Software updates - why is Porsche so far behind.......?

[dbsb3233]

I don't expect Porsche to be "ahead" on software.

But I do expect the software that exists on my $95k Porsche to work. That's what I want OTAs for - not to add a bunch of new great features, but to seamlessly fix the existing broken ones.

Or at least timely fixes via dealer service.

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[QuiteBig]

I get what you are coming from but I think you are missing a much bigger point.

You don't go to premium brands for latest tech. Look at Apple - there are other brands that are far ahead in terms of tech, parameters, battery, camera. You should also accept Porsche is not the brand if this is what you are looking for.

You go to premium brands for refinement. It's not the latest and brightest but what you get should be of better build quality, sophistication, durability, design, residual value, reliability, thoughtful user experience and personalised customer care. These things should be timeless, have a much longer use span and hence don't have to be cutting edge. All this is why people buy Apple products, not the biggest battery or fastest charging speeds. This is why people buy Porsche products.

This brings us to the bigger (and tragic) point - Porsche fails to deliver on the refinement front. EVs are not reliable, early customers are in fact beta testers, a lot of features are not the result of careful design and years of testing, everything seems rushed to the market and customer care is substandard. And all this if you are lucky and don't get a lemon...

Brilliantly said. I don’t want it to be cutting edge software, I want it to be a premium, high-quality car that actually works, with dealers who care and just return your calls. Not much to ask?

 

[pm4s]

why is Porsche so far behind.......?
Because they can afford it, unlike other "lesser" brands.
I have said it before the fault is the customer, when customers tolerate this sub part product because its a "Porsche" that is what you get, zero effort.
VW has already turned with the ID.1 hopefully Porsche will follow.

 

[TomekGnomek]

why is Porsche so far behind.......?
Because they can afford it, unlike other "lesser" brands.
I have said it before the fault is the customer, when customers tolerate this sub part product because its a "Porsche" that is what you get, zero effort.
VW has already turned with the ID.1 hopefully Porsche will follow.

Well, I'm not sure "they can afford it" is a good strategy going forward.

It may have worked before but 1) customers' expectations shift and 2) Chinese cars would reshape the whole market if not for protection policies. Most first-time customers disillusioned after the Macan would go for a new iX3 next time.

Porsche lost half of it's value since IPO and during a very bullish market. This does reflects an utter lack of confidence in the current strategy.

 

[dwauch]

Definitely can't believe everything you read on the internets, alas, according to AI...

The Rivian-Volkswagen (VW) deal is widely expected to benefit Porsche AG by providing access to Rivian's advanced and cost-effective electrical architecture and software, a critical component that VW's internal software group, CARIAD, had struggled to develop successfully.

Strategic Advantages for Porsche

• Access to Proven Software: The main benefit is the immediate availability of a working, tested, and flexible zonal software architecture. This eliminates the need for Porsche to rely on the delayed and problematic software development from the VW Group's internal CARIAD division, which had already caused significant delays for models like the electric Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.
• Faster EV Development and Launch: By utilizing Rivian's technology, Porsche can potentially accelerate the launch of future electric models, particularly those planned for the high-end Scalable Systems Platform (SSP Sport). This is crucial for competing with other luxury EV makers. The first vehicles using the joint venture's technology are expected to enter production around 2027.
• Cost Reduction: Leveraging a shared, scalable platform from the joint venture helps reduce per-vehicle costs and significant R&D expenses. This aligns with Porsche's "value over volume" strategy and efforts to manage costs amidst high investments and market challenges.
• Enhanced Financial Resilience: The collaboration with Rivian helps the entire VW Group, including Porsche, to strengthen its EV lineup and build defenses against intense competition, particularly from Chinese EV makers.
• Brand Distinction Maintained: The joint venture focuses on the underlying technology and software, not the driving experience or specific design. This means Porsche can still program the architecture to deliver the distinct, high-performance driving experience its customers expect, while benefiting from shared technology behind the scenes.

 

[sor]

It’s fair - people want different things from their cars. If you prioritize a car that gives a great connected experience and updates, I don’t think Porsche is it.

I will just say that it is the funnest car I’ve had in awhile, and I’m not really itching for some new feature or bug fix that makes me want to get frequent updates. It does what I need it to do tech wise.

I’ve had a few recent cars with a lot of power, but I’ve missed the lively nature and maneuverability that the Macan has.

It was always fun to get an update notification on those other cars and apply them, but I’m finding that as long as the car works reasonably well day to day with no annoyances or bugs, I’m not really itching for frequent updates.

 

[sor]

I don't expect Porsche to be "ahead" on software.

But I do expect the software that exists on my $95k Porsche to work. That's what I want OTAs for - not to add a bunch of new great features, but to seamlessly fix the existing broken ones.

Or at least timely fixes via dealer service.

Yeah that’s fair. I just haven’t seen anything on the Macan that really rises to the level of “I really wish they’d fix that, bugs me every day”.

As I’ve posted earlier on other threads, I think their BMS could be improved. And there’s a ton of value in being able to do OTA recalls. Personally though I am more than happy to make the trade from a very powerful EV that handled like a boat but got OTA recalls, to a car that I might have to drive five miles and drop off for six hours once or twice a year but truly puts a smile on my face when I drive it.

And I respect people’s decision to make the opposite trade. I don’t think there’s an option that is the best of everything, not to mention other items one might care about like luxury or style.

 

[dbsb3233]

Yeah that’s fair. I just haven’t seen anything on the Macan that really rises to the level of “I really wish they’d fix that, bugs me every day”.

As I’ve posted earlier on other threads, I think their BMS could be improved. And there’s a ton of value in being able to do OTA recalls. Personally though I am more than happy to make the trade from a very powerful EV that handled like a boat but got OTA recalls, to a car that I might have to drive five miles and drop off for six hours once or twice a year but truly puts a smile on my face when I drive it.

And I respect people’s decision to make the opposite trade. I don’t think there’s an option that is the best of everything, not to mention other items one might care about like luxury or style.

I should have been making a list of bugs for the dealer, but I know it's kinda pointless as they're nearly all things that would take a software fix which they can't do. Just gotta hope Porsche sends them out. My Macan is at the dealer right now getting the one update that's come out. I read the list of items it addresses and almost none of them are the annoyances we run into, so I'm not very hopeful for it. But something is better than nothing.

Last 2 times I tried to remote start cabin heat the app said it came on but it didn't in the car. 50-50 at best on that one. SiriusXM favorites don't scroll via steering wheel unless you manually go in and tune to one of your favorited stations first when starting up the car. Every single drive after the car is turned off. Really annoying for someone that simply uses SXM favorited stations all the time (the whole point of setting favorites). The joker button doesn't work for Seek-Back on SXM. The audio system just randomly decides to go dead every few weeks, requiring a PCM reboot. Audio settings (balance/fade/surround) reset themselves for no particular reason every few weeks. Driver profiles are flaky, sometimes working, sometimes not. To the point that we finally deleted the 2nd profile and just share a single profile to keep it more stable. The seat/mirror settings almost never changed automatically to the right one anyway. Just have to manually switch using the door buttons every time (which inexplicably, have to be held down for 7 seconds until the seat is fully moved rather than just a normal quick touch).

There's more, but that's the type of stuff that's just annoying. And most of it is frequent, not just twice a year quirks. Mostly little things, but not so little when you use them frequently and the don't work. Physically the car drives wonderfully. But then I'm grumbling every 10 minutes about something little not working right (in our $95,000 car).

 

[Cogs79]

Hi Folks,

My Macan 4 is my first Porsche experience and it echoes what most of you are saying. It drives beautifully, but it's a software nightmare. Almost exactly 1 year of ownership, and I am convinced that the issues are weather related. The first three months that I had the car were during a typical Montreal winter, and I had every issue on this forum. Then the summer went relatively smoothly (aside from constant assistant-services error when 1 drop of rain hits the sensor). Now that it is winter again, I am getting tons of software errors.

I am a computer engineer and so it blows my mind that the center display and PCM can both freeze at the same time, and all sounds are lost, without automatically recovering. I need to reset the PCM myself or stop the car and let it sit for a while. It has happened a few times, and it just happened to me yesterday, then it triggered a "Right charge port" issue although the car locked my LEFT charge port (manual door). I am able to charge on the right port but the left one is locked and stuck even 1 day later. Losing sounds and the gage cluster is a serious safety issue. I get anxiety when the dealer washes my car as some sensors will freak out. Most recent error was a "High voltage system" error. It went away a couple of hours later. The dealer said there were hundreds of error codes, so they just erased them all and hoped for the best. Should I laugh or cry?

To me it's clear that there are components not sealed properly against water/snow/rain. Coming from a Chevy Volt (which has been completely flawless for 10+ years) that is 1/4 the cost, but works in the rain and snow, it is extremely discouraging to see these issues on my first Porsche. And I am not even at 6000km in 1 year.

Ettore

 

[Peter Fr]

I have Macan 4S since August. My first EV and about 8th Porsche! Not really noticed any software issues - charging App taken some time to understand the wrinkles (have Porsche charger) . Was booked in for software update this coming week, had phone call from dealer yesterday saying Porsche have stopped them doing this update. I guess another version now going to supersede it? Anyone had similar

 

[FirstEV]

I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: if your main expectation is excellent software, Porsche may not be the right brand for you. Porsche excels at building driver-focused cars, not software-first vehicles. The Taycan J1 software issues have been well documented, so this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who did their research. For context, my car has spent around 80% of my 16 months of ownership in the shop, so I am not a happy blind Porsche-customer.

 

[Pingechoreply]

Whle Porsche does not own all the IP in the vehicle, another side of this is my experience coming from a Tesla. Many things that "just work" on other vehicles, including my Macan 4, such as auto-dimming high beams, auto wipers, blind spot detection (to name a few), were horribly broken on my Tesla. Sometimes the feature was working, and then broken on an update, never to return. Many of these items represent solved problems that Tesla (the marque I have direct experience with) decided to solve again; in their case all through cameras. Interesting idea, but sucks to be in the development process for very important systems. I never really trusted the blind spot detection (and that in a car with a honking big blind spot), and ended up having to move to manual wiper and high beam selection. Sometimes the vendor approach is right.

That said, the update process was flawless, and often did offer real upgrades (and often stupid stuff like fart noises...). Never once over 6 years of ownership took either car in for a repair. Had mobile techs come to me twice: Once for a minor repair, and once for a HomeLink install. I don't need monthly updates that do very little, I need reliable software. So far, it has been "good enough" on that front, and the joy of driving a beautiful handling car has me happy.

 

[MIB]

I have Macan 4S since August. My first EV and about 8th Porsche! Not really noticed any software issues - charging App taken some time to understand the wrinkles (have Porsche charger) . Was booked in for software update this coming week, had phone call from dealer yesterday saying Porsche have stopped them doing this update. I guess another version now going to supersede it? Anyone had similar

 

[dgkhn]

Couldn’t agree more. I’ve got mine booked in for early Jan.

I’ve been tempted to get the cayenne but I’m not so sure anymore to be honest. The climate panel got stuck the other day so I can’t change temperature or turn on or off the heated seats. My car is 5 months old and quality is a joke in my opinion.

When you say the panel is "stuck" I'm not sure if you mean physically or the software is unresponsive. Either way, though, until you get it fixed, have you tried controlling temperature and heated seat with "hey Porsche"? Normally, you could control those features by voice.

 

[RGBArgee]

I had to book my month old Macan in for the WSJ0 software update. It was done yesterday and took, wait for it, over 6 hours!!!!!!

How on earth is a company of Porsche's supposed expertise and brand value so far behind other companies? Porsche don't even offer simple OTA updates, yet my last 3 BMWs all had regular (3-6 monthly) OTA updates that were downloaded to my phone in a few minutes then transferred to the car, and took at most 20-30 minutes to complete once I parked up at the end of the day.

What's worse is that one of the main 'benefits' of the update was 'optimised display and warning concept' to reduce white warning messages, yet on the 50 mile drive home after spending all day at the dealership, I had 4 such warnings that were all eroneous........ And the boot shelf still rattles, as does the passenger seatbelt.

And before Porsche acolytes start slating me for 'not checking this' or 'expecting too much', this is my first Porsche after deciding to give the brand a try after years of looking longingly at them. However, on the evidence of the first 7 months of use, I must say I am far from impressed.........

You need to find a decent dealer! Seatbelt is easy fix and bookshelf - both are part of recent recalls. Who is your dealer?

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