Tesla get a lot of things right.
There is no hard sell (or outright lies) about servicing, for one. Tesla suggest the bare minimum compared to other marques and there's no spectre of warranty voiding if you don't adhere to it. They don't need to do this because they didn't set themselves up with big glass fronted dealerships that need to justify their existence. I find it utterly ridiculous that Porsche, for example,
charge Ā£2304 for a "4 year servicing plan" which must surely just amount to some filters and an inspection - since that's all EVs basically need.
I personally think the lack of dealerships that have to justify themselves is a boon for Tesla. I do get that some people need to be fawned over like royalty when they buy and collect a car, but I'd suggest that's atypical nowadays - people buying cars nowadays are more tech savvy, happy to use websites to order, etc. Legacy marques really need to think about adopting Teslas model to save money, I think, even if it does come at the cost of sales and front of house.
Likewise mobile service is great. My previous car was an Audi, and luckily my closest Audi is only 4 miles up the road, but any servicing, etc still required me to either take a morning off or work on their premises, neither of which was desirable. WIth Tesla they just turn up and can do everything without me even being involved. Zero hassle, it's the way EV maintenance needs to be I think - and that means the legacy manufacturers need to be thinking about how they put their cars together to make mobile service practical.
I would say, however, in spite of all of the above that I feel like Tesla haven't quite struck the right balance in so much as they are not accommodating
at all to people who want a personal touch. Everything is done via the app, including talking to a tech. I can see why some people would find this impersonal, and I've been lucky enough that all of my issues with the car have been trivial things, I've not had problems that have been chronic that needed escalation etc.
I also think Tesla's software is the gold standard. It's not perfect in that - like Apple - you get what they want you to have (e.g. no CarPlay, etc), and the focus on gimmicks and games is irritating (to me). That being said, at least you get this stuff OTA with no hassle. It boggles the mind that cars still have to go to dealers for software updates in 2023. Again, I suspect that's more about seeing customers periodically so they can upsell them or whatever. I've sampled a few different EVs and almost without exception the software has been anachronistic - either poorly performing in its own right, or because of the woeful hardware that is running it (i.e. an Android tablet from 2005 or something), or both. Tesla's UX by comparison is great. I would concede that - again - it only caters to who they consider to be their primary market - techie millenials or younger. The fact you can't increase the font size on anything must be annoying to older people.
All of that is to say that Tesla isn't perfect but there's aspects to owning one that I wouldn't want to change, but there are fundamental omissions that are more and more pushing me towards that way of thinking.
(I had used the furthest deserted extremity with empty bays all round me but to no avail - a kind lady had stayed by her car to point out the culprit)
. I don't think he was so lucky (or cared)
(the parking sensor, not the car)
