Having second thoughts...

[Bresdo1962]

A little background...I did a test drive on a Taycan 4S and loved it. I have a 2020 Macan Turbo that I love as well but really want to a change and think doing the EV route is a good thing. Right now I am living in Peoria IL and at the dealership they told me they had a build for a GTS coming in beginning of July 2022. So I jumped on it and gave a deposit of course with stipulations they give me a fair price for my car, etc...I will be moving back home to Kauai Hawaii next year this time so getting service for a Porsche is not an easy thing, need to put the car on a barge to Honolulu and the dealership picks it up, Fixes it and sends back. Same for service. Having my current car is simple because a mechanic can do the oil changes, etc without the hassle.

After I put down the deposit I joined this forum and reading everything and getting freaked out...

Cracked glass roofs
Batteries going bad and 6 month wait to replace
Constant Error Codes in the PCM
Charging issues

I would guess the car should fair well in the warm tropical weather with the battery issue.

Be nice to get some positive reinforcement that I am making the right decision in upgrading to an EV..

And thank you all for you honesty and telling it all on this forum...very refreshing

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[kort]

the cracked glass is an outlier, I wouldn't have any concerns.


the other issues, if you encounter them, is going to be exacerbated by the car being in such a remote location.
if there are issues the time and costs of shipping the car to a dealer is IMHO a bit scary.
overall the cars are good but if there is an issue the lack of easily obtaining dealer support is a concern.
maybe a car that has support where you live would be a better choice.

 

[Silveral]

16,000 miles in 14 months in my 4S. Amazing drive every day. Only issues have been: 2 flat tires, horrible back up camera, lost radio favorites once. I think it’s all very minor stuff.
I have a level 2 charger at home but I enjoy free fast charging at EA twice a week and really feel for $5+ a gallon people. My only gas car hasn’t seen any action.
I say go for it.

 

[mikeva]

I'm sorry but you lost me at "need to put the car on a barge to Honolulu and the dealership picks it up, Fixes it and sends back". Although I have had my Tacan RWD for almost a year and only had to take it to the dealer once for software update, I don't think I could handle those service logistics for a car I want to drive everyday.

If this were a "weekend car" then maybe ...... nah probably not.

I know gas is expensive on the islands, so a BEV makes sense. I think I would find one that could also be serviced locally. But that is just me.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[KensingtonPark]

I was joining this thread, I fully expected to provide reassurance to you by telling you my story about my nagging second thoughts when waiting for my Taycan 4S to arrive and how happy I am that I decided to buy it.

However, if you really have no access to a dealer other than putting it on a barge, I suppose you should prepare for an experience that has at least SOME time away from the car for this purpose. I suspect that it is true for many cars that you could buy. From what I know about Kauai, there are only a few dealerships, with the highest end dealer being a Cadillac dealer. Given the nascent state of EVs, I would either accept the risk and get the Porsche or get a Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Genesis GV60 If you are intent on getting an EV. Virtually every other car that I shopped would require the barge that you reference.

 

[KTC]

This concern is legit.
Until a month ago, I joined the same bandwagon as most other folks. I love my car, it's the best commuter car I've ever owned, and everything else seemed mundane.
"These issues are rare. It's a selection bias where only those with problems post, and I'll never have this issue."
In fact, when I bought my car, I toiled over the same issues (the big one back then was a drivetrain problem that was supposedly fixed by AMB5).

Until the mythical rare problem hits you. Then it's no longer just a rare statistic. Cuz it happened to me, after 8k mi, and if you read between the lines you can see it's not as rare as we are led to believe: https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/my-hv-converter-repair.11292/

The dealer is even now admitting they've seen this a number of times, when before they adamantly refused to acknowledge the drivetrain issues, etc. Thank God I wasn't one of those who needed to wait 6 months for a new battery. Or pursue Lemon and go through the whole multi-month litigation with Porsche. But even then, I think about what this repair would have costed me if I were out of warranty.....

And my dealer is 5 mi away. Given my recent experience, hate to say this, but NO, I wouldn't do it in your shoes. I'd wait for 2nd or 3rd gen.

 

[Jhenson29]

I think there are other members from HI here. Might be worth getting their opinion.

@F16HTON comes to mind, but I don’t think they’re very active anymore.

How much time does it take to ship to Honolulu?
Does the dealership offer loaners?

 

[nickmdp]

I think there are other members from HI here. Might be worth getting their opinion.

@F16HTON comes to mind, but I don’t think they’re very active anymore.

How much time does it take to ship to Honolulu?
Does the dealership offer loaners?

Might even be worth asking the dealer if they'd be willing to send a tech to you to make a 'house call' for a fee less than shipping the car over there. I doubt they'd be able to replace most parts outside of the shop, but it seems like a service that might make sense if there's just an electrical issue that they need to try and diagnose.

 

[gusone]

I hate my RWD and wish I never bought it. The reasons. Where do I start? It is the most beautiful car on the road. It is a dream to drive. It is a head turner. So many people stop and want to talk about it. I never have to buy petrol or diesel again. Fuck that shit. I can even use Tesla superchargers in the UK. It's incredibly comfy. It looks amazing. Did I say that? The constant power increase is amazing, no drop in revs. Why is it such a smooth ride even on coils? No one ever mentions that about EVs. The smooth ride. The silent cabin means I play music as if I was at home. I look out the window and still cannot believe I own such an amazing looking car. So yeh, it's shit.

For full disclosure:
1. I had the SOS error which required a 40 mins software update at the dealer
2. The Dashboard packed up. That was a bit annoying. Took 3 weeks to source from Germany and refit. I was very grumpy those 3 weeks. The moment I sat in it repaired all sins were forgiven.

 

[Bresdo1962]

Shipping to Honolulu is available twice a week and not a big deal and fairly easy. And with an EV never have to worry about getting the gas tank under 1/4.

I will have the car here for almost a year before heading out so if there are any major issues with it they can be addressed before the 2000 mile drive to the West coast and then the boat ride to the islands.

And if in the year I have it I feel it not up to the island then I will sell it and get something else more island friendly.

 

[raharris]

Shipping to Honolulu is available twice a week and not a big deal and fairly easy. And with an EV never have to worry about getting the gas tank under 1/4.

I will have the car here for almost a year before heading out so if there are any major issues with it they can be addressed before the 2000 mile drive to the West coast and then the boat ride to the islands.

And if in the year I have it I feel it not up to the island then I will sell it and get something else more island friendly.

I think you just answered your own question.

 

[Chris8536]

My Taycan had 6 dealership visits in the first year alone. Ymmv but I would never get a Taycan without ease of access to the dealership. There were over 20 recall campaigns since its launch.

 

[Reg]

I was on this forum since the beginning when we were waiting for the first cars to show up, had the epic round the country drive play-by-play with one of the first cars delivered, and learned a lot about the different options and had a genuine excitement about the first drives and waiting for the cars to show up.

Now, after over 60,000 cars have been delivered, unsurprisingly like all forums, it has devolved to conversations about usually minor issues with an occasional larger issue, but Porsche ain't selling that many cars if the problems raised on this forum were representative of what you should expect as an owner.

Unfortunately, seems like many of the "old timers" have moved on, and I have checked in here less and less since the noise is way worse than the signal.

I have driven over 20k miles in mine, just completed another 700 mile round trip and have had a great experience throughout my ownership.

 

[Teufel Hund]

Shipping to Honolulu is available twice a week and not a big deal and fairly easy. And with an EV never have to worry about getting the gas tank under 1/4.

I will have the car here for almost a year before heading out so if there are any major issues with it they can be addressed before the 2000 mile drive to the West coast and then the boat ride to the islands.

And if in the year I have it I feel it not up to the island then I will sell it and get something else more island friendly.

Sounds like sound logic right there. ?
A year should be sufficient time to figure out if it’s a good fit

 

[Deleted member 6348]

People come to post issues on these forums. People who are having trouble-free experiences don't post anything. I wouldn't worry about any of it.

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