Tell me everything bad about the 2026 Taycan 4CT.

[D00notD00d]

Furthermore, this assumption that dealers want to deny your warranty is complete bullshit. It's good for them to do warranty work - they get paid for all the labor, and it's not the importer paying for it, but Porsche Central, hence Porsche Central also decides whether the warranty is valid.

In many countries the importer is wholly owned by Porsche AG - they're the same company. Porsche AG also owns some dealers. In the UK, they have a monopoly in and around London.

Speculating, as Porsche extended warrranty T&Cs are ambiguous, it is likely that underwriters set external conditions/limits. Insurers won't issue a blank cheque. And more than ever, given reduced profits, Porsche will want to ensure a return from warranty sales. Especially if they can't pin costs on a supplier.

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[prj]

In many countries the importer is wholly owned by Porsche AG - they're the same company. Porsche AG also owns some dealers. In the UK, they have a monopoly in and around London.

Speculating, as Porsche extended warrranty T&Cs are ambiguous, it is likely that underwriters set external conditions/limits. Insurers won't issue a blank cheque. And more than ever, given reduced profits, Porsche will want to ensure a return from warranty sales. Especially if they can't pin costs on a supplier.

This has nothing to do with tuning or TD1 detection. Nobody has the capability to decode the response apart from Porsche central, nobody has any knowledge of how the system works outside of Porsche/VAG, and this is the same secrecy level as immobilizer and component protection stuff, so it is further access protected inside Porsche central itself.

Long story short, the entire amount of knowledge of 99.9% of people about this, is "computer said yes" or "computer said no".

As for extended warranty - this is provided by 3rd party underwriters and re-sold by Porsche. The reason the pricing is competitive is because Porsche is replacing the parts at much lower cost than what they would sell them for me or you.

 

[cometguy]

I've owned both Panamera and Taycan Turismos without rear-axle steering (RAS), and I've had few problems maneurvering them around in tight spaces. The extra cost to get RAS, as well as the concern for potential problems down the road (and surely high cost to repair RAS outside of warranty) makes me have no interest in special-ordering a car with it. I would guess that "Active Ride" will have the same issues. I've seen Active Ride in action in Porsche dealership showrooms (multiple cars), but it doesn't impress me (and even alarms me) with its jerkiness -- and it's totally unnecessary in a Cross Turismo (with its inherent increased ground clearance standard).

 

[prj]

I've owned both Panamera and Taycan Turismos without rear-axle steering (RAS), and I've had few problems maneurvering them around in tight spaces. The extra cost to get RAS, as well as the concern for potential problems down the road (and surely high cost to repair RAS outside of warranty) makes me have no interest in special-ordering a car with it. I would guess that "Active Ride" will have the same issues. I've seen Active Ride in action in Porsche dealership showrooms (multiple cars), but it doesn't impress me (and even alarms me) with its jerkiness -- and it's totally unnecessary in a Cross Turismo (with its inherent increased ground clearance standard).

The pop up party trick for comfort entry is a small part of AR. The ride, handling and also traction is significantly better with AR.
RAS is really nice on the Taycan - the car is 5 meters long, and it really helps to do fewer 3 point turns. It's just more convenient.

 

[B61]

RAS is simply must have.

 

[Avantgarde]

It's not a 10k$ saving, it's a 70k$+ saving. You would have to get the Turbo S to get comparable performance.
As for the warranty risk - there basically is none. I don't know of a single car that had their warranty denied whether with the HGP, Redshift or our modified controller even when going with the modified controller to the dealer.
Our contact at Porsche Engineering confirmed that the warranty check before parts replacement does pick up if a modified controller is installed at that moment in the car, but that it is a decision to not deny the warranty based on it.

The car even passes the 111 point check in EU for official warranty extension... I did that myself. What else is there to say?

@babylou66 if you have owned miatas and like well handling cars then there is nothing that compares to the Taycan on the market. Go for it.

I'm doing the exact same thing at the moment, CT4 with all the toys, delivery in December.

@prj what is your recommendation on whether to keep the modified ASG on or not in these cases:

1- Bring the car to the dealer for a manufacturer recall unrelated to powertrain (eg seat or heater)
2- Bring it to the dealer to get extended warranty
3- Bring it for regular service (eg usual check up, brake fluid change)

And I am asking for the US market.

 

[prj]

@prj what is your recommendation on whether to keep the modified ASG on or not in these cases:

1- Bring the car to the dealer for a manufacturer recall unrelated to powertrain (eg seat or heater)
2- Bring it to the dealer to get extended warranty
3- Bring it for regular service (eg usual check up, brake fluid change)

And I am asking for the US market.

I would swap it every single time it goes to the dealer, because you never know when they're gonna decide to do some kind of recall without you even knowing.

That said at present even if you don't swap it they don't void your warranty, but who knows what the future brings? Better not risk it.

 

[PhillyTCT4S]

I am planing to remove the Tune every time I bring the car to the dealer. Also when traveling I will have the original ASG in the car with me just in case....better be safe than sorry.

 

[BigBob]

I am planing to remove the Tune every time I bring the car to the dealer. Also when traveling I will have the original ASG in the car with me just in case....better be safe than sorry.

Just don't let them find the tweaked one in your glove box!

 

[prj]

Just don't let them find the tweaked one in your glove box!

Even if they would find it, I don't think it's grounds for warranty termination - we don't have any markings on the control unit.
Also the likelihood that the person "finding" it knows what it is would be extremely low. We use Audi controllers - they would not show up even if the part number entered into the Porsche EPC (Audi has their own numbers and the sticker is glued over the Porsche sticker), and just based on looks alone it could be any of the other 50 control units in the car.
The ASG is not really a service item, never heard of one going bad.

 

[Leccy61]

I am planing to remove the Tune every time I bring the car to the dealer. Also when traveling I will have the original ASG in the car with me just in case....better be safe than sorry.

I would do the same! Warranty cover isn’t the issue holding me back, what worries me is insurance.

An accident or theft situation could mean you don’t have the opportunity to swap it out. I guess they need telling about the tune or risk voided claims.

 

[prj]

I would do the same! Warranty cover isn’t the issue holding me back, what worries me is insurance.

An accident or theft situation could mean you don’t have the opportunity to swap it out. I guess they need telling about the tune or risk voided claims.

This is mostly an UK problem, nowhere in the world is the insurance as anal as over there and would void a theft claim over a tune.

 

[D00notD00d]

This is mostly an UK problem, nowhere in the world is the insurance as anal as over there and would void a theft claim over a tune.

Are you certain that’s unique to the UK? Do insurers in other countries allow you to lie about modifications when taking out insurance?
Performance mods are likely a red flag to most underwriters

 

[prj]

Are you certain that’s unique to the UK? Do insurers in other countries allow you to lie about modifications when taking out insurance?
Performance mods are likely a red flag to most underwriters

Nobody cares in 99% of the world and usually there isn't even a form to put in any modifications. This is very much an UK thing, and it is shocking how many people from the UK think that this level of asshattery is normal in any way.

Whereas in the rest of the world there is only a problem if you perform a modification that causes the actual accident. Theft or accident where the modification has nothing to do with it does not raise a single eyebrow anywhere else. Yes, if you have some mods on the car and the car gets yoinked, you're probably not getting any money back for the mods (you will get market value), but denying the claim would be equivalent to saying the car got stolen because it had mods on it, which would be laughed at by any judge (outside UK).

Insurance in the UK is just "how you're gettin f.....d UK edition".

That said on the Taycan, unless you call the insurer and tell them the car has a tuned ASG in it, there is no way in hell anyone is ever going to be able to prove that the car is modified, because at present even with a tuned ASG Porsche's system says the car isn't tuned.

 

[babylou66]

Sheesh this thread got hikacked! I originally asked for issues about the Taycan so I can make a purchase decision. Excepting the info about the handling doodads having issues I got a bunch of people telling me what my decision should be and then this argument about a tune.

Independently I have discovered the Taycan has basically non-existent OTA update capability because it uses about 150 discrete controllers instead of the newer central/zonal architecture. I think there were battery issues but only with J1.1. Correct?

Anything else?

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