I’m part of that 1% and I’ll echo the “Tesla hate” for that very reason. I do the vast majority of maintenance and repair on my vehicles – something I picked up as a broke young man that couldn’t afford to do otherwise.
I’m not buying something that’s designed to actively prevent me from working on it myself. And the other “99%” of people are absolutely right in being upset since independent repair shops are no longer an option. With no competition they’re at the whim of Tesla when it comes to the cost and time-frame of repair work.
Since when are independent shops no longer an option? I just checked their site and it says you can take it to independent shops, but risk warranty.
I can’t speak to the work that would be done on it, but in a proof is in the pudding type of guy (being an engineer myself, who also used to do most of the work on my car) and the evidence seems to suggest people are happy with their Teslas, not so much with their printers.
Since when are independent shops no longer an option? I just checked their site and it says you can take it to independent shops, but risk warranty.
You answered your question.
the evidence seems to suggest people are happy with their Teslas
Your “evidence” are people who live on your block and your boss. You might be an engineer but you’re no statistician.
You answered your question.
The claim was that it was designed to actively stop you from working on it yourself.
Your “evidence” are people who live on your block and your boss.
And, of course, far more importantly, I referenced the owner satisfaction survey CR. You conveniently ignored that. Doesn’t seem to me you’re arguing in good faith.
Apparently I’m going off of old information. I just found out there are independent shops that are certified by Tesla to do work now, although it looks (and correct me if I’m wrong) like they’re limited to “routine” maintenance and repairs. It also looks like many of the tools required for repair are locked behind said certification.
So the situation is better than it was 3+ years ago, but my new stance is there are still serious right-to-repair issues with Tesla that precludes me from buying one.
Exactly. Until the battery can be worked on (i.e. the most expensive part) with full documentation and support from Tesla, then I’m not going to consider it. I can replace the engine and any part of the drive train that I want on pretty much any ICE car.
I understand that there are safety issues here, but without documentation, users are left with reverse engineering, which is even more dangerous. Tesla’s stance so far is, “if there’s damage, replace it,” which is just another way of saying “planned obsolescence” since replacement of a battery pack is ~3/4 of the price of the car.
Then there’s the BS all car manufacturers are seeming to do these days in tracking users and keeping things locked away from user control (e.g. disabling data collection). It’s getting increasingly difficult to find a reasonably privacy-respecting vehicle, and EVs are the worst offenders here.
If an EV comes along with:
- independent shop-serviceable battery packs
- no data collection (or at least user-verifiable, opt-out data collection)
- everything aside from battery packs are user serviceable with full documentation
I’ll probably get it. I’m especially interested in sodium-ion EVs since they should be far less expensive and probably safer. I don’t need anything fancy, I just need to get to work, and I’d really prefer to do that without being tracked by the car manufacturer.
