‘12 Pan Turbo Shift Sensor Failure
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Joined: Jul 2021
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‘12 Pan Turbo Shift Sensor Failure
Just a recent info post for my experience with my Pan, starting Wednesday this week. I have a 2012 Turbo with 75k miles that recently experienced a shift sensor failure. There was no prior indication of any issues and the car had been fully serviced prior to the road trip.
I was doing a ~7500 mile road trip here in the US and was leaving Flagstaff Wednesday after an overnight, at about 4750 miles into the trip, enroute to Las Vegas, when I exited in Williams AZ for fuel. As the car approached the stop at the end of the off ramp it lost acceleration - it was like the car was in neutral. The center dash display showed “engine fault” and “transmission fault” errors. No other caution or indication lights were activated. The engine would rev with application of the gas pedal but the car wouldn’t accelerate. I rolled out of the active lane and called the service department of Porsche North Scottsdale, the closest dealer. Rochelle, the service manager, advised that I should shut off the car, and exit & lock it, in order for the vehicle to “think” it was shut down and reboot any gremlins upon restart. I did this sequence twice: the first was for 20 minutes, the second was for 90, and neither was successful.
While waiting I did a google search for Porsche-specific repair shops and found one in Flagstaff, Ken’s Import Service. I called Ken’s, advised them of the problem, and they agreed to take a look at it. They recommended Rick at Country Club Towing, also out of Flagstaff, for the tow. I contacted Rick, he arrived within 45 minutes, and towed the Pan for our return trip to Flagstaff.
Once we arrived at Ken’s I met with one of the technicians - I think his name was Andy, but I can’t say for certain. He advised me & Rick to “not even take it off the truck” and “the last two Panamera’s we had here had to go to the dealership”. Apparently, after talking a bit, they don’t have the capability to fully read and/or repair Panameras. I figured I’d take him at his word, so on the truck it stayed for the additional 140 mile trip to Porsche North Scottsdale.
After arriving at Porsche North Scottsdale they checked the car in and advised that they would do a code check within 24hrs to let me know what was going on. Since I was passing through Rochelle was very helpful and understanding about my “need to know” the status so I could make plans. I don’t golf but I holed up at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess because it was within walking distance of the dealership, if necessary. It turned out that Rochelle had a service loaner already set aside, but I chose to stay at Fairmont for a couple days anyway which, under the circumstances, was a nice respite.
Didn’t hear anything on Thursday but I made plans to fly out Friday regardless. Friday morning rolled around and Rochelle called to report that the shift sensor relay (I know that’s not the proper name of the part, for you purists I will list the part number when I get the invoice) was bad and not reading 1st, 3rd, or Reverse. She advised that the replacement part was here in the US and the repair would be completed next week. She quoted a repair price around $3,800. Two warranty repairs will be included in the service, one for the control unit for the A/C blower and another for the plastic bushing on the selector lever cable. After dropping the service loaner Friday morning they arranged an Uber and covered the trip to the airport.
I’ll advise on any updates once they happen and I’ll list the components and pricing once I receive it. I wanted to post this in an effort to document for others my experience - from start to finish. While sitting on the side of freeway waiting for a tow I did a lot of google searches and, as the web will often do, read a lot of fantastical opinions & answers about similar Porsche issues, none of which mirrored my experience. The biggest misinformation was relative to the cost: based on the web fervor I was expecting a $10k bill minimum. The true cost of $3,800, while expensive, isn’t unreasonable for $158,000 stickered car. I do believe a failure of the sensor at 75k miles is unreasonable.
I also had, based on the great value that used cars are getting right now, a HARD TIME not letting them keep the Pan and driving away in something with two less doors and painted Chalk.
I was doing a ~7500 mile road trip here in the US and was leaving Flagstaff Wednesday after an overnight, at about 4750 miles into the trip, enroute to Las Vegas, when I exited in Williams AZ for fuel. As the car approached the stop at the end of the off ramp it lost acceleration - it was like the car was in neutral. The center dash display showed “engine fault” and “transmission fault” errors. No other caution or indication lights were activated. The engine would rev with application of the gas pedal but the car wouldn’t accelerate. I rolled out of the active lane and called the service department of Porsche North Scottsdale, the closest dealer. Rochelle, the service manager, advised that I should shut off the car, and exit & lock it, in order for the vehicle to “think” it was shut down and reboot any gremlins upon restart. I did this sequence twice: the first was for 20 minutes, the second was for 90, and neither was successful.
While waiting I did a google search for Porsche-specific repair shops and found one in Flagstaff, Ken’s Import Service. I called Ken’s, advised them of the problem, and they agreed to take a look at it. They recommended Rick at Country Club Towing, also out of Flagstaff, for the tow. I contacted Rick, he arrived within 45 minutes, and towed the Pan for our return trip to Flagstaff.
Once we arrived at Ken’s I met with one of the technicians - I think his name was Andy, but I can’t say for certain. He advised me & Rick to “not even take it off the truck” and “the last two Panamera’s we had here had to go to the dealership”. Apparently, after talking a bit, they don’t have the capability to fully read and/or repair Panameras. I figured I’d take him at his word, so on the truck it stayed for the additional 140 mile trip to Porsche North Scottsdale.
After arriving at Porsche North Scottsdale they checked the car in and advised that they would do a code check within 24hrs to let me know what was going on. Since I was passing through Rochelle was very helpful and understanding about my “need to know” the status so I could make plans. I don’t golf but I holed up at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess because it was within walking distance of the dealership, if necessary. It turned out that Rochelle had a service loaner already set aside, but I chose to stay at Fairmont for a couple days anyway which, under the circumstances, was a nice respite.
Didn’t hear anything on Thursday but I made plans to fly out Friday regardless. Friday morning rolled around and Rochelle called to report that the shift sensor relay (I know that’s not the proper name of the part, for you purists I will list the part number when I get the invoice) was bad and not reading 1st, 3rd, or Reverse. She advised that the replacement part was here in the US and the repair would be completed next week. She quoted a repair price around $3,800. Two warranty repairs will be included in the service, one for the control unit for the A/C blower and another for the plastic bushing on the selector lever cable. After dropping the service loaner Friday morning they arranged an Uber and covered the trip to the airport.
I’ll advise on any updates once they happen and I’ll list the components and pricing once I receive it. I wanted to post this in an effort to document for others my experience - from start to finish. While sitting on the side of freeway waiting for a tow I did a lot of google searches and, as the web will often do, read a lot of fantastical opinions & answers about similar Porsche issues, none of which mirrored my experience. The biggest misinformation was relative to the cost: based on the web fervor I was expecting a $10k bill minimum. The true cost of $3,800, while expensive, isn’t unreasonable for $158,000 stickered car. I do believe a failure of the sensor at 75k miles is unreasonable.
I also had, based on the great value that used cars are getting right now, a HARD TIME not letting them keep the Pan and driving away in something with two less doors and painted Chalk.
