are unreserved in their attacks…

if you want the best EV & Technology there is only one choice - Tesla - but it comes with baggage
If you want a better car that happens to be an EV - the Taycan will not disappoint you as a car, but might as a technology.

it’s a hard call - so far I still enjoy driving my Taycan ever day - but shake my head at the things it doesn’t do right that Tesla was doing 7 years ago - I’ve recieved 6 OTA updates for my 2017 Model X since taking ownership of my Taycan - each of them has make the X slightly better than it was before the update...the Taycan still can’t remember to leave regen on the “automatic” settings...

it’s a really really hard call.

my impression is Tesla is doing some things right, a lot of things wrong and everybody is behind the 8-ball here and we’re going through a transition - previous abilities are being flushed down the toilet, and new challenges are presenting themselves to everyone…assumption that your favorite car company will do it better/different than the other guys - well let’s just say that was true yesterday...

in the mean time porsche still knows how to make a physically great car with attention to physical details…
 
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KensingtonPark

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I am in a similar position soon. My car has been in the shop for over 30 days. I will be speaking with my dealer soon to see about a refund and perhaps a purchase of a 2021.
 

daveo4EV

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the difference between Tesla and Porsche is simple

Tesla is _ALL IN_ on EV’s - Porsche is not - this simple difference permeates every nook and cranny of the companies and will cause unintended consequences (good & bad)

Tesla is interested in making EV’s work at every level…Porsche is not - if you don’t believe me - just read this article

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/porsche-says-synthetic-fuel-could-181000252.html

I read this and say to myself - they are still “missing” the point - and BTW Hydrogen from renewable electricity - can you imagine anything less efficient.

Porsche is trying, but their heart isn’t really in it - because they don’t see this as something they want to do - TEsla wants to EV’s - Porsche is being forced to do EV’s...this truth guides all things.
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