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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

#51

Post by leonhandreke »

1123581321 wrote: post #10
ademup wrote: 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.

Whether or not he was insured against this particular damage doesn't make the cost of the repair less outrageous. In the end, drivers will be paying for these repairs, whether directly or through "cheap" monthly insurance payments that hide these occasional events.

(I guess similar arguments could be made about other insurance markets)

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

#52

Post by yarky »

mschild wrote: post #19
namdnay wrote: 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…

Sure, except Tesla has a history of performing just as janky repairs on their cars themselves. Its even stated in the article.[0] Another question to consider is why the repair is 16k. Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price? Driving around with a shoddy fix on a combustion engine can be just as dang…

> Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price?

Niche technology is never cheap and they'll do it as long as their customers tolerate/pay it.

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

#53

Post by yawaworht1978 »

I would agree, they are notoriously slow to repair, too expensive (ask the insurance companies) and use blackmail via software.

And the people who buy the cars are knowingly or not knowingly supporting that. Probably not buying would be more efficient than passing laws with loopholes.

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

#54

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #34
raz32dust wrote: post #20

When a company like Apple says that only their app store can run on iPhones, HN crowd usually sides with Apple, with the justification that "It is a free market. People can buy another phone if they don't like it." Why doesn't the same principle apply here? If your car company does not offer the right to repair, then buy another car. What is the difference? Both are instances of big companies gating access to their d…

Same reason HN goes against Apple when it comes to battery repairs. App Store is optional extended functionality. A battery impacts your ability to use your phone or car for its fundamental purpose.

How so? Without the app store an iPhone becomes just an expensive cordless telephone.

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

#55

Post by throwawaycities »

It’s bad policies like this that encourage insurance fraud…if a $700 fix is going to cost $16,000 from the manufacturer and insurance won’t cover it, then owner’s are going to total vehicles just so insurance will cover the full thing (not to mention deductible will probably be less than the $700 non-manufacturer fix)

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

#56

Post by TrackerFF »

The EV market here in Norway (and probably rest of Europe) is out of control when it comes to repairs. Any critical repair, i.e anything close to the battery, often comes in the range of tens of thousands.

What happens is that the insurance companies will just opt for condemning the car, and you'll get a brand new one. As you can imagine, the insurance prices are terrible.

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

#58

Post by sleepybrett »

belval wrote: post #44
mschild wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, except Tesla has a history of performing just as janky repairs on their cars themselves. Its even stated in the article.[0] Another question to consider is why the repair is 16k. Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price? Driving around with a shoddy fix on a combustion engine can be just as dang…

> Another question to consider is why the repair is 16k. Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price? The quote is to replace the whole battery pack so I really doubt that they are making a profit on it since it's one of the actually expensive part of the car. As GP pointed out this is hardly right to re…

Not only did they quote a whole battery pack for this simple repair, but the guy should have the right to keep the 'broken' battery pack (as a backup after he got it repaired) since he is buying a new one for full price. But tesla was refusing that as well.

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

#59

Post by cptskippy »

sjg007 wrote: post #29

I don't get why that part isn't shielded for one.. but for second, non-OEM parts are fine for use in repairs.

> I don't get why that part isn't shielded for one..

There's a whole series of WTFs in this video.

* Guy failed to get full coverage on a leased vehicle.

* Tesla released car to him without verifying coverage.

* Road debris hitting the bottom of the car can result in $16k in damage.

* Tesla let him drive off with car after he rejected repair and knowing he didn't have comprehensive coverage.

* Critical part of battery is exposed, more so if single motor.

* Critical part of battery is non-serviceable fragile plastic.

* Tesla does not offer a core charge and will not return damaged pack to owner.

This was all because they saved some money by having cooling line fittings be fixed plastic instead of threaded inserts so you could replace the taps.

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

#60

Post by [deleted] »

belval wrote: post #44
mschild wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, except Tesla has a history of performing just as janky repairs on their cars themselves. Its even stated in the article.[0] Another question to consider is why the repair is 16k. Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price? Driving around with a shoddy fix on a combustion engine can be just as dang…

> Another question to consider is why the repair is 16k. Does is actually cost Tesla that much or do they just quote that much because they are realistically the only ones who can fix it so they can charge the price? The quote is to replace the whole battery pack so I really doubt that they are making a profit on it since it's one of the actually expensive part of the car. As GP pointed out this is hardly right to re…

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