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Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

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Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#131

Post by mschuster91 »

jedberg wrote: post #70
lucas_membrane wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> put enough parts and cash in escrow How about just putting the CAD data into escrow, and it all becomes public domain whenever (1) the manufacturer no longer makes replacement parts available, or (2) the price to replace all the parts of a vehicle exceeds three times the original purchase price.

A good idea in theory, but would you trust the security of the escrow system? It would be a very ripe target for corporate espionage.

Library of Congress or other national libraries could be used as trusted intermediaries. They've been keeping stuff safe for hundreds of years.

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#132

Post by gambiting »

Shivetya wrote: post #127
jonknee wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parts are hard to come by for their mass market models too, it's crazy.

my only concern about owning the model 3 is what happens when something breaks. However while Tesla gets a bad rap here and in many cases deserves it I have already experienced a similar problem first hand both with VW and Chevrolet. Fortunately for VW the issue I experienced will never resurface because they cannot sell TDI models anymore. Still I am hoping that by 2021 or at worst 2022 there is a viable alternative…

That's why I'm really interested in leasing one next year - if anything breaks, the leasing company has to fix it or provide me with an alternative, they own the car after all. I really want a Model 3 but I would never buy it to own.

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#134

Post by calpaterson »

natch wrote: post #98
darkerside wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is the dealer fixing a cracked windshield? Is this somehow under warranty?

People have a perception that third party parts are inferior. Maybe Toyota limits access to some OEM parts by others for whatever reason.

Here in the UK I have bought several OEM parts from Toyota service centres by walking in off the street. Some service centres (not my local one) even sell surplus inventory on ebay.

My impression is that they do not limit distribution: if you have the part code they will sell it to you (for an exorbitant price).

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#135

Post by Sileem »

Infernal wrote: post #71
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t you just go to one of the dozens of windshield replacement businesses in your area? You drive it there and they plop in a new windshield for very reasonable rates. They will often even come to you to fix it.

I have wondered about this between my 2008 Honda and my 2019 Honda. The 2008, I have had the windshield replaced twice, no sweat, once due to a rock from the road and once due to a hailstone. On the 2019, there is a suite of sensors behind the rearview mirror that (I presume) handle lane detection and object avoidance (emergency braking) duties. I don't know what assumptions those sensors (or the software behind them…

Similarly, I recently had to replace the windshield in my 2016 Acura. Safelite threw in aftermarket glass and every sensor in the car went haywire. For the next two weeks I was driving around with constant beeping reminding me that the sensors I had turned off aren’t working.

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#136

Post by tyingq »

olivermarks wrote: post #93
greglindahl wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not very accurate. The "sled" is completely different, not just the drivetrain.

The EV conversion made the car a lot heavier and was a pretty complex conversion https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/09/18/elon-mu... .

"Only the windshield, the dashboard (complete with the airbags and the wheel), the front wishbones, the rear-view mirrors...and the removable soft top were carried over from the Elise"

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#137

Post by sergiosgc »

ptaipale wrote: post #104
marpstar wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the #1 reason I bought the absolute cheapest washer/dryer combo I could find. My last set was purchased at a garage sale and I kept them running for ~10 years by purchasing the necessary replacement parts from eBay, maybe $40 over those 10 years. I can't do that for everything, but I will for washers and dryers. My "new" dryer has already failed once and I repaired it in 20 minutes with a $4 part.

I really like my microwave oven that has just two controls: one dial for power (scale defrost - full power) and one for time (mechanical clock up to 30 min). It is not likely to break because there is no PCB with bad capacitors. It does not have a clock that I would need to adjust at every DST change, and it does not have an array of confusing buttons and controls. Everyone can use it, without reading the manual. And…

There is an "Apple" market for the first company that designs a simple microwave oven. The user interface on most of those things is atrocious. A beautiful oven with two dials would kill on the market. (maybe there is one, but I couldn't find one browsing on appliance stores)

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#138

Post by pjc50 »

benj111 wrote: post #128
pjc50 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's smartphone engineering: when it breaks, you're supposed to throw it away and buy a new one. /s

From one angle this isn't so unreasonable. If your car never breaks down, why fix it when it does. There are already plenty of sealed units in a car. If your 2nd gear went, you'd replace the whole box. Id be interested to know what proportion of phones actually break (except user imposed damage) before they reach the end of their useful lives, I would guess very few.

> actually break (except user imposed damage) before they reach the end of their useful lives

I'm not sure that distinction into those three categories is actually useful. Almost nothing breaks within normal use in a few years. "User damage" through cracked screens is a major factor in phone end of life. And the other determinant of "useful life" is either the battery or the operating system, both of which are under the control of the manufacturer.

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#139

Post by taneq »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #113
taneq wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hardware makers fuse everything in to a single board so when one thing breaks you need a new main board which costs as much as the whole device As frustrating as this is, it's a natural consequence of the monolithic system integration which means that the whole device now costs barely more than the mainboard. Repair hasn't become more expensive, new things have just become unbelievably cheap.

> Repair hasn't become more expensive, new things have just become unbelievably cheap. You don't think it's both?

Fair call, it's both. Someone skilled enough to repair a high-tech item is often also skilled enough to design one, and economies of scale mean that these people are now paid much more than they used to be, while the per-unit cost of the item has tumbled.

Re: Keeping Tesla Roadsters Alive Is Serious Work

#140

Post by AmVess »

benj111 wrote: post #128
pjc50 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's smartphone engineering: when it breaks, you're supposed to throw it away and buy a new one. /s

From one angle this isn't so unreasonable. If your car never breaks down, why fix it when it does. There are already plenty of sealed units in a car. If your 2nd gear went, you'd replace the whole box. Id be interested to know what proportion of phones actually break (except user imposed damage) before they reach the end of their useful lives, I would guess very few.

It's pretty unreasonable for many components in a car if you are paying for it yourself. There's a Model S owner who is on the 7th drive unit replacement for his car. This is a $15,000 unit.

These cars are too expensive to be disposable, but that's where they are headed because parts are difficult or impossible to obtain out of warranty.

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