The graph of Test Aankoop also gives numbers on overall owner hapiness. Even while being last in terms of reliability, it scores 2nd in terms of overall hapiness (right after Porsche). So it must not be that bad, right?
Not really. Could be the case that if you're in the 90ish percent that has no problems, you love your car, but if you're in the 10% bucket you're screwed.
Similar analogy: I love JetBlue, when there aren't any problems. Wider seat pitch, better entertainment system, good value. When there are problems though, it's a nightmare. Once my flight was cancelled due to "weather" (mind you it was a beautiful sunny day, and I counted one other cancelled flight on the entire airport departure board). JetBlue said they could get me on a flight 3 days later, and gave 0 assistance getting on another airline because they don't have any of the "peering" relationships other airlines have. All they did was refund my money the day of, and no compensation because it was for "weather".
This jives generally with what I've heard about Teslas: people fanatically love the cars, except when autopilot steers you into a truck or a concrete divider.
>This jives generally with what I've heard about Teslas: people fanatically love the cars, except when autopilot steers you into a truck or a concrete divider.
It's always an 'on balance' determination vis a vie what owners care about.
Yes, not everything fits right in my 2018 Model 3. The right headlight is not flush with the hood. You can hear that the windows aren't secured when rolled down and you close the door.
Everything else is brilliant. 95k miles in, I've had zero drive train or mechanical issues. Three sets of tires and an underbody shield that tore when I hit 6" of standing water at 70mph. Conversely, the punch when you hit the accelerator is exhilarating, takes curves flat and fast, the sound system is excellent, it's so quiet, I can drive for hours without physical discomfort, the seat material is durable and doesn't scuff or fade.
I drove a 328i for 20 years that I loved dearly. I haven't given it a 2nd thought since buying the Tesla.
As a fellow 2018 Model 3 owner (70k miles), I concur.
If you look at the reasons CR gave them a low score, it's fit and finish + the HVAC system (which have seen some pretty drastic changes since our vehicles in 2018).
My experience, brand new the condenser pump was too close to the frame (causing a knocking sound). A mobile tech came out, added a rubber pad, and it's been perfect ever since.
When I read the consumer report article listing panel alignment as a reliability issue, I'm suspect. I'm not trying to ignore the fact that it's pretty terrible for tesla to pay so little attention to these things, especially at the price, at at the same time the issues these cars have are generally both cheap/free to repair (especially since they are often caught at the point of sale) and then done for the life of the car.
Side note: My prior car, a ford edge, was WAY worse in reliability towards it's EOL (130k). By the time it got there, the fan belt had cut through the brake line (Um, wtf?), the brake master cylinder had sprung a leak, the alternator went out, the battery died, and the transmission was on it's way out, the HVAC failed and the compressor needed to be replaced. All fairly spendy repairs from regular operations. That's not to mention the regular oil/fluid changes, brake changes, and new tires.
Are you talking about all Teslas or some particular model? I am looking into the current Model X and it seems to have more problems than HVAC and panel alignment. Even the most reliable in their ratings Model 3 has dings for "body integrity" (which apparently stands for squeaks, rattles, wind noise and broken seals), "body hardware" (latches, locks, power windows etc) and "power equipment" (all small moving and illuminating stuff, probably wipers in this case) on top of the "paint/trim" and HVAC you mentioned (unless you meant panel alignment to be the body integrity issue then you get paint/trim issues).
Probably the halo effect of ‘doing good’ by driving an EV. It’s like when people choose to use the bank with a less slick app, website, local offices etc but that does ethical banking. The service is objectively worse, but those users probably rate their overal happiness with the bank very high.
The driving experience in an EV is objectively better, on the whole, than a gas car. The climate factor doesn't weigh into the driving experience. It's the instant torque, the always-full-in-the-morning home charging, the lack of smell and noise, the easy maintenance, and (in the case of Tesla) the in-car computing environment.
It's not about the "smug" or "halo" factor. If it were, why would so many people be lining up to buy the electric F-150?
That ‘objectively better driving experience’ rates almost dead last in reliability. Charging can be a negative as well, if your ‘tank’ is nearly empty it’s a 2 minute top-up with gas but a 30-60 minute wait with a BEV.
You are not allowed to do maintenance on your Tesla, everything is locked down.
You are literally the “smug” you are protesting.
And I say all these things as a guy that wants all cars to become BEV as soon as possible (well, I’d rather have public transit be prioritized, but people are egotistical and shitty).
The point is that people aren't buying EVs because of feel-good environmental sentiment. They are buying them because the cars fit well into their lifestyle.
Sure, could be. I could imagine that as cars get more expensive, "happiness" with a car comes more from the satisfaction of owning a luxurious car and less from its reliability. I would imagine that someone who owns a Lamborghini is happy about it, but they are anything but reliable. On the flip side, reliability is kind of the point when you buy a Toyota.
It certainly seems to be the case that reliability isn't that bad for the typical owner. Of course, if more people than the initial enthusiastic buyers start driving Teslas, the satisfaction might decline.
FWIW, I did a quick calculation and satisfaction and reliability aren't really correlated (coefficient of 0.17). Fiddling with a few other models didn't find much more of a connection.
Not really. Could be the case that if you're in the 90ish percent that has no problems, you love your car, but if you're in the 10% bucket you're screwed.
Similar analogy: I love JetBlue, when there aren't any problems. Wider seat pitch, better entertainment system, good value. When there are problems though, it's a nightmare. Once my flight was cancelled due to "weather" (mind you it was a beautiful sunny day, and I counted one other cancelled flight on the entire airport departure board). JetBlue said they could get me on a flight 3 days later, and gave 0 assistance getting on another airline because they don't have any of the "peering" relationships other airlines have. All they did was refund my money the day of, and no compensation because it was for "weather".
This jives generally with what I've heard about Teslas: people fanatically love the cars, except when autopilot steers you into a truck or a concrete divider.