Hundreds Of Porsche Cars Across Russia Suddenly Refuse To Start

Drivers in Moscow, Krasnodar, and several other Russian cities started reporting a strange issue last week: their cars suddenly shut off mid-drive, with the fuel supply cutting out and the engine refusing to restart, Hotnews.ro reports.

Rolf, the country’s biggest dealer group, said its service centers were flooded with calls on Friday. According to them, the problem affects the cars’ security modules, which stay connected through satellite. A Rolf representative told RBC that every Porsche model and engine type appears to be at risk, and any car could potentially lock itself up. They even suggested it might have been done on purpose, though there’s no proof to back that claim.

Owners believe the glitch is tied to the vehicle tracking system (VTS), an onboard security unit. Some Macan owners say they managed to fix the issue by disabling or rebooting the VTS, while others only had success after disconnecting the battery for several hours—in some cases, up to 10.

Porsche stopped deliveries and suspended business operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, but thousands of cars remain on the road—and for now, owners seem to be troubleshooting the issue on their own.