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Consumer Reports No Longer Recommends the Tesla Model 3 (cnn.com)
Consumer Reports is pulling its recommendation of the Tesla Model 3, citing reliability issues with the car. "Tesla buyers are more likely to be satisfied with their car than customers of any other brand, according to Consumer Reports," reports CNN. "Yet the publication says many customers reported problems with the Model 3, including loose body trim and glass defects." From the report: "Consumers expect their cars to last -- and not be in the repair shop. That's why reliability is so important," said Jake Fisher, senior director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports.
Tesla pointed to its overall customer satisfaction rating from Consumer Reports and said it has corrected many of the problems found in the survey.
"We take feedback from our customers very seriously and quickly implement improvements any time we hear about issues," said the company statement. It said the survey was conducted from July through September, "so the vast majority of these issues have already been corrected through design and manufacturing improvements, and we are already seeing a significant improvement in our field data." Last May, the product testing website failed to give the Model 3 a recommendation due to issues with braking, but ultimately reversed its decision after Tesla released a firmware update improving the car's breaking distance by nearly 20 feet.
As usual with any product, beware version 1.0
Any number of problems tend to crop up, I'm going on memory but I'm fairly certain this happened with other Tesla Models when they were first introduced as well. Those problems were sorted out over time, but buyer beware for being an "early adopter".
I design and have engineers and programmers develop for me and mass manufacturing reliable systems is really hard. The 80:20 rule means there will always be an issue you don't pick up in pilot runs. The other car manufacturers have had decades refining designs and production systems. I'm actually surprised Tesla have had few problems as they have had.
but.. providing they survive, they will learn just like all the other car companies have, and fix their quality issues... it's a balancing act between capital expenditure (in tooling, engineering, prototyping, testing) and profitability.
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Jeeps come to mind. I'm on my third one now (still have two) and happy with them. They do what I want my vehicles to do, and I've put a lot of trouble free miles on them.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I fear long term, support will be poor and parts hard or impossible to get. I have heard several reports or refusal to sell parts to unverified persons or people with blocked VINs, (the vehicle was salvage). They are also very technology driven, which in the past has shown does not age well. Hey look at my Tesla with a 10 year old LCD screen! Give me a knob to turn or button to press. Nothing worse then touch screens.
Actually you could be surprised how many relatively trivial repair jobs could require removing the intake manifold since the components are being packaged more tightly with each generation. This specially applies to most cars with transversally placed V6 engines. Most people for example get a sticker shock when they find out how much it costs to change the spark plugs on the rear bank on such engines.
Since the beginning of Tesla experienced transportation people have observed that it has always been possible to carefully build premium automobiles (and buggies, and chariots, and oxcarts) and sell them at low volume for a premium price at a decent profit to the founders. The difficulty comes when the seller fills its premium market and tries to expand to volume. Daimler-Benz and Cadillac managed to do that successfully; 10,000 competitors from 1895 forward did not. And Tesla? Still to be seen.
Do people actually follow the Consumer Reports recommendations? Just curious.
Personally, the one thing I liked about CR was the "Consumerist" blog their subsidiary ran, but after they unceremoniously closed it down nothing else about CR seems of value. Hence the curiosity, does the public take them into account in buying something like a car?
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
So Consumer Reports knocked points off a car because consumers had issues operating it?
Weird. Oh wait, that's their job.
I have a Model 3 - picked it up June 2018. I'm in Canada, only thing wrong with the car is cold battery issue and had some issues with the charging port freezing. Brought it into Telsa, they fixed it in 2 hours. Wife drives almost exactly 100 miles daily, we are saving a LOT in fuel. I believe our electrical bill at the house has gone up by about $100 a month vs the $500+ in fuel we were spending on her previous ride. The car steering is tight, accelerates amazingly, refreshing interior, a pleasure to drive. Definitely worth the minor (very minor) trouble we have experienced with it. Already 18,000 miles on the car, feels the same since day one. Can't say the same about my Chevy Tahoe. 2016, 38,000 miles stupid issues all over the place. Cold battery a big deal? No it does not affect my wifes 100 mile commute. When cold, doesn't accelerate as quickly (still plenty better than most cars) and takes longer to charge. I score the car an easy 9 outta 10. Thinking about a model X now too.
When your automated assembly line fails and you rely on out-of-process-import-workers-from-another-line-and-final-assembly-in-tents technology, you are going to run into quality problems.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
People seem to think that starting any business should be as easy as opening a lemon aide stand. However starting something like a new car company isn't remotely easy even if you have tons of cash and an army of engineers and technicians who know exactly what they are doing. It takes decades to learn the little tricks and trade secrets needed to ensure your product is as good as the competition. This is why we can't build another Saturn V rocket despite the fact that we still have one we can take apart and we still have the original blue prints. In reality, it would be cheaper and easier just to design a brand new moon rocket than to try to make another Saturn V. Also, I am sorry libertarians but this is a major problem with your fantasy of a completely free market. Once a car company takes out its competition it will be almost impossible for someone else to come in and compete. The remaining car company will then be a monopoly and will be free to screw over consumers any way they want. Sometimes it is good when the big scary government orders a company to break into smaller ones.
For all the flak news outlets throw Tesla's way every now and then, the evidence from actual owners on my own small part of the world has never expressed any level of unhappiness with the Model 3 or Model S.