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Texas Lawmakers Want To Stop Tesla From Fixing Its Own Cars (electrek.co)
In Texas the local car dealer lobby has blocked Tesla from selling its cars directly to customers. They're using old laws meant to prevent car manufacturers from competing with their own local dealers -- but Tesla never had any local dealers!
And according to Electrek, it gets worse... Despite this issue, Texans have bought thousands of Tesla vehicles, which the automaker delivers from other states to comply with the law. Tesla has been able to service those vehicles through its own service centers, which are not subject to those same direct-sale rules, but now dealers are even going after Tesla's right to service its cars.
Quartz offers some additional coverage: At issue is a battle over money. Car dealers derive much of their revenue from selling and (especially) servicing vehicles. Tesla's direct-to-customer sales and service stations are a threat to that business model since they cut dealers out of the transaction.
And according to Electrek, it gets worse... Despite this issue, Texans have bought thousands of Tesla vehicles, which the automaker delivers from other states to comply with the law. Tesla has been able to service those vehicles through its own service centers, which are not subject to those same direct-sale rules, but now dealers are even going after Tesla's right to service its cars.
Quartz offers some additional coverage: At issue is a battle over money. Car dealers derive much of their revenue from selling and (especially) servicing vehicles. Tesla's direct-to-customer sales and service stations are a threat to that business model since they cut dealers out of the transaction.
Nope. I had mobile repair replace my parking brakes (warranty issue) and rotate my tires. He did it in my garage with a jack. The whole point of mobile service is that while it takes the repair guy a bit more time (both in driving and in working), it saves them a ton of overhead in buildings, so it ends up being cheaper.
The same type of laws are present in all 50 states. Most of the states have had those laws for 50+ years, with a few going back 100 years. A few stragglers joined in the last 30 years, with Texas being the last one. So those accusing Texas of doing this because of some anti-Tesla agenda should read up on history, and look into their own states' laws before throwing stones. It'll be a helluva lot more productive towards repealing these laws or updating them to reflect how cars are purchased and repaired in the 21st century.
He is no more at risk with an auto repair tech than he is with a plumber, appliance repair, HVAC repair, etc.
Ken
I was kind of curious so I did some quick Google searches. There was one article based on a report about which states are most susceptible to corruption. The top state was curiously enough North Dakota which apparently is due to the fact that they have few laws or regulations in place designed to prevent it. Texas was 1 of 16 states with a passing grade in that report.
Another article discussed the results of a study that looked at convictions for federal anti-corruption laws to establish rankings. Here the most corrupt state was Mississippi. I had to click through to the study since Texas wasn't in either the top or bottom 10, but it's listed as the 18th least corrupt state in the rankings.
One article that did report Texas as corrupt (it only came in 15th) was one which cited a report that looked at laws in systems each state has in place to prevent or curtail corruption. In this case the worst rated state was Wyoming.
FiveThirtyEight also has their own article from a few years back that delves into the topic. Texas does have a lot of corruption convictions, but on a per capita basis, it's in the top third. In this assessment, Louisiana is the most corrupt based on convictions per capita, Kentucky had the worst reporter rating, and Georgia is indicated in having the greatest lack of laws to prevent corruption. Oregon, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are respectively the least corrupt states based on those same categories.
In conclusion, you can apparently measure corruption in several ways and get a variety of results. Texas seems to be pretty middle of the pack in an overall sense.
Tesla mobile service is awesome. They come to you and fix the car. Since Teslas don't need any routine maintenance (no oil change, tuneups, etc.), you only need service when something breaks. Again, since the cars are so simple (electric motor, big battery) there's not much to go wrong.
In 75,000 miles, I've only needed service twice. Once for water in a tail light and once for a door handle repair. Mobile service came and fixed the door handle. Fast and easy. (Tail light was repaired under warranty before mobile service was available.)
Auto dealers are pissed at Tesla because EVs don't need any of their overpriced service. So happy I don't have to go to the dealer for oil change, etc.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Texas - as Red and GOP as you can get
Unlike Connecticut, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, which are Blue and restrict manufacturer-direct sales completely or to a large degree..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... And if you think that manufacturers wanting to sell directly to consumers is a new idea, then I have a bridge to sell you.
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
Modern ICE cars do need oil changes and have finicky emission systems which require regular maintenance.
Teslas really don't need any routine maintenance. Even brakes seem to last forever because of regen.
The early production of the door handle retraction mechanism had a weak pivot gear which broke. The replacement is much stronger. Same with the early "drivetrain failure" which was just a "milling sound" due to lack of lubrication in early production models. The whole drivetrain can be dropped by removing about 4 bolts so the easiest thing to do was exchange them and send them back to the factory for rebuild. My car (a 2015) fortunately hasn't had that problem.
The reality is that the cars are very reliable and people have driven them hundreds of thousands of miles with very little maintenance or repair. Even the batteries are proving to be be solid with less than 10% degradation over 100,000 miles so they should last a lot longer than an ICE car.
Tesla has loosened up their policy on parts so anyone can buy any replacement part and shop manuals and of course there are salvage parts available so anyone could open up a Tesla repair shop. Problem is that they don't need much in the way of maintenance and repair so not much of a market.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Except that rather than $20k every 5 years, we're on track for $10k every 15. An amortized $1k/year is less than what I spend on gasoline.
https://www.plugincars.com/tes...
https://cleantechnica.com/2018...
I don't read AC A human right