11–20 of 209 posts
Wow. I had a '91 Saturn sedan until 2015. Despite my model being out of production for decades, and Saturn having closed up shop for years, I could still find aftermarket auto parts. How common of a problem is this? Any other manufactures/models notorious for poor part availability?
"There are unique challenges that come with working on these cars. You might have to rebuild a circuit board one day, and fabricate a new hood the next day. Actually, if any body parts are damaged, you'll have to fabricate them. Tesla doesn't sell parts to anyone, so Medlock has taken to fashioning new panels out of carbon fiber himself. " Didn't expect to see circuit board rebuilding until ~2023 (15y is my recollect…
Am I mistaken or did Tesla manufacture these under some low-volume exception?
A lot of early adopters were probably worried that Tesla would go out of business and they wouldn't be able to get parts. Tesla is still in business and there still aren't parts. Hopefully enough of the current Tesla models will end up on the road to make it profitable for aftermarket suppliers to make some parts. So far it doesn't seem like that is happening at very much scale.
We need legislative reform that requires any companies selling products in US jurisdiction put enough parts and cash in escrow to guarantee for a reasonable time period the ability to service anything that costs more than $500.
"There are unique challenges that come with working on these cars. You might have to rebuild a circuit board one day, and fabricate a new hood the next day. Actually, if any body parts are damaged, you'll have to fabricate them. Tesla doesn't sell parts to anyone, so Medlock has taken to fashioning new panels out of carbon fiber himself. " Didn't expect to see circuit board rebuilding until ~2023 (15y is my recollect…
I thought federal law required mass market vehicle manufacturers to make parts available for 10 years? Am I mistaken or did Tesla manufacture these under some low-volume exception?
"There are unique challenges that come with working on these cars. You might have to rebuild a circuit board one day, and fabricate a new hood the next day. Actually, if any body parts are damaged, you'll have to fabricate them. Tesla doesn't sell parts to anyone, so Medlock has taken to fashioning new panels out of carbon fiber himself. " Didn't expect to see circuit board rebuilding until ~2023 (15y is my recollect…
I thought federal law required mass market vehicle manufacturers to make parts available for 10 years? Am I mistaken or did Tesla manufacture these under some low-volume exception?
That's what I always heard as well, but it doesn't apply to Tesla for some reason, which is not being discussed even though it should be.
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/14049/are-auto-...
According to the above link, parts for cars and other consumer products only need to be available in some form (and not from the manufacturer) for the stated warranty period, whatever it is. After that you have no protection. Seems the 10 yr thing is an urban legend widely promulgated to rubes like us.
The thread has evidence that laws are different overseas. In Israel it is claimed parts must be available for 7 years, as an example.
That they won't service them or supply parts shows the future for all Tesla owners. We need legislative reform that requires any companies selling products in US jurisdiction put enough parts and cash in escrow to guarantee for a reasonable time period the ability to service anything that costs more than $500.
$10,000 and 4 weeks labor (but waited months to get it fixed), because they had to disassemble the whole damn car. I was livid at what should have been maybe a $200 part required practically the entire car to be disassembled. One front seat and the back seats were both removed as were the entire side panel of the car.
Until Tesla solves the maintenance and replaceability of parts, I'm never getting another Tesla again. It's simply bad design. It's like an iPhone where you can't just replace the battery, you need to disassemble the entire thing just to get to the battery.
With no commitment to their Roadster customers, it makes me wonder how long they will be committed to their Model 3 customers in providing parts? Already the parts market takes months to get parts, how will it be 6 years from now?
Wow. I had a '91 Saturn sedan until 2015. Despite my model being out of production for decades, and Saturn having closed up shop for years, I could still find aftermarket auto parts. How common of a problem is this? Any other manufactures/models notorious for poor part availability?
Pretty big difference between a model that sells 2,500 total units and one that sells millions over 2 decades. A better comparison would be to look at what parts availability is on a limited run sports car.
This guy is great, he found a niche full of customers and became the expert. I wish more startups would do this. With regards to Tesla, it is always interesting to me to see how as companies grow, they become more political, less effective and generally suck more. All the good people, like this guy, get pushed out or leave on their own. Makes me generally not want to build or work for a large company ever again.
More money, more problems (my apologies to Mr B.I.G.)