[jimmuller]

I'm coming up on the expiration of my year of free Car Connect service from Vodaphone. It's a neat idea but I don't know if it's worth renewing. First, it appears from their less than informative website that they offer only a bundle with at least one other service; I probably would opt for Safety, I think. Second, it's expensive for a semi-toy. I've used the Car Connect app on my phone to check on my car a few times, but never really had to. It seems like the answer to a question that didn't need to be asked.


So I'm curious what others think. Do you use it? Would or did you renew it ever?


Thanks.

 

[don]

I use connect on our BMW to send directions to the navigation as it is easier to type in on the google search feature. I also use the ventilate feature when its hot so it is handy, but probably not enough value to be worth renewing depending on the cost.

Unfortunately, my dealer told me that 718s in Australia don't have Porsche Car Connect so I haven't been able to try it and you need a Porsche ID to get it working.

Anyone else down under have Porsche Car Connect working? Seems odd that we don't get it?

 

[grasmere]

Info use it but am likely to get my own data card once I can work out how the whole system actually works!

You’re right in that it’s just complicated to know what’s going on with it.

I’ll ask my neighbour who works at Porsche leeds (UK) what he knows and also who his team expert is on connect - I’m expecting not to get the answer I would hope for

 

[Scubaregs]

Mine has just came to an end, at £99 to check my fuel, trip, mileage etc remotely I'll just get off my arse and open the car door thank you.

A useless gimmick.

 

[jimmuller]

Of course, my question was specifically about Car Connect, not the Porsche Connect used with navigation. As for it being useful, well, that is the question, isn't it?

Were I regularly leaving it with a valet or in an airport parking lot, the security fences and status of the car would be useful perhaps.
Were I regularly parking it downtown and forgetting exactly where, the Find My Car feature would be nice.

I never do those things though. (Now where'd I put my glasses? And my car?) All I ever learn is that it is exactly where I left it, or the dealer still has it on the lot for service. When I am not home for extended periods, a.k.a. vacation that doesn't involve the Porsche, it lives in the locked garage with a neighbor's car blocking egress.


So I'm just wondering if there is something I missed. Anyone see another value point?


Thanks again.

 

[JazzCatGab]

Of course, my question was specifically about Car Connect, not the Porsche Connect used with navigation. As for it being useful, well, that is the question, isn't it?

Were I regularly leaving it with a valet or in an airport parking lot, the security fences and status of the car would be useful perhaps.
Were I regularly parking it downtown and forgetting exactly where, the Find My Car feature would be nice.

I never do those things though. (Now where'd I put my glasses? And my car?) All I ever learn is that it is exactly where I left it, or the dealer still has it on the lot for service. When I am not home for extended periods, a.k.a. vacation that doesn't involve the Porsche, it lives in the locked garage with a neighbor's car blocking egress.

So I'm just wondering if there is something I missed. Anyone see another value point?

Thanks again.

Jim, I will be no help at all about Porsche Connect, however, I have an alternative that may be possibly as expensive and just as helpful. I have Apple CarPlay and I'm chunky so I bought a used iPhone 7 for about $200 and have it in my phone compartment most of the time. So, if I ever lose my car in a parking lot (not likely) or just want to check it is still there if I'm in a restaurant, etc., I just use Find My Phone and it shows me exactly where it is. Interesting thing, when connected to the car, I can power my phone off, but it really doesn't go completely off, just a sort of Zombie state and sits there seeking human brains. When I get back in the car, I just hit the home button and it comes back on. So I tested it, and after being powered down, it will come alive for finding the phone and give you a location. However, when it comes out of the Zombie state, it doesn't turn itself back off so it sits there using more energy than it gets when the car is running.

 

[Nosmo]

Mine has just came to an end, at £99 to check my fuel, trip, mileage etc remotely I'll just get off my arse and open the car door thank you.

A useless gimmick.

Agreed. Sadly my insurer needs it for the tracker bit. I'm between a rock and a hard place.

 

[4802]

Agreed. Sadly my insurer needs it for the tracker bit. I'm between a rock and a hard place.

You can actually have one without the other, although they don't exactly make that very clear. I have the tracker security services & safety services, but dropped the gimmicky phone app (remote services) which I never used. It actually doesn't cost you a great deal more to include the remote services as it can be bought as part of the bundle, but if you don't use it as I didn't then you might as well drop it & save yourself £31.00 per year (everything works out cheaper though if you extend for 2 years). Rather than explain fully how they break it down, it's best to just look at the attached screen shot. On top of that you also have an entirely separate contract for Navigation & infotainment services which was priced at £ 119 per year when I recently renewed mine.

 

[4802]

Mine has just came to an end, at £99 to check my fuel, trip, mileage etc remotely I'll just get off my arse and open the car door thank you.

A useless gimmick.

The remote services part costs £99.00 when bought entirely separately. However it costs only £31.00 extra per year if bought as part of a bundle with security & safety services & works out cheaper again if bought as part a two year services bundle. I'm not disagreeing with you in general though as I've dropped it.

 

[jimmuller]

Jim, I will be no help at all about Porsche Connect, however, I have an alternative that may be possibly as expensive and just as helpful. I have Apple CarPlay and I'm chunky so I bought a used iPhone 7 for about $200 and have it in my phone compartment most of the time. So, if I ever lose my car in a parking lot (not likely) or just want to check it is still there if I'm in a restaurant, etc., I just use Find My Phone and it shows me exactly where it is.

Interesting suggestion. I have an Android phone but my wife has an iPhone and an older one she replaced. I've been tempted to leave the old one plugged into the CarPlay port to be an always available option. Don't know how the battery would behave though.


The Car Connect app has some nice features besides just location. I was just checking the packages available from Vodaphone. The least expensive package includes their "Safety" feature. It looks like a way for the car or operator to report and get help for incidents such as breakdowns, accidents, air-bag deployment, etc. That would be useful if Porsche's roadside assistance wasn't available because there was no cell coverage, if the Vodaphone connection uses some other communication method such as satellite phone. I don't know what it does.


In fact, I don't know how it locates my car with Car Connect since I don't have GPS. Cell tower triangulation? A satellite-phone location capability?


Still, I'm starting to think it's an inexpensive security feature in the long run, mere peanuts compared to the cost of the car. Still open to thoughts.

 

[JazzCatGab]

Interesting suggestion. I have an Android phone but my wife has an iPhone and an older one she replaced. I've been tempted to leave the old one plugged into the CarPlay port to be an always available option. Don't know how the battery would behave though.

Yes, the battery is problematic. Even in OFF it still drains some, but much less than if left on. If I'm going to be out of the car for anywhere near a week, I do take the phone out or unplug it and turn it off. I need to do a test of how long it will last OFF but plugged in. (I'm thinking a 20% loss per day.)

 

[grasmere]

Interestingly I just received the following text to renew the ‘remote services’, no price details despite what it says.

“Porsche Car Connect info
At least one Porsche Car Connect Service for car "My Porsche" will expire on 14/07.
You can renew your service subscription at any time via the Porsche Car Connect Portal:
https://pcc.vodafonetelematics.com/cwp/
For further information or assistance, please contact
Vodafone Automotive UK
+441282473732
mailto:[email protected]”

The remote services is the only one I have which is the connect IOS app, is almost pointless so no, shall not be renewing.

It’s so confusing though, I ‘think’ need a SIM card for something though don’t know what, anyone know if google earth mapping will still work or is that what the data sim needs?

 

[grasmere]

Further to my previous:

I found the packages £159 see screenshot

 

[4802]

Further to my previous:

I found the packages £159 see screenshot

View attachment 22348

The £159 cost is for a different car, they rather strangely charge different rates for different models. The cost has just gone up (after I renewed mine thankfully) the new cost for infotainment services for a 718 is actually £139 per year. With regards to the sim card you can actually use your smart phone as a hotspot or insert a data sim (I buy a yearly sim from EE). I've attached a screen shot to confirm the pricing for the 718 & a short video. The video is for a Panamera but the operation is essentially the same. If you take this post in conjunction with my previous posts on the subject everything should hopefully be fairly clear. https://connect-store.porsche.com/gb/en/t/help-media

 

[grasmere]

The £159 cost is for a different car, they rather strangely charge different rates for different models. The cost has just gone up (after I renewed mine thankfully) the new cost for infotainment services for a 718 is actually £139 per year. With regards to the sim card you can actually use your smart phone as a hotspot or insert a data sim (I buy a yearly sim from EE). I've attached a screen shot to confirm the pricing for the 718 & a short video. The video is for a Panamera but the operation is essentially the same. If you take this post in conjunction with my previous posts on the subject everything should hopefully be fairly clear. https://connect-store.porsche.com/gb/en/t/help-media

Thanks Chilli, appreciated. I’ll check your previous posts looking for the answers To these questions:

what does the £139 get you and what else is the sim for?

Is eg Spotify or amazon music able to be played?

Thanks

 

[4802]

Thanks Chilli, appreciated. I’ll check your previous posts looking for the answers To these questions:

what does the £139 get you and what else is the sim for?

Is eg Spotify or amazon music able to be played?

Thanks

The services you get for your £139 are listed on the screenshot. The sim is for internet connection, though not strictly required (as per the video) if you already have a data package on your smartphone & then use it as a hotspot. The reason I buy a data sim is that I don't actually have a data package on my mobile. I only use it for calls & have all apps turned off (basically all I require of a mobile phone is that when I ring a given number someone on the other side say's hello).

 

[4802]

@ grasmere : If you have any more queries then feel free to pm me & if I can at all do so (big if), I'll endeavour to help you out. I'm far from an expert on the subject though. You're not alone in finding it confusing, as previous comments on this thread will attest to. To be honest I'm not sure the salesman I dealt with when I bought my 718 really knew a great deal either. If he did then he certainly didn't relay it to me as I was given very little information (pretty much none at all). One other thing, should you decide to renew & do so via the phone, be aware that they keep your card details & set the system up so it automatically renews every year (or at least they did with me). At no time was I asked whether I was happy for them to do so, the cheeky buggers just went ahead & did it. If you aren't happy with that you can simply log into the portal & turn automatic renewal off again.

 

[jimmuller]

I have Apple CarPlay and I'm chunky so I bought a used iPhone 7...

I realize I responded to this before but I have a followup response. Thank you for the suggestion.

As it happens, my wife's older iPhone 5 was sitting unused so I plugged it into the CarPlay jack and lo! it worked. Of course it had no data access so the maps it showed were whatever was already on the phone. However our data plan allows me to turn on my Android's wi-fi hotspot and the iPhone was able to connect to it. I have not driven anywhere with that configuration yet but it should do fine for in-car real-time navigation. Even without data access earlier today it tracked my position on maps as expected.

Even better, I discovered that the PCM can play music from the jukebox while running CarPlay. And is even able to provide phone service through my Android, which I had wondered about until a ro-bo call came through while I was driving home from work.

Now about Car Connect. The vodaphone website is a bit confusing but I finally noticed a checkbox that let me select any individual service instead of a bundle. The cost of Car Connect by itself isn't so expensive so I decided it was a worthwhile insurance policy and could occasionally be actually useful! The website said they would "invoice" me, instead of letting me pay via a conventional web mechanism. I wonder when the bill will arrive...

The other services didn't interest me. The Safety Service is a way to notify the "Collision Center", presumably Porsche USA, in the event of a breakdown or airbag deployment. As near as I could tell it uses standard cellular data transmission, so if I am somewhere where my cellphone doesn't work then that service wouldn't work either. Airbag deployment would be good if we are in an accident and unable to place a call ourselves. But that's not likely to bring early-responders any faster than a passerby might.

 

[DriveInHouston]

...
The other services didn't interest me. The Safety Service is a way to notify the "Collision Center", presumably Porsche USA, in the event of a breakdown or airbag deployment. As near as I could tell it uses standard cellular data transmission, so if I am somewhere where my cellphone doesn't work then that service wouldn't work either. Airbag deployment would be good if we are in an accident and unable to place a call ourselves. But that's not likely to bring early-responders any faster than a passerby might.

I had the unfortunate experience to have my first of the two Mustang GTs rear-ended at 70 mph (I was doing about 40, as I was braking for debris on the road). I was getting out of the car because the powder from the deployed airbag (or possibly freon leaking due to secondary collision with the barrier) made it look like smoke from fire. The cabin was filled with white 'smoke'.

As I was getting out (possibly 10 sec after airbag deployment) SYNC said, airbag detected, calling emergency services. I walked my wife 100 ft down the road and over the barrier. By that time, a motorcycle cop was on the scene diverting traffic. In three minutes, two Highway Patrol cars stopped traffic, the cops removed the debris and opened two/three lanes. In twenty minutes two tow trucks were there to take both cars to safety.

One passer-by stopped, the car to my left and behind, because he'd seen the whole scene, actually had to slam the brakes to make room for my Mustang being pushed to the left lane/barrier by the idiot that was texting while driving, while listening to her audio book...

Don't dismiss all these hi-tech goodies. They can save your life.

 

[JazzCatGab]

Yes, the battery is problematic. Even in OFF it still drains some, but much less than if left on. If I'm going to be out of the car for anywhere near a week, I do take the phone out or unplug it and turn it off. I need to do a test of how long it will last OFF but plugged in. (I'm thinking a 20% loss per day.)

Well, a preliminary report, as promised. Leaving phone in compartment with the phone on, mine drained an average of 20 percent over three days (checked daily). FEATURE ALERT: However, if you leave the iPhone hooked up in the phone compartment, use the off button to turn the phone off, close the armrest, and get out and lock the car, the next time you open the car and the armrest, you will see the phone in progress of starting up. Punch in your pin and its ready. This is the third day that this has happened and the iPhone is still at 100% charged. I'm not saying it is charging (it isn't), but it isn't discharging.