Impressions/thoughts after buying a used 2022 Taycan RWD in the USA (long)

[hifi239]

I purchased one of the very few pre-owned Taycans out there that was not a CPO from a Porsche dealer. Indeed, the 2022 CPOs are great deals and many have warranties effectively longer than a new car. I've had zero problems with the car and it is so much fun to drive. The build quality is evident.

- I have the steel suspension. It seems I have just the right depression at my driveway entrance to cause the front to touch unless I come at it just right. I got curb ramps until I can get the asphalt added. Sleeping policemen, and all other driveways I've gone over - no problem.

- Probably upon uneducated dealer recommendation, the car has both the 19KWAC and the 400VDC charger options, which, I now understand are pretty much useless and dead weight. It also has the mobile charger connect - also not needed because I can talk directly to the car about how it should charge from my phone, even when it is connected to a dumb L2 charger.

- I was surprised at the cheapness of the base steering wheel w/o the chrono option. Its the primary car-human interface and this is a Porsche not a Subaru. They should not have offered this cheap of a wheel as the default. It is thin and unexciting. I am considering trying to have it upgraded.

- This is my first car with electric steering. I find it doesn't feel as good as hydraulic at low speeds and on the highway while making fine adjustments . But I'm getting used to it. Of course that's required on all EVs.

- The Porsche navigation, especially voice guidance, is surprisingly good. But this is a mixed blessing because I also really like waze on carplay for the social messaging (a.k.a. police reports).

- The apple and spotify "streaming over LTE" music options are a strange feature. It seems maybe an attempt to copy the full Tesla connectivity that is their replacement for carplay. But the Taycan has carplay. What adult in 2023 out there has $100K for a Taycan but doesn't have a great phone and plan to stream into carplay or over bluetooth? To top it off, the connection isn't fast enough to reliably stream anyway. Probably some promotional arrangement like the stale Sirius radio.

- Speaking of media, the car seems to forget what I was listening to and starts each time with a "loading" message, and ends up at some starting point where I have to click a few times to get back to where I was when I parked last night. Why?

- The wireless charging dock is just a laughably dumb design. It requires perfect alignment, burns up the phone, and is hidden in an un-air-conditioned cubby. I have forgotten my phone 100% of the time getting out of the car. What I want is to put my phone on a console recess where I can see it, drive, and then grab it and get out. Not fumble trying to clip it in a place I can't even see from the driver's seat and then forget it is there after I close the armrest. I did read that other cars also haven't solved the wireless charging heating problem. But why? Wireless works great at home.

- When are high-end cars going to come with factory power taps at the mirror? I always drive with a dashcam and a detector. I'm afraid of going in there with the trim tools, but I will have to.

- "Optimized charging" doesn't do anything in the US.

- The charge profile/schedule system is confusing to program, but I realize what it's for. My power is the same price 24/7 and I have amps to spare, so I don't use it.

- There is no way to automatically stop DC charging at a particular SOC. So you have to keep an eye on it if you don't want to go over 85%.

- The car sat at the dealer for a while (we got a good price), and they let some rust form on the brake disks. It has taken a long time for the "first drive of the day - no regen" function to shiny up the disks. Still not sure they will ever break in correctly.

- It had fat 21" wheels, which I now see are really a cosmetic option, at least for the RWD. They look cool, but have shorter range, the tires wear out faster, the tires are more expensive to replace, and the wheels are easier to damage. They feel weird turning at low speeds. I downgraded to the 19's and stored the 21s, although it seems I'm the only one who likes the 19" aeros.

Sponsored

 

[Archimedes]

My car charges to 85 and stops just fine. Turn off direct charging and set to min charge of 85 percent.

Also, that’s surface rust from water. Normal for iron rotors. It will come back every time the car sits a while after getting wet. Has nothing to do with properly bedding in the brakes or not.

 

[hifi239]

My car charges to 85 and stops just fine. Turn off direct charging and set to min charge of 85 percent.

Not if your car is a Taycan. I said DC charging, not L2.

 

[Payton48]

Unless the DC charging station is really close to home or wherever you're going to park for a long time, it's probably not a big deal to go over 85% since you're going to do a bit of driving soon after.

 

[irrelevant]

The 400 v DC Charger option may be useful for charging at Tesla Superchargers, as they open up to non-Teslas. Hopefully Electrify America and others will do a better job of building out their network so it isn’t necessary to park with the Teslas while charging, but more options are better than fewer.

 

[Payton48]

- I was surprised at the cheapness of the base steering wheel w/o the chrono option. Its the primary car-human interface and this is a Porsche not a Subaru. They should not have offered this cheap of a wheel as the default. It is thin and unexciting. I am considering trying to have it upgraded.

I actually quite like the base steering wheel (I have the heated option). I find that when I drive my BMW or MB, I find their steering wheels overly large now. Not something I noticed before getting the Taycan.

 

[whan]

Re: wireless charging, I knew the OEM area sucked so I just double sided taped a magsafe here. Works great, just take phone out of pocket and easily stick it to the magsafe when needed. I pulled the cable tight against the passenger side of the center console that plugs into the USB port, so never really notice the cable

 

[SergeyIndy]

@hifi239, excellent write up. I would like to share my 22 RWD drive in a loaner over a few days and 750 miles that had steel springs, regular wheel, and 21-inch Spyders, and base interior in black.

- Steel springs were fine to me and no issues with approach over speed bumps or driveway, but nothing too steep

- 400DC now has life with Tesla opening up their chargers, you just need to wait when it happens in your area, so far LA and NY areas, with more coming to get the infrastructure bill money

- 19.2kW is indeed limited (+1) use unless you have a 100Amp circuit and actually need that kind of speed to charge at home

- Mobile Charger (+1) is not needed, correct, so many other superior chargers.

- Steering Wheel (+1) is super thin, uncomfortable, and to me was so hard as my hands hurt when got to the destination after 350-mile afternoon trip.

- Electric Steering is indeed different, but I did not have issues with it and blamed the steering wheel for the difficulty for micro adjustments at highway speeds

- Nav was not very good for me with route guidance (as in missing obvious ways to get to places directly), but it was not connected to any services, so I blame it on that.

- Media listening for me was on XM app on my phone and on each restart of the car, it would reconnect and continue playing with no issues as in it remembered the source and start playing where it was left off.

-Wireless charging did not use, but I understand that it does overheat, compartment is not vented, and now they removed the cell booster, so I see no reason to wirelessly charge and use it as a storage place at best (I did not see that you could turn off wireless charging, but you can flip the phone the wrong way

- "Optimized charging" doesn't do anything in the US, and thus confusing what it is and should not be shown in the US. +1

- There is no way to automatically stop DC charging at a particular SOC. So you have to keep an eye on it if you don't want to go over 85%. + 1, that is absolutely correct, you can stop it manually in the EA app for me or at the charger screen.

- Basic interior is just too basic with too much plastic, I had a 2014 Base Cayenne with base interior, and it was executed much better with softer more lux vinyl and less hard plastic.

- Pano roof is not tinted and heat rejecting enough, as I was baking in direct sunlight pretty well at only 50F outside.

 

[tchavei]

- It had fat 21" wheels, which I now see are really a cosmetic option, at least for the RWD. They look cool, but have shorter range, the tires wear out faster, the tires are more expensive to replace, and the wheels are easier to damage. They feel weird turning at low speeds. I downgraded to the 19's and stored the 21s, although it seems I'm the only one who likes the 19" aeros.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but "fat" wheels have a greater surface area which equals to better grip (on dry roads). If one bears in mind that even the base RWD has a stupid amount of torque and hp (476hp with pb+ and lc) then these "fat" wheels allow more torque/hp to be sent to push the car forward before the electronics kicks in to stop any slipping thus increasing acceleration.

Of course it won't be much noticeable since the RWD appears to be somewhat software limited in that regard to give the bigger brother (4S) even more room to breathe.

The "weird" feeling turning at low speeds has been described multiple times on this forum as the Ackerman Effect.

"You gotta suffer to look pretty"

In any case, thank you for your review

 

[WindsurfUS1111]

My single biggest complaint is the "thin" steering wheel on my RWD. My past MB's and Audi's had much nicer wheels on cars that were almost half the price.

If anyone has solved a steering wheel replacement, would love to know what they did and roughly how much.

 

[mr_robs]

Great real world feedback thread for a new or prospective owner. I appreciate some of the callouts here on certain items and expectations. All good information.

 

[Archimedes]

Not if your car is a Taycan. I said DC charging, not L2.

Why would you need to stop at 85 at a DC station? Are you going to be towing the car home?

 

[BMonte13]

I'm a little confused about the steering wheel thing. Pretty sure I have the base "thin" steering wheel. It's leather, it's smooth, I grab it with one hand...or two...or sometimes just a couple fingers, and it turns the car in the direction of my choosing.

 

[hifi239]

Why would you need to stop at 85 at a DC station? Are you going to be towing the car home?

I understand what you mean. An example, however, is where one does not or cannot have L2 at home, or does have L2 at home, but wishes to take advantage of the free EA charging. I have an EA charger five blocks away that is next to a walking path. Me and half the people I see like to take a walk during our free half hour while our cars are feeding.

 

[tchavei]

I don't have L2 charging at home either so will live off public AC and DC but in order to protect the battery as much as possible, you should try to charge as slow as possible (I'd say up to 50kw) and always keep it below or at 85%

Warmer climates will induce further degradation so treat your battery as good as possible.

Personally I'm doing a long term experiment with a smartphone (charging it like an EV) and to my surprise, the results are very encouraging just after 8 months. There's really something behind that 10%-85% guideline.

DC charging probably doesn't have configurable limits because nobody expects people being away from DC chargers too long and hogging up the place.

Sponsored