The consumer reports reliability thing just seems like a meme at this point that doesn’t ring true for most people either in importance or reality. I can’t quite put my finger on why this meme is wrong but my intuition says it is.
High demand doesn't mean the product is quality. Fyre festival sold thousands of tickets, even though it was fundamentally fraudulent. Video games are another perfect example: fans pre-order AAA titles that studios fail to deliver over and over and over again. Demand just means that people like the idea of it, not that the product actually delivers on its stated promises.
I literally pre-ordered Anthem, and then apparently having not learned my lesson, did the same with Cyberpunk 2077. Enough said...
Even if you buy the physical games, they're almost always available within a few days of release at most. Just not a good idea to preorder games.
By this point, you should know more or less what you're getting if you buy a Tesla, so that demand is presumably based on the actual product and not just the idea.
The whole point of this thread is criticizing a company, Consumer Reports, that does exactly this. The message I responded implied that high demand automatically means a quality product, while Consumer Reports is downgrading Tesla's rating.
Tesla can score poorly in 3rd party consumer testing and that might be a valuable data point to those who care or value their testing.
And a number of people who really want a Tesla can also be people who have never heard of Consumer Reports nor value its testing.
At current domestic capacity levels, you [only] need 500K people from category #2 ahead of your order to produce the observed lead times.
Plenty of people advise not buying the first year of any new model from any carmaker, because there are usually more problems than usual. Refreshes are safer.
My Model S frunk recall appointment with a mobile tech coming to the home to perform took less than three minutes in app to schedule.
Not sure how a $5K refundable deposit is "obnoxious". Sure, it's less convenient than the Tesla deposit, but it wasn't like that money wasn't earmarked anyway. (And if you're in the market for a $50-75K vehicle and the difference between a couple of hundred and couple of thousand down is a deal breaker for you, you could argue affordability).
https://jalopnik.com/dealers-say-salespeople-still-arent-rea...
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15346108/some-dealerships...
https://www.fastcompany.com/90294305/car-companies-put-in-a-...
Edit: @FireBeyond I don’t believe I’ll be able to help with the confusion
I'm confused.
The price of Teslas went up by 10k+ this year and Teslas famously have reservation costs, so I don't see how that's different at all.
> Teslas have the Supercharger network, frequent over the air updates, a robust battery warranty, strong resale market, etc.
This sentence, the propoints, seem important and barely added as an afterthought. Given that Tesla has been starting to open up its supercharger network, does that change your view of its value?
You consider frequent over the air updates to be a benefit. Can I ask why? It seems like you're at the mercy of Tesla's software QA department for each update to make sure it doesn't decide to crash stop and or accelerated into traffic. Meanwhile, I'm not really aware of what benefits you're getting from those updates.
The Model S interior is ugly and empty, and the Tesla infotainment system is a joke. Just integrate with CarPlay, and toss that Mickey Mouse crap like off brand maps and streaming services.
[0] https://www.thedrive.com/news/22951/new-tesla-model-3-with-m...
I'm constantly amazed that otherwise intelligent people latch on to a single "factual" reason that proves they must be correct about a matter of opinion, particularly when their experience set is often objectively less relevant. To wit: presumably the parent has owned numerous other cars in addition to the Teslas.
It’s based on, well…consumer reports of reliability issues so it seems like it’s quite literally based on (perceived) reality.
I buy and ride motorcyles. I drive a car as well. By almost every measurable metric, the car is superior. Better braking, better turn speeds, better inclement weather handling, better protection against the elements, better cargo capacity, and I'm far better off in a car during a crash.
I still like bikes better. In part because there's a thrill in doing something needlessly stupid and dangerous; there's a joy in knowing that you're one just a single tiny mistake away from being killed or worse. When you're seeing the grey blur of pavement half an inch away from your elbows and knees, or the blur of a stone wall promising to quite literally rip your arm off at the shoulder if you dare get any closer. There is nothing else like it in the world.
You can't exactly put something like that in a spec sheet or mark it as a KPI though. For many Tesla owners there probably are dozens of defects and problems, but all of them you're willing to ignore because of an intangible affection. It doesn't make them wrong, it just means that their priorities are different then someone that might care more for something else.
Sample size of one Tesla vs. one Subaru Outback, both bought new, I'll take the Tesla any day. The Outback had a chronic issue with the cable going to the rear door which had a ton of electronics in it. I had to repair it multiple times. Head gasket failures. Then the engine died and I had to replace it as well. It also had a few "recalls". Recalls, sometimes massive ones, are not that uncommon for all brands.