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Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

dmitryzavyalov.livejournal.com

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Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#21

Post by mikeash »

enraged_camel wrote: post #18
jasonmp85 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why root for Tesla? Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers, so why cheer for one company in particular?

Not the OP, but I personally root for Tesla because they're the ones pushing the envelope when it comes to EV cars. If it wasn't for Tesla's huge popularity, it is doubtful we would ever see mass-market adoption of EVs. That said, it's clear that innovation can come at a cost, as we read in the article. Tesla handled this very poorly. If I were the author, I would have taken them to court, despite being a huge fan.

The author got their money back, didn't they? Tesla should have treated them far better, but I don't see what there is to sue over.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#22

Post by luminiferous »

jasonmp85 wrote: post #7
automathematics wrote: post #2

Thanks for sharing this. I hope Tesla respond in time, as this seems very unacceptable to me.

Honest question: why root for Tesla? Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers, so why cheer for one company in particular?

I think a large part of it is cultural: Tesla is seen as a tech company, and we root for tech companies. Especially when they're seen as "disrupting" and taking on entrenched companies in an industry. Personally, I do think it's a bit exaggerated. But on the other hand, I think that Tesla did help the EV market bloom a bit faster than otherwise would have happened. Other car companies did know about EVs and some even experimented with EVs before Tesla (see: GM EV1), but the fact that Tesla started profiting off of this market segment made other companies want to enter the market segment earlier rather than later.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#23

Post by Kudos »

libeclipse wrote: post #8
jasonmp85 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why root for Tesla? Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers, so why cheer for one company in particular?

I guess everyone just really, really loves Elon Musk.

It's hard not to be really, really impressed by him, tbh.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#24

Post by chc »

jasonmp85 wrote: post #7
automathematics wrote: post #2

Thanks for sharing this. I hope Tesla respond in time, as this seems very unacceptable to me.

Honest question: why root for Tesla? Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers, so why cheer for one company in particular?

Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers? I know of the Chevy Bolt and nothing else. Are there others you're thinking of? I mean, that's one car, which generally seems to be reviewed along the lines of "not as good as a Tesla, but hey, at least it's not a Leaf" — so although it is great that somebody else is doing it too, it seems pretty fair to say that Tesla is still leading the charge here (pun not intended, but it did make me smile).

Even if you like the Bolt better, AFAIK that's literally the only long-range EV that isn't a Tesla. So if you like EVs, you kind of have to cheer for Tesla, or else you really just like one EV.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#25

Post by eridius »

sxcurry wrote: post #20
eridius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. The car being returned to Tesla was, at that time, in good working order. Tesla had repaired it after the last issue. Now of course given the car's history it's possible that there were still other things wrong with it, but to the best of Tesla's knowledge, at the time the letter was signed, the car was defect-free.

It's really interesting to see how far some people will go to absolve Tesla of anything bad. This car was a lemon and the owner got terrible service from Tesla. End of story.

I agree the owner got terrible service. I agree that the car appears to be a lemon and the owner is well within his rights to ask for a refund or replacement.

All I'm saying is that the letter is not actually wrong; as far as Tesla can tell, they had repaired everything wrong with the vehicle and therefore it was in good working order. And for all we know, this diagnosis is correct, seeing as how the owner didn't try out the vehicle again after the last repair.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#26

Post by mdasen »

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #3

Sorry, you had trouble with your new car. It happens sometimes that cars have problems. Tesla is a physical thing and it can have problems. I would be frustrated that my new toy had problems, but I don't see why this couldn't happen with a porsche or bmw. In fact, they do sometimes have problems.

I don't think the issue was that the vehicle had problems. I think the issue was more about how Tesla handled those problems.

The first failure was while they were away from home and had to convince the service manager that a week was a long turn-around time. They offered them a loaner, but not one they were allowed to drive to their destination so they had to rent a vehicle with their own funds. They found nothing wrong after three days.

As they left from that repair, the car announced that it needed service twice between Ohio and California. As such, they brought it in for service in CA. This service took 10 days and they found nothing wrong.

1 week later, the problem is back and they took it in for service (at yet a third service center, this time the headquarters). Another 10 day turn-around time.

The next problem was that the car refused to start.

Through this, Tesla kept taking their sweet time and being less than communicative. They also didn't offer a Tesla loaner (rather giving them rentals from Enterprise). Most luxury automakers try hard to make their customers happy. Tesla didn't.

When it came time to deal with the lemon law, Tesla offered to re-manufacture the car for them. They accepted and around 2 months later Tesla told them that they'd have to pay up for the re-manufactured vehicle.

Finally, Tesla wouldn't even admit that there was a defect with the vehicle.

As the author notes, friends with similarly priced cars had much better experiences with actually getting them repaired or replaced.

It's frustrating to have problems with a car, but if the manufacturer/dealer is communicative, prompt, helpful, and honest with you, it feels a lot less bad. In this case, it doesn't feel like Tesla was any of those. They had to keep checking in on the status, Tesla took much longer than I expect car repairs to take, Tesla wasn't able to help them, and the dealing around the re-build and refund feels like a bait-and-switch.

Yes, car trouble can happen to you if you buy a Porsche or BMW. But that's not the issue in this story. This isn't a story about Teslas being unreliable. This is a story about Tesla service and customer support being non-communicative, unhelpful, slow, and possibly even dishonest.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#27

Post by FireBeyond »

enraged_camel wrote: post #18
jasonmp85 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why root for Tesla? Great EVs are starting to appear from other manufacturers, so why cheer for one company in particular?

Not the OP, but I personally root for Tesla because they're the ones pushing the envelope when it comes to EV cars. If it wasn't for Tesla's huge popularity, it is doubtful we would ever see mass-market adoption of EVs. That said, it's clear that innovation can come at a cost, as we read in the article. Tesla handled this very poorly. If I were the author, I would have taken them to court, despite being a huge fan.

They had multiple out of pocket expenses due to their supposedly "no defects found" Tesla. Rental cars (they were half way across the country from home and Tesla's idea of a rental option was "cannot leave the state you are in"), etc.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#29

Post by cardiffspaceman »

eridius wrote: post #10
bobbles wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that after all the crap they have gone through Teslas response was that the car contained no defect, which is obviously false

Not really. The car being returned to Tesla was, at that time, in good working order. Tesla had repaired it after the last issue. Now of course given the car's history it's possible that there were still other things wrong with it, but to the best of Tesla's knowledge, at the time the letter was signed, the car was defect-free.

But the wording tells the customer something that the customer did not experience, which is a terrible way to create goodwill. The customer experienced several failures. Surely that indicates a defect. So why contradict the customer? Tesla's people could privately believe the car was defect-free if they wish, but in dealing with the customer focus on the remedial action they are taking, rather than Tesla's beliefs about the car.

Re: Tesla Model S: the story of a very short happiness and excitement

#30

Post by [deleted] »

pbz wrote: post #15
AtheistOfFail wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, they do sometimes have problems. The difference is those companies have their shit figured out. If I had a vehicle checked like 2 times and it left me stranded, I would blow up in someone's face if I got handed a letter that says "Customer made it up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eXUnZrykDY

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