I’d trade the PS and yelling wife in….i def don’t trust the card key alone. But my PAK, FOB and Card key all work without issue. I did have one reset for card keys by dealer. Took 5 minutes.

 

I appreciate that you are trying to make this laughable, but I really fail to see the humor. If Polestar would get me out of the lease and I could get another vehicle, right now, I probably would take the opportunity and run.

Today a myriad of problems have developed on top of all the rest. I am not an engineer, at my age, I should not have to be struggling with these problems!

Here you go, and this time, you can not tell me to go buy a more expensive phone to use as a digital key, because today's problems only slightly relate to that issue.

Today new problems have developed. Again, the car did not recognize the fob. I did the 5 touch thing, to no avail. We drove to my daughter’s house in S Jersey, had no problem getting there, but on the way back several problems occurred, I got the parking assist failure, book service; the car lost GPS connection and the Google maps had no idea where we were. It gave totally spurious directions. It occasionally found us and got us back on the map,. At times the map would rotate 90 degrees without any thing being done to request that, and at one time rather than an arrow, the GPS showed just a blue dot. At some times, there was a voice that did say, lost GPS connection.



We stopped to buy groceries and I checked the car status and found it was not recognizing the fob, although when I put the fob in the charging spot, the symbol on the display showed it charging and the car would operate. After the frustration of trying to figure what to do again, I redid the 4 touch thing and went in to join my wife shopping. This time, the vehicle did recognize the fob and opened the car for me as I approached, and I was able to open the trunk with a foot swipe. I checked the fob when I got into the car and the display said charged, showing a fully charged key. We then got back oin the road. Again GPS was not connecting properly.



My grandson called when we were then driving, we answered but he could hear us while we could not hear him. Interestingly, when he texted us, we were able to have the car read the text to us, but when we tried to reply, the car told us “I do not understand.”

We got home in one piece, I plugged the car in to be charged and the fob was still working.

I will give all of this to service on Weds. I know that I will not be happy with the result! I see others are looking into invoking the lemon law to get out of their car, but I am in a three year lease, so I don’t know if I will be in any bargaining position, but I have about had it with this car.

 

Still in the market for a new car...and every time I read a post like this I know I cannot begin to consider the Polestar; however, the 20-minute test drive I had last year was amazing! It's a beautiful vehicle.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It definitely helps.

 

I came out of a 3 year lease of a P2 which I adored. They priced a replacement to high and the deal on the P3 was too good to overlook. All I can do is tell you from my experience, don't fall for their BS that these are just minor software issues. The "minor software issues" knag at you almost daily and begin to get to the point at which you want to just either leave the car in the dealer's lot, stop paying your lease and deal with the legal aspects of a default, or drive the car into a river and take the insurance loss.

I know others will disagree with me, and may attack me for saying this, knowing what I know now, no way I would get myself into this situation.

 

When I picked up my P3P in April, in spite of the car handling the road better than a Porsche Macan, all I could think about during the drive home was "uh oh! I have a lemon." My phone wouldn't connect. The alarm light blinked the entire two hour drive home. I couldn't set up my phone key. The volume didn't work and I couldn't listen to music. Even after parking and performing a reset, still no good. When I parked it at home and connected to the wifi, an overnight update solved everything. The software has been relatively problem free ever since. Not as perfect or as well thought-out as with the Rivian it sits next to in the garage, or the Tesla Model X it replaced. But much better than the software you get from legacy automakers.

 

Ours is LRDM PP and have owned it for 6 months. Once set up at the start, we have not a single problem beyond needing to restart the infotainment I think twice. We are in Australia and ours is constructed not in China but somewhere else (can't remember where). Could not really be happier.

 

It’s odd to hear because for me there has been so much phone tethering failure that the black card has been the only consistently working item. I now always have it on me. I hate that in this day and time I have to take a card out of my wallet to open and start a car but it has always worked. My white plastic rectangular thing on the other hand I have no clue what it is, how it’s different from a card, or actually gotten it to do anything so that I leave at home!

 

This seems to be a consistent problem. Other forum users are upset that i keep posing my experiences trying to get the car to function properly without replacing my phone and using PAK. The white l=thing is a fob that is supposed to be recognized by the vehicle and open the door when you approach it, then it has the same function as the card when you place it onto the charge pad int he vehicle. the card, as i was told, was intended as a backup in case the fob failed, and to leave with a parking attendant if you park in a lot. If you are having a problem with functionality, you might want to go to your service location and work with them. Perhaps they will be able to help you.

Your user I is a city in Iceland, but you are listed as US. That intrigues me since I served in the Navy in Keflavik 1970-72.

 

I think the difficulty for Polestar is the keys work fine for many users so it is not so easy to identify exactly what the issue is and how to fix for all different brands of phone.
I have been lucky, my phone, watch (iPhone 16 pro, Apple Watch Ultra 2) and even the white key fob have all worked flawlessly to unlock the car on approach and lock on departure in the 2 months I have had the car.

 

I am pleased to hear that you have had no problems with the key operation or any other of the random alerts i get, which often state get to service asap. Perhaps my vehicle is in fact, a lemon. If so, then let Polestar take it back and give me another P3.

I appreciate Polestar's difficulty, but how long has the car been out and driven? How long should the consumer expect to have to wait before the problem is solved. In my parking lot situation, who would leave their phone with the lot? So that isn't really the answer.

I realize that some here think i am carrying on too much, but if everyone just ignored the problem, what incentive would Polestar have to fix the problem. Each problem that a user has should be documented, if the problem is resolved, that resolution may help others. There is an old, trite "Proverb," the wheel that squeaks is the wheel that gets oiled.

I hope my car will be ready for me to pick up today, after 3 days in service for updating and fixing software problems. i will wait and see if they cured my problems and will keep everyone informed.

 

Why would it not mean your phone? That’s exactly how it works with UWB functionality, you don’t need to do anything with the phone to unlock the car other than have it with you as you approach the car.

 

I am not saying it doesn't, I am saying it doesn't mean only a phone, it used the term digital key. I am not 100% sure, but, I believe that when you check the settings, the foib is called a digital key. I will look later, but that is what I was told when i test drove the car, and when I picked it up initially. I was told that I could use a phone, if I had an iPhone.

 

Volvo recently admitted that the whole digital key only thing has been a disaster and they are probably going back to the legacy "Key FOB". In an ideal world you should have the option for both....IMHO

 

The problem with all this tech in cars now is that car companies don't seem to have recognised they need tech support teams alongside service centres. Half the people I work with struggle with the technology they need to use every day to do their jobs and will pretty much just throw tantrums if anything unexpected happens, god knows what they're like when the tech in their car plays up. Chasing down software issues or diagnosing user error isn't the sort of thing that the average mechanic will have in their skillset. Polestar have created a real issue as they keep releasing vehicles with an array of software problems, there's a lack of competent support in the service centres which undermines the users confidence in the product and I expect the lack of quality feedback about the issues then slows down their ability to diagnose and fix bugs.

By the time they sort the cars out social media is awash with people proclaiming the car's are worthless junk. They're creating the No Mans Sky of cars.

 

I want to preface this by saying, again, that the P3 is flawed in many ways.

That said, I think it's probably fair to say that not all cars can or should be for all people.

A tech forward car is probably not ideal for people who are themselves not very well versed in modern tech. And it's okay for that to be the case. The result shouldn't be endless pressure to make everything like what it was in the past or "what you understand". There are other brands and/or models that are suitable to less tech interested and tech-phobic people.

 

It's not about being "Tech Phobic", it's about easy of use and safety. Having to drill down in menus to do something basic is a PITA. Basic functionality should be easy to access and not require you to take your eyes off the road. The Key Fob issue is a PITA when you use Valet Parking or when you have a friend who wants to drive the car and you need to give them your phone.

Removing the Glove Box button is just plain stupid. Why do I need to activate the car when I simply want to get something out of the Glove Box? Some of Polestar's decisions make sense in a design meeting, but when they hit real life, they have issues.

 

I walked into the garage and opened the passenger door (car unlocked already). The screens came on and the compressor for the heatpump kicked on. The headlights came on as if the car was ready to drive. For giggles, I went around to the driver side and tried to put the car in gear...it said key not found (which was correct).

This is the behavior I'm talking about when I say "Powered On".

 

I am far from tech phobic. But, after 25 years using computer based software, i still wish that the software so es a problem I have, not make my life more difficult. I was raised with the philosophy that programs are to make life easier and safer, not to throw monkey wrenches into my ability to function. Had I been told that it was either buy an iPhone or high end Samsung or Pixel phone, I might have made a different decision either phone or car wise. Was that Polestar or the dealer's error, frankly i don't care. Please don't say I should have researched further. I was getting out of a P2, so expected a little uphill learning curve, but never anticipated the unforced errors in the software.

I apologize to those computer mavens here that despise my writings here. But I am frustrated by the lack of support for the problems I have faced. Each message taken seriously lands me in the service department for a day or more. It has already taken 9 months to get some of the bugs out of my car, and for me to have adapted to the software.

Let us hope the latest software upgrade, and whatever else the service center did to my vehicle for the three days it had the vehicle, will return me to the pro-Polestar fan I was with the P2.

 

buy an iPhone or high end Samsung or Pixel phone

But you don’t need either of those things… you just need a phone with UWB. Not quite sure why this is so difficult to grasp.

 

I use the fob everyday as my phone does not support UWB. The app can be used to lock unlock, but is no longer a key like it is on the P2
The key is in my phone wallet, but since my phone does not have the hardware required for UWB it functions as NFC only (the same as the key cards).

The fob is functionally no different than a phone with UWB. If yours isn't working there is a problem with the fob (most likely the battery that allows it to transmit) or the car.

Moving to UWB vs BTLE has pros and cons (like any other design choice).
Personally I like the added security and location/proximity capabilities. YMMV

 

I use the fob everyday as my phone does not support UWB. The app can be used to lock unlock, but is no longer a key like it is on the P2
The key is in my phone wallet, but since my phone does not have the hardware required for UWB it functions as NFC only (the same as the key cards).

The fob is functionally no different than a phone with UWB. If yours isn't working there is a problem with the fob (most likely the battery that allows it to transmit) or the car.

Moving to UWB vs BTLE has pros and cons (like any other design choice).
Personally I like the added security and location/proximity capabilities. YMMV

I am unsure if you are talking about a P3 or a P2. I now have 2 fobs, both check out as working by the internal computer in the vehicle. With the recent update, it is like a miracle, the car does what it is supposed to do. Both my dealer and Polestar support have admitted that they had a serious problem with the fob/car interaction, but believe the recent update will finally put that behind us.

 

I'm a Polestar 3 owner. I had a Tesla Roadster (2.0 verson, and a Model S for 7.5 years). I'm no newbie to electric cars or first adopters. I regret leasing this car. It is so buggy, I can't depend on it working. I'm afraid/unwilling to take it on a road trip. I've had it for a full year now, and that is my honest opinion.