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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

#441
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My suspicion is that he did have collision and comprehensive, thought “obviously damage from road debris falls under my no-fault comprehensive,” then found out that it doesn’t unless it never actually touched the road. And either no one told him that it has to be a collision claim, or he just decided not to bother with a $700 collision claim after he got an independent estimate (and complain to the author that debris…

This is exactly it. The guy doesn't want a $16,000 at-fault claim on his record.

> The guy doesn't want a $16,000 at-fault claim on his record.

Pedantically[0], he doesn't want a $16,000 no-fault claim misclassified as at-fault on his record. See:

> > obviously damage from road debris falls under my no-fault comprehensive

0: The record entry would be the same (eg "road debris, at-fault") either way.

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

#442

I had this type of issue with a Macbook Pro. The rubber/plastic foot came off the bottom. Asked at the Genius Bar how much to replace it. It looks like a part that should cost $0.02 and expected an "Apple" markup of say $5. They wanted $350. Said they had to replace the entire bottom of the computer to put on a new rubber foot.

I just put the rubber foot and put a tape on top of it. It’s been that way for a couple of years now.

Genuinely curious why would you even go to Apple for that?

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

#443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got one. It's super noisy, the sound vibrates through all the pipes in the house, and sometimes the water can't even get as high as the inlet to the pump. It would just be better if the utility company supplied a decent pressure. But they don't want to do that because their pipes have thousands of leaks in, and the higher the pressure the more water leaks out. This is the problem of living in a place where most of th…

> It's super noisy, the sound vibrates through all the pipes in the house, and sometimes the water can't even get as high as the inlet to the pump. FWIW, the first bit means the pump is defective/badly designed and you need to get a better one (don't have any actionable advice on where, unfortunately), and the second should be fixable by putting the accumulator tank in the basement/hole in the ground, although YMMV o…

I am on a well, and have frequent power failures.

I got tired of a small pressure tank, and thus no water without power. So I bought a 50 gallon one.

Now I can take a shower in the morning, even without power.

Not sure of the pump to use here, and I think we're discussing the same thing almost, but pressurizing the holding tank would be pump before vs pump after.

It may provide a nicer experience? Not sure.

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

#444
post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's super noisy, the sound vibrates through all the pipes in the house, and sometimes the water can't even get as high as the inlet to the pump. FWIW, the first bit means the pump is defective/badly designed and you need to get a better one (don't have any actionable advice on where, unfortunately), and the second should be fixable by putting the accumulator tank in the basement/hole in the ground, although YMMV o…

I am on a well, and have frequent power failures. I got tired of a small pressure tank, and thus no water without power. So I bought a 50 gallon one. Now I can take a shower in the morning, even without power. Not sure of the pump to use here, and I think we're discussing the same thing almost, but pressurizing the holding tank would be pump before vs pump after. It may provide a nicer experience? Not sure.

Ah, yes, I was talking about a catchment tank (before the main pump; so the pump has water to pump) for the low-pressure input water. The pressure tank can be whereever.

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

#445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pressure reducing valves are used anywhere the pressure going into a home is above 80 PSI, and those are a lot more common than homes needing their own booster pumps My house has one of these, as the pressure would go up to 90 psi sometimes (iirc). Weirdly, my water pressure isn't consistent and can still burst to a "visibly from the tap" higher pressure for a few minutes at a time. I have no idea what causes it.

I wonder if it's from water expanding in the hot water heater. That might be pressurizing your system after you send a volume of cold water into the heater after use. Your pressure reducer valve might be acting like a check valve preventing expansion relief into the municipal supply.

An interesting premise, but I am on a well, have a pressure tank, and the well hose/pump has a check valve.

(Otherwise, water could slowly drain back into the well)

So think of it as a closed system, and it is a common setup, yet I have not seen this behaviour.

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

#446
post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should also have to state how much the repair would cost if done at the factory where they can actually service the battery pack. Imagine if other cars were like that: "Sorry, we're not able to service engines so instead of replacing your timing belt for $400 you have to buy a new engine for $6000"

Ahh the apple model. I'm not sure they even have a screwdriver in the back of an apple store any more.

Apple repair would send you a new car while they dismantle the old one for raw materials. They do this as soon as a fender is bent.

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

#447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the assumption that the independant tesla repair people don't know this? It might be unknown to you but I assume that people who work with metals and liquids all day long (including coolant) would have some idea of their interaction.

The point is not to call them incompetent - there absolutely are rigorous and good third party repair shops out there. Unfortunately, there are just as much of them just trying to get your money and then fixing it the simplest and cheapest way possible, without the consideration for long term safety and secondary effects that Tesla has probably put in. As an outsider, it's hard to tell the difference, but I agree wit…

While I agree (good and bad repair shops), this extends to dealers and even management at local, non-franchised shops.

EG, a specific Tesla shop can be stuck with bad management too.

A Canadian banks was caught because tellers were signing people up, unaware, with free credit cards, over draft protection, monthly plans, and even lines of credit. Why?

Management tying performance and promotion, and even job security, with overly aggressive conversion numbers.

So, even a Tesla shop may try an upsale, to get monthly profit numbers up.

In terms of the hack? It's not a hack. It is a simple, sensible fix. Bear in mind, the Tesla shop he went to? Seems to be little more than a component swapping repair site. They likely know little about car repair.

One other thing. You get good at car repair, when you work on 10, 20, 30 year old cars.

Fixing new, in lease cars is easy by comparison. Tesla has little experience with 20 year old wear and tear fixes...

Yet independent shops and experienced mechanics do.

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

#449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should also have to state how much the repair would cost if done at the factory where they can actually service the battery pack. Imagine if other cars were like that: "Sorry, we're not able to service engines so instead of replacing your timing belt for $400 you have to buy a new engine for $6000"

Yes, this is the correct analogy. TSLA is unable to do a reasonable repair so they should bear the extra cost

You saved one keypress on the e but added at least two on the capital letters

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

#450
post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am on a well, and have frequent power failures. I got tired of a small pressure tank, and thus no water without power. So I bought a 50 gallon one. Now I can take a shower in the morning, even without power. Not sure of the pump to use here, and I think we're discussing the same thing almost, but pressurizing the holding tank would be pump before vs pump after. It may provide a nicer experience? Not sure.

Ah, yes, I was talking about a catchment tank (before the main pump; so the pump has water to pump) for the low-pressure input water. The pressure tank can be whereever.

Hmm. So a catchment tank, then even a small pressure tank after, might give a very nice experience.

And without power, the catchment tank would still be pressurized by the incoming water supply at 10psi, a nice fallback.

Now we only need to obtain the contract. Profit!

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