EU/UK: Ongoing navigation issues

[pioneer_nl]

Previously, i had a contact with smartmobility. They contacted in behalf of me with Porsche AG and the recommended solution was upgrading to 3885. They also wrote this to my Porsche Centrum , however Porsche Centrum denied to implement this as this is not a solution

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[smoothound]

Previously, i had a contact with smartmobility. They contacted in behalf of me with Porsche AG and the recommended solution was upgrading to 3885. They also wrote this to my Porsche Centrum , however Porsche Centrum denied to implement this as this is not a solution

I had the same smartmobility response here (UK) - but my OPC is following PAG orders and I am booked in for the 'update' on 20th Feb........ Probably a waste of a day.....

Wish there was consistency across PAG/Mobility/OPCs, even if it is a 'cant fix right now, you'll have to wait'. ...... I mean, I can live without the charge planner and use google maps for nav - without too much bother - it's a First World problem TBH..

I note that a previous poster on this thread received an update via their OPC, and now has nav pack 2026.1 ......Mine is 2025.12 ... not sure if that means 2026.1 has a fix?...

but most people seem to find the update becomes useless after a few days/weeks .. I guess I will go through the motions (in both senses) without any expectations - and report here afterwards...

 

[Jasper4S]

I had the same smartmobility response here (UK) - but my OPC is following PAG orders and I am booked in for the 'update' on 20th Feb........ Probably a waste of a day.....

Wish there was consistency across PAG/Mobility/OPCs, even if it is a 'cant fix right now, you'll have to wait'. ...... I mean, I can live without the charge planner and use google maps for nav - without too much bother - it's a First World problem TBH..

I note that a previous poster on this thread received an update via their OPC, and now has nav pack 2026.1 ......Mine is 2025.12 ... not sure if that means 2026.1 has a fix?...

but most people seem to find the update becomes useless after a few days/weeks .. I guess I will go through the motions (in both senses) without any expectations - and report here afterwards...

You have the December map overlay, and I have the January one. It’s just map data, not an update to a navigation app. There’s nothing to worry about.

 

[smoothound]

You have the December map overlay, and I have the January one. It’s just map data, not an update to a navigation app. There’s nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the clarification J - good to understand what that pack number means thanks...

I'm not worried at all .. it's not so important for me, personally - I hardly use nav or planner - charge at home and mostly just pootle around ... last long trip was around a year ago. Cheers

 

[Leccy61]

@Matt-Taycan says his is now working fine, but his car has no meaningful different versioning with mine which has not been in for this issue and is crashing at will. The big difference is he believes his had a new PCM, if that’s the solution great, but surely it would be different hardware (e.g. with more RAM).

I‘ve pushed back on smartmobility asking them to confirm that the TI for a software update with bug fixes/stabilisation they say mine should be booked in for really is the solution, pointing out that for others it doesn’t seem to have been. Interesting to see what they say.

 

[smoothound]

I‘ve pushed back on smartmobility asking them to confirm that the TI for a software update with bug fixes/stabilisation they say mine should be booked in for really is the solution, pointing out that for others it doesn’t seem to have been. Interesting to see what they say.



Great stuff - very interested in their reply!

 

[Tooney]

Is "smartmobility" something more than call center reps who provide canned answers to callers?

Do "smartmobility" employees have hands-on experience with Taycans?

Is "smartmobility" an equivalent to the apparently operable thermostat in the office building installed to 'resolve' HVAC problems?

 

[Leccy61]

No, no, probably. They can apply £credit for Porsche Connect and spending at a Porsche Centre when things go wrong though.

 

[Leccy61]

When the Porsche Centre contacts me I'll ask about the solution...like what the software update consists of, is it a first step before hardware. Car was in for 4 year service 6 weeks ago, seems the PAG TI isn't a proactive thing.

"I appreciate the concerns you have and whilst I cannot guarantee a permanent solution, this is the information provided by the necessary team in Porsche AG. I have reached out to the Service Manager at your preferred Porsche Centre and asked him to contact you to arrange an appointment. At the same time, I have provided him with the instructions from Porsche AG."

EDIT: Good reminder that Porsche is not set up for the new world. Flagged issue using the app, picked up by a smartmobility agent who gets instructed by PAG, they come back via email a day later, they pass it on to a booking agent for the group my centre is part of, they know how to make bookings but vague on what it's about, repeat it all to them, car eventually booked in. At least they told me an outstanding 12v battery recall will be done at same time.

In the new world this could have been an app service chat, issue resolved remotely or booked for service visit at my home or in a service centre.

 

[smoothound]

When the Porsche Centre contacts me I'll ask about the solution...like what the software update consists of, is it a first step before hardware. Car was in for 4 year service 6 weeks ago, seems the PAG TI isn't a proactive thing.

"I appreciate the concerns you have and whilst I cannot guarantee a permanent solution, this is the information provided by the necessary team in Porsche AG. I have reached out to the Service Manager at your preferred Porsche Centre and asked him to contact you to arrange an appointment. At the same time, I have provided him with the instructions from Porsche AG."

I guess that's reasonable since the advice/instruction comes form the source - thing is - if you refuse to take it in - I guess you have no come-back for continuing issues... so its a Catch-22 - hope it works out for you (and us) - cheers

 

[V8Turbo1974]

I’ve read some of this thread and picked up lack of memory as a possible cause. I did my own testing and whilst not foolproof, I find Nav resets way less frequently if I have the Google satellite view turned off. I also found lack of data signal does weird things to it too, when the online radio drops out for example, the nav sometimes freezes too.

 

[Jasper4S]

The specialist at my Porsche center diagnosed the issue as a RAM problem. The problem arises because backend changes and OTA updates alter the API responses. Consequently, more map data, including charging information and traffic hazards, is sent to the PCM, which is now handling a larger volume of data. This overload causes the PCM to crash. To mitigate this, the specialist recommends turning off the Charging Planner to reduce the size of the responses and turning off the satellite view to free up memory.

While these measures provide a temporary solution, they are not a permanent fix. The OTA update for the BMS is too busy managing data, and they either need to revert the changes or update us to a new build of the navigation app.

The fact that Skoda and Audi forums describe the same problem confirms this expectation. The backend is providing excessive data. This also explains why it’s an EU-specific issue. In the EU, there’s likely a vendor for that data that’s sharing too much information. For instance, a charging point supplier that shares too much data (in bytes) can cause VOWA navigation systems to crash.

 

[pioneer_nl]

The specialist at my Porsche center diagnosed the issue as a RAM problem. The problem arises because backend changes and OTA updates alter the API responses. Consequently, more map data, including charging information and traffic hazards, is sent to the PCM, which is now handling a larger volume of data. This overload causes the PCM to crash. To mitigate this, the specialist recommends turning off the Charging Planner to reduce the size of the responses and turning off the satellite view to free up memory.

While these measures provide a temporary solution, they are not a permanent fix. The OTA update for the BMS is too busy managing data, and they either need to revert the changes or update us to a new build of the navigation app.

The fact that Skoda and Audi forums describe the same problem confirms this expectation. The backend is providing excessive data. This also explains why it’s an EU-specific issue. In the EU, there’s likely a vendor for that data that’s sharing too much information. For instance, a charging point supplier that shares too much data (in bytes) can cause VOWA navigation systems to crash.

Most probably this issue caused by ARB6 recall. Before that patch, i had no issue

 

[Leccy61]

The specialist at my Porsche center diagnosed the issue as a RAM problem.

Do you think the mothership looks into and potentially develops a solution based on satellite diagnoses? I would imagine the least favoured option would be hardware change, but from what you say a software change wouldn’t be easy.

 

[Matt-Taycan]

@Matt-Taycan says his is now working fine, but his car has no meaningful different versioning with mine which has not been in for this issue and is crashing at will. The big difference is he believes his had a new PCM, if that’s the solution great, but surely it would be different hardware (e.g. with more RAM).

I‘ve pushed back on smartmobility asking them to confirm that the TI for a software update with bug fixes/stabilisation they say mine should be booked in for really is the solution, pointing out that for others it doesn’t seem to have been. Interesting to see what they say.

Yes, i would say that it is now working fine. As well as its ever worked. None of the rebooting, no freezes and no losing the destination every 20 minutes.

The terminolgy used on the paperowork to desctibe the work undertaken was "Replaced Central Computer"

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