Porsche Hit with Class Action Over Allegedly Dysfunctional Features in 2020 to 2021 Taycans

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A proposed class action out of California claims Porsche Cars North America, Inc. misleadingly advertised 2020 to 2021 Taycan Base, 4S, Turbo and Turbo S vehicles as having an array of convenient features despite knowing that the components don’t function sufficiently well or at all.

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The 13-page case was filed by a California resident who says he leased a 2021 Taycan 4S in May 2021 after seeing on Porsche’s website that the electric vehicle is equipped with a state-of-the-art cockpit display, integrated Apple CarPlay, air conditioning, wireless mobile phone charging and a Smart Lift system that allows a driver to program the vehicle to automatically raise its ride height at locations where greater clearance is desired. 

However, the plaintiff claims he soon noticed after leasing the vehicle that the wireless phone charger was not functional or took up to 20 minutes to begin charging. He also found that the part of the dashboard intended to display features like Apple CarPlay, the radio and the controls for the car would often remain black for the entire drive, the complaint says.

According to the plaintiff’s account, sometimes Apple CarPlay failed to work at all, but when the technology system did manage to operate, it frequently took anywhere from one to five minutes to connect.

In addition, it often took several minutes for the plaintiff to be able to use the radio, and his radio station “favorites” were regularly deleted and had to be reset, the filing says. The plaintiff also alleges that the Smart Lift system frequently did not work, which occasionally caused the vehicle to scrape the ground.

Although Porsche issued a recall regarding the vehicle’s computer system, the plaintiff contends that the problems he experienced were only slightly improved after he took his car in for what he hoped would result in a fix.

“Apparently knowing that this first recall did not fix the problems with the computer systems on 2021 Taycans, within a few months after the first recall, [the plaintiff] was notified of a second recall for the computer system,” the suit says, claiming that once again the recall only slightly alleviated the issues.

When the plaintiff brought his car into the dealership for a third recall concerning its computer system, an employee informed him that his experience was “typical of others with 2021 Taycans, and that the 2021 Taycan had bugs that Porsche had been unable to eliminate,” the lawsuit explains.

After the third recall, most of the problems listed above were “completely, or nearly completely, resolved,” the suit relays, although the plaintiff says he began to experience issues with the radio and Apple CarPlay overriding one another frequently and unexpectedly. 

Then, the plaintiff claims that in the winter of 2022 to 2023, the air conditioning system only blew cold air when he attempted to heat the car. During an appointment to fix the heating, the dealership informed him that this was a common problem in 2020 and 2021 Taycans that would take six to 10 weeks to repair because the facility did not have the parts required to fix the issue or a loaner vehicle to offer the plaintiff, the complaint alleges.

The suit claims that the plaintiff sent several emails to Porsche requesting that the automaker make a proposal to resolve or address the situation, which it refused to do. Although the plaintiff demanded a refund of the amounts he had paid for the car, Porsche said it would only provide compensation once his vehicle was fixed in six to 10 weeks, the case relays. 

According to the complaint, Porsche knew the vehicles were not ready for the market but nevertheless sold and leased 2020 to 2021 Taycans to thousands of unsuspecting consumers.

“In doing so, and in failing to promptly repair 2020 and 2021 Taycans, failing to compensate consumers for the difference in value of what consumers paid and what they received, and causing consumers other damages,” Porsche has violated California law prohibiting the use of false advertising to sell a product, the filing alleges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who bought or leased a 2020 or 2021 Taycan in California.

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