TFL Thrifty 3

[Dirtcarver]

Hi there. I’d introduce myself and give the whole story but it would sound similar to most of your stories. I took delivery of a Model 3 Performance on Father’s Day and it’s been amazing ever since. Can’t imagine buying a different brand in the future. Simple.

However, in doing the research of this car prior to purchase, I followed a YouTube story about the purchase and use of a Model 3 on TFLcar, called Thrifty 3…here:

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There is a thread on this site from April that addresses one of the issues in the series but it has since died off. The first several videos were favorable until they required collision repair. Synopsis; Not long after purchase, Tommy, one of the contributors, backed it into a cement wall at low speed doing substantial damage. As Tesla owners, many of us scratch our heads when we hear of backing collisions given the amount of alarms that go off when you near any obstacle in a Model 3. Because of their location in Colorado, they were limited to one authorized Tesla repair facility. The repair facility has had difficulties with the repair that has now allegedly spanned 4 months. According to the center as reported by TFL, Tesla is responsible for all of the difficulties and the presenters are singing their tune.

The most recent video on June 27th, was of the main contributor, Roman, in a hotel room, filmed by, Tommy, venting about Tesla. Of course, the viewers are lining up comments to take swings at that giant Tesla hating softball that was gently tossed their way.

My question to all of you is this; are the issues they are experiencing correct/possible/unlikely? Like many, I’ve admittedly become an Elon Musk fan boy. My eyes can see no wrong. That being said, I realize I’m biased and automatically lean towards defending the brand. I’d like to know if in fact, if people are experiencing the same issues with their Model 3s. Tesla is repeatedly given a bad rap by unacquainted consumers and recently the media (Consumer Reports and TFL). But, if the scenario in this series is not being exaggerated, I’d like to know and be aware. I’m open to the possibility. I am cynical by nature and wouldn't be overly shocked to discover something negative after having a preconceived opinion.

TFL is a growing automotive media outlet for those looking to the internet for information on new cars. Viewer comments on this series have thanked them for “responsible reporting” and showing the real problem with Tesla and why it’s a horrible purchase. In the June 27th video, Roman qualified his frustration by stating he has no horse in the race and he is in fact an unbiased reviewer who was excited about the car. However, in a previous video, he stated Tesla makes things difficult for the media. The whole situation just isn’t passing the sniff test. I’m curious what others think.

 

[ry-ballz]

There's a couple inaccuracies in their videos, I'd assume that they're making them honestly, but several people have corrected them on YouTube and they haven't stopped saying them.

1st in Colorado you can use whatever repair shop you want. They didn't have to go to that shop, maybe it's their insurance company's preferred shop, but they can go wherever they want.
2nd they're 20 minutes from Denver. There are dozens of Tesla approved shops in Denver. Also you don't even need to go to a Tesla approved shop, but I think you should.

My car had $9k in hail damage. Took 1 day for the shop to do the estimate, just over 2 weeks for the parts to come in, and then 3 days to actually repair.
I had my car while waiting for parts, so if I didn't I would have lost about 3 weeks of use. Absolutely right in line with other vehicles. In fact my coworkers Dodge Challenger got hit in the same storm and he's still waiting on parts more than a month later.

 

[joebruin77]

I am familiar with this YouTube channel and I actually really like them in general. I think their videos tend to be informative and fair.

As for the Tesla repair, they have some legitimate gripes. They had to use a repair shop that is Tesla authorized AND authorized by their insurance State Farm. They said there was only one shop near them that met both criteria.

Having been in a minor accident with my M3, I can tell you it is indeed necessary to take a Tesla to a Tesla approved body shop. You can void the warranty if a non Tesla approved shop works on the car. My local shop, who I used for other cars, refused to give me an estimate for this very reason. They told me to take the Tesla to the local Tesla approved shop.

In the latest video, the guy was complaining that the repair shop had cracked the rear window . When the window finally came in after a delay, it turns out Tesla sent them the wrong window. They sent a front windshield instead of a rear window.

We don’t know all the details. How much is Tesla’s fault? How much is the body shop’s? We just don’t know. But if I were in the customer’s shoes, I would be frustrated too.

 

[jkoya]

But, if the scenario in this series is not being exaggerated, I’d like to know and be aware.

I'm in the Sacramento area also and back in February of this year, there was only one Tesla approved body shop in the Sacramento area - Kniesel's Collision in Rocklin, CA. At the time, Kniesel's was the only Tesla approved body shop all the way to Reno, NV. My Performance Model 3 had lots of scratches, scrapes and flaws in the paint and trim. Kniesel's billed Tesla $3,612 for the repairs and Enterprise Rent-A-Car billed Tesla for a 2 week rental of a Tesla Model S 100D. I took delivery on 12/5/18 and had to wait until 2/18/19 for the first available appointment.

In any case, when I arrived for my appointment in February, there was another Model 3 owner there from Lodi, CA. Her car was damaged in an accident in October of 2018, but had to wait until February 2019 for the parts to arrive so Kniesel's could repair her car. So, I have seen a case when there is a 4 month wait for parts to be available for repairs.

According to Tesla's website, the Sacramento area now has two Tesla approved shops, with the new one on Stockton Blvd, near the UCD Medical Center. There is also one in Stockton CA, now.

 

[Knightshade]

Having been in a minor accident with my M3, I can tell you it is indeed necessary to take a Tesla to a Tesla approved body shop. You can void the warranty if a non Tesla approved shop works on the car. p

This is not only not true- it would be a violation of federal law.


Tesla can certainly refuse to sell parts to such a shop, but they can't "void your warranty" for having literally anybody you wish work on the car.

 

[Dirtcarver]

Definitely interesting perspectives coming from this side of the fence. I’d hoped to hear different but if it is an issue, hopefully Tesla is getting ahead of it. I also have been a TFL fan and was pretty disheartened to see how they were affecting the anti-tesla narrative. YouTube has a huge effect on the consumers and I would hope content providers consider the full scope of issues and adjust their commentary perspective accordingly.

 

[jamessmooth007]

They had to use a repair shop that is Tesla authorized AND authorized by their insurance State Farm. They said there was only one shop near them that met both criteria.

I think this is the biggest thing. Yes, they can go to any repair shop they want IF they want to pay out of pocket.

@jkoya @Dirtcarver I’m in the same area. The TFL story, combined with now hearing there are only like 2 approved shops in the area (which is a HUGE area) is really turning me off to buying. Been in the market for awhile now, and obviously you’d only need a shop if something happens, but it’s not making me feel any more confident. I can’t imagine living in Lodi and having to drive all the way to Rocklin to get your car fixed!

 

[dww12]

Recently their Thrifty 3 series has become a TSLAQ circle jerk and I am increasing convinced they are part of it. Why?

1. When they did their track test in a P3P- their driver constantly fought the traction control in what seem like a purposeful sandbag of the car, even thought their driver is the “American Stig”. They never updated it with track mode or a P3D+. Note: I fantasize about a P3 owner day at that track to see what times non-pro drivers get compared to their time, then have surprise guest Randy Pobst to sort out a real time.
2. They never installed a L2 charger in their garage. Why?
3. They never backed another car into their garage.
4. Their price comparison vs the hybrid used supercharger pricing. After a year of ownership and 12,000 miles I have used a supercharger once. How about a supercharger cost and a home charge cost?
5. They took the body shops word that the incorrect shipment was Telsa’s fault
6. They give no allowance for the Model 3 being a first year car with Tesla selling every car they are making. Yes, it is painful now but it will get worked out.
7. They just compared the model 3 to a Hyundai HFC and completely skipped over all of the negatives of HFC that make it nothing more than a big oil distraction compared to BEV.
8. Their car is perfectly operable, they could have figured out a way to continue the series with the car as is until the parts come in. I know I would have tried to do this.
9. They are not getting paid by Tesla but they are definitely getting a lot of free stuff and access from other manufactures.
10. I am about to unsubscribe from the because by blood pressure can’t take their sugar.

 

[usafakid09]

Recently their Thrifty 3 series has become a TSLAQ circle jerk and I am increasing convinced they are part of it. Why?

1. When they did their track test in a P3P- their driver constantly fought the traction control in what seem like a purposeful sandbag of the car, even thought their driver is the “American Stig”. They never updated it with track mode or a P3D+. I fantasize about a P3 owner day at that track to see what times non-pro drivers get compared to their time, then have surprise guest Randy Pobst to sort out a real time.
2. They never installed a L2 charger in their garage. Why?
3. They never backed another car into their garage.
4. Their price comparison vs the hybrid used supercharger pricing. After a year of ownership and 12,000 miles I have used a supercharger once. How about a supercharger cost and a home charge cost?
5. They took the body shops word that the incorrect shipment was Telsa’s fault
6. They give no allowance for the Model 3 being a first year car with Tesla selling every car they are making. Yes, it is painful now but it will get worked out.
7. They just compared the model 3 to a Hyundai HFC and completely skipped over all of the negatives of HFC that make it nothing more than a big oil distraction compared to BEV.
8. Their car is perfectly operable, they could have figured out a way to continue the series with the car as is until the parts come in. I know I would have tried to do this.
9. They are not getting paid by Tesla but they are definitely getting a lot of free stuff and access from other manufactures.
10. I am about to unsubscribe from the because by blood pressure can’t take their sugar.

Boom! And there you have it. I had a Toyota Mirai when I lived in LA> There is NO WAY I'd get another one. Fuel shortages, you can't drive it out of Cali, when people move out of state they make them pay $10s of thousands of dollars because they car is worth absolutely nothing on the second hand market since hydrogen is like $17 per kg and the car takes 5 kg to go just under 300 miles. These people are jokes.

 

[Dirtcarver]

I think this is the biggest thing. Yes, they can go to any repair shop they want IF they want to pay out of pocket.

@jkoya @Dirtcarver I’m in the same area. The TFL story, combined with now hearing there are only like 2 approved shops in the area (which is a HUGE area) is really turning me off to buying. Been in the market for awhile now, and obviously you’d only need a shop if something happens, but it’s not making me feel any more confident. I can’t imagine living in Lodi and having to drive all the way to Rocklin to get your car fixed!

I can see how that would a huge inconvenience if something were to happen. That being said, I just sold a Camry I bought off the lot 12 years ago. It was in the body shop once. Body shop repairs certainly didn’t factor into my decision to buy my Model 3. That’s kinda my point. Your reluctance to buy as a result of that issue brought to your attention by TFL is an example of them turning the narrative. If you’ve had vehicles in the past that spent above average time in a body shop I can understand your individual situation but for the average vehicle owner I can’t see it being an issue.

 

[299792458]

Stopped watching TFL after their overly dramatic and blatantly ill intentioned "Thrifty 3" series. I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to give a diesel Daimler Chrysler Jeep Wrangler endless praises before owning up to their fraudulent Tesla stories. They are pawns of the fossil vehicle industry and make their living off ICE corporate focused YouTube videos.

Tommy: "So welcome to my umm, ultimate nightmare. God I just can't believe, I was just backing up the Tesla into our studio here, umm... I misjudged the angle of the approach, misjudged the steering, I was just really stupid. I uhh gave it too much gas and I hit the wall of our garage here and I just ruined it guys. I screwed up and I ruined the car. This is just my, the worst day I ever had I think. Fifty thousand dollars worth of brand new Tesla and I just, in three seconds, cuz I'm an idiot, just ran it into the garage."

Perfect segway into series of FUD (like we didn't see that coming in one way or another).

 

[Big Earl]

Recently their Thrifty 3 series has become a TSLAQ circle jerk and I am increasing convinced they are part of it. Why?

1. When they did their track test in a P3P- their driver constantly fought the traction control in what seem like a purposeful sandbag of the car, even thought their driver is the “American Stig”. They never updated it with track mode or a P3D+. I fantasize about a P3 owner day at that track to see what times non-pro drivers get compared to their time, then have surprise guest Randy Pobst to sort out a real time.
2. They never installed a L2 charger in their garage. Why?
3. They never backed another car into their garage.
4. Their price comparison vs the hybrid used supercharger pricing. After a year of ownership and 12,000 miles I have used a supercharger once. How about a supercharger cost and a home charge cost?
5. They took the body shops word that the incorrect shipment was Telsa’s fault
6. They give no allowance for the Model 3 being a first year car with Tesla selling every car they are making. Yes, it is painful now but it will get worked out.
7. They just compared the model 3 to a Hyundai HFC and completely skipped over all of the negatives of HFC that make it nothing more than a big oil distraction compared to BEV.
8. Their car is perfectly operable, they could have figured out a way to continue the series with the car as is until the parts come in. I know I would have tried to do this.
9. They are not getting paid by Tesla but they are definitely getting a lot of free stuff and access from other manufactures.
10. I am about to unsubscribe from the because by blood pressure can’t take their sugar.

11. They brought Anton Wahlman, of all people, on their show as their EV expert. Wahlman is a notorious Tesla FUDster and even spent some time trolling the investor section here on TMC.

I don’t think TFLCar is being intentionally dishonest or misleading, but I also don’t think they’re very bright. They seem it’s make amateur mistakes, perform only cursory research and fall for short seller tricks.

 

[RobDickinson]

Its either FUD or their repair shop is major incompetent.

 

[jamessmooth007]

I can see how that would a huge inconvenience if something were to happen

That’s all I’m saying. Folks should at least take this into consideration when thinking about purchasing.

 

[jkoya]

I do see more Tesla approved body shops listed on their website now, then when compared to even February of this year. Mobile Service tech told me the certification process to become a Tesla approved shop was lengthy and costly, so a lot of shops don't want to bother with it.

Based on personal experience, IMHO, there can be a lengthy wait from any car manufacturer, depending on what parts are needed for the repair. I've had to wait months for two incidents:

Nissan 300ZX - Power steering intermittently gave out. Took 6 visits to the dealer to resolve. Finally diagnosed as a defective computer board that controls the power steering pump. Had to wait about 4 months for the replacement board to arrive.

Honda Fit EV - Rear ended on I-5 and the repair took about 3 months due to parts availability. Apparently, even though the ICE and EV versions of the Fit looked the same, a lot of the specific EV parts that were needed were not in stock.

 

[Leafdriver333]

When the body shop cracked the rear glass, TFL And theThe body shop tacitly agreed to put it on the repair bill for TFL's insurance to pay.
Isn't it insurance fraud?

 

[T3SLAROD]

Ask Focus RS owners how long it takes to get a front bumper from Germany..... this is not uncommon for low production vehicles. In this case a startup company trying to keep up with demand. They might be better off looking for one in a junkyard

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

I also found it fascinating they were able to back the car into a wall. I don’t like to assume intent...it’s just suspicious on a car with this many sensors that gives you so much information.

On a side note, Roman has a history of being immature and making videos ranting when something doesn’t go his way. Remember when their drone didn’t work as expected?

It sucks that their repair is going the way it is, but I don’t believe it’s entirely Tesla’s fault.

 

[srs5694]

My take is that the people at TFL Car aren't experts on EVs and could do better research; however, I don't think they're biased per se. Before buying my Model 3, I checked online forums, including this one, as well as a bunch of YouTube videos, and there were plenty of horror stories about Teslas and body shop work, hitting the major themes in the TFL Car series -- slow parts deliveries and high costs. Of course, unless you're uninsured, the high costs aren't an issue per se, although that does contribute to another issue that comes up in forums fairly regularly: the high cost of insuring a Tesla.

Their car is perfectly operable, they could have figured out a way to continue the series with the car as is until the parts come in. I know I would have tried to do this.

That was true initially; however, the nature of the repair required the body shop to remove parts from the car to inspect possible damage to hidden parts, which they found, and it's plausible that putting it all back together while waiting for replacement parts would have added to the cost, been difficult or impossible, etc. The worst example of this is the fact that the repair shop broke the rear glass, which of course is a big part that includes much of the car's roof. It's unclear whether it would have been possible to put that back together, and even if it were, would it leak? I for one wouldn't want to drive a car with a leaking roof, much less with no roof, for another couple of weeks while waiting for replacement parts. That said, the broken roof/rear window is arguably the repair shop's fault, not Tesla's; however, Tesla did design the car with a huge piece of glass, which would be difficult to work with when doing body repairs. I'd want to see data on how often those glass pieces are damaged when doing body work before casting too much shade on the body shop.

One more point: A friend of mine leased a Kia Soul EV, and got into a minor accident that required body shop work. He, too, had problems because the affected part was unique to the EV version of the Soul, and it took an unusually long time to receive it. It wasn't nearly the ordeal documented on the TFL Car YouTube channel, though -- and the Tesla Model 3 is selling like hotcakes compared to the Kia Soul EV. The point, though, is that any specialty car is likely to take longer to repair after an accident than something very common.

At a minimum, Tesla appears to do a poor job of getting spare parts into the hands of its customers who need them. They've made public statements to the effect that they're aware of such problems and are trying to improve their business, but so far the problems have persisted. That said, Tesla is a growing business that has run into repeated problem areas -- deliveries, repairs, Supercharger access, etc. They have a history of making big pushes to address these problems and then encountering new ones. To some extent this is understandable in a company that's growing as quickly as Tesla is. The number of spare parts it delivers to body shops would be a rounding error compared to what a company like Toyota or GM delivers, and for a small company, managing growth can be difficult. When I bought my Tesla, I recognized that this aspect of ownership was a gamble. Mostly I'm hoping to not have any serious problems that will incur much downtime; but I'm also counting on my insurance and/or Tesla to cover the cost of a rental car if I do have such problems.

 

[jgmartin]

The entire thing is a setup... pretty obvious. I mean, I guess you *could* be that stupid, but the ‘I just didn’t notice all the dings, alarms, visual aid or you know, the camera’ doesn’t pass the smell test.

They do a lot of that ‘let me go ask tommy’ and then some clearly scripted back and forth crap meant to look like ‘reality’. It’s kinda their thing.

The story isn’t gonna make itself. Also, all of the issues are real and will absolutely sink Tesla if they don’t figure it out big time before many more of these cars they’re selling get into fender benders.