Advice on Buying Used Taycan 4S

[genobandino]

I'm looking at a 2021 4S from an independent but highly rated dealer. They say the vehicle is CPO but is that meaningful if it's not Porsche certifying it?

Are there specific questions you'd recommend I ask the dealer, either on tires, battery, range at full charge, OTA updates, electrical, etc?

Are there other things I should be considering as a first-time Taycan buyer? (I've had a Tesla Mod Y for several years so am familiar with EVs).

Many thanks in advance for any tips!

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[vitavalka]

Three most important things would be:
- check all recalls, and let them finish them before you buy
-- biggest known issues: front brake hoses, heating module, fanblades wheels rust
- ask about the battery state, as a faulty cell might block you for months
- let them do software updates, so you get current version

 

[Scandinavian]

I'm looking at a 2021 4S from an independent but highly rated dealer. They say the vehicle is CPO but is that meaningful if it's not Porsche certifying it?

Are there specific questions you'd recommend I ask the dealer, either on tires, battery, range at full charge, OTA updates, electrical, etc?

Are there other things I should be considering as a first-time Taycan buyer? (I've had a Tesla Mod Y for several years so am familiar with EVs).

Many thanks in advance for any tips!

Short answer: Don’t buy!

Longer answer: Do not buy a Taycan that has not got a CPO warranty.

 

[PNWTaycan4S]

Short answer: Don’t buy!

Longer answer: Do not buy a Taycan that has not got a CPO warranty.

I agree, only buy a used Taycan with a Porsche CPO Warranty, do not buy one with a non-manufacturer warranty. Porsche Certified Pre-owned | Porsche USA Less chance of arguments over payments when taken to a Porsche dealer. You can also extend the Porsche CPO warranty at an additional cost should you choose.

 

[SergeyIndy]

1. CPO must be through Porsche, and you need to have a go to dealership if you plan to own a Taycan, since recalls need to be handled through them.
2. Ask for full record of recalls completed or outstanding and share with us and we can walk you through them.
3. Ask for full record of anything replaced under warranty.
3. Share when vehicle was put in service, full spec with miles including tire brand and type of tire so we can advise on tire questions and service levels. First service is 20k miles or 2 years.
4. Ask to measure SoH (state of health) of the battery and share with us so we can compare if it is in the normal range. If not, there is an easy way to measure on your own, and we can help you with that.

The trend seems to be that 2021 and 2022 have more issues than 2023 and 2024, that is why CPO is important, so you are covered for any failed components such as the Heater or Radiator fans that are replaced with revised versions.

 

[celerity]

Hi! Maybe consider a Porsche pre-purchase inspection (PPI) for added peace of mind. Taycans are fantastic cars—good luck! ?

Oh and they can then do a battery health report !

 

[genobandino]

Thank you so much for this fantastic information and guidance! Here’s what I’ve learned so far…

WARRANTY: There are 5 months left of factory warranty. Should I be able to get an extended warranty from Porsche or third party? Or is a real CPO the only option?

RECALLS: According to CarFax there is 1 recall outstanding (unspecified). According to NHTSA, there are 2 outstanding: ARB6 (battery module inspection) and ARB0 (front brake hose compression inspection)

WARRANTY REPAIRS: I spoke with the original Porsche dealer that sold and serviced the car for the original (only) owner. No warranty replacements. The only out-of-the-ordinary things they said were o0n service record was replacement of a tire due to flat and two incidents of wheel repair.

VEHICLE: Put in service April 2021 with 20 miles. Tires are Continental ProContact RX 305/30/21. All but the replaced flat appear to be original. Current dealer says there’s ~5mm of tread depth and no signs of uneven wear.

BATTERY: 79kWh. Dealer says they don’t have capability of doing SoH. Should I ask to take it to nearest Porsche dealer (2 hrs away) as part of the above suggested PPI (and perhaps they can do SW updates?) and/or do something myself?

One more question - does anyone know whether I can charge at home using my Tesla wall charger and an adapter without any degradation to Taycan battery?

Many thanks again!

 

[SergeyIndy]

Warranty: I think since you are inside the original warranty, CPO by the Porsche dealer should be the way to go and that would include the PPI, so quote that and use it as a negotiation to lower the price. Let us know what they quote so we can tell you if it is reasonable. I know others purchased 3rd party warranty, but I would not be comfortable since there is no way to sort through the legal language what is covered. CPO base coverage gives you 2 years and unlimited miles and can be extended to more years.

Recalls: Those 2 are the most relevant. Other recalls are minor such as charger cable (APB6). Brake Hose recall comes with free brake fluid flush, so you are saving on that at your next service internal, which will be 4 years in April of 2025. If you do go for the CPO, proactively ask them to order parts of the Brake Hose recall (ARB0) and ask for PSM module software update (WPK0) for better braking logic.

Tires: Based on what you are reporting, they are in good shape and the best all-season tire out of the 2 available.

Battery SOH: Porsche dealer should be able to do it for you. If not, then all you do is get a OBD reader and free CarScanner app and you can do it yourself. You can DM me and I can help you with setup and read of the SoH. This is the smaller battery (PB), so be sure you are good with the range and it charges slower than the larger battery. I think 200 miles is probably the best you can do in a 4S with a smaller battery but others might have better real world data on that. Also, 10% loss in the first 10k miles of the SoH is expected.

Charging at Home: Lots of info on this on the forum. My understanding that the Tesla charger works just fine with an adapter. Taycan maxes out at 11kW (not going into 19.2kW option discussion) so if you have a 60Amp circuit that goes to your charger that will provide 48Amp to the Taycan resulting in 11kW.

You have not shared how many miles? That would be important to check against battery degradation threshold in case it has excessive loss of capacity. The first warranty milestone check is 80% at 37.5k miles. That is why we highly recommend OBD for reading SoH periodically.

 

[genobandino]

Thanks so much! Car has just over 22k miles and dealer is asking $69k.

I'm not clear on how I could use Porsche CPO as negotiation on price? My understanding is Porsche would have to buy the car from the dealer and then sell to me? Presumably with healthy profit for themselves?

OBD reader is a great call - thanks!

 

[SergeyIndy]

Thanks so much! Car has just over 22k miles and dealer is asking $69k.

I'm not clear on how I could use Porsche CPO as negotiation on price? My understanding is Porsche would have to buy the car from the dealer and then sell to me? Presumably with healthy profit for themselves?

OBD reader is a great call - thanks!

I would call the dealer and ask them to quote the cost of CPO. Porsche dealer does not have to buy the car to CPO it. I sold my Macan Turbo privately that was 8 years old and 72k miles and out of any warranty and I asked my dealer to CPO it for the next buyer at their expense. The buyer paid for 2 years of CPO and then spend a little more to make it 3 years. The dealer made money on CPO labor but they did not buy a car from me to sell it to the buyer.

My suggestion is to quote CPO labor then say hey reduce the price as condition of sale from the dealer you are buying from. There is really no risk here as the car still has original warranty, anything found through CPO process can be handled under warranty. I do not know if this is a good price as others on the forum are better to advise on that.

 

[jbdan]

Battery SOH: Porsche dealer should be able to do it for you. If not, then all you do is get a OBD reader and free CarScanner app and you can do it yourself. You can DM me and I can help you with setup and read of the SoH. This is the smaller battery (PB), so be sure you are good with the range and it charges slower than the larger battery. I think 200 miles is probably the best you can do in a 4S with a smaller battery but others might have better real world data on that. Also, 10% loss in the first 10k miles of the SoH is expected.

Doing some research on CPO Taycans before pulling the trigger on one and came across a comment from about 6 months ago that surprised me. Is the statement above saying "10% reduction in battery SOH is to be expected in the first 10,000 miles" accurate? I drive a 2023 Ioniq 6 and after 24K miles my battery's SOH is still 100% and have seen no decernible reduction in range. Battery SOH is something that I will be checking as I look at cars, but a 10% drop in only 10K miles seems drastic for any car, especially one that costs more than twice what I drive now.

 

[SergeyIndy]

Doing some research on CPO Taycans before pulling the trigger on one and came across a comment from about 6 months ago that surprised me. Is the statement above saying "10% reduction in battery SOH is to be expected in the first 10,000 miles" accurate? I drive a 2023 Ioniq 6 and after 24K miles my battery's SOH is still 100% and have seen no decernible reduction in range. Battery SOH is something that I will be checking as I look at cars, but a 10% drop in only 10K miles seems drastic for any car, especially one that costs more than twice what I drive now.

We have overwhelming evidence on this forum from real world data that the 10% drop in 10k miles is true for Taycan, but then it levels off around 85%-88% and stays there assuming all cells are healthy. Please see my degradation vs. miles graph that would be consistent with most, so I expect it will stay at 85% or above for the rest of the HV battery warranty.

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