Consumer Reports Review

[PedramGh]

Cars structure is getting less and less -mechanically- complicated and more and more digitally complex. In the future, what really matters is shifting from Horse Power to Fit and Finish, Luxury Feeling, Customer Experience, Digital Features and a Powerful Processor and analyze huge data rapidly. A sophisticated software package that contributes to Machine Learning.

For one day, it was important that your phone had a very small form factor; Later, if it had a large display screen. For a while, voice call coverage was really a big deal or in a bold review, the battery performance (AKA Range) - but nowadays what really matters is customer experience overall. UX and UI, Software Capabilities, Security and Privacy and a lot of newer concepts that were not in our imagination 10-15 years ago. Battery is still a huge deal but there are plenty of long lasting battery phones that are not a good seller because of the poor customer experience.

Car industry is rapidly changing (finally!!) and a lot of things that used to matter, won't matter anymore. There will be still some die hard fans of ICE (like people who hold on a Nokia phone today) and to me it is ok (though I don't appreciate their lack of attention to environment) but the newer generation love cars that can talk, collaborate and use a neural engine to automatically drive. Tesla started it, but other companies have invested money and are fast tracking forward and probably one day, they will catch up with the speed. It is not a big deal for Tesla cause this was actually their mission and on that day, Elon and Team are focusing on something else.

Moral: Tesla was never meant to be a Super Luxury car. It has been a premium economy at its best. While attention to details has been something to consider and we see Tesla looking at that over time (refreshes, updates, Service Center philosophy etc.) but the main focus for the company was moving forward with advancing this tech and paving the path for future. Their target was not a caddy driver but if they can catch those type of drivers, it is even better!

CR can review the car as "not a reliable" car and it is a fair point. If you have a car, you can agree to fit and finish issues. Tesla knows there is a concern about build quality too. In line with their mission they will address the issues but it is not their biggest concern as long as they are on their path towards their mission.

I feel proud of Tesla when I see other companies are bringing EVs to their lineup and they are bringing some very good candidates. I feel happy if Polestar range increase or Lucid Air becomes a very good car. It would be cool if Lyriq brings the premium luxury pride of Cadillac back and makes the driver feel they are driving an American Luxury car which feels different and looks different.

But this would not be all. The future of commuting and car sharing will change with Automated driving fleet. Uber changed the image we have about Taxis and Cabs in our minds. Carpools and Vanpools will look drastically different sooner that what we expect. And I am happy that this fleet is running on clean energy.

 

[RED MDL3]

Tesla interface is not similar to most other vehicles. It takes a while to learn the features and the shortcuts. A short term reviewer is unlikely to identify or utilize shortcuts, like slightly adjusting your seat brings up the mirror controls on the display. . I have similar experiences with rental cars - something as simple as a fuel door release might exist under the armrest - low on the instrument panel- in the center console- or on the floor. CR keeps their vehicles for a long period of time and their reviews are likely to evolve during that experience.

 

[HotIce]

Generally speaking, persons tend to go to the effort of creating accounts/posting on forums to report issues, not to report "all is well". Thus, ability to gather meaningful metrics, would be challenging.

Those are the threads you want to see because if it's a big issue, you'll se responses like 'I'm having the same issue' for example, you know it's a widespread issue. If not, then you know it's a one off. That's what I have done.

 

[Flybuddy]

I wrote the comment below on youtube

"Picture someone who has only owned old flip phones and has done hundreds of reviews on flip phones. Now, give them an Iphone for a couple of days and have them review it. It would be similar to this review as they wouldn't fully understand how best to use the tech. Additionally, if you go out of your way to look at Iphone complaints and concerns, you could easily find thousands of them, doesn't mean the overall phone is bad. As a Model Y owner, I can attest to the fact that this is not a fair review of the vehicle and the vast, vast majority of Model Y owners are EXTREMELY satisfied. I would suggest in the future that they avail themselves of an actual experienced owner."

 

[spokey]

I wrote the comment below on youtube

"Picture someone who has only owned old flip phones and has done hundreds of reviews on flip phones. Now, give them an Iphone for a couple of days and have them review it. It would be similar to this review as they wouldn't fully understand how best to use the tech. Additionally, if you go out of your way to look at Iphone complaints and concerns, you could easily find thousands of them, doesn't mean the overall phone is bad. As a Model Y owner, I can attest to the fact that this is not a fair review of the vehicle and the vast, vast majority of Model Y owners are EXTREMELY satisfied. I would suggest in the future that they avail themselves of an actual experienced owner."

iPhone bad, Pixel good<g>

 

[Srad600Volt]

Meh, not sure why this video has people so upset. I have seen various threads on this very forum about almost every “problem” they touched on. So clearly those are tangible issues, they didn’t make them up. Also, as others have said, their “reliability ratings” (however you define reliability) came from owner surveys, NOT their own impressions (they stated that). They clearly said they would have rated it higher. In my impression, the video was quite factual and representative of the experiences of Model Y owners. I can find no reason to dislike or disagree with it.

What I got from it was they really enjoyed the car, it drove well (aside from ride quality), etc but they couldn’t recommend it due to customer survey responses. Fair enough.

Also, IMHO, the fact that they have driven literally thousands of other vehicles does not mean that they are incapable of reviewing a Tesla. In fact I think that makes them more qualified, as they have likely seen, driven and reviewed more cars than most people will own in their lifetime. I feel like that gives them a unique perspective.

 

[spokey]

I don't know that people are upset. Least not me.

s they have likely seen, driven and reviewed more cars than most people will own in their lifetime. I feel like that gives them a unique perspective.

True. But that doesn't mean it's a truthful, object, or a perspective anyone should pay attention to. Car and Driver, Automobile, etc have probably seen even more cars. But I don't see their perspective as being objective either. And they probably agree.

 

[Srad600Volt]

True. But that doesn't mean it's a truthful, object, or a perspective anyone should pay attention to. Car and Driver, Automobile, etc have probably seen even more cars. But I don't see their perspective as being objective either. And they probably agree.

I agree. I wouldn’t take anyone’s word 100%, but rather use it as a datapoint and then make my own judgement. If it aligns, then great, if it doesn’t then I’m ok with that too. Everyone should gather as much information as possible, but in the end make their own decisions based on the combination of that information and their own experiences. For instance, I believe some of the issues they had with the car were valid, but yet I bought one anyway and enjoy it quite a bit. For me, those item’s were not a dealbreaker. Someone else may feel differently.

 

[DanDi58]

It's hard to disagree with much of what they say, TBH, other than whiny 'Matthew from NYC' (Uber credits aren't a loaner, sure, but most dealers, in my experience, don't give you a loaner OR credits). I find if funny that Gabe recommended an E-Tron after the issues with that car (and, as the other dude said, don't recommend a car we don't recommend). As for the RAV4 Prime, good luck finding one.

 

[origingalatic]

I wrote the comment below on youtube

"Picture someone who has only owned old flip phones and has done hundreds of reviews on flip phones. Now, give them an Iphone for a couple of days and have them review it. It would be similar to this review as they wouldn't fully understand how best to use the tech. Additionally, if you go out of your way to look at Iphone complaints and concerns, you could easily find thousands of them, doesn't mean the overall phone is bad. As a Model Y owner, I can attest to the fact that this is not a fair review of the vehicle and the vast, vast majority of Model Y owners are EXTREMELY satisfied. I would suggest in the future that they avail themselves of an actual experienced owner."

Sorry mate, bad analogy of iPhone.... I gave my parents who are in their 70s their first iphone, no issues and no learning curve. This is an indication of good UX design. Even my 2 year old can operate simple gesture on iPads, android? not so much.

This is why Tesla owners are loyal, very much like iPhone users.

 

[Flybuddy]

Sorry mate, bad analogy of iPhone.... I gave my parents who are in their 70s their first iphone, no issues and no learning curve. This is an indication of good UX design. Even my 2 year old can operate simple gesture on iPads, android? not so much.

This is why Tesla owners are loyal, very much like iPhone users.

Agreed, BUT, they are not writing reviews on complex aspects of the phone after minimal usage. I'm sure the hundreds of youtube videos on things you didn't know about your iphone are not written by new users.

 

[Itsuo-DC]

Iirc, most of the reasons CR’s definition of “reliability” was due to fit and finish, which are NOT reliability issues.

Some of the reliability issues (like heat stopped working, couldn’t charge at home or Superchargers, etc) are most likely a very small percentage but is amplified because of the very fervent and vocal Tesla owners on the web. For example, as a former Audi and BMW owner who was on the Bimmerpost and Audiworld forums, there wasn’t the same intensity of love for the brand, IMO.

This exact same thing happened with the Model 3 for years. They would seemingly get top scores in every category but get a very low score in “Reliability”. I never understood that because the vehicle needs the least amount of maintenance and, for me, having everything centrally accessible though the screen means there were fewer small reliability issues. I was pleased that they mentioned that Teslas (and maybe even the MY specifically has very high customer satisfaction. I’ve only ever seen the Tesla/M3 as having the highest satisfaction of any other other vehicle. They didn’t feel the need to mention that.

For whatever reason I have just assumed they’re using some kind of outdated assessment for Teslas or one that highlights the “reliability” of other types of cars. (Kind of like reading about Tesla in the Washington Post—seems to always over emphasize the negative and wash over all the incredible positives/benefits.) However, like others I have yet to cancel my subscription overall since it’s nice to have a resource for product reviews of household and other items.