Is the Porsche Taycan more reliable than the Tesla Model S?

Yes, by a large margin. The Taycan has a good standing and the Model S a mixed one. Owners filed 107 complaints on the Taycan and 4,606 on the Model S. The Taycan count has no sales data behind it, but the Model S crash-linked reports are far heavier.

Which has more recalls, the Taycan or the Model S?

The Model S has more. Federal recall records show 227 across 8 model years for the Model S and 131 across 6 model years for the Taycan. The Model S has had more years on the road to collect them, so read the gap with that in mind.

What is the biggest problem with the Tesla Model S?

Phantom braking is the most common complaint. The car brakes hard at highway speed with nothing ahead, on Autopilot, cruise control, and sometimes in manual driving. Forward collision avoidance has 979 complaints. Unintended acceleration at parking speed and steering lock also produce many crash-linked reports.

What goes wrong most on the Porsche Taycan?

Electrical faults lead, with 44 complaints. The worst is sudden loss of power while driving, with warnings to park and sometimes no restart. Power train owners also report unintended shifts from Drive to Neutral or Park, and dealers often could not reproduce them.

Which Taycan and Model S years should I avoid?

For the Taycan, avoid 2022 and 2023, its weakest years. For the Model S, avoid 2021 and 2023. Be careful with 2025 on either car. It ranks among the strongest, but newer years have had less time to collect complaints.

Last updated: 2026-10-10

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S: Reliability Compared

More Reliable

Porsche Taycan

Good

Tesla Model S

Mixed

The Porsche Taycan beats the Tesla Model S on reliability by a wide margin. Model S owners filed far more crash-linked complaints. Those center on phantom braking, unintended acceleration and steering lock, while Taycan reports focus on sudden power loss and unexpected shifts into Neutral.

How Do the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S Generations Compare?

Each car sits in a single US generation, so none of these years involves a full redesign. The Taycan's first generation (Type 9J1) covers US model years 2020 through 2024, with a facelift in 2024. Cars from 2020 through 2023 are the pre-facelift versions. The data also lists 2025, which falls outside that stated span. The Model S is in its first generation too, running from 2013 through 2026. It was facelifted in 2017 and again in 2021. For the 2018 to 2025 years you are likely to consider, 2018 through 2020 cars predate the second facelift, and 2021 and later cars follow it.

Verdict

The Porsche Taycan is more reliable than the Tesla Model S, scoring 67/100 vs 41/100.

Reliability clearly favors the Taycan, and the gap is large. Its standing is good, while the Model S sits at mixed. The deciding reason is the weight of Model S complaints: thousands of filings, with unintended acceleration, steering lock and phantom braking tied to many crashes. Taycan owners filed far fewer complaints, though that count has no sales data behind it, so it is not a rate. Even so, the Taycan's worst reports, sudden power loss and unwanted shifts into Neutral, are fewer and less often crash-linked.

Key Differences

1Porsche Taycan has 96 fewer total recalls
2Porsche Taycan scores 26 points higher in reliability

Category Scoreboard

2Porsche Taycan

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0Tesla Model S

Reliability ScoreTotal Recalls

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S: Which Is More Reliable?

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S at-a-glance reliability comparison
Metric	Porsche Taycan	Tesla Model S
Reliability Score	67/100	41/100
Years Tracked	6	8
Total Recalls	131	227
Total ComplaintsRaw count — varies with sales volume	107	4606
Year Wins	6	0

What Are the Common Problems With the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S?

Different failures define each car. Taycan trouble centers on the electrical system and drivetrain: cars shut down with "park" warnings, sometimes will not restart, or slip from Drive into Neutral or Park at a stop. Dealers often could not reproduce these faults. The Model S shows phantom braking at highway speed, surges at parking speed that the brakes did not stop, and steering that locks or stiffens. Crash-linked reports appear in all five main Model S problem areas. For the Taycan, crash links appear only under electrical and service brakes, and there are few of them.

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S common problem areas comparison
Component	Porsche Taycan	Tesla Model S
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE	—	979
UNKNOWN OR OTHER	12	569
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	44	491
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL	—	521
STEERING	3	513
SERVICE BRAKES	5	321
SUSPENSION	—	262
AIR BAGS	2	98
POWER TRAIN	16	76
STRUCTURE	—	73
LANE DEPARTURE	—	55
BACK OVER PREVENTION	3	31
VISIBILITY/WIPER	2	10
SEATS	—	8
ENGINE	3	—

Raw complaint counts aggregated across all tracked model years from NHTSA owner reports. Counts vary with sales volume.

How Does Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S Reliability Compare by Year?

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S year-by-year reliability scores
Year	Porsche Taycan	Tesla Model S	Edge
2025	70/1004R / 2C	50/1007R / 94C	Porsche Taycan
2024	68/10019R / 8C	42/10019R / 316C	Porsche Taycan
2023	64/10040R / 18C	32/10043R / 1307C	Porsche Taycan
2022	64/10040R / 76C	44/10018R / 796C	Porsche Taycan
2021	67/10016R / 1C	26/10067R / 1211C	Porsche Taycan
2020	70/10012R / 2C	37/10043R / 465C	Porsche Taycan

Best years to cross-shop: The 2020 Porsche Taycan scored 70/100 and the 2022 Tesla Model S scored 44/100 — the strongest shared model years that have been on the road for at least two years, where available.

Who Should Buy the Porsche Taycan vs the Tesla Model S?

Pick the Taycan if you want the lower-risk choice and can accept a thin complaint record. Its reports are fewer and less often tied to crashes. Target 2020, one of its strongest years. Avoid 2022 and 2023, its weakest. Treat 2025 with caution, since a newer year has had less time to collect complaints. Before you buy, ask the seller about any past shutdown, shifting or heater faults, because owners said shops struggled to diagnose them. Pick the Model S only if you want its size and accept more risk, and plan to test how its driver-assist features behave on the highway. Look at 2019, its strongest year in the data. Avoid 2021 and 2023, its weakest. Drive it on a highway before you commit, and watch for hard braking with nothing ahead. Check the steering and the heat pump too. One owner quoted $2,500 for a steering rack and another $3,000 per heat pump repair, both out of warranty.

Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S: Common Questions

Is the Porsche Taycan more reliable than the Tesla Model S?: Yes, by a large margin. The Taycan has a good standing and the Model S a mixed one. Owners filed 107 complaints on the Taycan and 4,606 on the Model S. The Taycan count has no sales data behind it, but the Model S crash-linked reports are far heavier.
Which has more recalls, the Taycan or the Model S?: The Model S has more. Federal recall records show 227 across 8 model years for the Model S and 131 across 6 model years for the Taycan. The Model S has had more years on the road to collect them, so read the gap with that in mind.
What is the biggest problem with the Tesla Model S?: Phantom braking is the most common complaint. The car brakes hard at highway speed with nothing ahead, on Autopilot, cruise control, and sometimes in manual driving. Forward collision avoidance has 979 complaints. Unintended acceleration at parking speed and steering lock also produce many crash-linked reports.
What goes wrong most on the Porsche Taycan?: Electrical faults lead, with 44 complaints. The worst is sudden loss of power while driving, with warnings to park and sometimes no restart. Power train owners also report unintended shifts from Drive to Neutral or Park, and dealers often could not reproduce them.
Which Taycan and Model S years should I avoid?: For the Taycan, avoid 2022 and 2023, its weakest years. For the Model S, avoid 2021 and 2023. Be careful with 2025 on either car. It ranks among the strongest, but newer years have had less time to collect complaints.

More Porsche Taycan comparisons

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More Tesla Model S comparisons

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How we score the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S

Scores weight complaint severity at 35%, repair costs at 30%, recall impact at 20%, and the spread of complaints across systems at 15%, with complaint counts adjusted for US sales. Read the full methodology.

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