Pros and Cons of Owning a Tesla

[Mary Starfnbu]

There are so many factors to consider when suggesting someone buy a Tesla or any EV vehicle. Lifestyle, personality, driving needs, ability to charge easily and conveniently, and access to service centers come to mind. I'm a relative newbie here. Our car is one year old last week and we haven't had any problems that haven't been fixed OTA, except for a hint of yellow around the screen. I'll worry about that when there is really a resolution available. Where I live, there are 30 superchargers within three miles of my house and a service center about 7 miles away. We personally installed a 15-40 outlet in the garage + we have solar, so charging is never an issue. We picked our car up in Fremont so there were no delivery issues as whiteX described. I absolutely love driving the car and am always ready for a rest stop after a couple of hundred miles or so. You can't go anywhere around here without seeing another Tesla on the road. That said, my pros outnumber my cons at this point. When I have a question or concern, I look here first and usually find an answer. If I lived somewhere where a service center was 100 miles away, I'm sure I'd look at the pros and cons very differently.

 

[SoGA Fan Club]

I would add OTA to the con column for the following reasons:

1. Allows Tesla to ship unfinished product, then wither never deliver or deliver something super underwhelming, basically if you knew what it was going to be and when, you'd have never paid for it
2. Adds bugs, sometimes dangerous ones, sometimes causing damage. In 6 years of owning Teslas, had one very close call, and one actual broken mirror ($600) due to an OTA update
3. As Tesla improves their hardware, the old hardware is forced to run software written for the new hardware, so it runs slow, and if form factor changes the new UI is forced and not designed for best user experience. Also, new bugs take months to fix on old hardware, if ever (e.g. browser was broken on v9 for MCU1 for many months) - if it doesn't affect new car sales, it's low on Tesla priority list.
4. Because Tesla doesn't test their stuff exhaustively, they've been known to neuter their existing products post sale via OTA, for example cutting max range, power, and/or charging speeds as they learned over time that things break
5. Gives Tesla the excuse of "OTA update will fix it", which they try for everything, even the yellowing screens.

Dude - we get that you're butt hurt about Tesla. Do we have to hear about it constantly?

 

[SoGA Fan Club]

There are so many factors to consider when suggesting someone buy a Tesla or any EV vehicle. Lifestyle, personality, driving needs, ability to charge easily and conveniently, and access to service centers come to mind. I'm a relative newbie here. Our car is one year old last week and we haven't had any problems that haven't been fixed OTA, except for a hint of yellow around the screen. I'll worry about that when there is really a resolution available. Where I live, there are 30 superchargers within three miles of my house and a service center about 7 miles away. We personally installed a 15-40 outlet in the garage + we have solar, so charging is never an issue. We picked our car up in Fremont so there were no delivery issues as whiteX described. I absolutely love driving the car and am always ready for a rest stop after a couple of hundred miles or so. You can't go anywhere around here without seeing another Tesla on the road. That said, my pros outnumber my cons at this point. When I have a question or concern, I look here first and usually find an answer. If I lived somewhere where a service center was 100 miles away, I'm sure I'd look at the pros and cons very differently.

I live over 2 hours from a service center and that has never concerned me in the least. Tesla has sent the mobile service to my house for the 2 small issues I've had (18 months of ownership).

 

[tranzndance]

Dude - we get that you're butt hurt about Tesla. Do we have to hear about it constantly?

The forum has a function so you do not have to read about it.

 

[whitex]

Dude - we get that you're butt hurt about Tesla. Do we have to hear about it constantly?

The thread is about pros and cons. I simply offered an opinion on how OTA is more of a con than a pro. If that offends you, start a thread on "Pros of Owning a Tesla - fanboys only, no cons, no challenges please". Maybe add a note that you're not looking for people to challenge any pros either, so if for example someone adds a yellow screen frame as a beautiful aesthetic feature matching their cream interior, nobody should challenge it.

 

[darxsys]

Dude - we get that you're butt hurt about Tesla. Do we have to hear about it constantly?

What's your point here? The OP asked for perspectives, the person answered with theirs. Are you some kind of religious police here?

Pros for me:
- oh that magical instant torque. I fall in love with it every single time I press the accelerator. It's such a beautifully smooth ride, incredible.
- the people. Whenever I pull up to a supercharger, I get to meet some random Tesla owners. Just this Friday I was in Hope, BC en route to Kelowna. I pulled up and this nice Model 3 owner noticed I had WA plates so he started recommending restaurants nearby and telling me tips and tricks about driving to Kelowna. I've had multiple random Tesla drivers waive and smile to me while passing me on the highway. Totally irrelevant, but makes you feel good. TMC as well. I like this community a lot, even though I disagree with a lot of people here. The passion Tesla owners have for their cars is something else.
- the design. Model S is the most beautiful car ever produced in my opinion. E-tron GT looks like a potentially serious contender in the design department, but we still need to wait for the final product so we will see.
- OTA. there is a good and bad side here. The good side is that the car changes and gets more advanced over time. Just recently I got Dog mode, and even though I don't have a pet, it made me giggle. I like it.
- Summon. Great feature, always catches people by surprise when I pull my car out of a parking spot before sitting in it .
- the app access. I haven't had a car that had phone app access before. Being able to check on the car, lock it if you forgot, or turn on air condition from your phone before getting to the car is simply amazing.
- not having to go to gas stations. I pass by these stinky dirty places a lot and I just think to myself I am grateful I never have to do this again. Disgusting.
- related to previous point: your car is always full. You plug it in overnight, and in the morning you have a full tank.

Cons:
- Service. Holy moly, my service experiences have been absolute trash. I don't know if service people are incompetent, or if Tesla forces them to not do their jobs properly, or a combination of both, or some other thing, but Tesla service simply sucks in my opinion. I have almost nothing good to say about it.
- My car's build quality. I have a 2015 and the amount of rattles it produces is insane. I took apart most of the interior and what I saw is some terrible assembly job, really bad. Cheap materials, not enough insulation, plastic touching other plastic, touching metal everywhere. No wonder it rattles so much. I was told that newer cars are a lot better so I am looking to potentially replace mine with something new by the end of the year.
- OTA. Man, some of these bugs and Tesla's lack of quality control in their software department is disturbing.
- to be honest, having to pull over and charge so much on roads trips is a bit tiresome sometimes. I have an 85 kwh battery and it took me 5.5 hours to get to Kelowna from Vancouver this weekend. With an ICE car, you could make it in 4 hours. And I left with 95% charge. I had to do 2 charging stops because the roads there are in the mountains with a lot of uphill driving, and that drains the battery real fast so I had to be sure. When I went back, I left Kelowna and the system was showing me I would reach Merritt with 27% charge. By the time I did reach Merritt, I had 14% left. And this was now when the weather is pretty much ideal. I wouldn't even dare driving this route in the winter. You really have to plan well and take this into account. I wish I could drive straight through or make do with just one stop. I need a larger battery.
- the battery drain. I am going to leave my car for 3 weeks at the airport to travel to Europe. I am really not sure what will happen to it since I've never left it for that long. Will the battery make it? Will I come back to a 0% charge? I don't know. Having to take so many steps to ensure the battery doesn't drain is annoying. And even after taking these steps you don't actually know what will happen...

 

[phaduman]

I explain the initial sticker shock of a EV (Tesla in particular) as:
* The battery is the biggest cost of the EV. It would be similar to buying for gas for 10-15yrs upfront. In the course of ownership of 5-10yrs of your EV, you would not only recover the upfront cost, you would be saving much more (by way of reduced electricity cost, and lower maintenance).

I would recommend Tesla to consider leasing "just the battery". Pay for the use of the battery, instead of owning it upfront. This is likely 20-30% of the cost of the car, and leasing the battery, would bring down the cost of the car to very close to gas cars (& perhaps cheaper).

cheers

 

[mvotb]

Everyone, I am creating some material which will be used at our Tesla "show and tell" events to help teach people in South Georgia about Tesla (you'd be shocked how little people know about Tesla here). One of the docs I am creating is the Pros and Cons of owning a Tesla. I have several listed, but want to make sure my list is as complete as possible on both sides. So, if you have a moment, please chime in on the things you think should be presented to those totally unaware of Tesla vehicles (other than the stupidity they see on the internet).

Since you're in the fan club, why pretend you want to your " list as complete as possible on both sides" when you're only looking for pros. You've been on the forum one month, I think, WhiteX is on his 4th Tesla. Try educating yourself, Newbe.

 

[gavine]

While you may have to wait 15-20min, it costs a fraction of what a gas fill-up would cost when you Supercharge.

When supercharging was free, I would ask people if they would wait in line at a gas station for 15 to 20 minutes for free gas and everyone said "yes". Some people wait in line to save $0.05 per gallon of gas.

 

[darxsys]

Since you're in the fan club, why pretend you want to your " list as complete as possible on both sides" when you're only looking for pros. You've been on the forum one month, I think, WhiteX is on his 4th Tesla. Try educating yourself, Newbe.

I didn't even realize that was the OP criticizing someone for doing exactly what they themselves asked them to: provide cons. This is next level nonsense.

 

[SilverGS]

I would add OTA to the con column for the following reasons:

1. Allows Tesla to ship unfinished product, then wither never deliver or deliver something super underwhelming, basically if you knew what it was going to be and when, you'd have never paid for it
2. Adds bugs, sometimes dangerous ones, sometimes causing damage. In 6 years of owning Teslas, had one very close call, and one actual broken mirror ($600) due to an OTA update
3. As Tesla improves their hardware, the old hardware is forced to run software written for the new hardware, so it runs slow, and if form factor changes the new UI is forced and not designed for best user experience. Also, new bugs take months to fix on old hardware, if ever (e.g. browser was broken on v9 for MCU1 for many months) - if it doesn't affect new car sales, it's low on Tesla priority list.
4. Because Tesla doesn't test their stuff exhaustively, they've been known to neuter their existing products post sale via OTA, for example cutting max range, power, and/or charging speeds as they learned over time that things break
5. Gives Tesla the excuse of "OTA update will fix it", which they try for everything, even the yellowing screens.

I appreciate this insight (just bought a 75D, don't have it yet) as I have always tended to ignore any cons in general (justifying it by convincing myself that the pros outweigh the cons).

It appears you have also done the same considering you've owned Tesla's for 6 years now! Its good to see both sides. Thanks for this.

 

[SoGA Fan Club]

I didn't even realize that was the OP criticizing someone for doing exactly what they themselves asked them to: provide cons. This is next level nonsense.

I've been reading this forum for 5 years. WhiteX got his feelings hurt by Tesla a while back and he jumps in everywhere he can to make negative posts. I said pros and cons - not stupid nonsense about his hate for Tesla. 99.99% of Tesla owners believe that OTA updates have been beneficial to them and their experience with their Tesla. His constant drivel about how bad Tesla is has gotten old. I can see me now telling potential owners that OTA updates will kill them because Tesla doesn't test them. Yep, that's about as real as telling them that you can fully charge at a supercharger in 5 minutes and it's just as easy to travel in a Tesla as a gas car. Simply put, I'm trying to present honest and real pros and cons not stupidity.

If I wanted to share stupidity like his with potential owners, I would just point them to Seeking Alpha - where they can get their heads filled with even more ridiculous BS from Tesla haters.

 

[SoGA Fan Club]

The forum has a function so you do not have to read about it.

Thanks for helping out a "newbe". Function activated!

 

[mvotb]

I've been reading this forum for 5 years. WhiteX got his feelings hurt by Tesla a while back and he jumps in everywhere he can to make negative posts. I said pros and cons - not stupid nonsense about his hate for Tesla. 99.99% of Tesla owners believe that OTA updates have been beneficial to them and their experience with their Tesla. His constant drivel about how bad Tesla is has gotten old. I can see me now telling potential owners that OTA updates will kill them because Tesla doesn't test them. Yep, that's about as real as telling them that you can fully charge at a supercharger in 5 minutes and it's just as easy to travel in a Tesla as a gas car. Simply put, I'm trying to present honest and real pros and cons not stupidity.

If I wanted to share stupidity like his with potential owners, I would just point them to Seeking Alpha - where they can get their heads filled with even more ridiculous BS from Tesla haters.

Wow. You were reading the forum while the rest of us put up our money and supported Tesla, as owners. Who do think the first fanboys were? Now you can educate us, "99.99% of Tesla owners believe that OTA updates have been beneficial to them" State the source of this fact, or did you just make it up? Since you want to be fair, honest, and balanced, I'm sure you will want to back that statement up with real facts, because it's not even close to possible. OTA updates, sold to us as the car will continue to improve over time , have been downgrades for AP1 cars since V6. Of course you wouldn't know because you never had V6. OTA " updates, downgrades" are an important fact for people to know, if you have any intension of being honest. I won't buy another car where any manufacturer can control my UI, so it is an issue.

 

[Big Toys]

I've been reading this forum for 5 years. WhiteX got his feelings hurt by Tesla a while back and he jumps in everywhere he can to make negative posts. I said pros and cons - not stupid nonsense about his hate for Tesla. 99.99% of Tesla owners believe that OTA updates have been beneficial to them and their experience with their Tesla. His constant drivel about how bad Tesla is has gotten old. I can see me now telling potential owners that OTA updates will kill them because Tesla doesn't test them. Yep, that's about as real as telling them that you can fully charge at a supercharger in 5 minutes and it's just as easy to travel in a Tesla as a gas car. Simply put, I'm trying to present honest and real pros and cons not stupidity.

If I wanted to share stupidity like his with potential owners, I would just point them to Seeking Alpha - where they can get their heads filled with even more ridiculous BS from Tesla haters.

To be fair, you did ask for cons, and now that you have one guy's perspective, you find it unpalatable drivel. I can tell you that his experience is nowhere near unique. There are people here who expect a minimum from a $50K+ car and from the company behind it. Customer Service, the lack thereof, will sink this company as it has sunk others before it. The company lost $700 million last quarter. Alienating a customer base that has $100K to spend on a car--a customer base that is counted upon to showcase the brand to potential buyers-- is guaranteed to enrich Mercedez-Benz the day they deliver a competitor to what ever Tesla promises. "Great car, but if you need service for something or for something they broke, you are screwed." Yeah, like that attracts customers.

If you want cons like the usual "No cup holders", "Rattles galore", and "Not enough USB ports for the kids", and maybe "I wish they had a better light in the trunk", but "Great voice commands!", then here you go.

 

[City Racer]

Remember...my audience will be folks living in South Georgia. In Georgia, what you just posted is a big pro - mining coal would put people in West Virginia and Ohio back to work.

But honestly, I'm not going to bring the environmental aspect of Tesla into this because it touches on a political issue - I want people to simply compare Tesla (and EVs in general) to a gas car. Straight up, with no other factors than simply being a car, how does a Tesla compare to a gas car - advantages and disadvantages.

I honestly get tired of people coming up to me and asking if I REALLY think I'm saving the planet by driving a Tesla. It takes me 10 minutes to explain to them why my Tesla is better than any car ever built. Though, the conversation is at least fruitful in the end.

I think you need to tell them the honest truth that burning coal is not a pro, just as smoking cigarettes is not a pro.

 

[Darren Donovan]

Adding OTA updates as a pro, and loss of range in cold weather as a con.

Might want to amend that statement, OTA updates can and will bring on new bugs and made changes to previous configs that owner has been used to.

 

[NYCR160]

For you audience the PRO I would highlight or start with is: "A full tank of gas every morning."

 

[iqless]

For you audience the PRO I would highlight or start with is: "A full tank of gas every morning."

Unless you live in an apartment

 

[NYCR160]

True.