I can no longer, in good conscience, recommend Tesla vehicles.

[Bouba]

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend any car that I haven’t owned long enough. But I will enthuse over my M3 to anyone who will listen but would hate to be responsible for anyone’s 80 thousand dollars.
But I would get on bended knee to stop anyone buying a Volvo

 

[SO16]

I bought a 2018 BMW 430i GC a year ago, haven’t had a single issue and we’re at 42k miles. My friend has bought two teslas brand new and has had multiple issues and poor build quality. German cars will last as long as you take care of them properly. Teslas often come with issues, which is unacceptable.

I don’t really have skin in the game, but we’ve seen multiple threads on this forum of brand new plaid model S being bricked within a few days of ownership. That’s just insane for a flagship car. Tesla has come a long way in quality but still has a very long road ahead to catch up to legacy automakers.

It’s great that your BMW experience has been positive but BMW is FAR from immune to issues.

BMW adds nearly 185,000 vehicles to recall over fire risk

Moisture can get into the cars' ventilation, which can lead to an electrical short and possible fire even when the engine isn't on.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[miked112]

but you've owned 2 teslas for a little over a year ish while owners here are chiming in (including myself) who have owned multiple over a longer period of time.

FYI the 5 Audis I have owned have never had nearly as many issues as both my Model S'

I’ve owned three, including a Plaid, and they have been the most trouble free cars I have ever owned (others have been BMW, Audi, VW, Honda, Acura).

 

[miked112]

I bought a 2018 BMW 430i GC a year ago, haven’t had a single issue and we’re at 42k miles. My friend has bought two teslas brand new and has had multiple issues and poor build quality. German cars will last as long as you take care of them properly. Teslas often come with issues, which is unacceptable.

I don’t really have skin in the game, but we’ve seen multiple threads on this forum of brand new plaid model S being bricked within a few days of ownership. That’s just insane for a flagship car. Tesla has come a long way in quality but still has a very long road ahead to catch up to legacy automakers.

Three months in with my Plaid and it has been trouble free. My BMW 535xi was a great car but a nightmare from a reliability perspective - they basically replaced the entire electrical system in the car multiple times until I finally gave up. It was like painting the Brooklyn Bridge, by the time they finished it was time to start over again at the beginning.

 

[pabla]

I’ve owned three, including a Plaid, and they have been the most trouble free cars I have ever owned (others have been BMW, Audi, VW, Honda, Acura).

Interesting you say that while Tesla is rated below all of those brands above in terms of reliability according to Consumer Reports. Have you seen how many refresh model S owners have had their cars shutdown and needed to be towed?

 

[SO16]

Have you seen how many refresh model S owners have had their cars shutdown and needed to be towed?

I haven’t. Out of the 10k plus shipped, do you know how many have had issues?

 

[pabla]

I haven’t. Out of the 10k plus shipped, do you know how many have had issues?

Enough to be a notable issue. Not all 10k owners are on the forums either documenting if they had issues either.

 

[SO16]

Enough to be a notable issue. Not all 10k owners are on the forums either documenting if they had issues either.

How many is enough?

 

[pabla]

How many is enough?

I don’t get what your point is lol? Are you trying to invalidate my claims of the brand and others just because we aren’t counting how many other owners have issues? If you wants stats head over to consumer reports they’re the ones doing the counting, and according to them Tesla is dead last in terms of reliability. Point proven.

 

[SO16]

I don’t get what your point is lol? Are you trying to invalidate my claims of the brand and others just because we aren’t counting how many other owners have issues? If you wants stats head over to consumer reports they’re the ones doing the counting, and according to them Tesla is dead last in terms of reliability. Point proven.

No. Does that survey show the refreshed model S? I was asking because you were talking about the refresh in your initial question. I haven’t seen the numbers for failures for the refresh. I have seen some posts though.

 

[morepower]

I don’t get what your point is lol? Are you trying to invalidate my claims of the brand and others just because we aren’t counting how many other owners have issues? If you wants stats head over to consumer reports they’re the ones doing the counting, and according to them Tesla is dead last in terms of reliability. Point proven.

Let's get our facts straight. Lincoln was dead last. Tesla was just above it. Nothing to brag about though .

 

[Hookemhorns]

With no ability to just call them, it drastically complicates the process.

Amen. Amen. Boy do I miss the good old days before Tesla built a wall around their service centers and dictated that you could not contact them.. Used to be a world class car with world class service. Now it is just a world class car.

 

[kfly212]

It’s great that your BMW experience has been positive but BMW is FAR from immune to issues.

BMW adds nearly 185,000 vehicles to recall over fire risk

Moisture can get into the cars' ventilation, which can lead to an electrical short and possible fire even when the engine isn't on.

www.nbcnews.com

I have only owned BMW's before my tesla model S. Still have a 335 convertible and Diesel X5.
If you want good service BMW is great.
Free pastries and Coffee/Hot Chocolate.
Free diagnostic to find more service issues.
Sometimes long escalating back to the mothership in Germany to resolve difficult issues.

If you are willing to put up with lesser service you can get:
Mobile service(my last 4 services they did in my driveway)
A car that is at least 6 years ahead in technology of BMW. example is fuses vs MOSFETS.
No service upselling at oil changes or services
an I-Drive(BMW folks know what that is) system that doesn't make you want to blow your brains out.

I love my BMW's. as I did my Nokia candy bar and Motorola Razor flip phones..

 

[miked112]

Interesting you say that while Tesla is rated below all of those brands above in terms of reliability according to Consumer Reports. Have you seen how many refresh model S owners have had their cars shutdown and needed to be towed?

I'm only talking about my own personal experience, which again has been excellent. And if it happens to my Plaid, I'll get it towed and fixed just like I had to twice with my Audi S6 and once with my BMW.

 

[miked112]

Amen. Amen. Boy do I miss the good old days before Tesla built a wall around their service centers and dictated that you could not contact them.. Used to be a world class car with world class service. Now it is just a world class car.

absolutely agree but have you tried messaging them in the mobile app? That pretty much always works for me.

 

[evsolarman]

OP is highly relatable - the issues are starting to mount for my 2015 MS. That said, objectively, it is too much of a stretch to say "will not recommend a Tesla". The reliability issues of Tesla COMPARED to other EVs is an unknown to me - but I'd guess even if we put a $ cost to it - the extra cost is likely not as high as the SIGNIFICANT additional value you get with a Tesla (much higher range, highly competitive price for 3 & Y, the incredible supercharging network and overall car driving performance). The simple issue at hand is Tesla lacks a viable alternative that provides comparable value, and it may remain that way for a few more years. Until then, Tesla is the best EV, and living with Tesla's mediocre quality is the unfortunate price of having an EV.

 

[SO16]

absolutely agree but have you tried messaging them in the mobile app? That pretty much always works for me.

Messaging has worked great. But it does usually take until end of day to hear from them.

 

[Hookemhorns]

absolutely agree but have you tried messaging them in the mobile app? That pretty much always works for me.

The only way I know to message them in the app is to schedule a service appointment. Am I missing a way to message them if I don’t need service?

 

[Catbiscuits]

Well at least the OP didn’t buy a BMW! That would be a world of pain. All those minor issues pale in comparison to what one of those junkheaps would have had by know. We bought two Teslas to replace our BMWs last year and have been thrilled.

 

[Kazkorp]

Interesting. One of our customers has a 90k mile Model S, without a single repair over the last 5 years. He recommends it to everyone!