Yes! That's a point many miss. Just like when people complain about charging time on road trips. "Time is money and I can't waste that hour!" Umm, so you are telling me that saving thousands a year in fuel isn't worth 2 extra hours of road trip time a year? Plus oil changes, fuel stops, etc.Same here as we have had more minor issues than other cars but nothing that would leave us stranded on the road.
Some how they are not accounting for the lack of maintenance. Even with the minor issues, I spend less time dealing with the Tesla's than with ICE cars overall.
I do think Tesla will get to Toyota level build quality and reliability in the near future. I bet the cars coming out of Berlin/Austin will be as good as any other. MIC cars are supposedly really well done as well judging by what our persnickety German friends think of them.
That one annoys the crap out of me. As you said nobody cared about gaps before Tesla, and a gap or paint imperfection is NOT a reliability issue. Heck, I'd argue that something like a window switch isn't really one either.One of those is a reliability issue(s) and two of them are annoyances. Consumer Reports says they were all reliability issues. Another reliability issue is panel gaps. I have bought new cars only since 1989 and have never once checked panel gaps on any car and that includes the 2 Tesla's we have. Yet consumers have been hammered to check Tesla's for inconsistent panel gaps. Never even heard of the idea until I paid attention to Tesla. Made me remember something I found odd with our BMW 530i trunk. Never thought much of it, but now would say hey the trunk wasnt 100% perfect.