[ab521]

Started the car today, got an error "Loss of Steering Support, Increased Effort", followed by "Start/Stop Operation Disabled". Waiting for Porsche Roadside to arrange for a tow to the dealer. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[jrjunior31]

Did you try driving it in your driveway or street? Did you contact your local service dept to see if they said you MUST tow it? I'm assuming yes since towing should always be the last resort. Good luck!


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[ab521]

Yes, the failure happened down the street from my house. Tried restarting a few times, error persisted. Called the local dealer, he told me to call Porsche Roadside Assistance to get it towed. I'm in pretty decent shape, it's fairly difficult to drive with no power steering, ok to get back home but would be difficult to drive it across town, so looks like towing is the only option.

 

[Tom Coyle]

Plse keep us advised on this -- thanks!!

 

[ab521]

Porsche Roadside Assistant is arranging for a tow, already an hour past when they said the tow truck would arrive. They keep calling back quite often to see if the car has been picked up, so kudos there, but really, local dealer should be able to come get the car, Porsche Roadside works with local towing companies. I know BMW, Mercedes owners that have had issues and the dealer picked up the car. Years ago my wife's Toyota had a problem and the dealer picked it up. I guess that's the problem with living in Austin with only 1 Porsche dealer, not much incentive to go that extra mile.

 

[ab521]

3 hours and counting for the tow...

 

[kendoll]

****. Do you have PS+?

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

Hope everything gets sorted out. I had the same issue with my M3, arranged for a tow at 9:00 P.M. Truck driver arrived at 1:00 A.M.

Keep us in the loop!

 

[ab521]

No, no PS+

 

[Pwreng]

Any update?

 

[whoosh]

3 hours and counting for the tow...

I know Porsche contracts this work out to local tow companies, but this is just inexcusable. You live in Austin - one local dealer or ten, there should be somebody calling other companies on your behalf to get the car on its way in for service. Wow.

 

[ab521]

It finally got picked up. Local dealer put it all on Porsche Roadside assistance, those guys stayed on it until the tow showed up, but it appears they just keep calling local companies until they find one that can pick up your car. Will see how repairs go, but so far, not impressed with the local dealer.

 

[gordog]

No, no PS+

I thought PS+ comes standard on the Macan in the US?

 

[Molar]

I still have AAA premium. Basic the towing miles are like 2 miles free. Premium is like 50 miles free. They usually show with in the hour. Porsche Roadside assist contract out with major towing companies so AAA towers are usually familiar with the cars.

 

[steveb]

A couple of months ago, I waiting 3+ hours for Porsche Roadside Assistance to tow my Cayenne. Not what you expect from Porsche.

 

[ab521]

Dealer said there are 30+ tickets ahead of my car, so will be a day or so until they can look at it. The error did not show up when they tried it this morning, they will see if the computer logged anything. Said there were 3 recall repairs they would make as well (one of them is the alarm issue). Also said no loaner cars are available until after the new year (not surprised at this point). I never used a Porsche as my daily driver car until this Macan, starting to second guess that decision at this point.

 

[ab521]

No, PS+ is an option on US cars.

 

[jzwu]

Does your car insurance have rental coverage? I always have a backup car or two.

 

[540gone]

The steering failure happened to me when taking initial delivery in June. While sitting on the Dealer's lot going thru all the orientation stuff, PCM setup, etc. with the engine idling, got the same "steering effort" message in yellow. While playing around with it with the salesman (who is a long time Porsche fanatic and PCA club racer), the warning turned RED and read something to the effect of "total loss of steering support". FYI, it had ~40 miles on it at the time from delivery, PDI, etc.

Pulled it into the shop & diagnosis was "steering rack control module failure" or something of the sort. Dealer tried for several days to locate a replacement, but of course there were none in the US and nothing was available from Germany for a "parts order".... I guess they were all destined for new car builds, with none released to parts inventory.

After many discussions between the dealer and PCNA, they finally took a complete steering rack assembly off of another newly arrived Macan and installed it in mine to get me going. All the time (about 2 weeks total) I drove one of their Macan demos, so got to learn all the playthings on their car. Only bad thing is demo was an S & mine is a Turbo. I now have ~8,000 miles on mine and the steering has been completely trouble free. The car however has all the common alarm, washer drip, wiper sweep, wonky PCM, etc. early build stuff which I will get addressed at the 10K service visit.

Not to worry, it will get sorted out, it's just an annoyance, especially if you waited 6 months to get it like I did.

 

[Starbase]

Threads like these always make me throw up a little in my mouth. Having a car over 100k on order and never having strayed from my reliable Japanese cars makes me a bit uncomfortable that I am making a silly mistake. If porsche did not make such compelling cars I would be long gone.

The three hour wait time is horrible for a tow, AAA is normally less then a hour here.