#Shrinkage

Would-be #Tesla buyers snub company as #Musk's reputation dips

“The ranks of would-be Tesla buyers in the United States are shrinking, according to a survey by market intelligence firm Caliber, which attributed the drop in part to CEO Elon Musk's polarizing persona.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/

@GottaLaff I tell everyone I know to avoid purchasing a Tesla for two reasons:

1) The after-sale service is terminally putrid. I've had to fight to get major KNOWN issues repaired, and the service centre I bought my car from didn't warn me that I needed an alignment -- burning through the inside edge of 8 tires (winter & summer) after 25k kms each - about a third of their expected lifetime... At a cost of nearly $5k CAD.

2) I regret contributing to/enabling Space Karen's fascist lunacy.

@GottaLaff Oh, and I made the mistake of purchasing 'Full Self Drive' -- a feature that has been repeatedly delayed for 4 years... The current version drives like a drunk 14 year old that has only ever driven in video games...

Having said that, the car itself is nice. However, I'd never have purchased it, knowing what I know now.

@JustinDerrick @GottaLaff So far there are two that drive around Orlando. They both look like dingy stainless steel dumpsters with wheels
@JustinDerrick @GottaLaff you can always add their horrific treatment of workers, (many many judgements, lawsuits etc) union busting etc.
I mean, there are electric vehicles built by workers who are paid & treated way, way, way better than Tesla
You're Supposed To Be Glad Your Tesla Is A Brittle Heap Of Junk | Defector

Tesla cars are shoddily built pieces of shit liable to fall apart and malfunction in dangerous ways at inopportune moments. No, this is not a blog from 2012! It is also not a blog from 2015 or 2018 or 2022. It is not even a blog from two weeks ago about Tesla’s self-driving systems killing […]

@GottaLaff @voron The article mentions the half-shafts -- that's the item I had to return to the service centre three times for -- the last time insisting on being in the car with the tech, because "No fault found" on the two prior visits was a pile of 💩. The car shook heavily under even modest acceleration. I have no doubt that the vibration, over time, would have led to a more serious failure.

@voron @JustinDerrick @GottaLaff

This is why I insisted on a car built by people treated fairly (and bought an Audi in 2022).

@deirdresm @voron @GottaLaff I talked my neighbour out of buying two Model Y’s, and they ended up with two Audi’s instead - I think they’re plug-in hybrids.
@JustinDerrick @GottaLaff they recently stopped giving out loaners to customers who are out of warranty. I live about 130 miles from the nearest service center, and they have made damn sure you have to go to them for service. My car broke down, said the high voltage electric system had a problem and quoted $300 for repairs. I had to pay to have it towed down, and arrange for alternative transportation for the week and a half they had the car, then they changed their quote to $1800 after it was down there already, and ended up replacing the HVAC system?? My car wouldn’t turn on, and the fix was to replace the entire HVAC? This seems like poor design, total BS or both. Previous repair had a similar inflation of price after getting it in. Went from $200 to replace a hardware component to over $2000 after the car was already there, for the same component they quoted $200 for. They are always rude and are terrible at communicating. I had to hound them every day to get updates like “we will get it fixed when we get it fixed.” They also make it nearly impossible to talk to a real human, all repair appointments have to be scheduled, paid for, and communicated about through the app. They also don’t even vacuum out your car or run it through a car wash like every other dealership I have taken cars to. Tesla is a shit company that shits on their customers and I don’t think anyone who owns one and has had to suffer through their “service” will be surprised when they start to go under. Sorry for the rant, but man do I hate Tesla.
@exsangus @JustinDerrick @GottaLaff I could agree with you more. We had nothing but problems with our 2017 Model X. Sold it before the warranty was up because it would have been a money pit. Had a Model Y paid for but kept getting delays on delivery. The Tesla dealer was such a pain in the ass to deal with so I finally said “Nope” you’re not getting my money and cancelled. Bought a Toyota instead. Dealer was polite and it never breaks down.
@exsangus @JustinDerrick @GottaLaff
I have a few things to say about KIA. Is there an automotive instance on Mastodon?