Glad to be done with Porsche and Taycan

[Jhenson29]

Actually, when I put my initial money down for the Taycan (which was then unnamed), Porsche was promising 320 miles, software that read my eyes to do things like change settings, and a host of other things that they never actually delivered on.

So, you put money down early, the specs changed from concept car to production, you bought it anyway, and then got mad that it was the production specs instead of the concept specs?

Hmm. I put a deposit down in 2018 also. But then I looked at what I was actually buying.

Maybe you aren’t equipped to make your own decisions. Would you like to appoint the forum as your legal guardian so we can help you avoid this in the future?

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[whitex]

Going to be honest. This is the type of post I most feared reading.
Car is in Emden and I have been waiting 1 year to receive it. First time Porsche buyer and first time EV owner. So a sort of double whammy. I feel like I am getting cold feet and am always thinking maybe I should just buy a Porsche ICE car like the Panamera which is more tried and true…
Reading other posts most people seem to be doing ok with their Taycans but truly reading this post makes me wonder 🫣

I am in a similar situation, my car a little behind yours (expected production date moved from November to January). I had a similar thought when I read the OP's post, but then my pragmatic brain kicked in. Let's look at it realistically. Every car brand and model has its problems. There are no exceptions - no car is perfect. Internet tends to amplify the negative because most people don't go online to talk about how uneventful their commute to work was today, but will go online to write about how the car shut down on them for example. You found one person here writing about how much they hated the Taycan, and a ton of people writing about how their experience is a net positive and they are not switching. There are plenty of people waiting for an opportunity to buy one too.

Personally I am switching out of Tesla, which has had its own issues over almost a decade I've been driving them (4 Model S's since 2013). I want a change because I got tired of Tesla experiments on customers, changes to their service policies and warranties, and their issues of scaling the service organization with skilled people. BUT, I don't regret my time with Teslas, I enjoyed driving them immensely, learned a bunch too (e.g. had to hack the car in order to replace a broken $8 chip because at the time Tesla only had a $3K option to replace the entire infotainment - it's a free safety recall today).

I've been looking for an alternative car for about 3 years, didn't find one until Taycan CT finally arrived, though Lucid Air GT and Mercedes EQS AMG came close, but only recently available. I chose Porsche because I liked the overall car the best, and because I have had positive experience owning and driving Porsche 911 in the past. I was a little worried about Lucid as it's a brand new company, and having gone through that with Tesla I had some reservations of doing it again. I almost lost my patience and went with Lucid as I came across an available allocation, but just happen to come across a Taycan allocation at the very same time.

My expectations are as follows:

1. Do I expect Taycan to be perfect? Not at all. No car will be.
2. Do I expect to enjoy the car? Absolutely. I expect to enjoy it quite a lot, or I would not be spending that kind of cash on it (total money spent, this will actually be the most expensive car I ever owned).
3. Is it possible I will hate it and get rid of it? Possible but very unlikely, given the amount of research I've done on it so far. But even if, my worst case scenario is having to get rid of a car, which will incur some financial loss (given the weakening used car market lately) but while it would definitely not be pleasant, it would not change my life significantly.
4. Will there be frustrating moments? I am certain of it, but I will navigate through them as I did with Tesla and other cars before then, making the right decisions for me at that time.
5. Will I be buying another Taycan to replace this one? Possibly, though I did apply a lesson I learned from Tesla, get the model I actually want rather than try to save money and be spending even more money to upgrade a year or two later. Maybe if the rumored 1,200hp tri-motor Taycan GT (would have to come in a CT or ST body) would become available, I might consider upgrading.
6. Will I be looking to a different brand in a few years? Who knows, maybe, maybe not. It will depend on my experience with Porsche and what is available on the market.

Bottom line, my advice to you is to stick with the Taycan you have on order if the only unknown is whether or not you will like it, especially given you are so close to actually getting it (my deposit to delivery time will be close to 2 years if I get it early next year). Most likely you will have an overall positive experience (positive will outweigh the negative). Worst case scenario, you sell it at some loss because you absolutely hate it - but that is very unlikely, and never guaranteed not to happen with any other car either.

 

[Codeias]

Going to be honest. This is the type of post I most feared reading.
Car is in Emden and I have been waiting 1 year to receive it. First time Porsche buyer and first time EV owner. So a sort of double whammy. I feel like I am getting cold feet and am always thinking maybe I should just buy a Porsche ICE car like the Panamera which is more tried and true…
Reading other posts most people seem to be doing ok with their Taycans but truly reading this post makes me wonder 🫣

It’s an amazing car, you’ll love it… it’s not just an amazing EV, it’s an amazing car full stop. Worst thing you can do is jump of forums to read about issues, it’ll give you the jitters for sure, all new cars have issues, ICE, EV, hybrid etc… and people do love to complain. As you’ve said, there are loads of people “doing OK” and blown away but what Porsche have achieved in the Taycan.

Range is made up of so many factors but anyone that thought they’d get 320 miles on a change was very much mistaken / misinformed, 240 real world in my experience, my 4S was pretty much flawless, very few issues and no untoward sounds or poor experiences with the car or my OPC.

I have a GTS ST on the way (due this month) and I can’t wait. Keep those feet warm and enjoy the Taycan when it arrives.

 

[gusone]

Even Kia only quote 285 miles. 320 miles for a 2.3 tonnes beast?

 

[Andy0565]

Not true. I was one of the first to receive same. Porsche said it would get 320 miles with the 4s and larger battery. They claimed 280 when they actually did their release video. Then the epa numbers came out and Porsche scrambled to say those numbers were wrong. I never even got close to 280.

I’ve driven an iPace for three years. Similar weight car and similar sized battery.

Guess-o-meter says 230 in summer and 220 in winter. Both these are optimistic with the way I drive. On long motorway journeys, at sensible speeds I might do a bit better.

Now Porsche might be better engineers but physics is physics and you simply won’t do much better from a battery that is around 4% bigger than around 4% better range.

if you get 240 you’re doing well. If you get more, then you’re not driving it like a Porsche so why on earth did you bother!?!

 

[PetroK]

I think many are missing point here, as I read OP post, I kind of relate it to my experience. I personally think car itself is great, it is Porsche attitude and Dealers incompetency that sucks and that what make me frustrated most. I get that any car has some issues, but just acknowledge them, provide path to fix/improvement or apologies and move on. Also frustrating is attitude of many buyers, including this forum, who says just accept it, it is normal behavior and so on. Partially because of this, they can afford to behave like this.

 

[HK111]

I am a bit surprised that you, TC Fan, switch to a Lucid, if you expect the overall experience to be better than for the Taycan. I had the opportunity to visit the Lucid facilities in the Bay Area and talk to one of their senior engineers who had worked on the Model S at Tesla. From this and the test reports, I assume that the Lucid is a very interesting experiment, but very likely to have a lot of teething problems. Now, as an early adopter / innovator, teething problems are part of the game. But it seems they unnerved you very much.

I can see why - my Taycan 4S was one of the very first here (Q1 2020), and it had numerous problems, e.g. a failed heat pump, or being bricked. However, it was also like driving the future, literally. I then bought a Taycan GTS, which was delivered this spring, which IIRC never had a single issue at all. It was just flawless, and "supergeil" to drive - a German word that would be in the urban dictionary, if it were in English.

So, YMMV and please let us know how the Lucid works out.

 

[kort]

if you get 240 you’re doing well. If you get more, then you’re not driving it like a Porsche so why on earth did you bother!?!

if you are on a long road trip and need to drive a bit slower to make the next charger that is what you do. when I know that I have plenty of range I drive it like a porsche.

 

[mystermykee]

Lucid Air Grand Touring. Just got it two days ago, so I’m reserving judgement. So far, though. I’m impressed.

Interesting. My parents just bought an Air GT recently and my first drive was last night. Initial thoughts:

Tech and UI/UX is great. Of course, styling is subjective and highly dependent on what color/how car is optioned (both Taycan and Lucid). What I immediately noticed is that there is more road noise, especially in the front. I would've expected it to be quiter since my Taycan has the 21 mission E and the Lucid is equipped with 19s. Steering feel? No one beats Porsche there. Handling isn't as great (I have a 4S with performance package). Never experienced one pedal driving before, and I absolutely, positively, hate it. Steering wheel feels a bit cheaper. As mentioned many times on this forum, the Taycan is probably the best car out there that just so happens to be an EV. I love driving it and find myself asking how is it going to take this corner, this bump etc. In the Lucid, I'd probably be paying less attention to the road and more to the infotainment, at which time it'll beep at me telling me to keep my eyes on the road.

But to your original post, I'm a bit biased since I've had zero software issues. Taycan so far has been great to me.

 

[Ronglos]

Thanks for reminding me about the back up camera that is put to shame by the one in the EQS. Actually, I wasn't worried about the Taycan burning down the garage. I should have been more precise and called out the ill-designed PMC+.

My Chevy Bolt back up camera puts my Taycan to shame.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I think many are missing point here, as I read OP post, I kind of relate it to my experience. I personally think car itself is great, it is Porsche attitude and Dealers incompetency that sucks and that what make me frustrated most. I get that any car has some issues, but just acknowledge them, provide path to fix/improvement or apologies and move on. Also frustrating is attitude of many buyers, including this forum, who says just accept it, it is normal behavior and so on. Partially because of this, they can afford to behave like this.

I, too, think many are missing the point here - that "things" which aren't directly related to the car itself (ie Porsche attitude, dealer experience etc.) may not matter to everyone equally. Even aspects of the car itself (software, charger/evse?) may not be attributed the same "weight"/importance by different users. Let's stop trying to convince each other that our respective views or priorities are "wrong".

 

[PetroK]

I, too, think many are missing the point here - that "things" which aren't directly related to the car itself (ie Porsche attitude, dealer experience etc.) may not matter to everyone equally. Even aspects of the car itself (software, charger/evse?) may not be attributed the same "weight"/importance by different users. Let's stop trying to convince each other that our respective views or priorities are "wrong".

Nobody is teaching, nowhere I said others should follow this suit, just expressed my point on view, based on reading OP post carefully.

 

[whitex]

I think many are missing point here, as I read OP post, I kind of relate it to my experience. I personally think car itself is great, it is Porsche attitude and Dealers incompetency that sucks and that what make me frustrated most. I get that any car has some issues, but just acknowledge them, provide path to fix/improvement or apologies and move on. Also frustrating is attitude of many buyers, including this forum, who says just accept it, it is normal behavior and so on. Partially because of this, they can afford to behave like this.

I don't think people are saying they love or recommend the corporate lack of communication, dealer incompetency and other such issues. However, the problem is those issues are with every brand today. Personally I think it's a combination of significant increase in car complexity over a relatively short time, combined with parts and labor shortages creating additional, never before seen logistical challenges, plus the labor shortage resulting in having to lower the competency bar for hiring. Whatever the reasons, it's happening everywhere today, not just automotive sector.

All that said, if you do find an automotive company which has perfect communications, super competent service network, and mostly bug free software, please share that information. Personally I don't have the resources to start my own car company, and I am not even sure it's possible to achieve this in today's world (out of all people out there I think if it was possible, Elon would have done it, Tesla was great when it was small, their service was best service I ever experienced from any car company, then Model 3/Y flood came and the great model did not scale). I also don't have enough lifetime left to wait for such perfect company and product to emerge, so I choose to compromise by buying what I believe will be the most enjoyable net ownership experience (i.e. not perfect, but all positives outweigh all negatives). OP decided to jump from Porsche to Lucid, trading one set of problems for another (possibly overlapping a lot too) - great, I hope it works out for him. I am jumping from Tesla to Porsche, also hoping it will work out for me. If it doesn't, I will jump to something else. I am not advocating to anyone however that they should jump from Tesla to Porsche, since everyone's situation, taste, expectations are different, so we all must make decisions best for ourselves, and if they don't work out, learn from it, then pivot to make other decisions.

 

[xahhax]

I feel your pain in all of this. So many problems with the car and the attitude of Porsche. A new car model and such a huge leap from the normal Porsches are bound to have teething problems. At that stage it certainly requires very good customer relations to get through such a period. And on that front I think Porsche as a company has failed miserably! They sat back and just would not communicate or acknowledge the problems.

Unfortunately it does not stop with only teething problems either. When you read their ongoing attempts to dream up completely false service needs, (in my case checking the drains in the OPENING SUNROOF) you start to wonder what Porsche stands for.

The following post and thread is one of them
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/uk-service-costs.7305/post-199800.

I have been a great Porsche fan and had the car as dream car when I was old enough to appreciate cars. But now I am totally disgusted with their behaviour. Unfortunately so far I have not been able to test drive any other EV that drives as well as the Taycan. But I am sure there will be one launched soon. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the new Lotus Eletre will be like, once open for tests.

Can’t wait to get out an alternative yo the Taycan. Apart from going back to an ICE car.

P.S. I have had the uPdate and a lot of initial issues have been sorted in my car, but still some minor niggles remain, that leaves a foul taste.

like Lotus is not going to have problems

 

[Scandinavian]

You can

like Lotus is not going to have problems

L O T U S = Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious.

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