If you HAD to convince someone to not get a Tesla, what would you say?

[brandon8387]

Although realistically I'm very far off from getting a Tesla, I'm trying to avoid letting the awesomeness of these cars make me ignore any downsides when thinking about them. So hypothetically, if you HAD to convince someone not to get one, what would you tell them?

 

[pt19713]

Check put the Kia EV6. That 800 volt system is going to be great for L3 charging. Shame it'll be hindered by a weak charging infrastructure for a few years (at least in North America).

 

[JeffreyC]

If you don't have a convenient place to charge (garage, etc.) and/or you live hours away from a service center, then this is probably not the car for you. Otherwise I can't honestly think of any compelling reason why you should not get this car (assuming you can afford it). I have had many high-end cars and this is, by far, my favorite. So much so that I am considering selling my BMW 535i and getting a Model 3 to go with our Model Y. The BMW seems like yesterday's technology (and it is).

 

[Johnny Vector]

Uh, let's see... Well, if you live in a big city you can do most of what you need by bike and public transport, so you could just not have a car. But if like most people you're kind of forced to have one to get around, my logic is like this:

1. Buying a new ICE car now is a mistake. Maybe you'll be able to sell it before the market collapses, but maybe not.

2. If you have a place you can put in a charger to charge when you park at night, go ahead and get an EV.
2A. If you never need to use it for long trips, there are many models that would work
2B. If you want to go on long trips, the Supercharger network is an order of magnitude better than CCS/ChaDeMo, so get a Tesla

3. If you don't have a way to charge at night, nurse your existing ICE along for a couple more years, or if you really can't, get a used ICE to tide you over. The SC network is supposed to open up to other vehicles this year or next. That will make non-Tesla models much more attractive. That said, I would probably still choose the MY over any other existing option if I were buying now. Holds a lotta stuff, which is important to me, and I like its advantages more than I dislike its missing features (bird's-eye view, where are you?).

 

[Y_tho]

If you enjoy the rumbling of an engine, or shifting gears, then Tesla's definitely not the car for you. Impossible to re-create the low-frequency gurgling & vibration of a large V8 (the PWS could play you a soundtrack of an engine, I guess, but... yeah no). And, aside from regen brakes feeling similar to slowing down with manual gearbox, it's just not the same.

If you're looking to fill a specific need (like... Suburban-class family hauler, or Jeep-class off-road use), Tesla is likely not the car for you.

If you don't have a convenient place to charge (garage, etc.) and/or you live hours away from a service center, then this is probably not the car for you.

Yup - many apartment complexes, and high-rise condos, don't offer a convenient charging location. I know someone who documented their experience getting chargers installed in their building, and it was a very long, very expensive process. You can work with local charging stations, but then charging cost is significantly higher than at-home cost. And yeah, if there is no convenient service center (and if you're outside the range of mobile service), you are probably not going to enjoy the long drives (or towing) for service.

 

[Fourdoor]

Although realistically I'm very far off from getting a Tesla, I'm trying to avoid letting the awesomeness of these cars make me ignore any downsides when thinking about them. So hypothetically, if you HAD to convince someone not to get one, what would you tell them?

I would tell them that each and every bit of "awesomeness" was a BETA feature that is still in development. Auto windshield wipers? BETA! Auto high beam head lights? BETA! Auto Steering? BETA! Traffic Aware Cruise Control? BETA! This means that if everything works "OK" you will always be holding out hope that with the next software update they will fix at least some of the annoying things you are living with. If you have everything you like about the car working "good enough", you are one software update away from them screwing it up completely.

That last one is the situation I am in right now. When I purchased the car it worked pretty good with only a few phantom braking events each week (this amount of phantom braking would be borderline unacceptable in any other car)... after the first update I received it was still pretty good and they improved the speed limit on Auto Pilot to 80 mph max instead of 70 mph max. Then the disaster update 2021.4.21.3 Now TACC thinks half the oncoming cars on the road are trying for a head on collision, and brakes in an attempt to save my life... at night it goes from half the oncoming cars on the road to 99% of the oncoming cars on the road. This makes Auto Pilot virtually useless. I have been waiting over a month now in hopes of a new update that will fix this problem. For now, if I want the car to steer itself I set AP on, and dial the speed on TACC down to 20 mph and control the speed myself with the accelerator pedal... but I still get to hear the warning beeps when it thinks I am about to die in a head on collision every 5 min at night.

Later,

Keith

 

[Darmie]

What are some other options that you are looking at? The only thing I can think of is a Tesla may not be in someone's budget. What is the main reason someone makes such a large purchase as a car? The main reason is transportation. What are their daily requirements? a Miata may be cheap but it may not have enough room for 3 people. Buy the best car for your needs.

If it's a want, there is no denying that a Tesla is an awesome car or own and drive.

 

[laservet]

"You're not worthy of a Tesla."

 

[MyEarHurts]

- No real blind spot monitoring
- Small mirrors, really hinders sight and is a safety issue.
- Range is not as advertised
- Interior feels/looks like a $20k car
- Very weak AC system
- Very loud wind/road noise, no active noise cancellation
- Car gets really hot in the sun
- Quality Issues

Much of this if not all can be addressed by getting a luxury ICE car for around the same price or cheaper.

 

[zpaul]

Tell them go test drive model Y and Toyota Highlander Platinum.
Same price but huge difference in quality of interior.
- Highlander - True 360 view. Digital Rear View mirror. 3 rows. bigger trunk. 450 mile on tank on highway. 2nd row sunshades. Autopilot equivalent needs huge improvements. Built in Tonneau cover. Awesome super quite interior.
- Model Y - Very fast! No Gas ! Awesome Autopilot. Interior quality can be much better. No Sunroof shade.

 

[linux-works]

parts can be a long wait.

service is worst in the industry.

ceo could not care less about customers.

no way to contact tesla other than the 'app', which is a really bad joke.

doubts about water entrance in some cars, fit and finish from factory, insufficient sensor array, and other showstopper issues.


its fast and it goes pretty far. but it has tons of flaws that should not be there, for a 10+ year old company.

 

[roblab]

And yeah, if there is no convenient service center (and if you're outside the range of mobile service), you are probably not going to enjoy the long drives (or towing) for service.

I live outside the range of mobile service, and my service center is 115 miles away. Do I care?? I've driven Teslas now for a dozen years or more and found early on that there is no service. Other than needing a replacement windshield wiper, which I could have put on myself, I have not visited a service center in years (250,000 miles), so "the long drives (or towing) for service" is mostly in people's imagination as they recall experiences with their gas cars. Tesla owners
SELDOM need to drive long miles for service.

The only time I saw a Tesla flat-bedded (you don't tow a Tesla) was when the guy was pushing his luck and trying to make it to the next charger instead of topping up at the last one. The truck drove him 5 miles.

 

[eCharcoal]

Tell them go test drive model Y and Toyota Highlander Platinum.
Same price but huge difference in quality of interior.
- Highlander - True 360 view. Digital Rear View mirror. 3 rows. bigger trunk. 450 mile on tank on highway. 2nd row sunshades. Autopilot equivalent needs huge improvements. Built in Tonneau cover. Awesome super quite interior.
- Model Y - Very fast! No Gas ! Awesome Autopilot. Interior quality can be much better. No Sunroof shade.

This is exactly what I did earlier this year. We already have a Model 3. Didn’t really want 2 EVs at the time so we went to test drive a Highlander Hybrid Platinum. Yes the build quality is WAY ahead of Tesla and it’s feature laden. Once we test drove it, it was SO underwhelming. Mainly the acceleration.
We did not like the build quality of our Model 3 and thought we could overlook the Highlander’s performance. Boy were we wrong! Ended up with a Y. Both the Highlander and the Y are around $51k.

To answer OP’s question, I’d say don’t expect Tesla’s build quality to be like a similarly priced ICE from a legacy automaker. You’re mostly paying for the tech and the battery.

 

[JeffreyC]

- No real blind spot monitoring
- Small mirrors, really hinders sight and is a safety issue.
- Range is not as advertised
- Interior feels/looks like a $20k car
- Very weak AC system
- Very loud wind/road noise, no active noise cancellation
- Car gets really hot in the sun
- Quality Issues

Many of these are subjective.

• I added small blind spot mirrors to the corner of the side view mirrors and that works better than any other blind spot system I have used.
• I don't think the mirrors are small at all.
• Range is less than advertised, but plenty for my needs. Teslas have great range compared to most other EVs.
• I love the interior and how the tech works (mostly)
• Our AC system is great
• I don't notice any wind noise and minimal road noise
• We have not had a problem with the car getting too hot in the sun. Plus you can turn on the AC remotely before you get in the car. I do it from my Apple Watch.
• I have had no quality issues other than a rattle that they fixed.

 

[whisperingshad]

Tell them they aren't anal enough to nitpick and own a Tesla. They NEVER user Costco to get gas and cant wait for more than 5 mins to get gas...

 

[roblab]

its fast and it goes pretty far. but it has tons of flaws that should not be there, for a 10+ year old company.

I bought a Toyota when they were new. Guess what? "tons of flaws that should not be there". How many companies do you know that are ten years old the size of Tesla that are building cars with no flaws (besides which those flaws are all handled under warranty)? A new Ford has flaws. GM has flaws. As these companies start producing electrics they will step out of their comfort zones and have more problems.

By the way, my new S doesn't seem to have flaws, never mind "tons". I've had it a year and haven't taken it back to the dealer except for a non-critical recall item. No other car company ever has recalls, right?

 

[angus[Y]oung]

A big one could be (at least for the Model Y--I've yet to drive other Teslas but since we're in the MY forum this seems fine) comfort. Even with the base 19" wheels the ride comfort is quite poor. For speed bumps you need to slow to a crawl or get tossed around the vehicle. And while the chairs as fairly comfortable overall (and of course this is very subjective), for those of us that are "wider", they can be constricting on the thighs and uncomfortable during longer drives. Many including my partner also complain that the seatbelt is uncomfortable on their neck while driving and no amount of adjustment seems to help.

What else? Well there's a ton of "wish list" and other threads discussing some of these things already. A couple of missing features that some desire are Android Auto/Apple Car Play integration, a Sirius XM radio, and even an AM radio (though you can get around the latter in a lot of cases using HD subchannels of FM, or Tune In app). The bigger theme these tie into is the walled garden Telsa infotainment system. It does have a lot of cool things (games if you're into that in your car, YouTube/Netflix/Disney+ apps to entertain you at Superchargers and other stops, etc) and the stuff it does it does very well and with excellent fluidity. However, it only does what it does, with no available app store or AA/CP to get around that.

Here's one that applies to Tesla models that you may not have thought of and might bother some: lack of variety. In at least some markets (like here in the Vancouver BC area), Teslas are VERY popular, but there are only 4 models available so far (with M3 and MY making up the lion's share), and only 5 paint colors to choose from (with the "free" white making up the lion's share of M3/MY around here). My partner thinks the M3/MY are like the little pods the humans ride around on in Wall-E--where you see everyone in the same pods.

 

[EVready]

What is surprising is as I read through the above suggestions, only one person mentioned the harsh the ride quality. It seems that there are quite a few threads on this forum about what shocks, springs, etc, etc to get to improve the ride.....wonder why....a disconnect?

 

[Big Dog]

Although realistically I'm very far off from getting a Tesla, I'm trying to avoid letting the awesomeness of these cars make me ignore any downsides when thinking about them. So hypothetically, if you HAD to convince someone not to get one, what would you tell them?

Can't easily charge at home (or work). But even teh latter is questionable since one could always change jobs to a place with no charging available.

 

[mark95476]

You won't have the latest (and best!) build for long.

Teslas are constantly being upgraded so in ~1 month there'll be some feature that your car doesn't have.