Just to note, I understand that Tesla sometimes does things and has policies which seem some combination of consumer-unfriendly, needlessly greedy, and just perplexing. I think it is the nature of boards such as this to magnify these shortcomings, so I would like to offer some perspective.
Like many Tesla owners, my previous cars have included BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Honda, Mazda, Audi (and unlike many, I suspect, a Citroen SM). The two I most recently drove daily were BMW (2011 335D, 2016 X1 2.8X). Among things perhaps worth complaining about:
The 335 was the last year before a model refresh, and it had been de-contented many times, losing among other items under-seat storage bins, seatback pockets, and trunk tiedowns. Without ordering the multi-thousand-dollar "executive" package it did not have even a rudimentary theft alarm, and the audio had been de-contented so many times that by the time I ordered it some of the removed speakers had been reintroduced to address loud complaints.
The X1 (not much of a driver, but highly convenient at the time) included that stupid feature stopping the engine at every opportunity, which necessitated permanently turning it off, meaning that I basically had the pleasure of paying for BMW to be able to cheat the emissions/mileage testing without receiving the benefits. Exactly the same was the necessity to punch the "sport" mode button down by the gear selector every time I started the car (I guess this had to reset for BMW to claim the "economy" setting for testing; again, paid for a feature that is useless to the driver as well as delegitimizes the EPA test results.
Also, the X1 incorporated BMW's version of electric steering, which was always loose, imprecise, slow, and dead-feeling. How it can be that an able engineering-oriented company cannot figure out how to make software-controlled steering feel solid and precise I cannot fathom, but years of BMW board comments have demonstrated that my view is extremely common.
On the 335 the LED radio station indicator was incompatible with polarized sunglassses, while on the X1 it was the HUD.
As for practices such as yoyo pricing, while with Tesla this is by necessity done openly, rest assured that traditional franchised-dealer model manufacturers change prices (or discounts, or holdbacks, or rebates, or money factors...) on a daily basis, they just don't do it in public. Dealers do all of these things even more often, again just typically out of sight.
Lots more available on this subject, I just honestly think there is less to such complaints than is often observed, these are primarily the results of trying to daily balance competing business demands, just Tesla's sales model places them in public view.
Like many Tesla owners, my previous cars have included BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Honda, Mazda, Audi (and unlike many, I suspect, a Citroen SM). The two I most recently drove daily were BMW (2011 335D, 2016 X1 2.8X). Among things perhaps worth complaining about:
The 335 was the last year before a model refresh, and it had been de-contented many times, losing among other items under-seat storage bins, seatback pockets, and trunk tiedowns. Without ordering the multi-thousand-dollar "executive" package it did not have even a rudimentary theft alarm, and the audio had been de-contented so many times that by the time I ordered it some of the removed speakers had been reintroduced to address loud complaints.
The X1 (not much of a driver, but highly convenient at the time) included that stupid feature stopping the engine at every opportunity, which necessitated permanently turning it off, meaning that I basically had the pleasure of paying for BMW to be able to cheat the emissions/mileage testing without receiving the benefits. Exactly the same was the necessity to punch the "sport" mode button down by the gear selector every time I started the car (I guess this had to reset for BMW to claim the "economy" setting for testing; again, paid for a feature that is useless to the driver as well as delegitimizes the EPA test results.
Also, the X1 incorporated BMW's version of electric steering, which was always loose, imprecise, slow, and dead-feeling. How it can be that an able engineering-oriented company cannot figure out how to make software-controlled steering feel solid and precise I cannot fathom, but years of BMW board comments have demonstrated that my view is extremely common.
On the 335 the LED radio station indicator was incompatible with polarized sunglassses, while on the X1 it was the HUD.
As for practices such as yoyo pricing, while with Tesla this is by necessity done openly, rest assured that traditional franchised-dealer model manufacturers change prices (or discounts, or holdbacks, or rebates, or money factors...) on a daily basis, they just don't do it in public. Dealers do all of these things even more often, again just typically out of sight.
Lots more available on this subject, I just honestly think there is less to such complaints than is often observed, these are primarily the results of trying to daily balance competing business demands, just Tesla's sales model places them in public view.
