What does your Future hold with the Macan

[USMA81]

Initial report on Rivian R2 is glowing. This actually is good news for Porsche, as they invested in Rivian to partner on software.

It is certain that the current Macan will be outdated sooner or later, maybe sooner. Porsche certainly will be pressed to remain competitive in this SUV EV market.

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[DTaxman]

It would be a world record if my unknown new car is worst than a dangerous, not reliable, obsolete and very expensive medium tech brand new macan EV!
My particular macan turbo is very particular

I'm not going to debate your personal experience with the vehicle as it seems terrible. Feels like perhaps they have had a higher rate of lemons on the Macan EV than usual.

However, just curious why you say it is "obsolete" at this point? It might just be that I'm not looking for a lot of software bells and whistles, but it does pretty much everything I need it to do.... along with the fabulous diving dynamics. I'm a heavy Carplay user so I rarely dig deep into the porsche system on a daily basis. The Carplay integration is the best I've expeienced on any vehicle with a seemless transition of maps and functionality between the center screen and the diver screen. I get in the car, sit down and within probably 5 seconds carplay is up and running wirelessly.

 

[byebye]

However, just curious why you say it is "obsolete" at this point? It might just be that I'm not looking for a lot of software bells and whistles, but it does pretty much everything I need it to do....

Obsolete is a personal thought.
'To me, a one year old connected object, even if it's a car, that is not able to be updated on a regular basis is obsolete.
My point is NOT OTA or real new features, but just improvements and adjustments of existing ones to provide customer with polished experience. UI, UX, stability, cyber, bug fixes, new user parameters in existing features, optimizations of abnormal and non optimal behaviors ; that's all about a serious provider of connected objects is supposed to provide. And it's the minimum to say the least. Standard expectations nowadays are new software only features...

Porsche doesn't provide that type of improvements with our Macans EV, it's not a technical limitation , it's a choice they've made for some (marketing, commercial , segmentation or whatever) reasons.
Basically, Porsche says customers that the infotainment of the car will be exactly the same for the several years of ownership, because the first version of the software was so perfect (it's not) that they don't need to improve it at all.

(I don't like software bells, I have too many related with the circle of death lol)

 

[DTaxman]

Obsolete is a personal thought.
'To me, a one year old connected object, even if it's a car, that is not able to be updated on a regular basis is obsolete.
My point is NOT OTA or real new features, but just improvements and adjustments of existing ones to provide customer with polished experience. UI, UX, stability, cyber, bug fixes, new user parameters in existing features, optimizations of abnormal and non optimal behaviors ; that's all about a serious provider of connected objects is supposed to provide. And it's the minimum to say the least. Standard expectations nowadays are new software only features...

Porsche doesn't provide that type of improvements with our Macans EV, it's not a technical limitation , it's a choice they've made for some (marketing, commercial , segmentation or whatever) reasons.
Basically, Porsche says customers that the infotainment of the car will be exactly the same for the several years of ownership, because the first version of the software was so perfect (it's not) that they don't need to improve it at all.

(I don't like software bells, I have too many related with the circle of death lol)

That's totally fair. I haven't had any catastrophic software issues (circle of death....), but have had annoyances.

I guess maybe I was just coming at it from the lens of a more traditional car ownership experience. Car ownership and expectations around feature updates and improvements are a new reality in the market. It's the smartphone(ification) of the car buying experience. Feels similar in sentiment to the lease vs. buy debates now. I'm only 50, but "back in my day" I bought a car and didn't worry so much about depreciation rate because I knew I would be driving it for the next 10 years plus. Rate of change also was not great with respect to technology, performance improvements, etc. Things incrementally got better in cars in the 90's and early 2000's, but nothing that made me feel like I was totally missing out by not "upgrading". Now I'm made to feel like an idiot for buying an EV outright because it will apparently be no better than a glorified paperweight in 3 years.

Again, not trying to attack you (I get your personal frustration with the experience), but I'm trying really hard to not fall into the upgrade trap with this vehicle. I love to drive it. Still does everything I need it to do, and with carplay I get updates to my UI experience through IOS.

 

[byebye]

@DTaxman no problem at all, I totally understand your POV, and I find it heartening to see that the vast majority of Macan EV owners are satisfied rather than dissatisfied with this expensive toy

bad luck, I’m not in that team!

Obviously, cars are cars and their first purpose is to be driven with confidence, not necessarily acting like a smartphone

 

[Petzi]

@DTaxman no problem at all, I totally understand your POV, and I find it heartening to see that the vast majority of Macan EV owners are satisfied rather than dissatisfied with this expensive toy

bad luck, I’m not in that team!

Obviously, cars are cars and their first purpose is to be driven with confidence, not necessarily acting like a smartphone

byebye tells an other story in every thread. once he gave it back „but only with help from his lawyers“ here he posts like he still has it. this is going like this for one year now.

 

[byebye]

byebye tells an other story in every thread. once he gave it back „but only with help from his lawyers“ here he posts like he still has it. this is going like this for one year now.

Pfff…

 

[Petzi]

@byebye: i am the one saying „pff“.

How is it possible to keep telling the same stories for years? That’s just crazy. If I don’t like a car—or whatever—or if I’ve had bad luck with something that doesn’t work, I just return it and buy something else. And I wrote you something similar a year ago.

And it’s not true that Porsche is uncooperative. Unless maybe they think they’re dealing with a querulous person?

you spend so much time to discredit porsche. it is not possible to post anything here, without you telling your sad story in response. don't you get ever tired of being the one loser that was not able to get his car fixed under warranty?

 

[MMR]

Bringing the thread back on track…

I’d expect Porsche to introduce a mid-cycle facelift around 2028/29, potentially bringing across some of the latest battery technology and infotainment from the Cayenne, or whatever new systems Porsche has developed by then.

We’re also expecting the new ICE SUV, which will no longer carry the Macan name, to arrive around the same time. My plan is probably to keep my MY26 Turbo until the second model year of either of those and then consider making the switch.

 

[dgkhn]

I love my Macan 4. I've had almost no problems with it; it drives great. I haven't visited a dealer since I picked it up in October 2024. My two year lease ends this October. PCNA sent me an email with lease end options which included releasing, saying to contact a dealer to find out more. After chasing my local dealer for several days, I finally got a release quote with a money factor in the neighborhood of 10%. So, to release a two year-old car would cost me significantly more than leasing a new loaded Volvo EX 60 or new Rivian R2 launch edition (and that with Rivian's insane money factors). Both of those companies have a pattern of OTA's fairly frequently. Porsche has offered nothing in the way of updates other than a couple of faulty bug fixes since the car was introduced. I have to conclude that they don't get it. It's not even that my car needs updates, but rather that that is becoming the norm at least for EV's.

in the past, I wouldn't have cared. But now it's more like Porsche doesn't care; because of that, I've decided to move on.

 

[shawn]

I guess people have different priorities. I got rid of the OTA king (Tesla) because I wanted an upgrade on everything else. internal ergonomics and premium seats, better suspension, better driving dynamics.and I got all of that with the Macon 4 that I had. I have traded up to the GTS to get even more including the phone as a key and active drive and improved parking software. I would’ve liked to have those software related items as purchasable upgrades, but since I wanted a number of other physical changes, it made sense to get the GTS.

While , I agree with your sentiment that Porsche needs to get better at the software upgrade business. I would not trade the brand unless I was sure I wouldn’t be forfeiting the performance and ride quality that I’ve come to enjoy. I guess the jury is out on the R2, but I doubt that it will be close to the Porsche especially after my test driving the R1 Rivian. iIn my mind it is a different aesthetic and if you like that outdoors orientation that may be the deciding factor.. But for me, I think I found that the bones of the car is what I prioritize over software update capabilities. Heck I drove 2001 BMW 525ix for 17 years without one update and I loved it.

I also have a Volvo EX 40 it’s a good car but the suspension and driving handling is just not there for me. However, my wife loves it but interestingly, she doesn’t want software updates because why change something that she’s comfortable with. Lol..
Lastly I can say that none of the errors I encountered on my Macan 4 were significantly concerning (but I did have a great dealer experience who helped mitigate any concerns through their quick action) but I realize that wasn’t the case for others.

 

[MKSZ51]

After reading this forum for about a year it's become apparent to me there are two general groups of people here: 1) Those who would be fine driving a sofa as long as the software provided them an experience they viewed as "favorable" and 2) Those that want to drive a Porsche for the dynamic and unique experience and are willing to tolerate an infrequent software bug.

 

[dgkhn]

For me, it's also about money, or should I say value for money. I've owned several Porsches (although all relatively low end Porsches--Boxsters and Macans), so I certainly get that the value of a Porsche is in the eye of the beholder. My problem now is, my choices are to buy out the car, re-lease the car, or turn it in. If I turn it in then an exact Porsche replacement, would cost me considerably more. If I buy out the car, then I'm really committing to owning it for a number of years because Porsche's failure to update it at all will just exacerbate its already poor value retention. I have not completely ruled out re-leasing it, but I have a problem paying all that interest to Porsche. My experience with my current Macan has been great, I'm not tired of it, and if only Porsche would give me a halfway decent lease, I would re-lease it. However, this thing about software updates is not pie in the sky. Porsche originally marketed this vehicle as being something that they would update, and they simply aren't doing it. Does my car need it? No, not really. But I can't help feeling that Porsche doesn't get it. This is most certainly not a 911. I personally, couldn't care less that my car says "Porsche" on it.

You might ask, what do I think Porsche should update? Well, the lane keeping sucks; it wouldn't kill them to enable the advanced headlight functionality. (both the Volvo and the Rivian supposedly have that). The brake blending could be improved. (although some people say that was improved with the released update; I really don't know.). I still say adding a one pedal driving option wouldn't kill them. And of course, there's the fact that they released essentially a single major bug fix update that is it self buggy and after many months they still haven't released an improved version.. I'm just looking for some sign that Porsche gets that software updates are and expected feature of EV's. I'm not seeing that. Barring that, I'm unwilling to commit to the car to the tune of another 60 some odd thousand dollars, nor to drastically overpaying on a new lease.

I probably would've been better off never subscribing to this forum because then I wouldn't have been exposed to the types of problems other people have had and yes, I get probably both the Volvo and the Rivian will have significant software issues, but at least they have a history of properly fixing those things unlike Porsche so far.

 

[Petzi]

After reading this forum for about a year it's become apparent to me there are two general groups of people here: 1) Those who would be fine driving a sofa as long as the software provided them an experience they viewed as "favorable" and 2) Those that want to drive a Porsche for the dynamic and unique experience and are willing to tolerate an infrequent software bug.

In addition, those who criticize Porsche’s software the loudest (though it’s never clear what they’re actually talking about—the PCM or the operating system) can never say which car is supposed to be better.

Instead, they talk about OTA. What good is OTA to me if I have to wait years to get an OTA update so I can use something I paid for a long time ago? What good is OTA to me if I basically only have half the features? What good is OTA to me if the car is undrivable?

Basically, Porsche is a victim of its own success. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if these critics could afford a Ferrari…

 

[MKSZ51]

My wife and I also own a Macan 4 - we previously had a 2018 Macan ICE, followed by an Audi eTron, and now the Macan 4. We initially leased ours (to take advantage of the $7500 credit before it went away), made 2 payments, and then purchased it outright (no loan - cash deal). We intend to drive it "awhile" - what that means remains to be determined. Not sure what I would do in the situation of a 2 year lease soon to expire. I would NOT re-lease the vehicle - leasing a Porsche is generally a losing proposition because the money factor is so high. Buying it is also a financial hit because you've already paid all the "rent" during your lease and your total cost of acquisition considering the lease payments and now purchase price is going to be high. Due to our country's "leadership" most EVs currently have tanking values (although the recent gas prices may have influenced that a bit favorably). I guess I'd figure out what I want - transportation alone? A Porsche to be that transportation? Some other brand?? I think once you get into it you'll find any option has considerable pros and cons. Rivian is an interesting consideration - they are widely known for 2 things right now: 1) VERY high brand loyalty / satisfaction by owners and 2) Fairly bad reliability of mechanical items. Those 2 seem in opposition of each other but it's the current reality. Perhaps 2nd generation Rivian will be more reliable in mechanical aspects. I do own a 911 as well so I'm definitely a fan of the brand - the Macan 4 just works for us and we're coming up on 10,000 trouble free miles in the first year. At the end, like many things in life, this gets down to managing expectations of the experience.

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