2020 Taycans still a good buy?

[Uknown]

Before you decide to ignore lack of plug & charge on a 2020, try to have someone demonstrate on a Taycan what is required to successfully do DC fast charging at an Electrify America site (not at the Porsche dealership). DC fast charging using credit card or app is not always as easy as it looks on many youtube demo videos.

It is possible per Porsche to get plug & charge on a 2022 by installing a higher capacity 19 kw on-board charger, but that is a costly upgrade.

Not saying don't get a 2020 model. Get informed about the reality of non-plug & charge DC charging, if you plan to do DC fast charging in your Taycan.

I have a 2020, and the only real issues I have had are when the charging station is offline or failed. Otherwise using the Porsche app, and cc have both worked fine. The shell app also has worked well.
The one sucky thing near me is stations are limited and imo fail often. Luckily I usually charge at home.

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[Uknown]

I currently recommend it. I had planned on placing an order last fall and waiting a long time… I bought a 2020 4s that was spec’d almost exactly as I would have. Cpo been great. Last time I was there Porsche Minneapolis had many options in my20 and my21 including a very nice turbo.

 

[Archimedes]

Plug and charge is great but not a deal breaker. All the charging stations take a credit card. No need to use apps. Pull up, plug in, swipe your card, and charge.

 

[andix]

There were a few flaws in the early models, but they should all be fixed by now (12V battery…)
Make sure you have the approved warranty, you might be still able to add this but the current owner has to do it.

Otherwise, actually the software makes the biggest difference between the years – and so far you can upgrade.

 

[Valen]

Go for the CPO it's the best option.

Last year, I was looking to buy a "new" one but got depressed by the waiting time and i ran into a 2021 4S CPO heavily optionned (58k worth of options) and couldn't be happier. The depreciation is higher on heavily optionned cars the first years so you can make a great deal and have a car that is as new.

About the 400 miles radius. As other said, you shouldn't limit yourself. It's not a deal breaker to make 800 miles if you find exactly the car you want. Sure it ll cost you a "day" but:
- Taycans are great roadtrip cars and you will enjoy the trip
- you will have more time to figure out how the PCM works
- you will keep this car for some time so don't make yourself regret something. For exemple if it has the "wrong" wheels you will see them everyday and slap yourself for not having made those extra 400 miles

 

[e92er]

Good point, I haven't really thought about it. Do you just trust that the car is as expected (which I guess CPO makes easier)? How would trade-in of my Boxster work in such a situation?

I was in a similar boat wanting to trade in my car to get a Taycan. Got the dealer offer which wasn't great, got a quote from Carvana and other online sites that weren't great. Sat on it trying to decide what to do when Carvana emailed they had upped my offer significantly. I accepted the offer and they came and got the car the next day from my driveway, signed my name in 4 places and took the check. Couldn't have been easier and I made 8k more than the dealer...
If you're just thinking about it, get a quote from them today and just wait a few weeks while you look for your Taycan.

 

[ben1]

As far as I know, there was an issue with the batteries in early 2020 Turbo and Turbo S Taycan's.
It uses another chemistry that causes a faster decline in state of health.
They changed it in later models. You find more info in the thread about battery state of health statistics.

So probably better to avoid those.

 

[madeyong]

Good point, I haven't really thought about it. Do you just trust that the car is as expected (which I guess CPO makes easier)? How would trade-in of my Boxster work in such a situation?

I had a really good experience buying a CPO from a Porsche dealer out of state and having it shipped to me in a covered trailer. Did all the paperwork via email. It had all the options I wanted for an amazing price. I asked the dealer to make and send me a personalized video walkthrough of the entire car before signing the paperwork showing me everything from the wheels to close ups of the seats, which they did no problem. It only had 3,000 miles on it and basically looked brand new. Great experience.

 

[AndiL]

As far as I know, there was an issue with the batteries in early 2020 Turbo and Turbo S Taycan's.
It uses another chemistry that causes a faster decline in state of health.
They changed it in later models. You find more info in the thread about battery state of health statistics.

So probably better to avoid those.

All Taycan models since the beginning do have the same batteries. Nothing changed there.

 

[ben1]

All Taycan models since the beginning do have the same batteries. Nothing changed there.

See here for more info:
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/baseline-for-hv-battery-soh-performance.12815/

 

[AndiL]

The SOH is a calculated value by the BMS. It does NOT show the real health of the battery, rather an assumption. No consequences can be read from these values. This is the information I got directly from Porsche employees working on the Taycan.

Nevertheless, the actual batteries did not change and are the same as I stated.

 

[andb]

The SOH is a calculated value by the BMS. It does NOT show the real health of the battery, rather an assumption.

I'm looking at two low priced cars, a Turbo S with 62k km from 07/2020 and a 4S with 30k km from 01/2020.
One is high mileage and the other is first month of production.

I'm thinking that the best way to know if there's any significant degradation is to fully charge and drive it until half of battery.

Or do you know any other way to check the battery health or maximum capacity left?

 

[DES_MX]

Not sure if something changed in the PCM hardware but all the earlier models (including the ones updated to latest firmware) show quite some lag when operating the PCM (as seen from literally all the review videos). At least in the 2023 model I have 0 lag and the system is extremely responsive - be sure to compare this if reaponsiveness if the multimedia and key car functions is important to you.
I.E. try some standardised routine like start up CarPlay, switch to PCM view, go to car settings, lower/raise suspension, go back to CarPlay, etc

 

[magnitude]

Ah, f*** it. There is a 2021 Turbo over 400 miles away that seems in perfect shape, and with pretty much all the options I want. I only have to compromise on the exact interior, but it's not a deal breaker.

Looks like I might just fly down this weekend and drive it back.

 

[bah1590]

By the way, does anyone know of another way to find used Taycans other than the Porsche Finder?

Cars.com. You can search the US. Not always up to date but pretty accurate.

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