Macan EV Poll: Type and frequency of software-related issues you have had with your vehicle?

[sor]

To add to variance, I’m sure there are some issues that few recognize just because they aren’t often using every single feature, or just not always noticing if something is not right.

in general though I think it’s encouraging that even on a forum where many people come looking for answers, about 80% have not had any major issues. I don’t think you’d expect that based on the regular thread list.

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[FirstEV]

Just a question to all the software engineers on the thread:

If the car were to completely shut off while driving, is it still considered a software issue? Because that is what Porsche has been claiming for 3-4 different cases that I personally know about across the globe.

 

[Petzi]

cariads future as integrator of rivian and xpang software

 

[TomekGnomek]

Current stats of this poll are are crazy come to think if you look at only 18% without any issues and number of people with serious issues affecting safety

 

[TomekGnomek]

Just a question to all the software engineers on the thread:

If the car were to completely shut off while driving, is it still considered a software issue? Because that is what Porsche has been claiming for 3-4 different cases that I personally know about across the globe.

Hard to tell it may be due to a loss of power or software bug.
EVs should be and in most cases are SDVs (software defined vehicles).
This means software is involved in some way in most aspects of the car and a bug can potentially affect almost everything.

 

[FirstEV]

Hard to tell it may be due to a loss of power or software bug.
EVs should be and in most cases are SDV (software defined vehicles).
This means software is involved in some way in most aspects of the car and a bug can potentially affect almost everything.

I think that is also something that we should take into consideration when talking about this. This is, as you said correctly, a car that is defined by its software. That makes everything anyway so much more dangerous if the software is unreliable, or even worse, if there is hardware that is triggering the software without any knowledge of it. Therefore just stating “it’s software” from Porsche is not only stupid but dangerous for us consumers.

 

[TomekGnomek]

I think that is also something that we should take into consideration when talking about this. This is, as you said correctly, a car that is defined by its software. That makes everything anyway so much more dangerous if the software is unreliable, or even worse, if there is hardware that is triggering the software without any knowledge of it. Therefore just stating “it’s software” from Porsche is not only stupid but dangerous for us consumers.

This is also why I don't buy an argument that you don't buy a Porsche for the software, you buy it for driving experience. This may me the case with (older) ICE cars but unfortunately you cannot do a good EV which relies heavily on software for core functions, without nailing the software experience.

And when you put bigger and bigger screens (look the the new Cayene) and design more and more functions so that they are powered by software this is something crucial to do right. Porsche clearly seems to be missing this.

 

[tmrqs]

The conflation of harmless notifications (that go away on their own) and rare problems (which are actually serious and deserve attention) used to draw some of the conclusions here is at best misleading, at worst dishonest.

Sad world we live in.

 

[dgkhn]

The conflation of harmless notifications (that go away on their own) and rare problems (which are actually serious and deserve attention) used to draw some of the conclusions here is at best misleading, at worst dishonest.

Sad world we live in.

I don't think it's a conflation for the most part; it's more a spectrum. Many of the "harmless" notifications are attached to the (perhaps temporary) disablement of systems. In my car, this has ranged from the occasional brief disabled speed limit sign recognition to the loss of ACC, automatic headlight control, and autonomous braking. Fortunately, for me, so far, all self resolving.

In my case, after a full year and 9500 miles, nothing that causes me to love the car any less. However, seeing that 20% of respondents have had what they considered to be serious problems, and recognizing that Porsche does not seem to have a handle on these types of issues so far, causes me to not have the level of confidence in my car that I wish I could have. Furthermore, hearing of the cases, relatively few or not, where cars have been laid up for weeks or more, and Porsche has done little other than promise, future software improvements, I think is a real blemish on the brand.

 

[FirstEV]

The conflation of harmless notifications (that go away on their own) and rare problems (which are actually serious and deserve attention) used to draw some of the conclusions here is at best misleading, at worst dishonest.

Sad world we live in.

I agree with you, but where do we draw the line on what’s considered harmless or not? I’ve had “white” notifications — supposedly almost harmless, even according to the owner’s manual — that ended up being related to faulty sensors which had to be completely replaced.

This only happened after I kept pushing Porsche for weeks, despite them repeatedly telling me it was “normal” and nothing to worry about. Now, that in itself isn’t a huge issue — faulty sensors can happen in any car, and it’s still an outlier. - And after finally acknowledging it, guess what they said? “The car is still a baby — we’re also learning, and the software is new.”

Could the dealer be an outlier as well? Sure. But that’s why I spoke to two different dealers — and both gave equally incompetent responses, blaming it on “new software” as the reason they couldn’t explain what was happening with the car.

The moral of the story is that you can’t really trust either Porsche’s responses or what the notifications are showing. That’s the main issue many people on this forum are raising. It’s supposed to be “harmless,” and for many owners it is — but for others, it’s turned out to be quite serious, even when the same notifications appear across different cars with totally different outcomes.

 

[CHP]

Stats are crazy but obviously biased. Those who have problems are more likely to stay on the forum to seek advice and help. Those who are happy with their car are just enjoying the ride instead of spending time on the forum.

Nobody expects all cars to be perfect. It's a simple business calculation, way to expensive if achievable at all.

From my past experience with ICE cars, if you recognise a fault you contact dealer, they run
diagnostics, identify the fault and then fix it. You may spent some time at the dealer and end up with a loaner for a brief time, but there is a clear timeline and the whole process is very transparent.

From my past experience with two Macan EV 4S, you run into problems, you contact dealer, they run diagnostics, all good as they didn't find a fault. Car handed back but same error reoccurs. You contact dealer again, they run diagnostics again , all good as they didn't find a fault again but this time would like to keep your car to run some more checks. There are only two possibilities, a) there is no problem with the car or b) there is a problem with the car and diagnostics. Don't expect to get an answer. You will be notified however that they are currently waiting for an imminent software update. And then you wait and wait and wait.

The whole process is not very transparent for us and I think, for the dealer as well. That's my main issue with the situation. I don't care if it's software or hardware. Just be honest about it.

 

[TomekGnomek]

Stats are crazy but obviously biased. Those who have problems are more likely to stay on the forum to seek advice and help. Those who are happy with their car are just enjoying the ride instead of spending time on the forum.

There is no way for us to know how much bias there is. I didn't come to this forum to complain, was enjoying the car and only after problems started piling up I shared my experience. MOST buyers don't go to this forum regardless of how many issues they have.

On the other hand I've driven a couple of loaners and they all but one had the same problems described on this forum - you won't find these votes here as well. There are people on this forum who had their cars REPLACED by Porsche only to find out the new one had similar or other problems. I would bet you this is way beyond what you could reasonably expect. But in the end we simply don't know.

Nobody expects all cars to be perfect. It's a simple business calculation, way to expensive if achievable at all.

From my past experience with ICE cars, if you recognise a fault you contact dealer, they run
diagnostics, identify the fault and then fix it. You may spent some time at the dealer and end up with a loaner for a brief time, but there is a clear timeline and the whole process is very transparent.

I agree with you - the bigger issue in this picture is not that some cars are faulty. You could even argue this is a new platform and some minor issues are to be expected. Granted there are many very significant issues affecting safety (like cars turning off or doors opening on highways) but the big thing for me is customer service - it should work exactly like you describe above and what we get from Porsche is not what you should expect from this brand and from a car in the 100k+ EUR price range.

 

[slythegrin]

6 months in, so far issues revolves around the PCM… loss of wireless airplay, no audio (Bose), unable to retract spoiler. Nothing restarting the PCM by holding down the volume button can’t solve

 

[CHP]

“ There are people on this forum who had their cars REPLACED by Porsche only to find out the new one had similar or other problems. I would bet you this is way beyond what you could reasonably expect. But in the end we simply don't know.”


That’s me. Base on my experience, serious fault rate is >= 0.5 % (simple math). Extrapolating similar experience here on the forum, serious fault rate likely in the range of 1-5%. This is way too much for hardware related faults but too small to be software related alone. As others said before, likely a mixture of both. Without Porsche being able to identify faults reliably, they can’t fix the problems quickly.

My cars were build 8 months apart. To be fair, different faults but similar to those logged with Porsche long before my August build. This will drag on I am afraid.

Based on my experience, dealers are unable to identify the cause of faults and thus are dependent on Porsche Germany recommendations. Porsche Germany itself is guessing cause for fault by similar reports and elimination. Rare fault = longer wait until Porsche has received sufficient similar faults. Just my guess.

 

[DC Mac]

To add to variance, I’m sure there are some issues that few recognize just because they aren’t often using every single feature, or just not always noticing if something is not right.

in general though I think it’s encouraging that even on a forum where many people come looking for answers, about 80% have not had any major issues. I don’t think you’d expect that based on the regular thread list.

If you're having issues, it's smart to come here first (I do) and that skews the topics to the negative.
So far I've been very happy with the fit and finish. The software/hardware issues have been very minor, similar to my experience with Tesla. Thanks for posting this poll.

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