Feedback Please - "Bare Essentials" Porsche Taycan

[PDACPA]

Just chiming in:

1. Sports Chrono -use it every time I drive (like my individual settings and quick to access)
2. 2+1 - yes its not much of a seat, but cannot tell you how many time I have transported 3 people back there (short distances) and the head rest can be put all the way down with zero rear view interference.
3. PB+ - All you see on the FB page is range complaints. Just get it as you can never have too much.

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[ben1]

Don't get carried away with the option list.
Nothing is really a must have.
Most of it are Porsche marketing tricks to let you pay much more for a little bit less.
And the 'it is good for resale value' argument is totally not applicable to the vast majority of options. Options typically do not increase resale value more than the price of the option.

1) You don't need air suspension. The biggest impact on ride quality is the dynamic damping. And that is standard. The main advantage of air suspension is the ability to raise and lower the car. The default height of the car is fine for normal roads and speed bumps.
I had air suspension in previous cars. I don't have it in the Taycan. It is really not a must have. Like other people mention: you get 95% of the ride quality.

2) You don't need all the cosmetic features. The car looks nice without it. Just order it in a nice color (avoid black and grey) and it will look stunning anyway. I would consider buying other wheels. Personally I find the 19" wheels to look bad. Which Porsche did on purpose, of course to push you to buy more expensive wheels. In my opinion they succeeded in that,

3) You don't need the rear axle steering for any normal roads. I don't have it. It steers very normal to me. The steering circle is in line with what you expect. Not annoyingly big at all. So for sure not a must have.

4) You do not need the big battery. You can easily get 320 to 380 km on longer road trips depending on your speed. The base battery charges faster than +90% other EV's.
I would consider heated seats because this way you can lower the cabin temperature to increase range. And that is a cheap option.

5) You only need the glass roof, if you want to use the middle seat (for head room). You do not see the glass roof as a driver. There is no benefit for driver or the front seat passenger.

6) Depending on where you park you can remove the parking camera's and the automatic folding mirrors.
I never park in the city. I don't have automatic folding mirror and I never folded them manually. And parking distance sensors (without the camera) are standard.

7) You don't need sport chrono to be able to switch modes. Switching modes is overrated. And you have a button to switch to sport mode on the lower screen if you do not take sport chrono.

Maybe it can make sense to order the adaptive cruise control feature, because it will most likely be considered as very basic in the near future. Just like A/C because a standard feature even in very cheap cars.
It also allows you to buy the lane assist later via software update.
But it is also not a must-have.

 

[artdept]

I came from a volt. My suggestion is to get as many options that you want and that you can afford, starting with air suspension but I say that becuase I have 21 mission e wheels. the ride might be much better with regular 19 in wheels. yes some options are overated for the price and you will barely use /need them, but your buying your dream car here and might be along time before you buy another fancy car. Splurge as much as you can as you dont want to have regrets. ( btw, the splurging part is what Porsche relies on to make $$) If you are close to San jose / los gatos./ saratoga we can meet up and you can check out mine and see some and test some of the features more in depth. If you can get away without the Porsche charger these days skip that. plenty of good after market chargers for less.

 

[Replika]

IMHO, the BMW i4 is the machine I would choose over a stripped down Taycan. You just get so much more, for so much less. And from the EV side BMW software is pretty solid. Just my 2 cents, it should be at least test driven.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

OP, that's 3 pages of solid advice. The bottom line is that you should understand _exactly_ what's standard, and what each option does/brings. Sorry for the emphasis, but don't assume - if it's not explicitly stated, it's not included. Then you make your own decision, since anyone else's "musts" aren't necessarily yours, so you shouldn't pay for it.

Porsche gets away with charging much more for options thatn virtually anyone else on this side of the 200k-cars league. The bright side (relatively) is that you can choose exactly what you want or need. If resale is a consideration, recall that we can't predict the future, and as it's been pointed out above, you'll always get less than the original cost; the difference is in finding the right buyer (when the time comes).

Good luck.

 

[electronsi00]

OP, that's 3 pages of solid advice. The bottom line is that you should understand _exactly_ what's standard, and what each option does/brings. Sorry for the emphasis, but don't assume - if it's not explicitly stated, it's not included. Then you make your own decision, since anyone else's "musts" aren't necessarily yours, so you shouldn't pay for it.

Porsche gets away with charging much more for options that virtually anyone else on this side of the 200k-cars league. The bright side (relatively) is that you can choose exactly what you want or need. If resale is a consideration, recall that we can't predict the future, and as it's been pointed out above, you'll always get less than the original cost; the difference is in finding the right buyer (when the time comes).

Good luck.

I would like to thank everyone here for taking time out of your day for your amazing insights. What I value most was the variety of perspectives, and their associated rationales. I also came to appreciate how one man’s MUST have (for good reason) can be another man’s don’t need (also for good reason). In discussing here and with dealers, it seems “resale value” is often used as a rationale to pile on features. I figure my car will depreciate at a rate similar to any taycan, and if I spend less on options upfront, I should get less on the other end compared to a decked out taycan. If I’m in the market for a minimalist taycan, then I’m sure others will be as well in the future, and that will be my target demographic when reselling.

Again, thanks to all of you. Will keep you all updated !

 

[Jhenson29]

IMHO, the BMW i4 is the machine I would choose over a stripped down Taycan. You just get so much more, for so much less. And from the EV side BMW software is pretty solid. Just my 2 cents, it should be at least test driven.

Hmm. That sounds like a substitute. I was under the impression that there is no substitute. ?

 

[Jhenson29]

This is really good advice. And I think it’s hard to fully appreciate it until you go through it.

 

[electronsi00]

That’s a great perspective. I do think it’s important to listen to and honor one’s own voice.

That being said, may I dig a little deeper and ask what the 10% of regret consists of? What do you wish you had that you didn’t get? And of the things you did get, which would you be willing to get rid of and still consider yourself generally happy with the car ?

 

[electronsi00]

That was such a great breakdown, thank you for that. Porsche with its infinite options give us options anxiety and analysis paralysis. The two things I keep going back and forth on are air suspension +rear axel steering. Sounds like you have air suspension and actually use it at times to avoid bottoming out. Is this a critical feature in your mind? I will inevitably run into speed bumps and steep driveways at some point. Is it really common for you to have to lift the Porsche ? Not sure if going with coils dooms me too scraping the bottom all the time (versus slow diagonal crossing or avoidance when possible)

 

[andrewh3]

Some really great discussion points. I could not see your spec "computer says no", so FWIW:

1. PB+. I have it as was really worried about range. In reality, never used in nearly 20 months, but then I have had no long trips.
2. RWD was not available at time of purchase, so I have not driven a car on springs. My car has 21" wheels, so I think air helpful in compensating for our terrible roads and steep driveways/speed humps.
3. Pano roof - I think looks good from the outside but I never notice in daily driving. I would spec again just for looks.
4. RWS - I do not have this and I have to park in a lot of different spaces with really tight access. I have found it overall easier to park and maneuver than my previous Panamera, despite the fish-eye rear camera. On balance I would like to have it to make life easier, but not essential in the sense that I have been able to park OK without it.
5. ACC - I do a fair amount of freeway driving and when I am tired find really helpful.
6. Vent seats - I had these on my old Jag and really liked them. Panamera did not have them and I missed them badly. Very happy I have them again!
7. Full leather - again, had this in the Jag and really missed this in the Panamera - dashboard looked like to old recycled plastic from Ikea with hard artificial "stitch marks"- so a 'must have' for me.
8. Mirrors - ridiculous folding mirrors an option, but if you have to park anywhere other than home I think essential.
9. LCA - I have found useful and did not have this on previous cars. Park assist useless except for RCTA - has helped me a few times in tight parking slots. I did not have Traffic Jam Assist but would have liked the Front Cross Traffic Alert than comes with this (really hard to see oncoming traffic on exiting 2 places I have to park regularly).
10. Colour - I had not choice unless I wanted to wait (at the time) 6 months - seems short now! Crayon/Chalk does look great and I have had at least 3 people stop me to complement me on the colour. Overall I think non-metallic does not best suit the car and it is large. I would likely chose a metallic colour next but avoid the "special colours" to save A$5K.
11. Bose - for me essential, as I would really have liked Burmester. have never heard standard or Burmester, but Bose in Taycan better than Bose in Panamera.
12. Wheels - totally personal. If I had a choice I would have saved a little and gone for 20" to help ride and range. My look amazing, but would not have ordered for A$8K.

 

[Taycan2023y]

Hi all,

For some context, I am upgrading from a Toyota Prius lol. So any Porsche will be a huge upgrade for me. With that in mind, I want a "bare bones" Porsche Taycan with only the most essential items.

Me: I will not take long trips in the car, and again I'm coming from a Prius, so the cornering/suspension of the base Taycan will probably be plenty for me. But if you think air suspension is a "must", I'm open to hearing why.

http://www.porschecode.com/PPEF8D60

What should I add? What should I remove? Thank you in advance!

Here are my options below:

Rear 2+1 Seats
Power Folding Exterior Mirrors
Model Designation on Rear in Satin Black
Air Suspension incl. Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM)
Fixed Panoramic Roof in Glass
Surround View
Lane Change Assist (LCA)
Ambient Lighting
Porsche Crest on Headrests (Front)
On-Board 150 kW/400V DC Charger (with reports of Elon opening up superchargers I figure its cheap future proof insurance)

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