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

[whitex]

Another Taycan owner on the forums had a similar issue as well… I do wonder how much the protective cover ended up being.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/damage-to-battery-shell.19325/

At least we are all questioning these costs now. I hope there is pressure for Porsche to have clearer guidelines to resolve these types of issues while making the costs reasonable. Especially since they are pushing hard towards EVs.

I am guessing Macan owners won’t be as forgiving with these types of things. Much more competition in EV SUV space.

I think some Porsche dealers got spoiled, milking people experiencing midlife crisis, trust fund babies, and other people with a lot of money and little expertise. Then came the pandemic, where every Porsche was sold over MSRP with people kissing the dealer's ring for letting them buy a car at only $25K over the sticker price plus forced options like paying thousands for dent protection packages or 3M upholstery treatment, or $3,499 for a GPS hardware you can buy on amazon for $15 like this:

This was not just high end cars. I noticed a local Toyota dealership started forcing "pulsating third brake light" option on ALL their new cars during the pandemic. They still do that today (at least every car listed on their website has this $399 option - it's ~$20 worth of hardware). I see so many Toyotas driving around with blinking middle stop light, every time I see one with license plate from that dealer it makes me angry that people got ripped off, as they were not given a choice not to have this installed (it is not an OEM option).

Then Porsche started selling to people with money, but earned money, i.e. they didn't get to have money by throwing it around. Economy started cooling off, but some dealers got used to the good times.

Dealerships like this one really reinforce the car dealer stereotype. They've always been around, but the recent pandemic has really made them go wild. Even sales people never learn how to actually sell if they have way more customers than product, so really their only job is to decide which customer they will sell the car to (which was absolutely the case during the pandemic). This is why I always prioritize finding a dealer who is direct and honest, even if I have to drive out of the way to do business with them. Also, don't forget to write good reviews for any dealer you do have good experiences with - reward honest, hard working businesses while informing other potential customers, I do.

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[D00notD00d]

Mentioned elsewhere, Tesla have been fitting a titanium shield battery protector to the Model S since 2014 and offering this free as a retrofit. I remember titanium sump guards being common on rally cars.

https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/blog/te...-shield-and-aluminum-deflector-plates-model-s

What is the Taycan battery protector material?

 

[Caraholic]

Mentioned elsewhere, Tesla have been fitting a titanium shield battery protector to the Model S since 2014 and offering this free as a retrofit. I remember titanium sump guards being common on rally cars.

https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/blog/te...-shield-and-aluminum-deflector-plates-model-s

What is the Taycan battery protector material?

Papermesh haha

 

[Jasper4S]

I called my insurer to tell them about the dent. Non official advice; don’t get it fixed. It is because of a rock, so it is probably insured (he and an expert have to double check when I’m initiating the repair). His words; If it voids the warranty and the battery breaks in 6 years we are looking at the same costs. So when you have a dent, you don’t have warranty anymore. Fixing it immediately is as expensive as fixing it when you get some red circles and can’t drive anymore. Fixing it for the sake of keeping battery warranty is in his words; capital destruction.

 

[Maelstrom]

They are in a service meeting at the moment where they are discussing the price of my repairs (I'll update when I know something)
So more for my sanity and potentially to document to Porsche NA this is where we're at:

1. Car goes in and they spot the 3.33mm dent
2. No errors and/or lights on the dash
3. $4.5k for the inspection - as it stands no diagnostic data just pictures of the dent on both the protection plate and HV tray
4. Estimate of $68.5k to replace the tray
5. Then advised it will be a further $6.8k to replace the protection plate and put my car back together in a driveable state (estimate to follow today so i can visualise what's needed)

Summary - this, to me, all seems like a hunch, there has been no visual inspection on the coolant lines and no diagnostic data to work from. I'm all for making data driven decisions but there is no actual data to work from - just the worlds most expensive pictures showing a dent in the undertray which COULD have missed the lines in question (longshot but possible)

 

[Vercingetorix]

Mentioned elsewhere, Tesla have been fitting a titanium shield battery protector to the Model S since 2014 and offering this free as a retrofit. I remember titanium sump guards being common on rally cars.

https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/blog/te...-shield-and-aluminum-deflector-plates-model-s

What is the Taycan battery protector material?

Titanium does not shield the battery itself. Aluminum does.

 

[Uknown]

The current protective layer doesn’t “sound/feel” very robust. There is a change to carbon fiber in MY25… I am curious what the tolerance and specs are on that vs the older ones.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

The current protective layer doesn’t “sound/feel” very robust. There is a change to carbon fiber in MY25… I am curious what the tolerance and specs are on that vs the older ones.

(Looking) Strange, I can’t seem to find any carbon fiber dent-pulling kits..

 

[Maelstrom]

Just got this:

I hope this message finds you well. Please allow me to introduce myself as the representative who will assist as the Executive Case Specialist for Porsche Cars North America (PCNA). Thank you for your correspondence to Porsche Cars North America executives, Glenn Garde and Christine Russell Fleischer. Thank you for the opportunity to respond on their behalf, and I will now serve as your point of contact on behalf of Porsche Cars North America. Your thoughts and opinions are of great value to us, and I can understand how disheartening this situation has been for you. Please accept our apologies for the delay in response to your email.



I’m very sorry to hear of the repairs needed in your 2021 Taycan Turbo S . I know this has been a great inconvenience, taken your time and this concern has caused you frustration. Your satisfaction is important to me, and I will also begin investigating the circumstances surrounding your concerns, but would ask that you please allow me the appropriate time to gather all of the necessary facts before providing you with a response. I assure you I will be working to find the most appropriate resolution to your concerns as expeditiously as possible.



We truly value you as a Porsche customer. Thank you for the opportunity to assist you in this matter.

 

[T4S]

Just got this:

I hope this message finds you well. Please allow me to introduce myself as the representative who will assist as the Executive Case Specialist for Porsche Cars North America (PCNA). Thank you for your correspondence to Porsche Cars North America executives, Glenn Garde and Christine Russell Fleischer. Thank you for the opportunity to respond on their behalf, and I will now serve as your point of contact on behalf of Porsche Cars North America. Your thoughts and opinions are of great value to us, and I can understand how disheartening this situation has been for you. Please accept our apologies for the delay in response to your email.



I’m very sorry to hear of the repairs needed in your 2021 Taycan Turbo S . I know this has been a great inconvenience, taken your time and this concern has caused you frustration. Your satisfaction is important to me, and I will also begin investigating the circumstances surrounding your concerns, but would ask that you please allow me the appropriate time to gather all of the necessary facts before providing you with a response. I assure you I will be working to find the most appropriate resolution to your concerns as expeditiously as possible.



We truly value you as a Porsche customer. Thank you for the opportunity to assist you in this matter.

This is great news. I am confident that PCNA will be able to resolve this issue. Usually when corporate gets involved, the issues experienced with the dealer get resolved.

If they ask for additional data, it may be helpful to point them to the forums. There are a lot of concerns pointing to the longevity and repairability of the Taycans based on your experience.

 

[Jasper4S]

The first response with a human touch. Not just about the facts and money

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

The first response with a human touch. Not just about the facts and money

“There is a template for that.”

 

[Maelstrom]

“There is a template for that.”

To be fair she did call out who I had emailed too

 

[Maelstrom]

Sorry for the quickfire posts - just had a call from my dealer stating that they'll match the insurance estimate now and it's basically giving me everything at list price.
So from $72.5k we're now at $46.1k - now this I don't think is a coincidence

 

[DerekS]

Sorry for the quickfire posts - just had a call from my dealer stating that they'll match the insurance estimate now and it's basically giving me everything at list price.
So from $72.5k we're now at $46.1k - now this I don't think is a coincidence

Haha good. This is probably a best case outcome; your car gets fixed, stays under warranty, and no lingering safety questions.

I am glad Porsche came through on this, eventually.

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