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New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

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Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not clear what purpose this cast part serves. I assume the body of a Tesla is formed/stamped from sheets of steel like most modern cars and that this provides most of the structure. It looks like this part is near the top of the hood, so is it structural? Is it just holding a bunch of other parts in place? Hard to tell.

It’s basically the front subframe. https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tesla-m... https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-front-megacast-giga-...

Wow, that's indeed a seriously giant cast! How does it get repaired in case of a crash? Can one just cut off a damaged part of it and weld on a replacement, like with sheet metal?

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#52
post #9

The weirdest part of this to me is the customer. You knew the manufacturer had a reputation of forgetting hard to check parts ... and you still bought one. What else could it be missing that you can't practically check for? Still I guess at least it's good to see Tesla living up to the reputation for American cars to be generally shit build quality. I feel like they're going a bit overboard on that factor though.

> You knew the manufacturer had a reputation of forgetting hard to check parts... and you still bought one.

Sometimes, you have to make tradeoffs. You may want a Tesla for a variety of reasons, and the reputation for unreliability is not enough to tip the scale for another maker. With that in mind, buying the Tesla and thoroughly checking for known issues may be the most rational thing to do.

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You knew the manufacturer had a reputation of forgetting hard to check parts... and you still bought one. Yeah but the company is run by a hip cool memelord who's gonna get us to mars, and his cars have nice softwares like my iPad. Who cares about the metal parts of the car's rigidity structure? That's just something old boring people think about. Everyone knows EVs are more reliable than ICE so no need to ever look…

> The shit build quality has less to do with being American I'm not suggesting they're shit because they're American. I'm just saying it's nice to see them living up to the existing standard of shitness set by the existing American manufacturers. I'm sure each American car manufacturer has their own unique and interesting reasons for having reliably shit build quality compared to European or Japanese manufacturers.

Nothing as reliable as a Honda Civic or Toyota Prius.

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do it anyway. You can always not use the recording if the penalty for recording is going to be more than the benefit it gives you (unlikely).

Secret recording may be a criminal offense. I am not a lawyer in any jurisdiction, but it appears to be a felony in parts of the US. Admitting to felonies in court is probably not a good legal strategy. Even if you don't get arrested I am not confident the evidence would be admissible. EDIT: I know there are places where secret recordings are illegal but don't know the expected penalties. Recordings are probably lega…

Secret recording is illegal in Germany. It violates Section 201 of the Criminal Code.

https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_st...

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is legal where you live, you might want to get in the habit of secretly recording business dealings. I always have a recorder in my pocket when dealing with more than a few hundred dollars.

Do it anyway. You can always not use the recording if the penalty for recording is going to be more than the benefit it gives you (unlikely).

Be careful of your jurisdiction. In some places, the act itself of secret recording can be a criminal offence. In that case, you will want to include the possibility of prison in your cost-benefit analysis.

E.g., Germany: StGB 201 § 201 Verletzung der Vertraulichkeit des Wortes https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__201.html

In some places, secret recordings are useless as evidence (e.g., two-party consent states in the United States), while in others even illegal recordings may be admissible anyway (e.g., Sweden).

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#56
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cast parts are more brittle than forged parts. Once the cracks are visible you've already lost a great deal of strength. I wouldn't ride in this car.

Isn't the alternative actually a bunch of smaller cast parts bolted together, not forged parts?

the alternative could also be a forged part, or a cast part that was properly made

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#57
post #9

The weirdest part of this to me is the customer. You knew the manufacturer had a reputation of forgetting hard to check parts ... and you still bought one. What else could it be missing that you can't practically check for? Still I guess at least it's good to see Tesla living up to the reputation for American cars to be generally shit build quality. I feel like they're going a bit overboard on that factor though.

>You knew the manufacturer had a reputation of forgetting hard to check parts... and you still bought one. Yeah but the company is run by a hip cool memelord who's gonna get us to mars, and his cars have nice softwares like my iPad. Who cares about the metal parts of the car's rigidity structure? That's just something old boring people think about. Everyone knows EVs are more reliable than ICE so no need to ever look…

>...and more to do with Tesla chasing higher margins

Which is the most American thing you can do.

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#59
post #6

If this vehicle were truly unsafe to drive (according to US safety standards), what legal recourse would an individual consumer have to have this fixed? Unless the user gets in an accident, is there a way to actually prove the frame is structurally defective?

Pretty sure the onus is on the manufacturer to produce cars in a repeatable fashion such that crash test samples are representative. If they can't make the cars consistently they shouldn't be making cars.

Re: New images and video confirm Austin-made Tesla model Y has cracked front casting

#60
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cast parts are more brittle than forged parts. Once the cracks are visible you've already lost a great deal of strength. I wouldn't ride in this car.

Isn't the alternative actually a bunch of smaller cast parts bolted together, not forged parts?

I'm not saying there's a better alternative. I'm just saying seeing those types of cracks in cast parts scares the shit out of me. That's the kind of stuff you see after decades of rust damage.
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