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I can no longer, in good conscience, recommend Tesla vehicles.
- Thread starter Pandalus
- Start date
Well, I can tell you about my experience with BMW and it's far from the pristine description you put forth. There's a reason why BMWs are sold around the 3-4 year mark and that's because once they're out of warranty they're expensive to repair. I had a 3 series that had numerous problems that the dealership couldn't fix (fuel flap door release for one, engine, fuel pump and locks), and the day I traded it in the passenger side window lift broke. The 5 series Touring had so many mechanical issues because of the N54 engine along with injectors, fuel pump, ignition, computer, telematics, a leaky sunroof - it was in so often I'm surprised the dealership didn't charge me rent. The paint had more orange peel than any other car I've owned. Updating the computer took - get this - a solid week to complete. The server kept crashing, and BMW couldn't fix it even from Germany. Yes, BMW fixed it as long as it was under warranty, but I dumped it before the 4th year and lost even more than expected because by then it was widely known all the issues with the 2008s.
Comparatively, I've had all of 1 issue with my Model S - the rear camera. Fixed at home under warranty by mobile service - that's something you'll never see with BMW. I won't say other, primarily older Model S weren't problematic, but this particular one has been good now for 5 years. Beats a single year of no problems, quite frankly. German quality was lost many years ago.
RichAZ/CapeCod
Member
Well, here's a projection which is around a year old (in 2021 it shows 678,000 Teslas produced when the number was 936,000). Someone is buying these pieces of crap. (?)
I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. I put two deposits down on Model S three years before they started producing them. I took delivery of a Signature model, flipped it, and still drive one of the first 2,000 produced. I have a new one scheduled (for now) to arrive next month. In the first three years of ownership, I bet I was responsible for dozens of sales. Us early owners were the marketing department. All of that said, I wouldn't (and don't) recommend anyone buy a Tesla now without very strong warnings. Don't expect the car to be reliable. More importantly, don't expect to work with a company that behaves fairly or professionally or seems to care at all about you as a customer. You should expect to not be able to reach them, to wait weeks for an appointment and perhaps the same amount of time to do any work. You should expect total indifference and lies when you point any of this out- if you can get anyone to listen. I'm buying another one because, in the end, the product is great and beats its competition in every way (other than service). For me, I felt that the frustration days/weeks of dealing with the company was outweighed by the pleasure of driving the car the rest of the time. But that's been a tough call for me, and I think many/most might make a different choice when faced with those facts. I love my Tesla. I hate Tesla.
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I agree. While I know that the pandemic and supply chain problems are affecting it all, Tesla's got some serious problems to overcome. While I've had only 1 problem with my S which was fixed without any problems or having to chase it down, I'm concerned about what is happening with the Model Y and it's heat pump. I wonder if part of the problem is local to your Service Center, as mine has been reasonable in correspondence. Overall, the Model Y been a fine car, but I suspect it may end up being part of a recall. I've got an X on order now for over a year but there's so much ongoing and no feedback from Tesla as a whole. I'm debating now over the new vehicle and whether it'll be too full of compromises.
RichAZ/CapeCod
Member
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Well, here's a projection which is around a year old (in 2021 it shows 678,000 Teslas produced when the number was 936,000). Someone is buying these pieces of crap. (?)
How exactly is this relevant to the discussion?
Some truth to this. But it goes far beyond the experience at the service center. If you had a complaint or issue that was above the level of the service center, where would you take it? There used to be a department called "owner experience". They got rid of it like they got rid of their PR department. It's basically a predominating "screw you" attitude throughout the company. The individual people at SC are often friendly and they often seem like they'd like to help, but their hands are tied. I've heard "we're really working on it" for the past 5 years.
