Drive off assist failure Gen 2 boxster May 09

My new Gen 2 Boxster S has a strange fault, for no reason at all the drive off assit failure flashes up on the dash. After one dealer tried to fix it and faild, they sent for porsche tech re enforcments. Aparantly im not first to have this problem. It seems like its a switch issue on the clutch pedal or brakes of some discription. They changed the swiches with new and guess what it still keeps doing it. Now gone to another dealer, they tell me it could be a softwere issue timming between switches and porsche are looking into it. They gave me a cayman as a loan car while fixing mine, and after 2 days the cayman has the same fault but only flashed up once so far. Any one else had this fault !!!

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Personally, in my opinion, this feature doesn't belong on a Porsche . I'm glad my 2007 doesn't have it. If it did, I'd be looking for a way to disable it.

I take it you mean Hill start assist? It comes standard on the 09 OZ Cayman 's. I'd rather not have this feature. Did they solve the problem?

Thank for the PM Mike, I thought I'd post up your reply as the guys in the US seem to be slowly taking delivery of their Gen II cars. "I Still have the problem sorry to report, and it looks there are more comming to light. Cayman with the same problem and dealers not wanting to fix it, US lemon law being used in one of them."

Hill assist also is on my 09 CS. It is not a problem, nor should it ever be an issue. It only engages if the car is in gear and the clutch pedal is pushed in. Hello----why would anyone sit still with the clutch pushed in and the car in gear? Anyone hear of a pilot bearing/bushing. Ouch $ to replace. Keep the car in neutral with one's foot on the brake. Release one's foot from the brake, engage the gear and go. This feature is for someone who has never driven a clutch or is afraid to do so---or lives in San Francisco.

I think Mike is saying that the drive off assit failure flashes up on the dash even though the car is functioning.

Ouch, looking like the prophecy is coming true

? Is this feature on 08 US spec 987S's?? I haven't encountered it-! My 07 BMW 335 had this and it was nice... but not really a necessity. I'd swear my 987 doesn't have this.....

Not a feature in the Gen I 987. Not a necessity for a sports car.

2009 Boxster here and have not had this issue. Drive off assist, or as some more properly call it: hill assist, is a special feature for manual transmissions for 987-II cars. The feature is ideal for those of us in California who sometimes have to stop and go on +10% grades. It does take some getting used to but so far so good.

Is this feature not good to have?

Subjective

Good input there tc sting, yes its not a make or break feature, but would be nice to program it no/off.

So wot other surprises lurk for me then? Guess I better wait and see on this one before I draw an opinion. Yes, I resist change....

Just to let everyone know what I've had to go through with my 2009 Cayman . I was getting the exact same error as the thread starter. The vehicle was taken in at least 6 times and every time they said that they fixed it. At the 4th time I hired a lawyer (I am in California) and they took the case. A letter was sent to PCNA for them to make me an offer and they had 30 days to reply. Basically a couple days before the initial deadline for PCNA to give us a decision, they said they needed a few more days and my lawyer gave him another 5 business days. On the 4th business day they requested to have my car further inspected because they saw that I was able to produce a photo with the error and a later mileage documented on the photo. They said they wanted to make sure I didn't tamper with the car in order to produce that photo. My lawyer got upset and said no, we will not let them inspect it and is deeply offended that they would even think I would do such a thing. So they got another 5 days to give us their decision. The very next day PCNA gave their decision to buy back the vehicle. So the entire process after that, took roughly 3 weeks and I finally surrendered the car to the dealership yesterday. If there are others out there with this very same issue I do not think there is a fix yet. Maybe this is only unique to a couple of Boxsters/ Caymans out there, but with this economy, I'm not sure if people are purchasing many Porsches with Drive-Off Assistance.

2009 Cayman Lemon... Just wanted to make you guys aware of 2009+ Cayman(S) out there. Our cars are equipped with "Drive off Assistance", and I kept getting the "Drive off Assistance Failure" warning on my dash. If this isn't the place to post, please move. Thank you!! I also did post in the Boxster forum where one member was having the same issue as I. Here goes the story... The vehicle was taken in at least 6 times and every time they said that they fixed it. At the 4th time I hired a lawyer (I am in California) and they took the case. A letter was sent to PCNA for them to make me an offer and they had 30 days to reply. Basically a couple days before the initial deadline for PCNA to give us a decision, they said they needed a few more days and my lawyer gave him another 5 business days. On the 4th business day they requested to have my car further inspected because they saw that I was able to produce a photo with the error and a later mileage documented on the photo. They said they wanted to make sure I didn't tamper with the car in order to produce that photo. My lawyer got upset and said no, we will not let them inspect it and is deeply offended that they would even think I would do such a thing. So they got another 5 days to give us their decision. The very next day PCNA gave their decision to buy back the vehicle. So the entire process after that, took roughly 3 weeks and I finally surrendered the car to the dealership yesterday. If there are others out there with this very same issue I do not think there is a fix yet. Maybe this is only unique to a couple of Boxsters/Caymans out there, but with this economy, I'm not sure if people are purchasing many Porsches with Drive-Off Assistance.

My understanding is that PDK needs hill assist to function smoothly, so we all get it. Having tried it on our Boxster , Porsche 's version feels more intrusive than the version on BMW Z4Ms, making me wonder if the entire mechanism is tuned for the needs of the PDK . It also non-defeatable by normal methods. (I haven't searched the fuse panel yet, but I can't believe Porsche would make it that easy.) My bottom line - just another little idiosyncrasy to live with.

So if indeed "hill-assist" has been designed for the needs of PDK , would it be logical to assume that those with PDK would be unlikely to have a problem? Have any people with PDK had drive-off assist failure?

Re: 2009 Cayman Lemon... What is "Drive Off Assistance?"

Was your car PDK or manual?

My car was manual. But I would think drive off assistance wouldn't be needed in a PDK since it SHOULDNT roll back, but then again I didn't have a PDK so someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Drive off assistance is basically the hill assist in BMWs. If we are on a steep incline, that feature holds the car in place for x amount of second(s) before rolling back if you don't drive off.

Re: 2009 Cayman Lemon... If the "Drive off Assistance Failure" warning lights up, couldn't Porsche simply disable the dash light? I understand the car functions as normal, except the warning light activates.

Re: 2009 Cayman Lemon... Well..I assume they could, but the owners manual does say once it pops up, to take it to the dealership to get fixed. So its probably a bigger problem than it seems. As for if it actually fails, I am not too sure about it. It was to the point where I would be driving straight and it still popped up. IMO it is a big pain, you spend 60k on a car that keeps popping up with this failure and yet they try to blame that you were the cause of it. I do hope that they do not have this issue on the 2010 models!! As for myself, I am still staying within the same family, I am waiting for my 2010 Audi S5 to come in January. I want to give myself some time to settle down from what I had to go through and also for Porsche to figure these things out. Good luck to everyone!!!

Re: 2009 Cayman Lemon... Thankyou for your input, I'm glad Porsche bought back your car, they might use it as the means to solve the problem...all the best with your 2010 Audi S5, in fact I was traveling behind one two days ago, very nice car! :cheers:

I HATE 'Drive Off Assist"!!! Having read recent posts I now see that "Drive Off Assist" = "Hill Hold". I HATE that my PDK equipped '09 has it as standard equipment. I had it on my last car (An Audi R8 with a 6 speed) and it was very nice. But I still don't get why Porsche puts it on 'automatic' equipped cars! It seems to actually DETRACT from my ability to make a smooth start. Can a Durametric program over-ride this feature or does it somehow compromise the PDK?

Re: I HATE 'Drive Off Assist"!!! Last I heard from my dealer was it can't be disabled via software. As for drive off assist on a PDK I agree it doesn't make sense. Question: With the R8, could you instantly drive off even though hill hold was activated?

The R8 had some kind (mercury?) of balance sensing switch so that it was never engaged UNLESS you were stopped on an incline. In hilly Seattle it was a great feature and you could easily learn to make uphill starts very smoothly with it.

I have the Drive Off Assist Failure on my MY2010 Cayman . Will be taking it in next week to get it sorted out. Not a big deal but very annoying!

Re: I HATE 'Drive Off Assist"!!! WHYYYYYY would they have this on the PDK models??? Wow!! I didn't know MY2010 would have this issue as well. I sure hope Porsche sorts this out soon. If they don't, there will be a lot more lemons for a company that is 21 billion in debt.

Re: I HATE 'Drive Off Assist"!!! I've never tried a PDK "yet". But, on other automatic clutch cars I've driven, the car acts exactly like a manual, meaning it does NOT crawl and it DOES roll back on inclines, makes it kinda hard for the unexperienced to drive up inclines!