Cross Turismo – sudden power loss (anyone with similar problems)?

[stortebecker]

Collected a brand-new Cross Turismo 4S from the dealer early September.

A week later, I experienced almost complete engine power loss while driving and had to pull over and stop. No pre-warning or failure indicator was displayed at all. Car was checked by local dealer with no logs present at all in the system indicating an error. Hence, the Porsche dealer was not able to fix the fault.

5 weeks later, the exact same problem reoccurs. Complete loss of power. Kick-down in both and Normal and Sport mode with no acceleration whatsoever. The car is back at the dealership for a new checkup. Following about a week plus at the dealership for testing, the dealer reports back that they are unable to re-create the problem and hence asks me to collect the car. I have due to safety concerns declined to pick-up the car and I am now using a Macan courtesy car provided by the dealer.

The car has the latest software and accordingly the previous recall due to power loss issues (https://thedriven.io/2021/07/07/porsche-recalls-43000-electric-taycans-due-to-power-loss-issue/) should not be related as far as I understand.

However, would be very curious to hear if anyone in this group (following the recall/software update) has similar problems with either their Cross Turismo or Taycan, and if so, how the problem was resolved.

Furthermore, in my view, I find it very strange that the dealer is requesting me to collect a car with a material problem in light of the severe safety risk associated with a sudden power loss/engine failure.

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[jlee504]

man sorry to hear that. that’s my biggest fear. I also have a june ct 4s. no issues so far but keep us posted.

does it start right back up? is it like when your iphone just randomly restarts.

Collected a brand-new Cross Turismo 4S from the dealer early September.

A week later, I experienced almost complete engine power loss while driving and had to pull over and stop. No pre-warning or failure indicator was displayed at all. Car was checked by local dealer with no logs present at all in the system indicating an error. Hence, the Porsche dealer was not able to fix the fault.

5 weeks later, the exact same problem reoccurs. Complete loss of power. Kick-down in both and Normal and Sport mode with no acceleration whatsoever. The car is back at the dealership for a new checkup. Following about a week plus at the dealership for testing, the dealer reports back that they are unable to re-create the problem and hence asks me to collect the car. I have due to safety concerns declined to pick-up the car and I am now using a Macan courtesy car provided by the dealer.

The car has the latest software and accordingly the previous recall due to power loss issues (https://thedriven.io/2021/07/07/porsche-recalls-43000-electric-taycans-due-to-power-loss-issue/) should not be related as far as I understand.

However, would be very curious to hear if anyone in this group (following the recall/software update) has similar problems with either their Cross Turismo or Taycan, and if so, how the problem was resolved.

Furthermore, in my view, I find it very strange that the dealer is requesting me to collect a car with a material problem in light of the severe safety risk associated with a sudden power loss/engine failure.

 

[stortebecker]

man sorry to hear that. that’s my biggest fear. I also have a june ct 4s. no issues so far but keep us posted.

does it start right back up? is it like when your iphone just randomly restarts.

First time it happened, I pulled over as I lost complete power and parked. Locked and unlocked the car followed by pressing the power button (from what I can recall). Thereafter, the car appeared to work almost as normal (although I am not 100% sure as I drove only the last 300 meters/yards home and parked the car). The towing company came and was supposed to tow the car to the dealer (but as the car seemingly was functioning normally they asked me to drive the car to the dealer instead). Dealer believed the issue was related to potentially a low coolant level and refilled.

The 2nd instance, normal engine power came back after it was parked and restarted. Strangely, no fault indication whatsoever in the dashboard (or data to evidence the issue as per my Porsche dealer).

From what I can read up on, the issue seems similar to the earlier recall issue. BTW. Do you/anyone know if the earlier recall issue where people experienced sudden power loss had any advance warning or system notification triggered? (i.e. logged in the system).

 

[stortebecker]

man sorry to hear that. that’s my biggest fear. I also have a june ct 4s. no issues so far but keep us posted.

does it start right back up? is it like when your iphone just randomly restarts.

btw. both prior to both instances occurring, the engine did not react/behave as usual. There was a clear delay in power (seconds not ms) and very little power before complete power loss happened.

 

[jlee504]

wait there is coolant in the car???

 

[stortebecker]

wait there is coolant in the car???

yes, indeed. Used to keep the system temperature within range. Temperature is also indicated in the dashboard monitor.

 

[buhhy]

Did you end up getting a resolution to this issue?

 

[stortebecker]

Did you end up getting a resolution to this issue?

A resolution in the meaning of a final conclusion yes, but far from the desired outcome. I had two power loss faults (fortunately on local roads and not the highway) with about 5 weeks / 5000km (3000 miles) in between. As there was no failure/error indicated in the dashboard when the power losses occurred, the failures were not logged system-wise (and thus not visible to the technicians) according to Porsche. My only evidence was a video I took at the last occurrence with no acceleration whatsoever when pushing the pedal to the floor.

After about 2+ weeks at dealership for testing (ad-hoc use only as far as I could from the Porsche Connect app / km driven by dealer staff) they concluded that the CT, I quote, was in "normal" working condition and asked me to collect the car. I refused and given the local consumer protection act and having sought legal advice, I claimed that (i) I was entitled legally to cancel the purchase and return the car or (ii) get a new delivery with an equivalent car. The dealership and eventually the importer engaged a lawyer to assist them in the assessment and review, but the dealer still maintained their initial legal stance. My other argument was, of course, that I could neither re-sell the car without making potential buyers aware of the technical flaw and thus had a material unrealised loss.

After having declined to pick-up my CT once more and having contacted the head of the Taycan team at Porsche HQ / Germany, the dealer/importer finally conceded and offered to "purchase" the car at the nominal amount (i.e. the original purchase price). In essence the equivalent of cancelling the purchase but without accepting any liability for the fault. The CT was ordered on the initial launch date in March so it is indeed a very frustrating and sad experience - both having purchased what one expected to be a premium high-end German car and not least experiencing such a poor customer journey post-purchase (where I got the feeling that the team did not believe in my story as no data was logged). I now have to figure out what other car to buy. I obviously have no visibility what the dealer/importer's plan is with the car but sincerely hope that it is not resold to a consumer. Given relatively few CTs on the road yet, I would not be surprised if other customers were to experience similar issues. On a smaller, almost negligible point, the interior alarm issue was not resolved either although Porsche told me that a software update would fix the problem many CT owners experience with the interior alarm being triggered.

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