I suspect you might feel differently if you experienced say 50% battery degradation after 5 years.
Tesla made mileage claims, didn't meet them, promised a correction, and missed the self-imposed deadline. Ok, you seem to be saying folks were wrong to believe Tesla, that's a condemnation of the company in itself. Not good.
Warranties are meant to sell cars and are another form of advertising: selling the goodwill of a company into your belief system.
In this example, I think Tesla warranty would cover a badly degraded battery, if they're still in business. Even if they claim their way out of it as "acceptable degrade" I think a judge may think not... but that's different matter. That would be a warranty claim. When anyone buys these cars they must suspect battery longevity and make a choice. You have to look at the oldest examples (Roadsters) as likelihood for their batteries to continue working, or the company to honor "anomalies". And based on that make a decision.
I actually bought my S before the drive train 8 year with infinite mile warranty came out.
If my battery caves in 5 years, I try for warranty claim, if Tesla exists. If they say "sorry", I see if there's a bigger claim to get involved in, class action, whatever. Last ditch, I would buy another battery at that time. Maybe not from Tesla. Maybe there'll be a better power source on the market at that time. I am willing to play that out, and is part of getting into the game.
If a person is terribly nervous and wants to play the game differently, do the lease, rolling trade-in every couple years, or just sell out in a couple years after having had the fun.
Mileage claims are held in check by third party verifiable tests and results. EPA ... there's lots of consumer action on false claims or non-achievable results. Do that if you feel ripped off.
A (future)
promised mileage claim is different than seeing an EPA number on a window sticker. It's just a promise. I'm saying you have to keep Tesla's promises with a grain of salt, yes. Don't bank on it.
