4000km... and a SAFETY fail :-(

[mikeright]

The day I hit 4000 km, I celebrate with my first tow truck and a forced visit to the service center.

A week ago, I had my first big alert with a complete failure of the assistance system.
It lasted for a few hours and eventually disappeared on its own. It wasn’t the first failure—not by a long shot—but it was the first one related to SAFETY.

No, it had nothing to do with rain, fog, condensation, or anything obstructing the front sensors. It just happened.

Over the past week, I noticed a couple of erratic behaviors from the speed and road sign detection system… When I turned it off, it intermittently switched from gray to yellow. But in the end, it corrected itself.

And yesterday, almost like a macabre joke, I reach 4000 km, and once again, an error in the safety and assistance system—except this time, it has persisted for 24 hours and several attempts.

No, I’m not going to do a soft reset. Nor a hard reset. The car is simply going where it should be, to the service center, so they can fix it properly.

Maybe it’s just my perception, but take this as the opinion of someone highly involved in this forum. These types of failures are possible, of course—everything can fail. But our response as buyers should not be to try to fix these issues (and many others) by treating the car like a smartphone. And even less so to accept and justify them as something "normal."

- It is not normal for a car to have bugs.
- It is not normal for the user to have to reset anything to try to fix it.
- It is not normal that no update has been released since May.
- It is not normal that there is a total lack of information regarding these incidents.
- It is not normal when talking to customer support to feel like everything you describe sounds new to them because, in the end, we, the users, have more information than they do.

It is not normal, and I refuse to accept it.
Of course, just my humble opinion.

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[ferrocinque]

My Macan 4, that I drive since 3 months, showed these safety alerts 3 or 4 times, cleared automatically after few minutes or after switching off and on the car.
My previous cars have been an Audi Q8 TFSie Plug In and 2 Range Rover Sports. All of them had the same problem (plus some time a failure in the parking cameras). Solved again switching them off, locking the vehicle and restarting after a couple of minutes.
While the Range Rover Sports were new models that I purchased as soon as they have been available, the Q8 was out since several years (even if I have been one of he first getting the TFSie model).
I think that with all this electronics it is something we will see in almost any modern car. Of course, being the Macan a brand new car, it is probably showing it more than other cars with more model years already produced.
It would be interesting to know if the MY2025 has the same problem. I hope that a software update will help, but I don't have much hope in that.

 

[mikeright]

My car is a MY2025, and it has kept the alerts even after turning it off and driving it four times within 24 hours.

First and foremost, thank you very much for your response. It precisely highlights the perception I was referring to when I started this thread.

The fact that this error, or a similar one, happens in other cars or brands should not make us accept it as something normal.

It isn’t—it’s not normal.

And I have the feeling that unless we demand the level of quality our cars deserve, manufacturers won’t do anything, simply because they have a group of customers resigned to resetting their cars every so often.

Safety alerts, false battery range that our cars will never actually reach… it seems like anything goes, but it shouldn’t be that way... at least in my humble opinion of course.

 

[tmrqs]

I completely understand your sentiment @mikeright and I’m sorry you’re dealing with safety alerts that won’t go away.

Unfortunately your general stance of “I won’t accept bugs and I don’t want to troubleshoot them” means the car will spend a stupid amount of time at the dealership where, for the most part, they won’t be able to do anything.

They will then say “oh yeah we took care of it” when really they can’t replicate the problem and really just reset the car. You’ll have lost a month your Macan, and 2 weeks later you’ll have the issue again and be (understandably) pissed.

Many users here have a better understanding of the car and its glitches than the techs.
Techs are usually not well versed in the Macan EV (still very new) and most issues are software related (they can’t do anything other than apply updates - if they even exist).

Look, I’m not saying you’re wrong.

All I’m saying is that pretty much all cars nowadays are smartphones. If you don’t want to deal with software glitches, your best bet is to get a 15+ years old car - that’ll somewhat limit the Issues.
To your point, it is not normal but no real alternative: all manufacturers are on the same “smartphone boat” and not turning back.

If you don’t feel safe or safety alerts don’t go away, absolutely, you should take the car to the dealership.
That aside, your ownership experience will be vastly improved if you troubleshoot issues yourself.

Good luck!

 

[krissrock]

one of the big differences between cars of old and now, is that they are able to communicate more with the driver...
there's hundreds more point of failure with cars these days, as they become more "techy"

Like TMR said, i don't disagree with you, and I completely agree that being vocal is how we get Mfrs and any company we purchase things from, to listen and improve their products.

But honestly, i'll gladly take these lil safety error message, as long as the car drives fine...compared to my ICE vehicles having missfires and other fueling issues i can feel...but NO error messages on the dash.

 

[Dragon Tourniquet]

I somewhat disagree with the statement, but not the sentiment. It unfortunately is now normal for cars to have bugs. The frequency has been increasing for almost two decades, but at this point I believe it is pretty normal.

It shouldn't be like this. I remember in 2007 when Ford announced Microsoft was going to make the their infotainment system, and it was constantly ridiculed as "great, now we'll have to start rebooting our car on the freeway." While the early Sync systems weren't THAT bad, there were bugs, and it did require the occasional reboot. And from there it got worse.

Why is it like that? Because "we" (the buying public) decided to accept it. And unfortunately the percentage of people that will accept it is now so large, and the concept so engrained, it isn't going to go away.

 

[RickDCMD]

Sorry to heard that but software tech always have bugs and reset is something we have to do always, even your iPhone or android requires reset sometimes, still the easiest way to solve minor issues. I had reset my Macan 4S two times and I have 200 miles on it to solve PCM a minor issue.

 

[dgkhn]

even your iPhone or android requires reset sometimes

True for context, and Microsoft OS has the occasional blue screen of death. But but but, an iPhone costs $1,000. A Tesla Model Y costs less than $50,000. A Macan EV costs $100,000 or more. One could ask, what is Porsche doing with the money?

(I am on my 4th Porsche, and I have great affection for all 4, but still, it's not too much to ask that both the cars and the level of service be superior to "normal" in all respects. Porsche can and should do better.)

 

[tmrqs]

True for context, and Microsoft OS has the occasional blue screen of death. But but but, an iPhone costs $1,000. A Tesla Model Y costs less than $50,000. A Macan EV costs $100,000 or more. One could ask, what is Porsche doing with the money?

(I am on my 4th Porsche, and I have great affection for all 4, but still, it's not too much to ask that both the cars and the level of service be superior to "normal" in all respects. Porsche can and should do better.)

The Macan being your 4th Porsche, surely you know how vastly superior the driving experience is on Porsche’s cars vs on Tesla’s. That’s where the money is going.

Sure, Tesla’s software is better… and sure, Porsche should do better.
But that comparison was a little weak.

As for it not being too much to ask, building car software is a huge undertaking. Tesla is much more nimble and agile, whereas Porsche has to deal with the requirements of the VW group, software is shared across models/brands… it’s much more difficult for them to be good than it is for Tesla.

I get that it’s not great to hear (or accept) but it’s the reality.

 

[dgkhn]

Sure, Tesla’s software is better… and sure, Porsche should do better.
But that comparison was a little weak

I wasn't comparing the cars...but rather the costs. My theory is, if you spend more, you should get more.

 

[krissrock]

I wasn't comparing the cars...but rather the costs. My theory is, if you spend more, you should get more.

you're not getting a better driving experience...? Tech aside, these are still cars...

 

[tmrqs]

I wasn't comparing the cars...but rather the costs. My theory is, if you spend more, you should get more.

We’re saying the same thing. If you do not see (feel) how the Macan is leagues ahead of the Model Y in terms of driving experience…

The Macan being your 4th Porsche, surely you know how vastly superior the driving experience is on Porsche’s cars vs on Tesla’s. That’s where the money is going.

… then indeed, a Macan may not be the best option for you and you’d be better off saving money with a Model Y. And that would be completely ok, no diss, just as some people are perfectly happy with a $6 bottle of wine and don’t/cannot appreciate a nicely aged $100 bottle of wine.

 

[Trevasann]

The day I hit 4000 km, I celebrate with my first tow truck and a forced visit to the service center.

A week ago, I had my first big alert with a complete failure of the assistance system.
It lasted for a few hours and eventually disappeared on its own. It wasn’t the first failure—not by a long shot—but it was the first one related to SAFETY.

No, it had nothing to do with rain, fog, condensation, or anything obstructing the front sensors. It just happened.

Over the past week, I noticed a couple of erratic behaviors from the speed and road sign detection system… When I turned it off, it intermittently switched from gray to yellow. But in the end, it corrected itself.

And yesterday, almost like a macabre joke, I reach 4000 km, and once again, an error in the safety and assistance system—except this time, it has persisted for 24 hours and several attempts.

No, I’m not going to do a soft reset. Nor a hard reset. The car is simply going where it should be, to the service center, so they can fix it properly.

Maybe it’s just my perception, but take this as the opinion of someone highly involved in this forum. These types of failures are possible, of course—everything can fail. But our response as buyers should not be to try to fix these issues (and many others) by treating the car like a smartphone. And even less so to accept and justify them as something "normal."

- It is not normal for a car to have bugs.
- It is not normal for the user to have to reset anything to try to fix it.
- It is not normal that no update has been released since May.
- It is not normal that there is a total lack of information regarding these incidents.
- It is not normal when talking to customer support to feel like everything you describe sounds new to them because, in the end, we, the users, have more information than they do.

It is not normal, and I refuse to accept it.
Of course, just my humble opinion.

Employees in ABQ where I bought the car, say just back from training where they learned that all EVs have software issues in the industry, just have to deal with it. I can hardly believe all the problems I'm having with a car that I spent $109,000 on. I left my Macan EV4 at the El Paso dealer today. There are no loaners, and only one tech will work on EVs, meaning there are 8 EVs in front of me. The car turns back on when I turn it off, have to reach in to turn off again, windows go up and down and I have no A/C for starters. I get locked out, have to climb over console because driver door won't open,. There is far few free Electrify America stations. if there are no stations, and it only works through the app on the phone which I was told but that is not true either. I prepaid EA and was charged again, even though told it was free. There are other issues, too. Thanks for reading., has anyone had A/C issues. Did they not give a freon charge?

 

[DanielFrench]

The main issue is no OTA updates. I had a Tesla Model 3 perf. for 5years... It got better and better. The Porsche nada, you are lumbered with it, as it is and no updates forthcoming. It's a really poor effort.

Reversing Camera from the 1980's
Glitches / error messages daily
Awful LKA
Speed warnings to disable every drive
And many more.

Honestly, the Porsche is nice to drive once you get going, but god AWFUL to live with - it's really annoying me after three months.... Wishing I bought a Model Y, everything works and half the price - go figure.

My latest batch of warnings this morning.

 

[Dragon Tourniquet]

Speed warnings to disable every drive

That one is apparently now a legal requirement in the EU and UK as of (I think) last year, so you shouldn't complain about it on the Porsche, but rather complain about the regional law (that a new Tesla would need to obey as well)

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