Using YouTube in the Cayenne

Previously, I wrote an article about how we installed a rear monitor in the back seat of our Cayenne so our kids could watch YouTube and other videos back there.

We bought our Cayenne in September 2020 from the dealer’s new car stock, and at that time, we thought the Porsche Connect Wi-Fi data allowance was “3GB per month.”

Then a reader commented,

The previous data allowance was 3GB, but since some were running out of data, the dealer informed that customers registering new cars from the 2020 model year onward get 10GB per month.

(They even went out of their way to confirm this with the dealer.)

After that, in October and November, we used the Cayenne’s Wi-Fi and could watch YouTube without issues even after exceeding 5GB, so we said, “So it really did change to 10GB—great! 10GB should be enough for now.”

However, around December, the kids in the back seat started saying,

“We can’t watch YouTube! No matter what we do, it won’t play!”

I said, “That can’t be right, we haven’t even used 10GB yet.” and checked, only to find the data usage was just over 3GB. But no matter what we tried afterward, YouTube wouldn’t play, so I thought it might be some kind of glitch and decided to wait and see.

Cayenne’s Wi-Fi Data Allowance

Then in January this year, since watching YouTube in high quality uses a lot of data, we started lowering the video quality and always closing YouTube before getting out of the car (apparently, YouTube stays connected for a while if you don’t close it even after turning off the engine). But in mid-January, the kids said, “We can’t watch YouTube again.”

What!? Again!?

Checking again, the Wi-Fi data usage was just over 3GB.

This made me suspect that the monthly Wi-Fi data allowance had been changed back to 3GB. Since this happened two months in a row, it’s probably the case.

There was no prior notice from the Porsche dealer or Connect support center about this change. When I said,

“It might seem like a small thing, but this is a luxury car and we’re paying a hefty price, so why skimp on something like this? And isn’t it supposed to be 10GB for new cars? I really don’t like this kind of thing.”

my husband said,

“This is unacceptable. Nowadays, you can get a large data plan for just a few thousand yen a month, so they could easily include it quietly in the vehicle price. If they asked us to pay for it as an option at purchase, we’d be fine with that. But cutting the Wi-Fi data to 3GB suddenly causes more damage in terms of user disappointment with Porsche than the cost savings. I don’t understand why they’d be so stingy over such a small expense. Also, starting with 10GB and then dropping to 3GB without any notice is just sloppy. I remember when we bought the 971 Panamera, they initially said Wi-Fi was unlimited, but then it changed to 3GB mid-way.”

In our case, for sports models like the 911, my husband mainly drives for trips and tours, so we don’t need much Wi-Fi data. But for the Cayenne, we prioritized “comfortable long-distance drives for the whole family,” so having a good Wi-Fi environment is quite important.

Especially since my husband is very particular about our internet setup at home, making sure we have fast, stable, and comfortable connections in every room, a poor Wi-Fi environment in the car really bothers us.

Well, if someone says, “It’s just in-car Wi-Fi, don’t expect that much from Porsche,” that’s fair enough…

Still, this isn’t a cheap car—our Cayenne E-Hybrid cost over 13 million yen—so I feel disappointed by a company attitude that neglects details like this.

By the way, for now, we’re using our smartphones’ tethering to watch YouTube.

We love Porsche so much that I hesitated to write about this on the blog, and maybe the data allowance will quietly go back to 10GB again. But as a user, I wanted to share this honest experience, so here we are.