A Question For All Current, Future or Thinking About Becoming a Macan EV Owner

[krissrock]

i'm reading the Porsche new warrany information

" Consumer - State/Laws Some states have passed laws which give new car buyers certain rights. Although these laws vary from state to state, they generally require that if a new car has a major defect (e.g., one that substantially impairs its use, value, or safety which cannot be repaired in a reasonable time, the owner can request a replacement or a refund. Usually, the defect must occur within the first year. The repair attempts or days out of service and time period vary depending on your state’s law. "

so it sounds like you need to see what the laws are in your state. Multiple times in the warranty, the length of time for service is mentioned. But it seems like anything would have to be handled via arbitration.

" After three unsuccessful repair attempts, or after a total of thirty calendar days in which the vehicle is out of service for repair, you may be entitled to a comparable replacement Porsche vehicle or a refund of the purchase price less an allowance for your actual use"
this is the lemon law language listed in the warranty for my state.
you said they've had it for 5 weeks!?

 

[felixtb]

Unfortunately ALL cars are having more and more issues as they become more and more computers on wheels. There are a multitude of problems and time will solve them., For some manufacturers it will take too long and they will eventually go bust. For others they will have the will and the staying power to actually pull through. The general problem is that they are transforming from machine builders to software developers. This is a very difficult transformation both processes-wise and phsycologically.

Since 2011 I have had most differnet type of EVs that have been available, starting with the Leaf and the Tesla roadster. Those two were the most reliable as they were the most analogue……. The first Tesla X and the first BMW iX were the least reliable……. in my case. My first Taycan had many small glitches but was not off the road for longer periods of time…. My third Taycan has never been off the road….. With My Macan turbo (EV) I have had many of these small glitches but as most people comment: you turn off close and lock the door and a couple of minutes later you are fine. As you do on a computer when you go from one new system release to another. The only EVs I have had stopping on the road from no reason (=DANGER!) was the BMW iX and the first Taycan…… And for late models ICEs that I still have for weekend fun they have gone the same way. My Mclaren 750 was only off the road due to software issues…. MANY software issues! My Spyder RS is currently off the road due to general recall for all the wheel lock nuts of a series are defective……… but all other major glitches with it have been software……

Software is difficult! and it is much more difficult (=time consuming) to fix, not necessarily to diagnose, but to fix, than are mechanical parts. This makes the transformation from a machine business where you need lots of fairly “low skilled“ workers whom can be trained on site, to a software business where you need “highly skilled” software engineers, whom need to be educated off site, not only centrally in the business but out in the service centers……. a very difficult transformation in general. This is both a very large process change and cost change for a decentralised business model, as is the car industry with its dealer setup. So many dealers and manufacturers are simply not either willing to, or fundamentally understand that their requirements in their service centers are and have to change to be able to satisfy their end customers.

So in the end it is not so much that you have a lemon on your hand, as you are part of an erra of transformation and change. It will generally get worse before it gets better for everyone and all manufacturers as well. So if you like a brand and you think they will actually come out the other end then stay with them. Because for the next decade you will find similar situations everywhere for American, European and Asian manufactures alike.

I short term lease/rent all my cars. I no longer buy any car unless i believe it will become a collectible……

 

[ColdCase]

I’ve been involved with software and hardware and integration for near 50 years now. Today’s issues in the automotive area are similar to those of the 70s in aviation and defense. Software takes double the time and money that you would have thought.

There are time to market considerations and software/firmware is easier to change than hardware (i.e. cheaper). So hardware functions get pushed into software or firmware. It is complicated. Managers have a tendency to read marketing literature and buy OS and software from third parties to save money and time only to find that it doesn’t work well and requires quite a bit of effort to fix.

We used to test the heck out of software and hardware before releasing it to the wild and then update it with new features. It took a talented staff a long time and cost big bucks. Tesla’s business model, however, releases relatively untested software, that is perhaps just good enough and then enlist its customers to test and find the bugs. An efficient process to document bugs, create and then distribute updates needs to be in place to make that work. The Tesla cult embraced working for free to make the software better., saved the stock holders quite a few dollars.

Manufactures, in general, have to make a business decision on when the software is good enough to release to the wild. Its not an easy thing to do. Have to get the product to market before they are passed by.

It doesn’t sound like Porsche has an efficient method to distribute updates. Dunno about tracking problems… much of this is proprietary however, for competitive reasons.

BTW, in my experience (computers and embedded processing), on paper management typically prefers things be done in software because it requires a army of cheap coders and a couple highly skilled members. Hardware engineers that do cutting edge computer and processor based products have to be highly skilled. Their tools are not cheap.

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