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

[Maelstrom]

Just got a notification from the app that my car has just been charged, I hope this means the bulk of the work has been done. They did state they'd be charging/discharging a few times

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[Maelstrom]

Is it normal for someone to take the car home from the dealership - it's showing as 10 minutes away from me in a neighborhood

 

[BullitX]

Is it normal for someone to take the car home from the dealership - it's showing as 10 minutes away from me in a neighborhood

Not at all. The car should be at the dealership, and any drives should be authorized. It’s definitely strange if it’s sitting in a regular residential neighborhood. Save the screenshots and keep an eye on it if it moves. Continue taking screenshots of its locations, and then ask about it when you pick up the car.

 

[Maelstrom]

Not at all. The car should be at the dealership, and any drives should be authorized. It’s definitely strange if it’s sitting in a regular residential neighborhood. Save the screenshots and keep an eye on it if it moves. Continue taking screenshots of its locations, and then ask about it when you pick up the car.

I thought as much, so much that could happen whilst not at the dealership - I'm tempted to drive over and see if its just parked on a driveway
Yet another instance of them just doing what the F they want, I saw where it was parked when I went to pick up my loaner and I can guarantee they didn't run it over the UVEye system as I didn't get a text message or anything
On the plus side, I guess my car is nearly ready - so I'll take that

 

[DerekS]

I thought as much, so much that could happen whilst not at the dealership - I'm tempted to drive over and see if its just parked on a driveway
Yet another instance of them just doing what the F they want, I saw where it was parked when I went to pick up my loaner and I can guarantee they didn't run it over the UVEye system as I didn't get a text message or anything
On the plus side, I guess my car is nearly ready - so I'll take that

I would be tempted to steal it back with my spare key after this bullshit.

My car is not a demo loaner for you to take home and show off.

 

[rim23]

I thought as much, so much that could happen whilst not at the dealership - I'm tempted to drive over and see if its just parked on a driveway
Yet another instance of them just doing what the F they want, I saw where it was parked when I went to pick up my loaner and I can guarantee they didn't run it over the UVEye system as I didn't get a text message or anything
On the plus side, I guess my car is nearly ready - so I'll take that

I had one “interesting” case with my BMW X5 back in 2021 - I reported a problem to our local Finnish dealer in Helsinki , left the car, and the service manager did a test drive. While he was doing that, he decided to go to his house to feed his dog. How I know? I checked the location of the car, was really shocked that it stayed some time in a private area and then it went back to the dealership. I told them and they said to me they did drive home and apologized offering full tank of gas as an excuse :facepalm

Those idiots can really do that with clients’ cars.

 

[rim23]

I would be tempted to steal it back with my spare key after this bullshit.

My car is not a demo loaner for you to take home and show off.

Don’t do that. I believe It’s still illegal even if it’s yours

 

[whitex]

The part that doesn't feel right is why there was no attempt to repair the coolant channel or explain why it couldn't be repaired.

No financial incentive for Porsche to create a diagnostics/repair procedures for a technician to follow to bring the car back to manufacturer's specifications. Worse, there is financial and business incentive for Porsche not to do it (Porsche makes money selling a new battery, their dealer is happy making even more money on the repair by applying standard 100% markup on parts + hefty hourly fee + shop charges + percentage of vehicle value surcharge + misc profits fees like shop supplies fees only charged to customers but not to manufacturer for warranty repairs). I guarantee you, if Porsche had to cover the costs of >3mm dents, there would be repairs, just like with all the battery recalls to date - bad sealant, possible shorting of a module, failed modules, etc - all have procedures which don't specify "just put in a new battery" but instead "repair the battery".

A similar example I went through on a Tesla. Their main infotainment units started having worn out its $8 storage chip. As long as the customer was on the hook for the repair post warranty (it usually failed 3-5 years in, but initial failure could be mitigated by reprogramming the storage and it was good for new more weeks or even months), Tesla charged $3,000 for the whole infotainment replacement. As soon as NHTSA declared it a safety failure (no backup camera), Tesla came up with a MCU circuit board replacement (instead of the whole infotainment unit) which were all replaced for free with a remanufactured board (the $8 chip was swapped for a new, better $15 one) while your old board went back in for remanufacturing (cost of which probably under $50 when done in batches). Side note, I swapped out the $8 chip myself on my car, because if failed after warranty but before Tesla made it a free recall, and I didn't want to pay $3K. However, most people are equipped do that. Below is a picture of what it took (from a howto I posted on Tesla forums back then)

For completeness, for a little while a few third party services popped up which allowed customers to ship the damaged board (after Step 2 above) for chip replacement for ~$500, so people who were brave enough to take apart their own car but did not have the equipment or expertise to replace a chip on a circuit board, could still repair it cheaper than what Tesla charged for it.

Now, who here is brave enough to fix their own Taycan batteries? Not it! At least not yet (never say never).

 

[BullitX]

@Maelstrom Just got me thinking, make sure they show you the bottom of the car when you are going to pick it up. Make sure it is flawless.

Just imagine them (accidentally) putting a dent in the bottom during their joyride and at your next service you are in this mess again…

 

[rb33gl]

Is it normal for someone to take the car home from the dealership - it's showing as 10 minutes away from me in a neighborhood

They'll no doubt argue it was part of a test drive. Running down the battery as part of a test or something.

Whatever, there's no way they should remove the car from the dealership premises without your consent. Their cavalier attitude towards you as the customer continues. As you say, they think they can do the f--k they want.

 

[Caraholic]

Is it normal for someone to take the car home from the dealership - it's showing as 10 minutes away from me in a neighborhood

I have had that happen before to try and diagnose and drain the battery. However I was asked if I was okay with this prior to them doing it.

 

[Jasper4S]

IMO it is normal to test drive after installing a new battery. They have to drain it a couple of times. Being in a residential area is normal, I would be worried if I saw it in shopping areas. Not sure if extra permission is needed. Personally if they asked my permission I would be surprised as I consider it standard procedure and I trust the guys working on my car. Taycans, Macans Cayennes and Panameras are no garage queens, so the extra couple of miles shouldn’t harm the customer

 

[Maelstrom]

They drained it earlier in the day - an 11 mile trip isn't really going to do anything IMO

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

They drained it earlier in the day - an 11 mile trip isn't really going to do anything IMO

I would be appalled at their lack of competence for not putting the car in privacy mode.

 

[Maelstrom]

Got a text from the dealership this morning - car is nearly ready, they are just going to do some more charge cycles and road testing. I haven't mentioned any of the above as I want to see if it happens again tonight and it's a conversation more for in-person. They did run it through the UVEye system and here's the result

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