[Elora]

> "Tesla ranks almost dead-last on Consumer Reports reliability list"

I find this laughable. We're on our 3rd Tesla and we've never had anything even hinting of a reliability issue/getting stranded. There is absolutely no maintenance outside of consumables, which is really just tires, as the brake pads last the life of the car if you drive it as it's meant to be driven (regen); maybe windshield washer fluid? There've been a small number of minor things, like a seat belt tensioner on one of the three started rattling. They came and fixed it in my garage. 12V battery was on its way out on our oldest Tesla, car gave a message ahead of it dying (so, proactively avoided leaving us stranded by using software to interpret collected measurements), Tesla came and replaced it in my garage in 10 min for free. New cars are supposed to get Li-Ion 12V batteries soon standard, so the company is purposefully improving reliability. (Note: yes, Teslas have a 12V battery for auxiliary/emergency power, i.e. in case you run the EV battery all the way down you can still operate door locks etc).

Just doesn't add up calling cars that are known to intrinsically be super low maintenance and have much lower part count/complexity unreliable. Everyone I know who drives a Tesla has the same experience: zero maintenance, replace tires every 30-40k miles or when you get a flat and that's pretty much it. One of the main reasons I highly prefer EVs is because of reliability and lack of maintenance. Something seems fishy here.

[apexalpha]

You're already on your 3rd Tesla in 10 years?

Besides that, it's still anecdotal. There's a whole array of issues with Tesla's Quality.

Now that they got some competition in the top segment they dropped to only 25,000 Tesla S/Y delivered last year. They need to seriously improve their quality control if they don't want to be wiped out in the mid segment too.

[gpapilion]

So California expires car pool stickers that let you use the hov lane after 4 years. The only way you can get a new one is to buy a new car. (I believe they are phasing the program out). It probably explains why the commenter has 3 in 10 years.

The internet is to create a robust market for electric cars. The complaint is that it favors rich consumers.

[TomVDB]

The suspension arm of my colleague’s Tesla broke. He showed me the broken part. It was something that should never break.

My other colleague’s Tesla had multiple major issues, including one that requires an engine to be replaced.

They both still bought a new Tesla after that, and so did I, because they’re just so fun to drive, but your anecdotal evidence doesn’t disprove a fact about a 10% failure rate.

[judge2020]

I imagine you mean motor instead of "engine".

[fma]

You're on your 3rd Tesla? My parents still have their 2001 Camry and I still have my 2006 Corolla.

3rd Tesla in what, 10 years? is nothing to brag about...actually - to use your words, I find this laughable that somehow you think you've pushed your Teslas enough to see any hint of reliability issues.

[amluto]

My Tesla disagrees with your Tesla.

Also, when something breaks, you have to put up with Tesla’s abysmal service and the black hole that is their customer support.

[pengaru]

> I find this laughable. We're on our 3rd Tesla...

Maybe if you didn't treat your vehicles as disposables you'd experience more of the wear and reliability problems?

[pandaman]

It could be that the lack of maintenance is the issue. When I take my car to the dealer for an oil change it goes on a lift and gets looked over by a mechanic (I get a video of this, so this is how I know). Tesla it not a magic carpet, it has the same suspension, brakes, tires etc. as a normal car. How often a regular Tesla gets lifted and its undercarriage is looked over? Perhaps not as often as every 10K miles when an oil change happens on my car?

And a Lithium 12V battery is not more reliable than a regular acid-lead. You can get an aftermarket one for any ICE car and some come with it as standard. It's only good in a warm climate though because in cold weather it will lose charge quickly unlike an acid-lead.

[mgraupner]

Perhaps driving 155mph or up to 200mph (max speeds of the various Model S) as it is possible in Germany puts another level of stress on the suspension and they start to fail prematurely. Maintenance is not the same as reliability. So not laughable at all.

[SpelingBeeChamp]

As far as I know, no one has driven anywhere close to 200 mph in a Tesla.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38453459/tesla-model-s-pl...

[mgraupner]

Thank you for the information, I was just looking up the max speeds in Wikipedia.

[Xylakant]

Fun bit of history: When Buell started selling their motorbikes in Germany, the motorcycles didn’t survive being driven large stretches on the autobahn - which lead to the famous recall party in Oschersleben where some of the factory team flew in from the US to fix and upgrade Buell motorcycles.

[solarkraft]

Where do you live? I have the suspicion that the experiences vary mostly by region, where the bay area and other big american areas have relatively good service, but other areas are considerably worse.