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Popular Science Response to Consumer Reports Survey

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Well done indeed, thanks so much for posting.

The other thing that people just can't seem to grok is this:
- Tesla is improving the car design through manufacturing changes ALL THE TIME
- those design updates are PROACTIVELY retrofitted to older cars as they go into service
- this means that although some 2013s as originally designed and manufactured will have a few "beta issues" but that those beta issues are RESOLVED IN ADVANCE for the rest of the 2013s, so that the typical CR projection of problems IS NOT LIKELY TO OCCUR

I believe CR's data assume that if some small percentage of cars observe a problem in the first year, we have to give it a bad score because over time, it's likely to be an even more pervasive problem for everyone else. Wrong.

Unless CR recognizes this concept and updates their repair methodology, their reliability scores don't matter.

p.s. thanks to all of you who have put up with DU replacements, I'm sure that by the time I get a new one, it'll be PERFECT!!! :)
 
CR used to be like Reader's Digest for many years, guiding the masses on their path to maintain a uniform standard of just-above-mediocrity. In recent years though they improved a lot.

I read a lot here and I also personally know 4 Model S owners, they are in love with their cars, the only regret they have is that the rest of their family is still in ICErs.

Well, I guess CR is returning to their old ways, right between blue and lower middle.

Time to start reading the Robb Report:)
 
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Glad I don't have a Toy Car
 
Consumer Reports seems to recognize that focusing on Tesla is an easy way to boost their traffic. The momentum generated by their last Tesla-centric article is starting to wane, so they were tasked with creating a new one. And the only thing readers enjoy more than an old-fashioned success story is reading about how that success crashed and burned.
 
I like this PopSci response, but I didn't dislike the CR article in the first place. I think the only problem is how people responded to it, which is primarily caused by people reading headlines without reading articles. As this PopSci article points out, if you read the full info on what happened with Consumer Reports, you see that these are all being fixed under warranty, at unprecedented levels of satisfaction seen elsewhere in the automotive servicing industry, and that people would buy again in a heartbeat.

I am a Consumer Reports subscriber, but I declined to answer their survey. I have a 2012 Model S that has had both its battery and motor replaced, as well as the door handles. But all of those were covered under warranty, and I was given a loaner car, and the two most expensive components are still covered by warranty for another 5 years (even though I've got 70,000+ miles on my car). That's why not only would I not hesitate to buy another Tesla, but I can't wait to buy another Tesla. If I could afford it, I'd be buying them for other people, or upgrading mine to a model that includes Autopilot. For now, I'll continue to enjoy my car and the service Tesla provides for it.