[marincounty]

I don't care if it's overcomplicated, as long as someone besides Tesla can fix the vechicle when it eventually breaks down. I don't want to be stuck with a vechicle that can't be repaired reasonably, when that warranty ends? It seems like no one cares about repairability anymore. This post is not geared towards Tesla. I know nothing about servicing them.

I want vechicles/appliances/electronics/watches that can be repaired at a reasonable price. I don't like throwing stuff away, being held hostage, or forced to buy the next model.

Whenever my father bought a new vechicle, he would immediatly buy a Factory Service manual. At the time, I thought he was being cheap, but boy was I wrong. I ended up picking up a lot of my dad's traights. This one saved me thousands over the years.

My father's last truck had the option for power windows. I asked him why he didn't get that option. He was retired, and had money to burn. He told me, "I can roll up my own windows! Plus, it's another thing that will break down!" (This was before automobile companies finally got all the weak spots out of electric windows.) (I used exclamation points because he was always uptight/mad?) Well that was his last vechicle. He died too soon. I miss you dad. I wish you were happier in life.

As an proud Union Electrician, he would have liked the Tesla, as long as he could work on it.

[exDM69]

I'm with you on this one. Cars these days are too complex and while some of it is for a good reason (e.g. computerized engine controls to improve economy and emissions) but a lot of it is just gimmicks, like power windows or the fancy door handles in a Model S. I'd much rather see no electrical wiring inside the car doors at all, it's just another part to break down and are not essential for the car to perform the task it needs to - just a little convenience item.

I live in a place with rather hostile weather in the winter time. I'd be a bit wary of getting a Tesla, not because of the reduced range in the winter (it's still good enough for me) but because I'm afraid the fancy door handles would freeze shut. But I guess this is a moot point, because if I could afford a Tesla, I could also afford a garage to store it in.

[andygates]

"Cars these days are too complex" ... said everyone, at every stage in the history of motoring. We get comfortable with a certain level of complexity and after that, change is get-off-my-lawn bad. But it's a human thing, not a tech thing.

[dsfyu404ed]

There wasn't much to complain about when going from flathead to OHV, OHC and adding basic EFI and maybe forced induction because those things were relatively small and self-confined changes that created large benefits. Now they're using technology to tie subsystems together and fine tune the vehicle system as a whole. The problem with that is that it creates inter-dependency within the system. How are you supposed to adjust your power mirrors|seats if the wiring for the courtesy lights keeps blowing the shared fuse.

Unless a major breakthrough in drive-train technology comes along that can be taken advantage of we're in the long slow march of the optimizing process where you spend 90% of your resources to get that last 10% of performance.

[tsotha]

>This was before automobile companies finally got all the weak spots out of electric windows.

They still break. Just replacing the switch is over $300 for most cars. I'll stay with my crank windows.

[trymas]

+1, that's what I had in mind, by saying that those doors are overcomplicated, but was not eager enough to write more than two sentences. :)