I live in Perth which is 3420 km (1470 miles) from the nearest service center (in Melbourne). It appears that Perth owners are grouped together and a tech flies in and completes multiple services - my first is due next May. Still uncertain what happens if a major component needs to be replaced. I'm hoping that the promise of minimal service is what transpires!
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Why People Do Not Want Tesla Cars
- Thread starter tonybelding
- Start date
I live in Perth which is 3420 km (1470 miles) from the nearest service center (in Melbourne). It appears that Perth owners are grouped together and a tech flies in and completes multiple services - my first is due next May. Still uncertain what happens if a major component needs to be replaced. I'm hoping that the promise of minimal service is what transpires!
If its any consolation there is a New Orleans Service Centre Coming soon.
Hopefully they will run a couple of Rangers from there.
Sosius
a.k.a. Uptown Frunk
There is ranger service along the Gulf Coast right now. The ranger will come to you. I'm not sure if this will continue once the New Orleans service enter is opened, but it's worth asking.
But you would still have to pay per mile for the distance to the next service center? Or not?
artsci
Sponsor
Given the magnitude of their potential losses shorts will go to no end, including lying, fraud, and even terror, to depress a stock price. Matt Taibbi's new book, The Divide, documents the horrors pf shorting perpetrated by some of the leading hedge fund managers. It will make your skin curl. A lot of the same scumbag tactics have been used by shorts against Tesla.
igotzzoom
Active Member
Speaking as an "ICE Journalist" myself, I think both readers and writers fear what they don't know. The conventional measure of power and performance is big-inch V-8s and V-12s with turbos and superchargers making a lot of noise. Then along comes the P85D that shoves you back into your seat silently. This is major cognitive dissonance for a lot of people.
I think a lot of people are attracted to the Dodge Hellcat models because I think they realize they're the last gasp of the "old" paradigm of performance, and they want to have one last hurrah, before it's essentially legislated out of existence. But for those that have experienced the instant torque and fluid power delivery of a high-performance EV, they become believers fast.
Being an automotive journalist that primarily covers trucks and SUVs, I saw a similar reaction when the Ford EcoBoost first came out. Everyone said "How can a dinky V-6 compete with a V-8?" But once you drive one, you realize turbocharging and GDI can easily equal if not surpass the performance of a larger naturally-aspirated engine. Naturally-aspirated V-6s are slowly disappearing in favor of I-4 GDI turbos. Those I-4 GDI turbos will eventually be replaced by I-3 GDI turbos, then most likely PHEVs, and then full BEVs.
The whole saying of "butts in seats" is true. You can write about it and describe it as much as you want, but until people experience it themselves, they'll be skeptics.
I've been away about 10 days, but this thread caught my eye. Last weekend we hosted a get together of friends and someone else brought up Teslas. I'm keeping quiet about saving for a Tesla because I want to surprise my friends when I get one (though I did later tell two friends that I was saving for one). Only one person in the discussion didn't want a Tesla (about 6 or 8 of us total). There was only one thing preventing all of us from buying one: the price.
There is a lot of pent up demand for Teslas, but the bulk are people who will never have the money to afford a Model S. The price point for the Model 3 is within at least some of my friend's budgets. It's right at the bleeding edge of my budget. I'm having to scrimp to afford one and I think I have the second largest household income among the people at our party.
Ironically the one who didn't express an interest in getting a Tesla was the one with the highest household income. Though they would have trouble charging a battery electric at home. Their house is an old 1920s house in SE Portland with no garage and only street parking. The only way to plug in the car at home would be an extension cord across the sidewalk, if they could get a parking place in front of their house. Parking is so tight in their neighborhood they have to park up to a block away sometimes. They do have a Prius though.
One friend said she either wants to drive an old beater like her Ford Focus, or she wants a Tesla and nothing in between.
I was a little surprised everyone knew as much about Teslas as they did. This is not generally a car savvy group. Most of them are very utilitarian when it comes to cars.
There is a lot of pent up demand for Teslas, but the bulk are people who will never have the money to afford a Model S. The price point for the Model 3 is within at least some of my friend's budgets. It's right at the bleeding edge of my budget. I'm having to scrimp to afford one and I think I have the second largest household income among the people at our party.
Ironically the one who didn't express an interest in getting a Tesla was the one with the highest household income. Though they would have trouble charging a battery electric at home. Their house is an old 1920s house in SE Portland with no garage and only street parking. The only way to plug in the car at home would be an extension cord across the sidewalk, if they could get a parking place in front of their house. Parking is so tight in their neighborhood they have to park up to a block away sometimes. They do have a Prius though.
One friend said she either wants to drive an old beater like her Ford Focus, or she wants a Tesla and nothing in between.
I was a little surprised everyone knew as much about Teslas as they did. This is not generally a car savvy group. Most of them are very utilitarian when it comes to cars.
ToddRLockwood
Active Member
The same can be said of the public's resistance to accepting that global warming is real and is caused by human activity. We are witnessing a new dimension of future shock. Many of today's car owners are invested in the belief that global warming is simply political theater or inconclusive science. Of course, until there are practical and economically viable ZEVs, what else can we expect?
However, for those who can afford to spend $80k to 100k on a car and already drive cars in this price range, the excuses carry less weight. With that in mind, I wrote this piece for my blog last fall...
Digital Toaster: EVERYONE Who Can Afford a Tesla Should Be Driving One
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jimtelsa
Member
I am a closet owner...A future owner...waiting for the price of the car to fall into the affordable arena
I drive a volt now...and its like training wheels. once you drive electric there is no way back.
I think more would go over to the dark side if cost was brought down...and it will...
Tesla has a great product. Its Safe...Fast...Faster...wait its Ludicrous now.....60 70 85 90 an up...Supercharging...the list goes on and on.
If you can't see the company and where its going your blind....
The refresh Model S is going to be amazing.....
I drive a volt now...and its like training wheels. once you drive electric there is no way back.
I think more would go over to the dark side if cost was brought down...and it will...
Tesla has a great product. Its Safe...Fast...Faster...wait its Ludicrous now.....60 70 85 90 an up...Supercharging...the list goes on and on.
If you can't see the company and where its going your blind....
The refresh Model S is going to be amazing.....
I'll tell you the reasons people have given me for not buying Teslas:
(1) Can't afford it
(2) Nowhere to service it (thanks to Tesla's anemic and poorly distributed Service Centers)
(3) Don't want a car
There's a few others, but they're never deal-breakers:
(4) Where do you charge it? (Everyone's been satisfied with "at home", even the apartment dwellers)
(5) What about long road trips? (Everyone's been satisifed with Superchargers and Plugshare.)
Oh, there's another class of reasons:
(6) I want a pickup!
(7) I want an SUV!
(8) I want a panel van!
(9) I want a subcompact! (These people usually are willing to buy Leafs.)
There's one more, but it just delays purchases:
(10) My car is paid off and it doesn't make financial sense to trade it in yet.
Anyway, #2 is a very big issue.
(1) Can't afford it
(2) Nowhere to service it (thanks to Tesla's anemic and poorly distributed Service Centers)
(3) Don't want a car
There's a few others, but they're never deal-breakers:
(4) Where do you charge it? (Everyone's been satisfied with "at home", even the apartment dwellers)
(5) What about long road trips? (Everyone's been satisifed with Superchargers and Plugshare.)
Oh, there's another class of reasons:
(6) I want a pickup!
(7) I want an SUV!
(8) I want a panel van!
(9) I want a subcompact! (These people usually are willing to buy Leafs.)
There's one more, but it just delays purchases:
(10) My car is paid off and it doesn't make financial sense to trade it in yet.
Anyway, #2 is a very big issue.
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#2 is a bit of a concern for me too. The only service center in the Portland area is on the opposite corner of the metro area. Without traffic, it's only about minutes, but I have to get through all but 1 of the Portland area's worst traffic spots to get there. The only mitigating factor to #2 is Tesla's need far less regular service, and from all I've seen when a car does have some kind of problem that's serious, Tesla is pretty good at addressing the problem, even if the customer is some ways from a service center. They do need to expand the service center network, but I expect that will happen about the time the Model 3 is introduced. Right now there are fewer Model Ss on the road worldwide than the projected yearly production for the Model 3 once it reaches full production.
#10 has been my reason for over a decade. The car is 23 years old now and I'm having to make more road trips to California (work and family stuff). I've been working at home since 2002, so I haven't been putting a lot of miles on my old car. It's in good shape for 23 years, but I don't trust a car that old on a long road trip.
Traffic? Really? You wouldn't get a Tesla because there is traffic between you and the service center (which is located in your city, not another city far away)?
By the way the service center will pick up your car and bring it back, and give you a loaner.
I'm saying that it's about 45 minutes without traffic, but because of the choke points in between here and there, it's over an hour's drive most days. I would do it, but it's a hassle when you're busy. I thought Tesla was scaling back their door to door service and you pretty much had to take it into the service center?
gigglehertz
Member
An hour's drive away is a real problem for you? I grew up an hour's drive away from a mall, a hospital, and a decent beach. An hour's drive is nothing, especially for an occasional service. For a startup fighting an entire industry, I think the fact that a service center is an hour away is pretty impressive.
Panoz
Member
I don't understand - the article seems kind of a slimy swipe at Tesla. What's the point of such an article as that? Would the author lodge such complaints against, say, Ford?
The distance to the service center isn't a major consideration, but having every other ICE dealership closer is a plus in the pro/con balance sheet. As I said above, the fact that Tesla's need less service than ICE cars and (from what I have seen with other people's stories) their response when there is a major problem are both mitigating factors to the con. When weighing all the pros and cons, the Tesla wins out on everything of importance except the price. I'm still planning on getting a Model S when I save up enough. None of the other cars on the list come close.
purplewalt
Active Member
I know this either makes either no sense or too much sense:
What if every time a auto-journalist took a Model S (or Model X) for a week of long-term testing a NEMA 14-50 outlet was installed in their garage ahead of time.
And they got a quick tutorial on plugging it in.
Would certainly kill their range anxiety, and give them a real world view of how nice it is to wake up every morning to a car as full as it needs to be.
I recall a local TV car journalist a couple of years ago who took a Tesla on a test drive, and after arriving at a Supercharger in Waco, (on camera) could not figure out how to plug in the car. He actually pulled out the plug and cord that come with the car, not understanding how a Supercharge functions.
Funny, sad and frustrating that something that simple confounds some people, and then it is broadcast on TV.
Maybe not entirely unbelievable, because last year I encountered an (very new) owner in WA who could not even back her Model S into a Supercharger bay, and did not know how to plug in her car.
And even this year, I have ran into other (brand new owners) folks who similarly are confounded how Superchargers function best when other Teslas are at the same location and charging.
I would feel a lot more comfortable buying a Tesla than something equally as obscure, such as an Alfa Romeo.
There are no Alfa dealerships/service centers anywhere near me, which has always been a reason that I've never seriously considered buying one. Same issue with Tesla, but I have more confidence with a car with FAR fewer moving parts.
There are no Alfa dealerships/service centers anywhere near me, which has always been a reason that I've never seriously considered buying one. Same issue with Tesla, but I have more confidence with a car with FAR fewer moving parts.
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