I really love my C4S but being new to owning modern day Porsche's, I am little surprised at the electrical gremlins that come up. First, I really don't drive the car that much and have probably put about 200 miles on it in the past three months. I have been driving it almost daily over the past few days since I have been back to the house where I keep it. One of the issues is that when I get it in and start driving it, I get a low tire pressure warning that shows my left rear is -5lbs down. I run the tire pressure in comfort PSI levels as apposed to full load. What is interesting is that when I look at the TPMS gauge, it shows that tire 1lb down for my comfort setting and the right rear is exactly on it. I then pull over, put the car in park, go into the settings and confirm that everything is at the comfort setting. I then change it to full, and then back to comfort and all the warning messages go away. It has happened each time that I get into the car over the past few days.

The second issue which I have seen sporadically since owning it, is that the passenger seat belt warning goes off while driving for no explained reasons. There is nothing sitting in the passenger seat that should make the computer think someone is sitting there but without their seat belt on. There have been other isolated issues like walking into the garage and hearing the radio playing. This may be days after the last drive and verifying that the key is actually off and not in accessory mode.

So I guess the question is, are minor electrical issues such as these normal for Porsche of do I have an Abby Normal (movie reference here) car?

 

Try disconnecting the battery.

 

You haven't done something like naming yours "Christine" have you?

In all seriousness; I'd try and keep a detailed written log of when these things happen along with noting everything else that you notice is on and also what is off. The technician who works on your car (or Porsche Tech Support) will be looking for patterns and exceptions to try and track down what is causing these anomalies. The more you can help them the better and the faster the solution will be found. If you can, just send yourself an email each time. You can forward them to whomever will be trying to track this down.

 

You have checked and set your tire pressures with a good gage to confirm where you want to be??
Did you have your car on a battery maintainer for the 3 months it was not being driven?? Could be as simple as a bad battery. These cars can present all sorts of odd electrical behaviors when the battery goes south.

 

"the passenger seat belt warning goes off while driving for no explained reasons. There is nothing sitting in the passenger seat that should make the computer think someone is sitting there but without their seat belt on"

mine does this as well......

 

I use two different Snap On Tools Pressure gauges. If it was a true low pressure issue, the alert would come back on immediately which it doesn't. I do keep the car on a good quality tender as well. Not a battery issue. Thanks for the input.

 

I drove it 200 miles yesterday to where I am living full time. No issues after I reset things when leaving until I got in the car again this morning. First, the right front tire pressure showed -5 under so I went through the procedure of changing it to full setting and then back to comfort. The indicator then went off as I have seen before. I then drove about 10yds and then the left rear came on at -5lbs. I did the same procedure again and then everything was good again. Strange that it is always -5lbs and this time that the front and rear did not show low at the same time. Not going to worry about taking it into the dealer just an annoyance that I will probably have to deal with until the first service in a few months.

 

Could the tire pressure issue be a faulty TPM? I would have the dealer start there and keep a log of all problems as suggested above.

 

I don't think so since it occurred on two different wheels this morning. Also when I check the TPMS monitor, I am right at the comfort level setttings. If the the TPM was bad, I wouldn't expect the monitor to show the correct pressure. I would also have thought the alert would have come back on at some point during my 200 mile drive yesterday. It seems like it is always the first start of the day and then things are good for a while. Strange....

 

I've had a couple gremlins, too. A warning message about the ignition lock needing to be serviced and a time when the e-brake warning chime kept going constantly while driving and even after car was shut off and locked. Both cleared up next time the car was started.

From the 1st post, movie reference is Young Frankenstein . . .

 

Make a video of the issues, on it show the VIN of the car. It may sound bizarre, but that's the VW warranty. If the technician cannot find an error in PIWIS or reproduce the issue, it will be an uphill fight.
My car door handles don't pop out as I approach,which is a gimmick I can live without, but the handle don't unlock without fondling them for a bit or pressing the key fob. I showed that to 2 SAs and the shop technician still said they can't reproduce it and there's no error, so they can't fix it. Bizarro world.