The Porsche Taycan is my biggest disappointment this decade

[matthew230]

After 17 years in various BMW M3's and M4's, I bought my Taycan Turbo in November 2021. With a few thousand miles, and a few months old...obviously I had to pay well over the odds, at a time when nobody could produce any chips to build new cars.

Let's get this out the way...it looks great...I've no complaints about the pace and handling.

However...for a car that cost the best part of £150k...it is a total disappointment.

1) The ICE, sat-nav, all of that...so much better in a BMW. Stop asking me to log in, forgetting, then sometimes connect my phone, sometimes don't.

2) My car can't keep the windscreen from steaming up without full effort...in really icy conditions the centre of the screen might just stay condensated.

3) All the cameras have stopped working (I'm sure Porsche will sort this for a few thousand and at least 2 months notice to book it in)

4) There is a suspension creak on the left front that is a design fault, but Porsche still want £3k to fix it. Also, they couldn't look at it at all for 5 weeks.

5) It gets recalled for something or other, approximately 3 weeks...tbh I don't even bother booking it in.

6) Nobody else has got a ramp for it (alright not Porsche's fault, but it still grates)

7) The software is woeful...try switching the adaptive regenerative braking on...then having to set that every time you want it, as it forget every time it is restarted.

8) Although it only has 35,000 miles now, I think it is currently worth about £7.50. Ok again not Porsche's fault. but at least if it wasn't such a piece of crap that is going to go wrong more and more, I could just keep it longer.

Is it me...Have I just had a one off experience...or is this what Porsche Taycan ownership is like in general?

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[bwherry]

It's not just you.

You're not wrong about the software quality. I love the way my GTS ST looks and drives, but the infotainment quality and UX is really, really bad. Very disappointing. That's probably the main thing making me hesitant about buying another Porsche in the future (and makes me a bit worried about Porsche's survival, TBH, with the current and coming Chinese EVs). The endless recalls also suck.

I'm trying to think of other products/services that were disappointing to see how the Taycan compares... Ahh! My 2016 Tesla Model S P90D was even MORE disappointing: things constantly breaking, rattles, squeaks & buzzes, terrible service experiences (with different staff every time), Elon, ...

But Taycan probably second biggest disappointment. Now, do I regret the purchase? No, but only because there's no other fast, electric wagon available right now. If BMW made an electric M3 Touring I'd dump the Taycan and snap that up IN A SECOND. Audi electric RS6 Avant? Same. But for my needs and aesthetic preferences, the Taycan GTS ST is still where it's at.

(BTW my two previous BMW i3's were great and my current iX xDrive50 is delightful - which makes me quite excited for the reported all-electric M3...)

 

[Murph7355]

It's not just you. But it's also any make/model too.

You overpaid by the sound of it. A lot of people did back at that time. Makes depreciation even more galling I imagine.

Haven't used a BMW for any length of time, but having moaned a lot about the Porsche PCM, after 2yrs and 25k miles I actually think it's pretty good. Yes, there are things that could be so much better very easily (searching locally for music; steering wheel media controls; avoiding snarl ups in the satnav etc etc). But it's not horrific. And mine's been pretty stable.

I tend to have the opportunity to preheat the car most of the time so misting screens aren't an issue (being able to start this remotely whilst on the train is very handy). My aircon clears mine fully pretty quickly when I can't do this.

Cameras all work. Suspension's fine despite getting a pummeling on b-roads.

It's had a couple of recalls, but the dealer's always been great.

I love mine. Can't see me replacing it for some time.

 

[jmebid]

Hmmm… I’m thinking if you read forums about any given make/model out there people only take the time to shout out about any negative issues. This is one of those one in a… whatever number but the reality is that anything at any price is fallible.
I’ve had any and all high end vehicles and with the exception of Porsche (have had 15), have had issues with all of them.

Anything man made can and may let you down.

Enjoy the ride and forget all the other stuff

 

[Brombaer1971]

In general this is true und people have also a subjective view. However if I compare my 1.5 year Taycan ownership with my previous 2013 Audi S6 nearly 10 year ownership I can say I already had more safety callbacks and other issues. An active downgrade (the infamous 22KW charger) and lots of problems that just take some time to get diagnosed and finally Fixed (the satnav with the necessary preheating of the battery for fast highpower charging is problematic since Juli of this year. A posting in the german pff forum yesterday claims a fix is scheduled for Q2/2026 which I hope is not true.

However not all is bad, if the car runs it is really a blast to drive. If it doesn’t a gratis rental is supplied (not always EV, but this time I am on a base eMacan which is good). Going back to ICE for the daily driver, NO NO NO, won‘t happen.

I find it a real pity that Porsche does not ramp up better dealing with issues. On one Side they are having a hard time convincing people buying their cars on the other Side the service expectations of the owners are not met. Every time the quarterly Porsche magazine arrives at my footstep I do not know if I should be happy or cry.

Or as we say in germany: there is room for improvement.

 

[Dabz]

The common theme on these forums is that the car itself is great, the software/tech is not.
So as an EV vs Porsche EV choice, the Taycan wins due to its looks and Porsche handling, along with the prestige of the brand.
As a Tech purchase it was never going to compete with tech-led manufacturers and probably never will. We’re also in a huge development curve so new models will move on quickly - a bit like when home computers developed faster than anyone could keep up with.

Depreciation isn’t necessary Porsche’s fault. The market moves fast and that development curve means early adopters were always going to pay heavily. Same with solar panels, etc (slightly different as I recognise solar doesn’t have a resale value).

Personally the disappointment isn’t the tech or the recalls but is the lack of customer communication around them. The navigation is clearly completely screwed in the U.K/Europe and when I raised that I’m unable to navigate in my car I was just told “we haven’t heard of any issues” and that was the end of that. Just something I have to put up with.

 

[B61]

Welcome to the club…of best looking/driving car owners, with the most lousy software and more service visits ever
To be honest, J1.2 looks promising (after almost three months), but with J1.1 I was on service more times than with all my other cars in 40 years. And i never called towing service before.

 

[matthew230]

Thanks for the replies - I'm clearly not alone!

Things go wrong on all things, but there are more issues with this car than all the other decent cars I've had combined. I still have an X5, and if I need BMW to look at it, they'll do it tomorrow. Porsche want at least a month's notice.

Like everyone else, I love the pace and handling...but it isn't so much better than the alternatives that it makes the pain worthwhile.

Realistically, I don't do nearly as much driving as I used to, and probably would have addressed this sooner if my mileage was above 7k per year.

All premium cars are collapsing in price now, so I might chop this in for a new M4.

Anyone want a 35k mile Taycan Turbo, 2021, with creaky suspension?....Thought not

 

[CaptainJorg]

I also have a left front creak, what do you mean by design fault?
Porsche couldn’t reproduce it…

Bought CPO, value is amazingly high, but often think about how bad it would have been to buy it new…

 

[pjg03d]

Unfortunately part of it is luck of the early-adopter (and local dealer/service center quality) draw as well. There are tens of thousands of these cars on roads around the world; many thousands are happily driving along without any issues, racking up the miles without a care or angered forum post. Unfortunately for those that do have issues, it seems like they often cascade into months-long repair jobs. If you are out of warranty, whew, what a mess. I think some of your specific issues are well-known, some have seen easy fixes or are software oriented solutions (cameras, specifically; I have had mine all go out a few times and it is a known software issue) and some just outside of the manufacturer's control (local service center availability, depreciation etc).

The software is indeed a disappointment but I've learned to live with it. The lag in responsiveness is the most inexcusable 'feature' to me, just above the navigation system being less than stellar (and, somewhat even more shockingly, is that this continues per reviews of the 2026 ev Cayenne...wtf Porsche). My wife's 2024 Cadillac Lyriq integrates google maps seamlessly, it is completely responsive, SoC% on arrival to a charger when charging on long trips is perfectly accurate, Spotify integration is far better, etc; in a car we paid less than half for - and its 'infotainment' is still heavily criticized. Even more frustrating is that CarPlay initiates in a few seconds and integrates seamlessly in my Taycan, is very responsive and perfectly fast etc - but I want to use the native systems! I bought the meal, I want to eat it. But I knew all of this going into it, so I've learned to deal.

I just don't understand at all why there are 1-2 second delays in responsiveness in the PCM, in this age of tech. It feels like I am back on my Compaq Presario waiting for the hard disk to spin up. It operates like the CPU has no heatsink; like the components are shared with a 15 year old Amazon Fire Tablet. My little 5 year old, $10 google speaker at home is more responsive with voice commands. If I could swap in an LGA1151 motherboard and i9-9900k I have laying around somehow, I would.

This is in stark contrast to the 'get in the car' experience, as well - comfort access unlocks the car when I am near, I sit into the driver's seat and it auto-adjusts to my setting, the car and climate controls turn on without me touching anything and I am ready to drive - a crazy good experience I have had zero issues with. I don't miss inserting a key or pressing a button to start (the latter of which we have to do with the Lyriq). Thankfully there is little fiddling with the PCM needed on most days, and it's otherwise the best driver-experience car I've ever owned by a long shot. It's also the nicest to look at, so worst-case scenario it would be really amazing driveway art.

 

[FlyingPoint]

I have a completely different perspective. I have owned two Taycan (MY21 RWD & MY24 4S). After driving both about 40,000 miles, I have not had any significant down time with one exception on the RWD centering around an LTE connection in 2021. It was in shop for 30 days and PCNA compensated for the lost use, so no harm done. This was early on with the MY21 RWD. FWIW, my MY16 GT3 was down for a total of 9 months during '24 & '25 due to lack of parts availability. The experience was so disheartening, that I made the decision to sell the car a month ago. Point: This can happen to any Porsche.

The cars both drive very well, no motor or mechanical issues. Software is horrible relative to my Tesla - Porsche is just not in the same league. I try to ignore the software deficiencies, as I keep telling myself it is a "drivers" car not a computer on wheels.

I could care less about depreciation. As I have said many times, it made no sense to buy - only lease. I could write a book on why, with depreciation being the most important chapter.

I am sorry your experience was not up to your expectations, as I know how upsetting it can be.

 

[Brombaer1971]

Deprecation was never a topic for me as a 2nd hand buyer, but I know that luxury cars deprecate and the Taycan is a Business owner Leasing car and not a 911 Type Investment with big Return. But some things like the SATNAV are critical for me (long distance driver car in winter) and it not working correctly makes some paid options like the Headsets Display do not make much sense anymore. And especially if there is a working Software Revision for a higher model year which could be used but porsche doesn‘t want to pay the dealers time because without OTA this takes time at the dealer.

And sometimes I wish I would get proactive infos and not have to run after it all the time. This is what a Definition of luxury is for me, not being the secretary in the middle which tries to be updated all the time.

 

[kempez]

After 17 years in various BMW M3's and M4's, I bought my Taycan Turbo in November 2021. With a few thousand miles, and a few months old...obviously I had to pay well over the odds, at a time when nobody could produce any chips to build new cars.

Let's get this out the way...it looks great...I've no complaints about the pace and handling.

However...for a car that cost the best part of £150k...it is a total disappointment.

1) The ICE, sat-nav, all of that...so much better in a BMW. Stop asking me to log in, forgetting, then sometimes connect my phone, sometimes don't.

2) My car can't keep the windscreen from steaming up without full effort...in really icy conditions the centre of the screen might just stay condensated.

3) All the cameras have stopped working (I'm sure Porsche will sort this for a few thousand and at least 2 months notice to book it in)

4) There is a suspension creak on the left front that is a design fault, but Porsche still want £3k to fix it. Also, they couldn't look at it at all for 5 weeks.

5) It gets recalled for something or other, approximately 3 weeks...tbh I don't even bother booking it in.

6) Nobody else has got a ramp for it (alright not Porsche's fault, but it still grates)

7) The software is woeful...try switching the adaptive regenerative braking on...then having to set that every time you want it, as it forget every time it is restarted.

8) Although it only has 35,000 miles now, I think it is currently worth about £7.50. Ok again not Porsche's fault. but at least if it wasn't such a piece of crap that is going to go wrong more and more, I could just keep it longer.

Is it me...Have I just had a one off experience...or is this what Porsche Taycan ownership is like in general?

Having just stepped out of an MY23 (delivered December '22), I think you had a very early car with more problems than later models...but a lot of that is valid.

1. Never had any of these problems and mine was actually very reliable, quick and smooth. HOWEVER, last week a software update failed and I had a continual yellow dash warning about it which Porsche basically said "keep trying it and it *might* update and then it *might* go away, but they couldn't fix it! glad is is now back with them to sort out
2. So I get this in all of our new cars. Once water gets in it never gets out - dehumidifiers ftw. BUT never had any problem with de-misting
3. Rear camera appalling, but always work at least
4. Not had suspension creak...but did have a very annoying (*not ackerman*), type clicking at full lock that Porsche told me was 'normal' but IMO definitely was not
5. Agreed but I did book it in. The service timelines from Porsche, especially for a loan vehicle, are just terrible imo
6. My trusted local garages/wheel/tyre places had a ramp for it and knew how to treat it on the ramp
7. Adaptive regen braking is rubbish, I never really used it unless I weas in Sport+. But certainly the software side of things was not great
8. Porsche's strategy and general attitude to cars is woeful imo. They are also adding to their EV's depreciation curve by it.

I think you have had more than the usual bad experience, but maybe based on it being an earlier car as well, which exacerbated the amount of issues. My MY23 was a lot more reliable, but still had issues and recalls. But then, I've recalls in other luxory brands. VAG group however, are well behind in the software in-car world and it really shows imo

 

[Brombaer1971]

Oh, I should mention I have MY23 as well.

 

[nxdtravis]

After 17 years in various BMW M3's and M4's, I bought my Taycan Turbo in November 2021. With a few thousand miles, and a few months old...obviously I had to pay well over the odds, at a time when nobody could produce any chips to build new cars.

Let's get this out the way...it looks great...I've no complaints about the pace and handling.

However...for a car that cost the best part of £150k...it is a total disappointment.

1) The ICE, sat-nav, all of that...so much better in a BMW. Stop asking me to log in, forgetting, then sometimes connect my phone, sometimes don't.

2) My car can't keep the windscreen from steaming up without full effort...in really icy conditions the centre of the screen might just stay condensated.

3) All the cameras have stopped working (I'm sure Porsche will sort this for a few thousand and at least 2 months notice to book it in)

4) There is a suspension creak on the left front that is a design fault, but Porsche still want £3k to fix it. Also, they couldn't look at it at all for 5 weeks.

5) It gets recalled for something or other, approximately 3 weeks...tbh I don't even bother booking it in.

6) Nobody else has got a ramp for it (alright not Porsche's fault, but it still grates)

7) The software is woeful...try switching the adaptive regenerative braking on...then having to set that every time you want it, as it forget every time it is restarted.

8) Although it only has 35,000 miles now, I think it is currently worth about £7.50. Ok again not Porsche's fault. but at least if it wasn't such a piece of crap that is going to go wrong more and more, I could just keep it longer.

Is it me...Have I just had a one off experience...or is this what Porsche Taycan ownership is like in general?

After 17 years in various BMW M3's and M4's, I bought my Taycan Turbo in November 2021. With a few thousand miles, and a few months old...obviously I had to pay well over the odds, at a time when nobody could produce any chips to build new cars.

Let's get this out the way...it looks great...I've no complaints about the pace and handling.

However...for a car that cost the best part of £150k...it is a total disappointment.

1) The ICE, sat-nav, all of that...so much better in a BMW. Stop asking me to log in, forgetting, then sometimes connect my phone, sometimes don't.

2) My car can't keep the windscreen from steaming up without full effort...in really icy conditions the centre of the screen might just stay condensated.

3) All the cameras have stopped working (I'm sure Porsche will sort this for a few thousand and at least 2 months notice to book it in)

4) There is a suspension creak on the left front that is a design fault, but Porsche still want £3k to fix it. Also, they couldn't look at it at all for 5 weeks.

5) It gets recalled for something or other, approximately 3 weeks...tbh I don't even bother booking it in.

6) Nobody else has got a ramp for it (alright not Porsche's fault, but it still grates)

7) The software is woeful...try switching the adaptive regenerative braking on...then having to set that every time you want it, as it forget every time it is restarted.

8) Although it only has 35,000 miles now, I think it is currently worth about £7.50. Ok again not Porsche's fault. but at least if it wasn't such a piece of crap that is going to go wrong more and more, I could just keep it longer.

Is it me...Have I just had a one off experience...or is this what Porsche Taycan ownership is like in general?

I have had my 2020 Taycan 4S, which had 24000 miles on the clock, for just over a year now and have covered 10000 miles to date. Purchased from main Porsche Dealer (Teesside) with 2 years Warranty which I have not had to call on so far. I had the MOT done in October and it sailed through with no warnings. Tyre wear has been excellent with over 7mm tread on all 4 wheels on tyres that were not new when I purchased the car. Still get over 260 miles range on full charge and over 220 miles range on 85% charge. As winter is here I've started to use pre conditioning and it is so good to get in a warmed up, ice free car on these cold mornings. Yes, the Taycan depreciates but so did my previous EV an AUDI Q4 eTron. Most of my car's depreciation was on the one previous owner buy I paid £50k (including 2 years Porsche Warranty and 2 free services) for an amazing car that brings a smile to my face every time I drive it.

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