Recall campaign updates crashing

[thecoloradokid]

Driving isn't the problem - driving it is a joy. It's waiting around the dealership (which I am currently doing, fingers crossed my update goes smooth!)

It's hard not to be frustrated when my wife's Tesla gets updates all the time, at home, without any drama or inconvenience.

I realize Porsche is playing catch up here and I'm willing to give them a lot of rope (I am a fan, after all.). But they really need to make this easier. It's a competitive disadvantage.

I am not so sure it is a competitive disadvantage on selling Taycan's - they are pace to sell 40,000 of them this year. That is impressive when you factor in the cost of the vehicle.

This is year two of a completely new type of vehicle for a legacy ICE car manufacturer. We knew what we signed up for - to be be pioneers, test subjects for Porsche. So, comparisons with other car manufactures are not really helpful, nor relevant, since Porsche is still figuring this out. If you don't understand this concept, then the Taycan shouldn't have been for you.

The challenge for Porsche is how do you maintain an extensive dealer network and also allow them to make money. OTA updates cut down on visits to the dealership, which cuts down on potential impulse purchases, or other things people will spend money on, thus costing dealerships money.

If Porsche does not figure out how to balance OTA updates, car reliability, and the dealership network in the next couple years before the electric Macan comes out, then that is where you have a competitive disadvantage. It is a different ball game for people who buy an electric Macan and Cayenne - these people will not buy a car and expect that they are "pioneers."

Essentially, Porsche is on the clock for figuring $hit out that the other manufacturer every one references has mostly figured out. Then again, I would take a the reliable and professional service network that Porsche offers over what the other guy operates. But, that is just me.

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[fullmetalbaal]

I am not so sure it is a competitive disadvantage on selling Taycan's - they are pace to sell 40,000 of them this year. That is impressive when you factor in the cost of the vehicle.

This is year two of a completely new type of vehicle for a legacy ICE car manufacturer. We knew what we signed up for - to be be pioneers, test subjects for Porsche. So, comparisons with other car manufactures are not really helpful, nor relevant, since Porsche is still figuring this out. If you don't understand this concept, then the Taycan shouldn't have been for you.

The challenge for Porsche is how do you maintain an extensive dealer network and also allow them to make money. OTA updates cut down on visits to the dealership, which cuts down on potential impulse purchases, or other things people will spend money on, thus costing dealerships money.

If Porsche does not figure out how to balance OTA updates, car reliability, and the dealership network in the next couple years before the electric Macan comes out, then that is where you have a competitive disadvantage. It is a different ball game for people who buy an electric Macan and Cayenne - these people will not buy a car and expect that they are "pioneers."

Essentially, Porsche is on the clock for figuring $hit out that the other manufacturer every one references has mostly figured out. Then again, I would take a the reliable and professional service network that Porsche offers over what the other guy operates. But, that is just me.

I absolutely did not pay >100K to be a test subject. That was actually a reason for picking the Taycan over a Tesla. Porsche is an established company with 10s of billions in revenue. I expect them to complete their R&D before they sell me a car.

Half of the problem here also has nothing to do with OTA or EV aspects, but plain old information and process management. This is about the "professional service network" you mention; it's IMHO not professional when different dealers have different information and different policies going on. It's also not professional when they have no information (or play dumb) when there's a major issue going on and folks on an internet forum know more than they do. ("We haven't heard from Porsche, no idea what you are talking about" - ahem, they can read the forum/sites as easily as we can, at least it should be "I know what you are talking about, I don't have any official Porsche info to tell you")

Will this stop some folks from buying a Taycan? Probably. Enough to affect their sales, which are also limited by other factors? Probably not. Will it burn some "customer goodwill" and impact the perception of Porsche as a brand, especially for Taycan owners/friends and family of those owners? Certainly. I bet most of the folks that have the horror stories happening of the car in the shop for 10s of days have their friends and family very aware of "the Porsche is in the shop again".
There's nothing good about this for Porsche.

 

[DerekS]

Done! 3 hours at the dealership, otherwise uneventful.

Glad this is behind me.

 

[DerekS]

I absolutely did not pay >100K to be a test subject. That was actually a reason for picking the Taycan over a Tesla. Porsche is an established company with 10s of billions in revenue. I expect them to complete their R&D before they sell me a car.

This.

Will this stop some folks from buying a Taycan? Probably. Enough to affect their sales, which are also limited by other factors? Probably not. Will it burn some "customer goodwill" and impact the perception of Porsche as a brand, especially for Taycan owners/friends and family of those owners? Certainly. I bet most of the folks that have the horror stories happening of the car in the shop for 10s of days have their friends and family very aware of "the Porsche is in the shop again".
There's nothing good about this for Porsche.

I have a friend with a first-gen Tesla Model S who has been "Taycan curious" while awaiting the Model S refreshes to roll out. He is, unfortunately, no longer Taycan curious.

On the way back from the dealership my radio stopped working - no sound at all, and not the first time this has happened so it's not related to the update. The "fix" is to pull over, put the car in park, put the PCM into engineering mode with the "secret" 2-fingers-on-clock gesture, then reboot out of engineering mode. This is the kind of crap that is pretty absurd.

 

[chrisk]

On the way back from the dealership my radio stopped working - no sound at all, and not the first time this has happened so it's not related to the update. The "fix" is to pull over, put the car in park, put the PCM into engineering mode with the "secret" 2-fingers-on-clock gesture, then reboot out of engineering mode. This is the kind of crap that is pretty absurd.

But it is ok and you shouldn't complain because it "drives like a Porsche" and "it is their first EV" so they are still trying to figure how the radio and infotainment work (even if they have been building PCMs for decades)...

 

[Piper]

I'm always offered a loaner. That's a good solution. Porsche denying the world this car because some of their production might need service, not a good solution.

 

[feye]

Driving isn't the problem - driving it is a joy. It's waiting around the dealership (which I am currently doing, fingers crossed my update goes smooth!)

I am with you on this... Gotta plan to have something to do while waiting...

 

[feye]

I am not so sure it is a competitive disadvantage on selling Taycan's - they are pace to sell 40,000 of them this year. That is impressive when you factor in the cost of the vehicle.

Yep, half of all EVs sold in Turkey in 2020 were Taycans.

Global sales of the Taycan family increased by 248% year-over-year to a new quarterly record of 10,750. That's 13.2% of the total Porsche sales in the period.

 

[Jmrdmd]

I’ve put about 2K uneventful miles on my Turbo S so I’m a little reluctant to rush in for the recall. That being said, I’m scheduled for mid September (with a loaner). I’m happy to let them get some done before plugging in!

Best

Jan

 

[tigerbalm]

On the way back from the dealership my radio stopped working - no sound at all, and not the first time this has happened so it's not related to the update. The "fix" is to pull over, put the car in park, put the PCM into engineering mode with the "secret" 2-fingers-on-clock gesture, then reboot out of engineering mode. This is the kind of crap that is pretty absurd.

They even acknowledge it and have a very "implausible" fix, imo:

 

[KTC]

I absolutely did not pay >100K to be a test subject. That was actually a reason for picking the Taycan over a Tesla. Porsche is an established company with 10s of billions in revenue. I expect them to complete their R&D before they sell me a car.

While all of us share your pain in paying this sort of money for a car, I think this above reasoning is perhaps unrealistic. Most exotic car folks who spend Uber money, like the $300k+ crowd, know that their cars might have a lot of issues. That’s what happens when you buy a relatively low volume vehicle. Read McLaren and Ferrari forums — many similar stories of electrical failures even in ICE cars.

If you want a reliable, 6-sigma built vehicle, then get an Accord or Leaf. I’m not trying to be facetious; just basic reliability engineering principles of going with lower volume products.

Nor am I trying to make excuses for Porsche. None of us enjoy dealing with this. But my expectation is that if I can afford a $175k car, then I can afford to deal with its potential costly issues.

 

[SteveDC]

I absolutely did not pay >100K to be a test subject. That was actually a reason for picking the Taycan over a Tesla. Porsche is an established company with 10s of billions in revenue. I expect them to complete their R&D before they sell me a car.

Half of the problem here also has nothing to do with OTA or EV aspects, but plain old information and process management. This is about the "professional service network" you mention; it's IMHO not professional when different dealers have different information and different policies going on. It's also not professional when they have no information (or play dumb) when there's a major issue going on and folks on an internet forum know more than they do. ("We haven't heard from Porsche, no idea what you are talking about" - ahem, they can read the forum/sites as easily as we can, at least it should be "I know what you are talking about, I don't have any official Porsche info to tell you")

Will this stop some folks from buying a Taycan? Probably. Enough to affect their sales, which are also limited by other factors? Probably not. Will it burn some "customer goodwill" and impact the perception of Porsche as a brand, especially for Taycan owners/friends and family of those owners? Certainly. I bet most of the folks that have the horror stories happening of the car in the shop for 10s of days have their friends and family very aware of "the Porsche is in the shop again".
There's nothing good about this for Porsche.

Call me old fashioned, but when I buy a car from one of the world’s premier manufacturers, I expect it to work. My dealer has been proactive in assisting me, *but about 3 weeks into ownership, I am still unable to logon to my own car. I am a “Guest.”* Porsche several times promised to call me back with a fix, and *I have yet to hear from them.* it’s starting to be Porsche’s own version of that old song “September, November, oh it’s a long, long time . . . ?” i hope I don’t get to May! The car itself, of course, is incredible to drive, unbelievable, actually — even as a supplicant, or Guest. I hope some day to begin to use the features I have paid for that are denied to mere Guests. USW. (“Etc.”, for English speakers)

 

[daveo4EV]

I am not so sure it is a competitive disadvantage on selling Taycan's - they are pace to sell 40,000 of them this year. That is impressive when you factor in the cost of the vehicle.

This is year two of a completely new type of vehicle for a legacy ICE car manufacturer. We knew what we signed up for - to be be pioneers, test subjects for Porsche. So, comparisons with other car manufactures are not really helpful, nor relevant, since Porsche is still figuring this out. If you don't understand this concept, then the Taycan shouldn't have been for you.

The challenge for Porsche is how do you maintain an extensive dealer network and also allow them to make money. OTA updates cut down on visits to the dealership, which cuts down on potential impulse purchases, or other things people will spend money on, thus costing dealerships money.

If Porsche does not figure out how to balance OTA updates, car reliability, and the dealership network in the next couple years before the electric Macan comes out, then that is where you have a competitive disadvantage. It is a different ball game for people who buy an electric Macan and Cayenne - these people will not buy a car and expect that they are "pioneers."

Essentially, Porsche is on the clock for figuring $hit out that the other manufacturer every one references has mostly figured out. Then again, I would take a the reliable and professional service network that Porsche offers over what the other guy operates. But, that is just me.

isn’t one of people’s most common complaints about Tesla is that they are beta-testing product features/services on their customers - and I remember years of conversations on the forums that Porsche would never do such a thing make their customers test subject.

OTA updates was/is also one of the premier features noted about the Taycan - and so far seem to be 100% MIA

so you’re saying Porsche customers should have expected to be beta testers and not recieved one of the vehicles stated/noted features?

 

[daveo4EV]

They even acknowledge it and have a very "implausible" fix, imo:

If the workshop confirms the conditions above, verify fault code U106A00 (Amplifier - no communication) in the PCM. If verified, the recommended solution is to shut down the vehicle, lock it, and allow it to sleep for 45 minutes. This should bring the amplifier back online and solve the issue permanently.

ROFL

Note to service network: please stop needless replacing parts during a world wide chip shortage and forcing us to do inventory management due to really crappy software faults that make it look like a hardware fault - we’re really tired of both paying for un-necessary new hardware and the supply chain problems such needless replacement also create - but we’re not going to fix the software cause we suck at it and we have no effective software distribution mechanism that isn’t nearly as bad as the problem’s we’re trying to fix.

 

[DerekS]

They even acknowledge it and have a very "implausible" fix, imo:

So basically, a different way to reboot it.

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