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

Post by dd36 » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 10:53 PM UTC

ben1040 wrote: post #129

fastball wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here[1] is the customer explaining the insurance more thoroughly. [1] https://youtu.be/vVSw3KSevEc?t=406

This is the second time in as many days I've heard about this happening. Someone gets a new car, replaces the old one on their insurance, while accidentally retaining the prior car's coverages (or lack thereof). The other one I heard of was similar -- someone went from an old beater car to a new Tesla. The old car only had liability coverage and no collision/comprehensive and they didn't change this when replacing th…

Post by quickthrowman » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 10:54 PM UTC

throwawayboise wrote: post #112

ricardobeat wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those never-ending payments are covering depreciation. Unless you keep your car for 10+ years and it’s one of the rare models that holds value after that, you’re not much better off buying it.

Buying 10 year old cars that are nearly fully depreciated is where you save big money. You can get a dependable car for a few thousand dollars, and even if it needs more repairs than a new car you still come out money ahead especially if you can do small repairs yourself.

Post by sgustard » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 10:55 PM UTC

lelanthran wrote: post #130

mulmen wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I rent a car I am not responsible for repairs. If I am on the hook for the repair bill I should get a choice in how the car is repaired. I can buy whatever tires I want for a leased car. If Tesla wants to make these kinds of demands then the repair should be part of the warranty and priced in to the car. > I would read this as a cautionary tale against renting your cars. If you can’t buy it, don’t! This holds tr…

> The fact that cars depreciate seems like the best reason to "rent" them. Like any other depreciating asset, the renter charges the rentee(sp?) the depreciation anyway, plus a small profit. You appear to be under the impression that renting is better; this cannot be correct. The rent for any asset is ($COST_OF_PRODUCT + $COST_OF_ADMIN + $PROFIT). How do you figure that it's cheaper to pay those additional costs than…

Post by bonestamp2 » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 11:00 PM UTC

xyst wrote: post #180

This is a design flaw. I wonder what other shameful design decisions were put in place to cut corners. Kind of glad I canceled a Tesla pre-order. I really hope other EV companies are learning from Tesla’s mistakes. From the lack of customer service from a maintenance aspect to poor repairability, that sort of reputation will stick with a company for a very long time. Going to run my current ICE to the ground until th…

Post by mcguire » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 11:02 PM UTC

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…