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Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

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Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#2
Oof, that's not even a $700 repair. What's pictured looks more like a $200 repair. The rest is straight profit for Electrified Garage, for having Tesla knowledge at this point in time.

Personally, I would have used a plastic fitting so that if it were to get hit again, the fitting would take the damage instead of the part that has been threaded into.

The driving force being this story seems to be that the owner didn't have road hazard coverage. You've got to wonder how much Tesla is just raking in by defrauding insurance companies who don't yet know any better than to sign off on replacing the whole pack for a simple repair.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#3
A bit of a stretch to classify this under right to repair.. if you rent a car from tesla, it’s going to be up to tesla to choose how it’s repaired. And it doesn’t seem unreasonable that they won’t accept a hack fix (however safe it may be) - that car is going to be sold to someone once the lease expires, they just can’t take the risk

I would read this as a cautionary tale against renting your cars. If you can’t buy it, don’t! This holds true for any depreciating asset.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#4
post #3

A bit of a stretch to classify this under right to repair.. if you rent a car from tesla, it’s going to be up to tesla to choose how it’s repaired. And it doesn’t seem unreasonable that they won’t accept a hack fix (however safe it may be) - that car is going to be sold to someone once the lease expires, they just can’t take the risk I would read this as a cautionary tale against renting your cars. If you can’t buy i…

Tesla doesn't let you do your own repairs on cars you "own" either.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#5
I heartily agree with the premise, and there's this compounding problem:

"To make matters worse, the owner's insurance policy didn't cover comprehensive claims from road debris..."

So when you combine these two issues, you end up with an unwritten, mob-boss-esque command of something like "Buy the most expensive insurance for all of your expensive widgets so that you can (maybe) be covered in the event that something minor happens"

Seems anti-consumer all the way down.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#6
post #4
post #3

A bit of a stretch to classify this under right to repair.. if you rent a car from tesla, it’s going to be up to tesla to choose how it’s repaired. And it doesn’t seem unreasonable that they won’t accept a hack fix (however safe it may be) - that car is going to be sold to someone once the lease expires, they just can’t take the risk I would read this as a cautionary tale against renting your cars. If you can’t buy i…

Tesla doesn't let you do your own repairs on cars you "own" either.

Nor will they sell you parts to repair it.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#7
I'm very curious about the insurance rejecting the repair.

My understanding (I've never leased a car) is that if you lease a car you must have comprehensive (full coverage) insurance. Either the person failed to do what their lease contract (presumably) mandated, or shockingly you can lease a car without full coverage.

Obviously it depends on what the insurance policy states, but usually comprehensive insurance covers things that aren't even related to driving necessarily like hail, your car getting stolen, etc. It's surprising that they didn't cover this.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#8
post #4
post #3

A bit of a stretch to classify this under right to repair.. if you rent a car from tesla, it’s going to be up to tesla to choose how it’s repaired. And it doesn’t seem unreasonable that they won’t accept a hack fix (however safe it may be) - that car is going to be sold to someone once the lease expires, they just can’t take the risk I would read this as a cautionary tale against renting your cars. If you can’t buy i…

Tesla doesn't let you do your own repairs on cars you "own" either.

This 2017 news from electrek[1] contradicts your claim.

[1]: https://electrek.co/2017/01/30/tesla-opening-up-service-repl...

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#9

Oof, that's not even a $700 repair. What's pictured looks more like a $200 repair. The rest is straight profit for Electrified Garage, for having Tesla knowledge at this point in time. Personally, I would have used a plastic fitting so that if it were to get hit again, the fitting would take the damage instead of the part that has been threaded into. The driving force being this story seems to be that the owner didn'…

Ultimately consumers will need to decide whether they want to put with this or go with a easier car to repair like a Toyota.

Re: Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

#10
post #5

I heartily agree with the premise, and there's this compounding problem: "To make matters worse, the owner's insurance policy didn't cover comprehensive claims from road debris..." So when you combine these two issues, you end up with an unwritten, mob-boss-esque command of something like "Buy the most expensive insurance for all of your expensive widgets so that you can (maybe) be covered in the event that something…

He didn’t have comprehensive at all. Comprehensive is cheap with a deductible of a few hundred. People don’t forgo it unless they’re driving a junker. Reading the comments on the article, it sounds like the lack of comprehensive might have been a mistake during transferring policies between cars. If so, that’s a brutal consequence of an easy misclick or misstatement without a double check.
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