Underbody Protection Panel damaged. Batteries and coolant lines need inspection. $72.5K replacement & labor cost. Dealership is Tom Wood in Indiana

[Vercingetorix]

If it's logged and more of this kind of damage has or will happen then they might start to see a trend, this isn't about ranting, data alone may make them realize there's an issue

Spontaneous denting? You had to have done something whether you noticed it or not. Or it’s an act of vandalism.

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[Maelstrom]

Spontaneous denting? You had to done something whether you noticed it or not. Or it’s an act of vandalism.

It's not vandalism it's something that's come up from the road and hit it - and lets be honest, that's something that can happen to anyone at anytime with such a low slung car. The dealer noticed no scrapes etc. so nothing has been driven over and dragged under it - it's an impact plain and simple. My opinion is that this plate needs to be stronger. Perspective is a dent on the underbody around 6mm wide and 3.33mm deep is in danger of totalling a $115k car (200k new) with 7k miles

 

[Vercingetorix]

It's not vandalism it's something that's come up from the road and hit it - and lets be honest, that's something that can happen to anyone at anytime with such a low slung car. The dealer noticed no scrapes etc. so nothing has been driven over and dragged under it - it's an impact plain and simple. My opinion is that this plate needs to be stronger. Perspective is a dent on the underbody around 6mm wide and 3.33mm deep is in danger of totalling a $115k car (200k new) with 7k miles

What I’m saying is unless you can specify what hit you, you have no idea whether or not any amount of shielding would have prevented it. And at that point without knowing what it was what would Porsche be expected to do? I’m wondering if something may have rolled under and caused the dent. Something akin to a 5x1 bar of material or wood that was laying flat and somehow was kicked up to be 5” tall while under under your car instead of 1” tall laying flat. ___ then / then___.

 

[Maelstrom]

What I’m saying is unless you can specify what hit you, you have no idea whether or not any amount of shielding would have prevented it. And at that point without knowing what it was what would Porsche be expected to do? I’m wondering if something may have rolled under and caused the dent. Something akin to a 5x1 bar of material or wood that was laying flat and somehow was kicked up to be 5” tall while under under your car instead of 1” tall laying flat. ___ then / then___.

I get what your saying but the're a bit extreme given the small nature of the dent, it could've simply been a stone, at speed things hit harder - this is my point, if they have or get more calls/info about this happening then the extreme thought lessens (law of averages etc.). My point is letting them know gives them data, and the more they get then the more informed they are to make data driven decisions

 

[Vercingetorix]

I get what your saying but the're a bit extreme given the small nature of the dent, it could've simply been a stone, at speed things hit harder - this is my point, if they have or get more calls/info about this happening then the extreme thought lessens (law of averages etc.). My point is letting them know gives them data, and the more they get then the more informed they are to make data driven decisions

Pretty sure they already have your data through the dealer.

 

[Maelstrom]

Well, the apraiser is going out this week to do the estimate - so I guess I'll know at some point later this week. I am curious to see how many cells they're replacing. I'm asking the dealership for a copy of the estimate tomorrow

 

[Uknown]

That is absolutely insane. For many of us that repair value is dangerously close to totalling the car, based on current resale value.

This vehicle doesn’t even appear to have been in any kind of an accident - just driven.
WTF, Porsche!

This is absolutely a dealbreaking flaw in the Taycan design. Tesla resolved this a decade ago by shielding the battery pan with titanium.

This is a major achilles heel to the Taycan and it gives me quite serious pause about my planned upgrade to E-Boxster.

I agree this sucks. I would probably fight this some. That doesn’t even appear the be a big hit,

On the off chance - does anyone know a number at Porsche to call about this? I want to vent my frustration on that underbody protection panel not being fit for purpose. My logic for this is that the impact mark is pretty small and with no drag or scrape marks it's clear something has just come up off the road and done this.

Stupid idea but what about reaching out to Kyle and the out of spec crew… they may have more contacts and Porsche NA won’t even give you the time of day likely … this is totally on the face of it a design flaw. Saying this without data…

 

[Uknown]

It's not vandalism it's something that's come up from the road and hit it - and lets be honest, that's something that can happen to anyone at anytime with such a low slung car. The dealer noticed no scrapes etc. so nothing has been driven over and dragged under it - it's an impact plain and simple. My opinion is that this plate needs to be stronger. Perspective is a dent on the underbody around 6mm wide and 3.33mm deep is in danger of totalling a $115k car (200k new) with 7k miles

This is a really small dent, in a ICE car it would dent some metal, no one would care. Or a muffler would need to get work done.

 

[Uknown]

Was dent just in protective shield, or in battery too? I was considering buying a 2025 if the deal was good enough,.. this feels like a design flaw that gives me pause for a new purchase.

At highway speed it doesn’t seem like it would take much to get a 3mm dent in under side.

 

[Singularity]

It had caused a small dent in the battery as well.

I have to say this is the single most concerning issue in the Taycan at the moment. However if this was a common occurrence we would have already seen a lot more of this. So even though it's concerning, I also see this as extremely unlucky.

What was interesting to hear is that the 3mm threshold only applies in the center of the underbody and increases to 10mm toward the edges. That is good to hear as otherwise this would be absolutely ridiculous (if one doesn't already qualify it as such).

I already only rarely drive the car in lowered mode as normal mode is what I usually use but this is certainly food for thought whether driving in lowered mode should be avoided. There was also the tire wear issue (lowered mode can cause higher tire wear if the wheels haven't been tuned in that mode).

 

[T4S]

I agree this sucks. I would probably fight this some. That doesn’t even appear the be a big hit,
Stupid idea but what about reaching out to Kyle and the out of spec crew… they may have more contacts and Porsche NA won’t even give you the time of day likely … this is totally on the face of it a design flaw. Saying this without data…

Sorry to hear about the issue. It is quite scary to think that a small hit, that didn't even puncture the casing or cause any error codes on the display, would result in a full battery replacement. I second the idea to try and get in contact with Kyle and the Out of Spec crew. A quick search on his channel showed he has not talked about any similar issues.

Unfortunately, this is not only specific to Porsche, but to other EVs too (examples below). However, we should expect better quality and durability from Porsche.

$60,000 to replace battery. The battery costs more than a brand new car! (youtube.com)

$60,000 to replace battery // 2nd IONIQ 5 case confirms battery price! - YouTube

 

[Boss Hogg]

Was dent just in protective shield, or in battery too? I was considering buying a 2025 if the deal was good enough,.. this feels like a design flaw that gives me pause for a new purchase.

Gen2 2025 cars have a different underbody, they are made from glass fibre composite.

 

[DCYL725]

I think the media will have a field day with this story. If this spreads like wildfire and causes further EV sales to go down, Porsche will have to play ball and change their practices and standards.

They want to keep their prices and margins? Sure, but no one will insure this car nor will consumer's buy it.

Whatever happened "the modular design of the battery". Unless I don't understand English properly, modular means "constructed with standardized units or dimensions for flexibility and variety in use.".

With Porsche China sales down hard, the company and their shareholder's can not afford to have more issue's that can disrupt their revenue trajectory.

There is leverage here to this story and things must change, or else the future of EV's are doomed.

 

[DCYL725]

It had caused a small dent in the battery as well.

I have to say this is the single most concerning issue in the Taycan at the moment. However if this was a common occurrence we would have already seen a lot more of this. So even though it's concerning, I also see this as extremely unlucky.

What was interesting to hear is that the 3mm threshold only applies in the center of the underbody and increases to 10mm toward the edges. That is good to hear as otherwise this would be absolutely ridiculous (if one doesn't already qualify it as such).

I already only rarely drive the car in lowered mode as normal mode is what I usually use but this is certainly food for thought whether driving in lowered mode should be avoided. There was also the tire wear issue (lowered mode can cause higher tire wear if the wheels haven't been tuned in that mode).

then just change the battery that was dent.

Isn't that the point of having a modular design.

I smell so much bullshit from both the Dealer and Porsche North America because they only care about their own profits. it's easier and more profitable to charge for a new battery than it is to replace/repair what looks like one impacted section. And how many pouches does this car have?

This is ludicrous and no business should get away from this predatory practice.

 

[BigBob]

Gen2 2025 cars have a different underbody, they are made from glass fibre composite.

I get why lighter is good. But is glass fibre more robust than steel? My empirical evidence of watching F1 cars falling to bits after a little tap makes me wonder (tongue in cheek)!

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