[mkhpalm]

> Then again buy or lease a BMW and you'll need to pay a lot of money to the dealer for simple parts to be changed, because a, the parts are pricey, b, the parts are hard to access. The Tesla at least doesn't have that -hardware- issue.

But you can buy parts for a BMW. Its not even an option to buy OEM or aftermarket parts with a Tesla. That simple fact cuts out a huge segment of the market from even considering one. You have the crowd that can afford to keep a late model car still under warranty (soccer moms, yuppies, suburbanites, etc) and then you have everybody else who drives used cars or runs them for business. That second group needs to be able to buy parts and the realistic ability to fix them themselves, independent shops, or fleet service. Without that teslas are disposable vehicles. Most people aren't going to buy a second wrecked tesla and park it in the side yard just so they can keep their daily driver running. They'll just buy a different car unless Tesla can sell theirs so cheap everybody will be able to buy another every couple years.

[mancerayder]

That's not true, and there are OEM modifications for Model 3s. And even, I hear, software mods. It'll probably do something terrible to your warranty but you can do aftermarket mods. I found some stores online by accident when searching something unrelated, and I've seen Model 3's that looked modded.

My point above was that talk to any BMW owner about maintenance costs and see if it's any better than the rent seeking concern around software above.

I'll give you a strike against Tesla if you want one, though. If I wreck my car or get it replaced, I lose Acceleration Boost because it's not tied to my account in any way.

[mkhpalm]

There are no licensed aftermarket parts makers for Tesla and you cannot buy parts from Tesla without being Tesla certified.

This is unusual and unique for auto manufacturers. And its the only thing like it other than other industries such as agriculture (e.g. John Deer). Normal federal laws require auto makers to produce or stock parts for a time period after manufacturer date. This is usually the reason you have licensed aftermarket parts from other makes. Its also the reason GM forced everybody to return all those EV1s since they didn't want to take the loss making those parts after the trial run. Federal law also requires standard interfaces for diagnostics and information such as OBD2. So both state or federal inspection can happen as well as automotive techs can keep the economy going when your vehicle breaks down far from a licensed dealer. The US isn't being weird here, almost every country has the same sorts of rules on the books.

Tesla has these "strange" and extremely unique exemptions from both. Not entirely sure how you get those since its extremely lucrative to have. GM would have probably let people keep their EV1s if they had them. You'd certainly see regular makes come to production with more popular concept cars and keep them true to the concept if they had them. Basically, every other make would love to do the same thing Tesla is doing right now. But for them, they have no choice but to play the uneven playing field if they want to enter the American market. So they have to remain more cautious and careful about what they do release into the wild.

You can "mod" anything but that is not buying new suspension components or even a windshields. And hacking it is no different than what farmers keep trying to do with their John Deer equipment. That is also why right-to-repair is such a big issue. What I can't understand is why nobody ever talks about Tesla there. They're probably the biggest offender.

[mancerayder]

> Tesla has these "strange" and extremely unique exemptions from both.

I'm curious why. I've heard that they're exempt from reporting reliability because of some legislative tie-in to emissions reporting. Is it similar to that?