Long time EV owner going to the darkside? Needs encouragement!

[KLHubb]

I have driven a Taycan 4S since 2020, and had hoped to replace my 15 year old 100k mile 997.2 with a Cayman E. With the delayed roll-out, I finally caved and bought a 2026 992.2 S. It is truly an amazing vehicle, but I still hope trade it for a Cayman E by the end of the decade.

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[RBGtaycan]

I have driven a Taycan 4S since 2020, and had hoped to replace my 15 year old 100k mile 997.2 with a Cayman E. With the delayed roll-out, I finally caved and bought a 2026 992.2 S. It is truly an amazing vehicle, but I still hope trade it for a Cayman E by the end of the decade.

I have owned a couple of Cayman S and they are just wonderful cars.....wonderful ...but I need an occasional back seat..oh well

 

[KLHubb]

Agreed....my first Porsche was an '07 Cayman...I loved it....but I want an electric Cayman

 

[Valerian]

I am a big electric car fan (owned one since 2021; now have a Taycan and a KIA EV6). BUT, I am seriously considering getting an ICE car.

Why?

My Taycan has been a blast – but it is a finicky lover. I can live with all the various software updates and busted heaters since, for the most part, they have been “non-urgent” and allowed scheduled service. It has been typical that service needs to be scheduled a month off – but they are, again, non-urgent.

Now, however, I have had the misfortune to run into the dreaded ”Electrical System Error | Park….”. So far the car has been sitting in the dealer’s parking lot for a week and a half and my Rep won’t even venture a guess when it might even be looked at.

Altho a big dealer (Porsche Gold Coast; Long Island), they say they have limited techs for EVs. That issue seems to be widespread in ALL dealers and it is giving me pause.

We (EV drivers) seem to be moving towards “adequate” high speed charging (not great but much better ..) and pricing is coming down and the world is moving to EVs …BUT…

The inability to get even close to ICE levels of service availability (in the US) is a significant downside and seems to be resistant to change.

Am I being too downhearted? Too pessimistic? I need a boost!

Our household also has an older Taycan (2020) and also a Kia EV6. We take the Kia to France as easier to get bikes in the back. But I would advise you to reassess because I think you would really miss what you had.

I was always a Petrolhead with MGBs, Fiat Syders, Maserati, 911, Panamera etc. even after five years in the Taycan I thought I would still want a 911. I borrowed a 911 Spirit 70 limited edition for a week. Yes I loved it, roof down, great sound, looks etc. But when I got back in the Taycan I really fell in love again. It was so smoother over the potholes, it starts up and is off straight away, it's more comfortable and yes it doesn't need petrol. I surprised myself and would take the Taycan over the 911.
So I say to you, forget those niggles and remember the Taycan is not only a great car, a brilliant drive but yes is much better for the environment.

 

[TaycanFirst]

I am a big electric car fan (owned one since 2021; now have a Taycan and a KIA EV6). BUT, I am seriously considering getting an ICE car.

Why?

My Taycan has been a blast – but it is a finicky lover. I can live with all the various software updates and busted heaters since, for the most part, they have been “non-urgent” and allowed scheduled service. It has been typical that service needs to be scheduled a month off – but they are, again, non-urgent.

Now, however, I have had the misfortune to run into the dreaded ”Electrical System Error | Park….”. So far the car has been sitting in the dealer’s parking lot for a week and a half and my Rep won’t even venture a guess when it might even be looked at.

Altho a big dealer (Porsche Gold Coast; Long Island), they say they have limited techs for EVs. That issue seems to be widespread in ALL dealers and it is giving me pause.

We (EV drivers) seem to be moving towards “adequate” high speed charging (not great but much better ..) and pricing is coming down and the world is moving to EVs …BUT…

The inability to get even close to ICE levels of service availability (in the US) is a significant downside and seems to be resistant to change.

Am I being too downhearted? Too pessimistic? I need a boost!

I do have faith in PORSCHE. - my 2023 Taycan has been at the dealership for over 8 weeks - Porsche connect is inactive, (won't connect) so I lost features that I really like and want related to Porsche internet connection, and they have not come up with a solution yet. They are working with "Germany" and trying different programming.
They did fix the issue once by changing out a part, but the fix only lasted a month or so...
It's difficult, but I'm waiting patiently and still 100% in.

 

[TaycanFirst]

I do have faith in PORSCHE. - my 2022 Taycan has been at the dealership for over 8 weeks - Porsche connect is inactive, (won't connect) so I lost features that I really like and want related to Porsche internet connection, and they have not come up with a solution yet. They are working with "Germany" and trying different programming.
They did fix the issue once by changing out a part, but the fix only lasted a month or so...
It's difficult, but I'm waiting patiently and still 100% in.
I really don't know what else to do.

 

[Buckeye]

I love driving my Taycan Turbo…just a monster car. That said, I’m also thinking of going back to an ICE. Cayman or Panamera. My car has had the dreaded red warning and in service for 3 months. Then three separate Turtle modes in the last 8 weeks. The issue with a Taycan is these issues are not one of only convenience, they are HUGE SAFETY issues. Imagine driving 75 mph on a highway and then without warning slowing to 20 mph with no propulsion. Porsche is going to lose their shirt on one of these cars when fatalities occur.

 

[RBGtaycan]

I love driving my Taycan Turbo…just a monster car. That said, I’m also thinking of going back to an ICE. Cayman or Panamera. My car has had the dreaded red warning and in service for 3 months. Then three separate Turtle modes in the last 8 weeks. The issue with a Taycan is these issues are not one of only convenience, they are HUGE SAFETY issues. Imagine driving 75 mph on a highway and then without warning slowing to 20 mph with no propulsion. Porsche is going to lose their shirt on one of these cars when fatalities occur.

Amen brother, Amen

 

[whitex]

I think 2023/2024 models have higher perceived reliability to me.

That is no surprise if you happen to be driving one of them and did not experience issues. I have a car similar to yours (assuming 23 Taycan Turbo from your user profile), and unfortunately have experienced heater failure, OBC failure, and recently the red electrical failure - all the classics. My Taycan has barely 20K miles on it. The electrical error resolved itself after a couple of hours in a shopping mall parking lot (where I left it, since it wouldn't drive), then was checked over by Porsche, with the error available in history, but no nothing actionable was found - so I have a car which gets a clean bill of health from Porsche, yet it left my car undrivable, so unreliable by design?

Personally, just glancing at various threads, I don't think I am seeing any patterns. The fact that you see more issue on older cars might not be tied to a model year reliability, but simply to the age of the car (so issues frequency you're seeing on 2021 today will be happening on 2023 in two years).

 

[whitex]

Service is a dealer issue, less Porsche or manufacturer.

Porsche prepared the dealers for "EV's don't need as much service as ICE cars", given how little service Tesla Model S required. Little did they know Porsche EV actually require more service (I've owned many, many cars in my life, including 4 Model S'es, the Taycan takes the crown for amount of time per year spent in service).

My Audi e-tron GT (J1.1 Taycan Turbo) would be booked next day, with loaner, work order completed in 24/48 hours.

Not always true. While there are much fewer eTron GT-s than Taycans, when things like heater failures happen when the weather gets cold, Porsche gets priority on parts, so I've heard of Audi eTron GT owners complaining about the long wait times for new heaters, not that Porsche got their parts that quickly either when weather cools and there is a fresh wave of heater failures.

 

[bwherry]

Don't go back to ICE, @RBGtaycan . I mean, ...OIL CHANGES? C'mon, that's craziness.

This poor reliability & service BS is a Porsche/Taycan thing, not an EV thing. I have a '22 BMW iX xDrive50 and it is WONDERFUL. Reliable, all the infotainment stuff actually works every time, comfortable, fast, ... I had two BMW i3's before and they were great as well.

If you're looking for a premium experience and reliability I would stay away from Tesla - my Model S was a rattle box and required constant trips to the service center to fix things (both headlights, both taillights, instrument cluster screen, door handle, recalls, ...). Sure, the Tesla service experience wasn't the same level of Porsche shit show, since they could get parts fairly quickly and seemed to know what they were doing (most of the time), but not hassle-free. Plus, Elon...

If I were you I'd check out the BMW i4 and i5 and iX if you're open to an SUV. I don't have experience with Merc but the EQS/EQE might be worth checking out too. Also the Hyndai IONIQ 5 N! Lucid and Rivian also seem to make compelling EVs but as new companies I'd worry about quality/rattles/etc.

HTH!

Brian

 

[B61]

2021

Been there…with red error on my CT4 MY21.
Got a loaner CT4 MY25 for two weeks, didn’t want to wait for another month (or two), so i sold it and buy 4S MY25 when I found out that J1.2 provides huge improvements (larger battery, lower consumption…) and I don;t regret….and i’m not going back to ICE.

 

[B61]

The electrical error resolved itself after a couple of hours in a shopping mall

Similar to mine ct4 my21.
Red error occured during fast charging (over 250kw)… and after about an hour when i was waiting for towing, i tried again and it started without red error. Then i drove another 100km to another fast charger…everything was fine, I came home well
Since I had appointment, i went to the store, and they replaced heater (3rd or 4th time), but it was not enough. Some additional sensor needs to be changed (to do that, battery has to be dismounted), but they didn’t have any EV expert available before 5-6 weeks …and since then, I’m with vulcano gray 4S…
(But i still like front lines And colour of J1.1 more, so i kept profile photo

 

[EXOTIC3]

Eight year battery warranty and why not get CPO /third-party warranty to cover the other issues. Problem solved.

 

[parkslopedope]

I love EVs also...and can live with things breaking.

The core issue tho is that service availability (waiting weeks and weeks for EV service) is unacceptable.

yeah I think this is specific to your location and dealer. Maybe they haven’t invested in EV techs because they want to discourage their clients from buying EVs.
Maybe they have techs but drag EV service out because they want people to go back to ICE so their service centers can make more revenue.
But I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a widespread issue; or maybe California is unique in this regard.
I live in SoCal and it never takes more than a week to get my car seen (there are other dealerships that project a longer time) and the car has never been at the dealer longer than 1 week for any service, recalls etc.
I would suggest looking at other service centers first, if possible.

If that’s not an option but you want to stay EV maybe consider other brands if the service centers are better for the (hopefully rare) times you need to visit them.

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