Do you charge at your local Porsche dealer?

[DL_AU]

Charging my Taycan at the local Porsche dealership is a fantastic experience. Every Saturday morning (or every second if I haven't been driving much), I go to the local dealership and plug in. I get to see all the latest cars on the showroom floor, I enjoy talking to the team, the free coffee is a nice touch, and I relax in comfortable surrounds. It's very 'Porsche'. To me, the fact that I bought this particular car at another dealer is irrelevant - well, at least it was until the dealer principle (whom I had never met) approached me on Saturday: "Why do you charge your car here rather than at [the other dealer]? Our electricity bill is through the roof, and we don't have enough parking spaces." At this point, I politely introduced myself and pointed out that the chargers at his dealership are part of the network which I can access for three years' worth of free charging. I wanted to turn this into a positive conversation, so I went on to say how much I enjoyed being there and interacting with his team and so on. He softened a little. Given his full order book (e.g. ~200 911s with confirmed orders) and a very real chance of selling me my next car, I thought his focus on the cost of electricity was somewhat churlish and short-sighted. Am I being unreasonable?

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[BJCanadaMax]

Are you sure that he was not doing small talk? If it is me, i am tempted to be sold a 911.

 

[SergeyIndy]

I thought so too, as I also enjoy to just stopping by, looking at what they have, and getting a coffee but it is a business, and they are focused on selling more cars and services and have no capacity for socializing with existing customers chatting them up, given over the top demand. They actually scaled back on even having water in the mini fridge that they have, so everything is at a bare minimum. Basically, they hate you for it, so I was thinking this is certainly awful and they should have several people and some spaces for existing customers to come in, charge, and look at what's in store and learn about upcoming models, but that is not happening any time soon. So far, they have 1 charge point, they had to sacrifice several prime parking sports for, just because Porsche required them to have it, otherwise deferring other charge points as much as they can and they mostly use it for PDI or serviced Taycans as it is the newest and fastest that they have. They told me yes you can charge at it, ask us for the card to turn it on, but why would I burn my good will with them on this, when I need it for other things.

I would be interested from other forum members about their charging rules and experiences at their dealerships.

 

[Hirschaj]

I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. It was definitely short-sighted of this principle to say what they did, although it's easy to get caught up in the day to day operations. It sounds like you handled the situation quite well. If they were smart they would have their sales reps constantly working to upsell you while you were there for the free charging. That would either result in more sales or you would stop coming by using their free electricity

 

[mikezhang31]

My dealer told me their charger is not for customer use, and referred me to the EA location 30 mins away

 

[BJCanadaMax]

I thought so too, as I also enjoy to just stopping by, looking at what they have, and getting a coffee but it is a business, and they are focused on selling more cars and services and have no capacity for socializing with existing customers chatting them up, given over the top demand. They actually scaled back on even having water in the mini fridge that they have, so everything is at a bare minimum. Basically, they hate you for it, so I was thinking this is certainly awful and they should have several people and some spaces for existing customers to come in, charge, and look at what's in store and learn about upcoming models, but that is not happening any time soon. So far, they have 1 charge point, they had to sacrifice several prime parking sports for, just because Porsche required them to have it, otherwise deferring other charge points as much as they can and they mostly use it for PDI or serviced Taycans as it is the newest and fastest that they have. They told me yes you can charge at it, ask us for the card to turn it on, but why would I burn my good will with them on this, when I need it for other things.

I would be interested from other forum members about their charging rules and experiences at their dealerships.

Well, from the way that you describe it, it sounds like you are viewing the dealership as a country club, like going there every weekend and 1. taking away their resources for customers, 2. not contributing anything to the dealership. If i am manager of that dealership then of course i will politely invite you out. I like the dealership too. But i would only go there if i have things i need to do there. Treating it like a country club is the last thing i want to do.

 

[SergeyIndy]

Well, from the way that you describe it, it sounds like you are viewing the dealership as a country club, like going there every weekend and 1. taking away their resources for customers, 2. not contributing anything to the dealership. If i am manager of that dealership then of course i will politely invite you out. I like the dealership too. But i would only go there if i have things i need to do there. Treating it like a country club is the last thing i want to do.

I am a paying customer with several cars and all services done at the dealership and I am looking to buy more but need to know more about it, so I do not see anything wrong with a country club model. What about the Apple Store model, where it is all about hands on see and play? I am not an Apple customer except the work phone but isn't that where Porche is trying to copy it from in a few larger metro areas with Porsche Studios (am I wrong about this?), it is just not for our local dealers who grind it out on a daily basis.

I found this after making my point, but do not know how credible this is:

Porsche to Open Apple-Store-Style “Studios”

 

[Dabz]

Expensive to charge at my local dealer so only go there if I have to

 

[DerekS]

I’ve charged at my dealer a couple of times.

Once when I didn’t plan ahead and needed a fast charge (and DFW doesn’t have anything centrally located.)

Once when I needed to talk to my service advisor and they were busy, so I asked for the charger card from reception and waited for him while charging.

I wouldn’t make a habit of doing this every week, as I would feel like I’m wearing out my welcome. Also DC charging is hardest on the battery, so on this Taycan I’m limiting it to road trips.

I have a nice Wallbox setup for daily charging at home, and the cost is minimal. Around $0.05/mile for me.

 

[SergeyIndy]

@DerekS, that is how I approach it as well, since I have a 150kW EA station not too far where I can charge for free, but the point is that how unwelcome they make you feel about it. My home charging is around 15 cents a kW, so I am in the same 5-6 cent range per mile. I do like how it charges it in short sprints assuming babying the battery if it has more time than needed to charge overnight using the Timer.

 

[Amelio]

I'm still in the shopping stage and have taken 2 different cars to 2 different Porsche dealers and have never bumped into a SA as I generally like to "kick tires" and charge after hours. I think his comment is rude and out of line. Conversely, people often say things, silly things, that can and should often be ignored. I'd let it go and charge where you want to charge.

 

[Afliss]

Charging my Taycan at the local Porsche dealership is a fantastic experience. Every Saturday morning (or every second if I haven't been driving much), I go to the local dealership and plug in. I get to see all the latest cars on the showroom floor, I enjoy talking to the team, the free coffee is a nice touch, and I relax in comfortable surrounds. It's very 'Porsche'. To me, the fact that I bought this particular car at another dealer is irrelevant - well, at least it was until the dealer principle (whom I had never met) approached me on Saturday: "Why do you charge your car here rather than at [the other dealer]? Our electricity bill is through the roof, and we don't have enough parking spaces." At this point, I politely introduced myself and pointed out that the chargers at his dealership are part of the network which I can access for three years' worth of free charging. I wanted to turn this into a positive conversation, so I went on to say how much I enjoyed being there and interacting with his team and so on. He softened a little. Given his full order book (e.g. ~200 911s with confirmed orders) and a very real chance of selling me my next car, I thought his focus on the cost of electricity was somewhat churlish and short-sighted. Am I being unreasonable?

In general, marketing is very expensive, so this is about the least expensive way I can imagine to market to a fully qualified target group. I suspect that it would be very hard for you to buy your next Porsche from another dealer, if you were visiting this one weekly or monthly. The dealer principle is a bit of a fool.

I feel like my dealer is short sighted in this as well. I have had my CT in for service a few times, and I'm very surprised that they don't charge me up a bit. Mercedes does customer appreciation much better than Porsche.

 

[f1eng]

Expensive to charge at my local dealer so only go there if I have to

Indeed, it will be country dependant.
Here in the UK the electricity charge is same as Ionity iirc, so £0.31 per kWh but they charge by the minute on top.
Porsche Wolverhampton is on a route I do a couple of times a year and I have charged there twice now, nice to have a coffee and a chat but not cheap.

 

[Dabz]

Indeed, it will be country dependant.
Here in the UK the electricity charge is same as Ionity iirc, so £0.31 per kWh but they charge by the minute on top.
Porsche Wolverhampton is on a route I do a couple of times a year and I have charged there twice now, nice to have a coffee and a chat but not cheap.

I got caught out by the per-min charge when I first had my car, hadn’t read the Porsche Charging Service details properly! I’m equidistant between Swindon and Bristol Porsche, Bristol can be handy but with Ionity at Chippenham and Magor there are better options close by luckily. I also spend a lot of time on the Isle of Wight but we have a very cheap 7kw charger just 100yds from our front door there which is enough to top up if needed. No Porsche dealership on the island yet!

 

[hifi239]

My dealer told me their charger is not for customer use, and referred me to the EA location 30 mins away

My dealer has two 350KW and two 15KW level 2s. They will activate the DC chargers for you if you go into the showroom and ask. The 15kW are always on, even after hours.

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