[jschnoor]

My 2014 Cayman with MT has always had issue with Auto Start/Stop - it rarely worked under the conditions as stated in the owner's manual. It has always worked whenever it feels like it.

One time I took a trip to another city - 360 miles straight highway. Strangely, after that, it started to work perfectly for about two weeks.

I complained to the dealership many times, and they finally told me to pound sand. Basically they said unless the stars, the sun, and the moon all line up in a perfectly straight line, it wouldn't work, and there are more parameters that must be considered by the car for this to work.

Here's my issue with this. If there are more parameters, they should have said that in the owner's manual. Am I wrong to expect the car to work as described in the owner's manual?

What should I do here besides finding a lawyer?

 

[CaptAnzuelo]

How long are you normally driving for? Do you leave the car parked for extended periods of time?

Basically, the battery has to be near a nice full charge in order for the auto start/stop to shut off the car. Frankly, I don't care what it does since I disable it anyways. Really annoying when the car shuts itself off at a red light.

 

[ELP_JC]

First time I hear somebody wanting to use that crap. Never used it, and never will. Having said that, there're a myriad of conditions that have to be met for start/stop to activate. Battery not fully (or nearly fully) charged? Forget it. With A/C on? Forget it. Engine not fully hot? Forget it. At night, with lights on? Forget it. You get the idea. And typically when the damn thing works, it's at the most inopportune time, like during a super brief stop sign or such. It's just a gimmick IMO.

 

[chows4us]

One time I took a trip to another city - 360 miles straight highway. Strangely, after that, it started to work perfectly for about two weeks.

The other posters are correct. Battery needs to be charged. It worked after driving for 360 miles because you probably fully charged the battery. What are your options? Keep the battery charged. Hook it up to a tender when not being driven.

 

[CaptAnzuelo]

If you really want it to work, drive for 30 minutes above 1500RPM. That should charge the battery sufficiently. :hilarious:

And remember, every time the starter engages, the battery charge takes a massive hit. Catch 22?

 

[Noah Fect]

First time for everything, I guess...:crazy:

 

[jschnoor]

How long are you normally driving for? Do you leave the car parked for extended periods of time?

Basically, the battery has to be near a nice full charge in order for the auto start/stop to shut off the car. Frankly, I don't care what it does since I disable it anyways. Really annoying when the car shuts itself off at a red light.

My daily commute is one hour in the city. Lots of stops and goes. I kind of like it when waiting for long red lights.

 

[jschnoor]

First time I hear somebody wanting to use that crap. Never used it, and never will. Having said that, there're a myriad of conditions that have to be met for start/stop to activate. Battery not fully (or nearly fully) charged? Forget it. With A/C on? Forget it. Engine not fully hot? Forget it. At night, with lights on? Forget it. You get the idea. And typically when the damn thing works, it's at the most inopportune time, like during a super brief stop sign or such. It's just a gimmick IMO.

Shouldn't the owners manual tell me all these?

 

[squeaks5635]

Shouldn't the owners manual tell me all these?

This is what the manual tells you.

Which is pretty much most of these. I would now have to ask if you even read it judging by your surprise to peoples responses.

 

[jschnoor]

This is what the manual tells you.

View attachment 147377

Which is pretty much most of these. I would now have to ask if you even read it judging by your surprise to peoples responses.

Right, except none of these applies.

 

[squeaks5635]

what does your battery voltage show. You can add it to your main info screen on the 4th line.

I can tell you from experience that when the car turns off at a light and the battery drops below 12.6 volts it auto starts back up. A lot of times this is not even long enough for an entire red light. I daily drive my car so the battery does not sit. It has done this since I bought it but I pretty much never use it anyway since I am in sports plus mode all the time.

I considered this when I decided if I should even use it. It was only installed to help beat the emissions testing, it has no other purpose. It does not enhance performance, it does not extend the life of the engine, and especially not the starter.

I feel the same way about the car in "non-sport" mode. I believe it was designed to pass the emissions test requirements, not to highlight the performance capabilities, and therefore believe the car should not actually be operated in that mode. You bought a PURPOSE BUILT PERFORMANCE CAR not an emissions compliant granny cruiser.

Just consider that when deciding if you actually really want the start stop function enabled. because even when disabled you still get the benefit of the car auto starting when you press the clutch after a stall instead of having to turn the key.

But my personal feelings on this issue aside. The car has a feature that is supposed to function unless manual printed requirements are not met. If it is not doing this I would tell the dealer they need to let you know which specific item is keeping the car from auto stop/starting at any given time. If they cannot then I would insist it is defective and have them replace whatever it is that does the auto start/stopping.

 

[jschnoor]

what does your battery voltage show. You can add it to your main info screen on the 4th line.

I can tell you from experience that when the car turns off at a light and the battery drops below 12.6 volts it auto starts back up. A lot of times this is not even long enough for an entire red light. I daily drive my car so the battery does not sit. It has done this since I bought it but I pretty much never use it anyway since I am in sports plus mode all the time.

I considered this when I decided if I should even use it. It was only installed to help beat the emissions testing, it has no other purpose. It does not enhance performance, it does not extend the life of the engine, and especially not the starter.

I feel the same way about the car in "non-sport" mode. I believe it was designed to pass the emissions test requirements, not to highlight the performance capabilities, and therefore believe the car should not actually be operated in that mode. You bought a PURPOSE BUILT PERFORMANCE CAR not an emissions compliant granny cruiser.

Just consider that when deciding if you actually really want the start stop function enabled. because even when disabled you still get the benefit of the car auto starting when you press the clutch after a stall instead of having to turn the key.

But my personal feelings on this issue aside. The car has a feature that is supposed to function unless manual printed requirements are not met. If it is not doing this I would tell the dealer they need to let you know which specific item is keeping the car from auto stop/starting at any given time. If they cannot then I would insist it is defective and have them replace whatever it is that does the auto start/stopping.

Thank you. You said exactly how I feel.

My dealer basically told me to get lost - they said there's nothing they can do. :-(

Is there a way to appeal through Porsche NA?

 

[squeaks5635]

Yes my dealer told me about it recently. I have not gone through the process but once the dealer says there is nothing they can do you can contact Porsche NA directly and explain to them the situation. they will pull the dealer service history and read everything they have tried and then they will either give the dealer direction on what to do next or they will give you some options to come to a "resolution". Again this is how it was explained to me but I have no experience with it.

 

[chows4us]

Right, except none of these applies.

Auto start/stop won't work if the charging level is too low. You wrote: My daily commute is one hour in the city. Lots of stops and goes. So that means at every light, the battery is draining sitting and waiting, then there is a kick, a surge, to restart the car. While sitting at all those light, the battery drains and drains. Then a surge of draining. Drive a block or two. Repeat. And your wondering why it doesn't work? All the evidence is there. It works after getting charged. Doesn't when getting drained.

Auto start/stop won't work if the charging level is too low.

 

[Cantrax]

IMHO...I think this feature puts undue pressure on the vehicle as far as the battery and starter. While it may save some fuel, I can't believe it makes a drastic difference. Sports cars should not offer this feature, luxury cars maybe!

 

[jschnoor]

Auto start/stop won't work if the charging level is too low. You wrote: My daily commute is one hour in the city. Lots of stops and goes. So that means at every light, the battery is draining sitting and waiting, then there is a kick, a surge, to restart the car. While sitting at all those light, the battery drains and drains. Then a surge of draining. Drive a block or two. Repeat. And your wondering why it doesn't work? All the evidence is there. It works after getting charged. Doesn't when getting drained.

Auto start/stop won't work if the charging level is too low.

My start and stop doesn't work during my commute. The battery wouldn't drain during my commute.

 

[jliuod]

This Auto Start is done purely to satisfy the fuel economy requirement. I along with others do not use it. It presents more wear and tear on your batter, and starter. I don't think we buy this kind of cars for their fuel economy.

 

[fast1]

My start and stop doesn't work during my commute. The battery wouldn't drain during my commute.

It depends upon what devices you have running. A big drain is of course the AC. I doubt that many start stop devices would work for long in city driving when temperatures climb above 90 degrees. When the battery charge falls below a predetermined level, the start stop won't function. Last summer my engine shut off at a traffic light, but after a couple of minutes the engine started. Since I mostly drive in sports mode, I rarely get to use start stop.

 

[jschnoor]

It depends upon what devices you have running. A big drain is of course the AC. I doubt that many start stop devices would work for long in city driving when temperatures climb above 90 degrees. When the battery charge falls below a predetermined level, the start stop won't function. Last summer my engine shut off at a traffic light, but after a couple of minutes the engine started. Since I mostly drive in sports mode, I rarely get to use start stop.

My AC was not on, not even the fan. Only thing in is the radio and the engine.

 

[T-Design]

Yeah, most people want it gone, not work

By the way - to give environmentalists better feel - it now resets to ON every time on all 2017 Porsches. Because we buy those cars to save fuel

But no worries, T-Design memory module fixes that problem.