I don’t own a Tesla but interested in getting a new Model Y so I joined this forum. What is going on here? So many owners complaining about manufacturing issues with their new or not so old Teslas. Also it seems there are lots and lots of random things that Tesla isn’t doing right, uneven panel gaps, hard uncomfortable suspensions from last years Teslas, uneven paint jobs, random electrical and mechanical issues like frunk not closing properly, visual parking assist not working, phantom braking, steering wheels coming lose, new cars with bad wheel alignment, FSD not working right, etc… Me and my wife both own German cars which is supposed to be unreliable, my Mercedes only had one issue, seat weighing scale needing replacement after 50k and my wife has driven her Audi for 70k now, zero issues and only two recalls. My previous vehicle was a Kia drove it from new to 120k only had one issue, AC stopped working which cost me $800 to repair at the dealership. What’s up with Tesla? Are they really that bad at overlooking manufacturing issues, or are the customers just a picky bunch? It’s amazing how much pain customers are going through just to own a Tesla, and it ain’t cheap to buy or repair either.
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Why does Tesla vehicles have so many issues?
- Thread starter gflar
- Start date
Tam
Well-Known Member
Different brands provide different experiences.
Quantity is better for Tesla while quality may put up an obstacle to quantity. Get the money first then if owners want to fix the quality issues, they could do that after the sales without negatively affect the quantity.
Expensively replacement is better for Tesla because the cost of post-warranty repairs are owner's. For example, if a fuse is blown in onboard charger, just replace the whole charger rather than opening up the charger to see if the the fuse is blown...
People who take the time to post have issues with their cars. It’s self-selection and not an accurate sample size.
Issues also went in phases over the years since 2012 - paint, panel alignment, motor noise, rattles - but have generally been addressed by Tesla. What you are reading about here are typically small whinges or major failures.
Most arent, though.
So, for what reason exactly are you considering a Tesla, when both Mercedes and Kia make EVs and you have had good experiences with those brands?
mgs333
Member
Most car boards/forums are the same way, full of people complaining about issues big and trivial. I've spent lots of time on boards for many different brands. Tesla does have real problems no doubt but the nature of these kinds of boards will make it look worse than it is.
Look at selection bias and availability bias in this link : The 6 most common types of bias when working with data
You don't have representative information about the whole set of Tesla owners, you only get information from the ones that have trouble.
You don't have representative information about the whole set of Tesla owners, you only get information from the ones that have trouble.
Visit the Audi/MB/BMW forums on Reddit and you'll see they are full of complaints too.
Tesla has a better super charging network, from what I read the non Tesla charging network can get crowded with wait times during peak hours, at least here in California with a lot of people going the EV route it will get even more crowded and it seems the non Tesla network isn’t growing to keep up, instead many chargers are broken and not repaired.
Wattsisname
MY Red/White/Gems
Here we go again; every day a new one: "I was going thinking of buying a Tesla but I hear that they are troublesome *sugar* heaps. Is that so?"
And, sure as Pavlov's dog salivates, these questions are given credence and members take time to give reasoned responses.
I will march in the street to defend freedom of speech but I believe many of these questions are insincere or intentionally put up jobs. Many are betrayed by their shear stupidity. Significantly, most seem to originate from the USA ......just sayin'.
johnnycnote
Member
Panel gaps wasn't a thing until Tesla buyers started pointing it out. Most, if not all of my legacy vehicles (including Lexus), had panel gaps that I never considered to be flaws
On the YouTube videos the panel gaps they were showing looked pretty obvious, but from what I have read it is less of an issue now.
I think Tesla cranking out thousands of vehicles so quickly just a few months after a Giga factory is finished is probably the root of the manufacturing issues. Like your boss telling you, now you have to work 3X faster so your error rates and mistakes go up. I know with Lexus no new employees are allowed to touch a vehicle, only employees with many years of experience is allowed to assemble the vehicles to keep a tight control on quality.
Tam
Well-Known Member
Overcrowding during peaked times (especially holidays) is not unique to the Tesla Supercharger brand. Currently, there are not enough DC Fast Chargers for peaked use. That's why there's an incentive for companies to build one station every 50 miles apart on the Federal level.
Back to Tesla, the wait times have been very improved due to better expansions. I remember there's a video showing terrible conflicts between owners at the Main Place Superchargers, Santa Ana, CA, during regular times (not peaked use), but that was before the expansion and before Tesla would allow owners to access charger availability on the car's display/phone app. No such bad vibes anymore ever since there are just too numerous stations surrounding it and owners can take a look at the availability to drive to the next empty one without arguing with other owners.
That has been the case with non-Tesla Fast DC stations. Electrify America was created because of the Diesel Gate. As long as they comply with the punishment by creating a certain number of charging points, there's no additional incentive for quality. Others don't do it as a penalty, but the profit margin is too small, so there's no incentive to lose money on quality either.
Tesla is expanding its stations for CCS1, but the question is how fast the expansion will be.
With the incentive to build more DC Fast Stations, I don't think it will be a significant problem in the future.
For now, you can avoid the problem by charging at home.
If you want to drive long distances, choose the most extended range like Lucid, rated at 516 miles (The future Tesla Roadster, rated at 620 miles, is still pending. for the past six years since its announcement in 2017).
Tiger
Active Member
Tam
Well-Known Member
It's a matter of luck.
Tesla's uniqueness is you pay first and fix quality problems after.
The dealership model is different: You don't pay until you are satisfied. You can test drive it. You can inspect it. And you can refuse it without paying one cent and you can get another one with no hassles. It's an incentive for dealers to fix all the quality issues before showing them to customers.
Is this why some Tesla dealerships don’t allow customers to examine the car until after they pay for it? To keep customers from seeing quality issues? I saw a video where the customer was not allowed in the Tesla until after he paid for it. Usually, when buying a $50k - 100k vehicle you are allowed to examine it very closely and even test drive it. Only when you are satisfied is when you sign off and pay.
johnnycnote
Member
Not my experience. I was allowed to look the car over before accepting delivery. Only issue was that it was covered in pollen and I didn't stick around for hours waiting for them to wash the car again...
Sometimes these type threads feel like real questions, and sometimes they dont. When they start off with (basically) "WTF is wrong with this thing? Why would anyone buy this?" (like this one does) then they dont feel like real questions.
Posting that my 2023 M3 has 0 issues. Boring post right?
Tam
Well-Known Member
Yes, some owners could open the car's doors before the payment, but those are exceptions without the corporation's knowledge.
I doubt you could test-drive that particular VIN before payment.
Try to buy a Tesla used car from the Tesla website and see whether you could do any of that.
