It's not. It assesses road-worthiness (aka safety), not reliability.
That article is often quoted in sensationalist media to smear Tesla. Look for actual mileage data and they are one of the, if not THE most reliable vehicle.
Our car inspections are handled by German TÜV, and they do not inspect superficially. If, ~14% of a single brand of car which is ridden with LEDs (which should live forever when compared to halogens), advanced drive systems and other stuff are failing, and has to be re-inspected because of they can't meet the standards, that's pretty bad to be honest.
Failing TÜV means your safety critical systems have problems. This means brakes, suspensions, lighting (front and rear), screen wipers, etc.
So they check for pretty basic, but crucial stuff, and they're tested in a pretty detailed way (brake fade, stopping power, etc.). If your car is failing in just two years in these areas, you're not reliable, and your car will not age well, period.
My 25 year old car aces the test all the time, and the biggest complaint I got on my report is "Your wipers leave streaks, LOL!".
Nope, I don't. I only do its normal interval services. I don't like the cheat the system.
> Also, this doesn't sound environmentally friendly to me.
I'm planning to buy a new hybrid. On the other hand, it has a cat, is our family car since the beginning, so it's in a very good shape emissions-wise (it's tested regularly). Newer cars are better, of course, but it's not an oil burning, smoking, smelling smoke-stack. Its exhaust isn't covered in carbon even.
It's safety, yes. To fail this test there can be any number of causes but for Tesla they specifically mention light, axle, and breaks as failure points.
The 14.2% was for cars receiving their first Hauptuntersuchung (main inspection) done every 24 months (so 2-3 years old cars). If a car model has that many problems while competitors in a similar price range and use model don't, that could point to an issue with part quality.
Other than lights, the problem with control arms and brakes are known. Brake service is recommended and ignored because unlike VW, et all - there's not stealership model to charge you $500 a year for worthless maintenance.
If you translate the article and read it, you will find that there are a lot of reported issues with the headlights. It is hard to find exact information on the actual issue in detail, but I'd suspect it's about the calibration of the headlights in most cases. That's a minor issue and calling it a reliability problem doesn't seem accurate. Also quite conveniently, they don't really mention that Teslas have significantly more mileage on average than other electric cars when they have their first TÜV visit. It's common for the German press to blow things like these out of proportion when they don't like a brand.
I think the German car industry and the press around it as a whole have a serious corruption issue.
I am sure HN has made up their mind already and this discussion wouldn't have an effect on your opinion anyway, so please feel free to continue downvoting.
> you will find that there are a lot of reported issues with the headlights.
Correct, but you just happen to leave out the mentioned issues with the brakes and axles as clearly stated in the article.
> In addition to defects in the brakes and axles, the Tesla also has a particularly high number of lighting defects.
If you want to point out issues, which is absolutely fair, please don't cherry-pick.
> but I'd suspect it's about the calibration of the headlights in most cases
So its a guess on your part. Lightning defects can mean any number of things.
>Defects in the lighting such as defective bulbs, broken or blind lenses or incorrect adjustment are significant defects.
Incorrect adjustments are part of it, yes, but if that's the case I would argue something with the construction of Tesla's lamps is not done correctly. Other manufacturers seem to have fewer problems. That or Tesla owners don't service their cars often enough. Regardless, it guessing on our part unless we have access to detailed data.
-----
You linked to an article that is over 10 years old. Besides that, ADAC, which that particular piece is about, is not the company responsible for doing the TÜV inspection, nor is it the one to actually publish the report.
> I think the German car industry and the press around it as a whole have a serious corruption issue.
The car industry I can agree on. The emissions scandal is a particularly shady example. As for the press, I'd take a more neutral stance. There are absolutely a large amount of low quality news papers and magazines pumping out hot garbage. Others do offer much higher quality writing and research.
Look, HN people don't like Tesla. A lot of German people in positions of power don't like Tesla. Suddenly an article appears that explicitly highlights Tesla vehicles as not passing TÜV because they allegedly have quality issues. The article mentions no details. If you search for details on Google, you get a list of very similar looking articles all citing the same statement from a TÜV person. None of those provide any details on the actual issues. If no details are provided, the only thing to do is guess.
It's really quite clear what's going on here.
The TÜV does not assess the reliability of a car. The reasons for a car failing an inspection after 3 years can be manifold. It doesn't mean that the car "won't age well" or anything along those lines.
If you dislike Tesla, then say it - it's fine. No need to support vague smear campaigns.
In fact, right now Tesla has the best electric car technology available on the market. Along with the best charging network available on the market. And the best software (light years ahead of the competition) on the market. Also they don't require you to service the car for a long time. That makes German people especially afraid that they lose their car manufacturing, selling and servicing business. And rightly so. No smear campaign and no comparing apples to oranges will save them from reforming and restoring their competitiveness in a very long painful process.