Why I recommend AGAINST buying a Tesla

[Alysashley79]

To the op. Totally get what you’re saying. Part of the service centers seem to be dependent on where your located.

I was an early adopter in 13. Got rid of my p85 mid 16 and drove and ICE for 3 long years.

when it came down to it despite any issues I had with my original car it was still the best car I’ve ever owned and driven. I’ve since gottten another Tesla and am still happy I did.

IMO there isn’t an ICE out there comparable that’s as enjoyable to drive. The way I honestly see Tesla moving is more like the traditional service centers. Like Toyota. Honda. Etc. many of us got accustomed to the fantastic customer service because there weren’t that many of us on the road. Now there are.

I keep seeing where people way they can’t get a body on the phone at their service centers. I can. Did just last week.

 

[ahhlun]

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Even the latest one pedal driving...only for Ravens? Why? It’s a software update which all AP Tesla’s have the hardware for.

The one pedal driving requires the new motors only available in Raven

 

[X Fan]

OP here.

The 90kw battery has silicon in the chemistry to increase the power density over the 85kw, for the person who was asking. Unfortunately this had the apparently unforeseen consequence of the battery degrading faster than the non-silicone versions.
OK, this caught Tesla by surprise. I can't (and don't) fault them for discovering it after many of us bought those batteries. What I can (and DO) fault them for is not being up front about it when they did discover the problem. They sent out an update to limit the max charge rate and increased the taper by a large amount, and apparently hoped no one would notice, since they didn't tell us what was going on. I had to learn that here. They've since made it even worse.

Then on top of that they did little to nothing to mitigate the changes they made. The most obvious one (to me) would be to update the software that calculates where you need to stop to recharge by taking into account the new max charge rate and taper. While there have been some adjustments, the estimates are a bad joke, and "5 minutes to continue your trip" when the battery is over about 80% are more like 15-25 minutes. How hard can it really be to put the taper into those calculations? And for those who would say "That's only an estimate," I respond, "That's not an estimate; it's a joke." It is constantly, and from what I can tell, consistently very wrong.

I'm a retired engineer. I spent my career doing cutting edge work in the aerospace field, and we certainly had our share of unexpected events and conditions. But we communicated with our customers about them. Tesla very pointedly does NOT do that. Instead, they employ stealth to simply remove performance that was already bought and paid for. That's unethical in the extreme, and means NONE of their products can be trusted.

“spent my career doing cutting edge work in the aerospace field, and we certainly had our share of unexpected events and conditions. But we communicated with our customers about them. ”

Sorry, sadly, 737Max says hello. Boeing, big fail on this one.

FWIW: No technology company is immune.

 

[Joelgjr]

I’m confused. I have an MCU 1 car and have literally none of these problems. Wouldn’t that suggest that what you’re describing is either subjective or simply issues specific to your vehicle?
If the latter I would definitely expect Tesla to fix if still under warranty.

 

[AMPd]

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* Some would argue that Teslas are less complicated than their ICE counterparts.

I’ve seen this posted a lot and I wonder how is the model S less complicated than an ice car?
Yes it has less moving parts in its drivetrain but ICE cars aren’t complicated, they’ve been around for many years and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to repair it.
How is rebuilding an engine any different than say rebuilding a battery? It’s basically a puzzle that if you know where each piece goes you can fix it.

 

[AMPd]

To the op. Totally get what you’re saying. Part of the service centers seem to be dependent on where your located.

I was an early adopter in 13. Got rid of my p85 mid 16 and drove and ICE for 3 long years.

when it came down to it despite any issues I had with my original car it was still the best car I’ve ever owned and driven. I’ve since gottten another Tesla and am still happy I did.

IMO there isn’t an ICE out there comparable that’s as enjoyable to drive. The way I honestly see Tesla moving is more like the traditional service centers. Like Toyota. Honda. Etc. many of us got accustomed to the fantastic customer service because there weren’t that many of us on the road. Now there are.

I keep seeing where people way they can’t get a body on the phone at their service centers. I can. Did just last week.

My wife gave up her model s for a bmw m5 and I gotta say, it’s a blast to drive!
Every time I drive it she reminds me to put her sunglasses away so they don’t go flying around.

 

[SageBrush]

I find the affluenza and entitlement attitudes rampant in this thread extremely off-putting but I can certainly empathize with people who are unhappy that a $100k car has significant performance impairment ~ 5 years from purchase. The people 'only wanting better communication' are mostly hoping for free battery replacements. That is probably not going to happen, and I can understand Tesla's decision to reduce charging speed to preserve battery range. That can be framed as 'dishonesty' but I view it as a reasonable engineering trade-off that is best for the majority.

I suspect that a large fraction of the unhappy bunch are owners that supercharge a lot since I have never actually believed that current battery tech is up to that challenge. One silver lining -- no more posts how frequent supercharging is good for the battery.

 

[rsg123]

Planning a long road trip soon. Hopefully my wife doesn’t get too pissed about the extended charging times. I’ve supercharged a handful of times in the past 6 months at various supercharger locations and never achieved more than 50 kW. Once as low as 5% SOC.
So yes the handicapping of the charge rate because of one fire in China is disappointing. But it hasn’t put a damper on my excitement for the Cybertruck.

 

[Bet TSLA]

I used to wholeheartedly recommend Tesla, now I tell people the exact opposite: stay away.

Wow! You got rid of your Tesla not because you ever had any actual problems, but because of the fear that you might. You've been played. You believed lots of scare stories, many posted by bots spreading FUD.

 

[ahhlun]

You are absolutely right, no one is going to change anyone's mind on this forum anyways. Posting things that go against the common opinion is literally just wasting time and I should really stop doing it. I will stop.

I am pretty sure most of my experience IS the new norm with Tesla, but still, that doesn't mean everybody is unhappy and it sure as hell doesn't mean everyone or even anyone will agree with me. I never said or implied that. Peace.

Honestly interested in what exactly happened to turn you from a fanboi to a hater. If you wanna persuade us that Tesla sucks, instead of ranting, maybe post some proof? Share some screenshots of your invoices of stuff you fixed? Chat history with the asshole service advisor?

 

[mattwhite]

Wow! You got rid of your Tesla not because you ever had any actual problems, but because of the fear that you might. You've been played. You believed lots of scare stories, many posted by bots spreading FUD.

Let me get this straight, you base decisions on what happened in the past and ignore what you consider logical future risks? Feel free to ignore relevant information and “Bet TSLA” as you username makes clearly obvious that you do but don’t condescend to others.

 

[Ken7]

I’ve seen this posted a lot and I wonder how is the model S less complicated than an ice car?
Yes it has less moving parts in its drivetrain but ICE cars aren’t complicated, they’ve been around for many years and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to repair it.
How is rebuilding an engine any different than say rebuilding a battery? It’s basically a puzzle that if you know where each piece goes you can fix it.

The fact that a complicated device, with far more moving parts, has been around for years doesn’t make it less complicated.

 

[Destiny1701]

The one pedal driving requires the new motors only available in Raven

Interesting. As far as AP goes it utilizes both regen and regular braking to bring the car to a complete stop. So Tesla decided one pedal shall be linked to regen and motor only rather than utilizing any AP functionality?

In any case just another reason to dislike the company vs the car. Technology changes, and I realize older products may lack the necessary hardware to process or receive the latest new features and tech. All I’d expect is that these older cars (we’re talking literally older than 8 months now since Raven was introduced) don’t continue to receive updates which actually reverse previous functions.

Remember the stint with audio in 2017? Upgraded UHDef was an option in the day and people paid for a better sounding system, bass, treble etc. Somewhere in 2017 an update showed up and all the settings changed from 1-12 down to. 1-8 on the equalizer. Bass at previous 8 level was now the max and volume at 4/5 now has to be run at 7/8 to produce the same level of sound.
Many cried foul and Tesla claimed to protect the audio system. Customers didn’t buy it and a huge petition was sent in by many audiophiles and Tesla had to fix the blatant screw up to re instate previous levels. This is a small example of what Tesla does to existing cars. You buy a product and never know if what you buy will remain.

 

[dweeks]

Yes, you are unfortunate to have purchased a 90. That was clearly a bad battery.

I sold my 90 after 1.5 years, as I could see the battery degradation writing on the wall.

 

[AMPd]

The fact that a complicated device, with far more moving parts, has been around for years doesn’t make it less complicated.

It’s not anymore complicated than a tesla.

 

[xasroma]

My wife gave up her model s for a bmw m5 and I gotta say, it’s a blast to drive!
Every time I drive it she reminds me to put her sunglasses away so they don’t go flying around.

I went the opposite from multiple //M BMW cars in the past 15 years. Including several M3, Z4Mcoupe, M6 and last a 2016 M5 : the performance on P100D and P3D were above and beyond plus the MPG is insane on a Tesla in comparison. An M5 loaded is $140 K and the depreciation is insane. To the other poster they are not simple cars -Being out of warranty good luck with an //M BMW.
For this performance complaining of how expensive they are to fix vs a comparable car out of warranty; compared to what? A P3D is a steal at current price point. Even a P100D with recent price drop.
I can’t see myself going back after driving the Tesla. If Tesla doesn’t correct service then yes; they will suffer because other car makers may catch up to their tech. The end product to me until now is fantastic.

 

[AMPd]

I went the opposite from multiple //M BMW cars in the past 15 years. Including several M3, Z4Mcoupe, M6 and last a 2016 M5 : the performance on P100D and P3D were above and beyond plus the MPG is insane on a Tesla in comparison. An M5 loaded is $140 K and the depreciation is insane. To the other poster they are not simple cars -Being out of warranty good luck with an //M BMW.
For this performance complaining of how expensive they are to fix vs a comparable car out of warranty; compared to what? A P3D is a steal at current price point. Even a P100D with recent price drop.
I can’t see myself going back after driving the Tesla. If Tesla doesn’t correct service then yes; they will suffer because other car makers may catch up to their tech. The end product to me until now is fantastic.

My wife wasn’t happy with the service center and the 3 month wait to get parts in after an accident. The car was great-ish, it had its issues but overall acceptable.
The service however was quite annoying.

You think a tesla is better off than an M without a warranty?

 

[DanCar]

I received my S90D on 25 March, 2016. ...

Thanks for sharing about your issues. Just curious. Are you considering upgrading? If so to what? Raven?

 

[xasroma]

My wife wasn’t happy with the service center and the 3 month wait to get parts in after an accident. The car was great-ish, it had its issues but overall acceptable.
The service however was quite annoying.

You think a tesla is better off than an M without a warranty?

I Obviously don’t have experience with the Tesla but even if I have to pay for a new battery and motors. I think still ahead vs a BMW //M car with transmission / clutch / electrical issues and brakes which are very common problems. I would still upgrade Tesla to something else before running out of warranty. Which is what I’ve done with BMW. Never again out of warranty.

 

[AMPd]

I Obviously don’t have experience with the Tesla but even if I have to pay for a new battery and motors. I think still ahead vs a BMW //M car with transmission / clutch / electrical issues and brakes which are very common problems. I would still upgrade Tesla to something else before running out of warranty. Which is what I’ve done with BMW. Never again out of warranty.

I own a 2008 M5, the second most unreliable M model. (06-07 was worse)
108k miles and still going.
But I agree, normally I don’t keep my cars longer than the warranty. However the model s is not exactly cheap to repair out of warranty. Granted there are less parts to break down but the stuff that does break down is not cheap.