[matteotom]

I can't remember where I heard this but it stuck with me: Teslas are the new American muscle car - fast in a straight line, but otherwise poor build quality and lacking the attention to drivers' experience you get from European brands.

[sssilver]

As a person who owned multiple Teslas I really don’t understand the “poor build quality” sentiment. What other car at the same price point has better build quality? And if one or two do, does that make the Teslas build quality “poor”?

I had a MINI. That was a build quality disaster. Major engine issues after only three years. I now have a Silverado 1500 LTZ. It has obvious build quality issues. Interior isn’t as good as it used to be. Gearbox has a banging sound. My Teslas seem so much better than either of those or most other cars I interact with really. I sat in my friends Toyota Camry the other day. The interior seemed so much cheaper, the sound quality so much worse, the cabin was so much more loud than my humble Model 3. What about my car has poor build quality that I am oblivious to?

[unsnap_biceps]

Build quality is less about how the interior seems cheap or not but about tolerances. A Camry can have cheap plastic everywhere, but if the connection points don't rattle, it's a "better" build quality. But the truth of it is that the majority of people don't notice the build quality. A cup holder is a cup holder, even if it slightly rattles or is slightly off center.

The main example is the panel gaps on Tesla body. They can be offset by a "large" amount compared to other car brands, but it doesn't harm anything and you have to look for it to be noticeable.

So do Tesla's have a bad build quality? Yes, if you define it by tolerances, but no if you define it by "Does it feel low quality". And the debate online is largely with people talking past each other with differing definitions of what build quality actually means.

[mellow-lake-day]

Some examples of build quality issues are the metal sheets that are glued on and coming off during driving. As well as accelerator pedals that get stuck.

[GCUMstlyHarmls]

I think the parent covered this,

> They can be offset by a "large" amount compared to other car brands

[kelnos]

> if you define it by "Does it feel low quality"

The funny thing is that whenever I get into a Tesla, the interior just feels kinda cheap and of low-quality/low-effort design. That's not saying anything about their build quality, though.

[SoftTalker]

> What other car at the same price point has better build quality?

Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Audi, Honda, Toyota, Accura, Lexus....

[qwerpy]

It’s one of those things where you can claim Teslas have poor build quality and you get a free pass, but you will be “source?”d to death if you contradict it.

I’ve had several Teslas and even currently have their supposed disaster of a truck and have not encountered this alleged build quality issue. My car before that, a Honda Civic, spent much more time in the shop purely on account that it needed oil changes and expensive scheduled maintenances once or twice a year.

[ronnier]

I have two teslas and the build quality is amazing. I never do anything to them other than change the tires. Haven’t even touched the breaks. It’s the ultimate daily driver and I’ll never buy another type of car.

[mulmen]

Build quality is attention to detail, not reliability.

Your hydraulic brake systems need to be flushed every couple years to prevent corrosion, even if you don’t use them.

[kridsdale1]

Lexus.

[tw_wankette]

I have a Lexus LX, one of the most expensive Lexus vehicles ever made. I love it. It was made in Japan.

Tesla panel gaps and quality are fine. They had some early issues, but the damn things are basically body panels hung off of almost entirely cast chunks of metal. There is not a lot of room for wiggle. If anything, they're so we'll integrated that they're hard to repair after a crash.

[rainsford]

Maybe. But crucially Teslas, and EVs in general, don't look like muscle cars and they're not marketed that way. Yeah they can be insanely fast in a straight line, but the appeal of muscle cars was about a lot more than straight line performance.

I'm not actually sure any EV could capture what people like about muscle cars, but you're definitely not going to get it from some futuristic transport blob that just happens to have a low 0-60 time. The Tesla roadster might have captured some of the sports car magic, but it's telling they don't make that any more (for now). I don't know if they could do the same thing for muscle cars at all.

[dumbmrblah]

I have a Polestar, its great. It's the closet EV that I've driven that's similar to my Corvette in terms of speed, handling etc.

[threetonesun]

Many 60s/70s American muscle cars had racing pedigrees. It was a coupe with a V8, one could argue they were replaced by the JDM market with turbo 4s/I6s in the 90s early 2000s.

Maybe more importantly, either of the above had an appealing visual style (to some!) and had their own community around them. Teslas are pretty visually boring, you can't really modify them, but I suppose they have a community of their own who debates which version of software drives the car for you better.

[ux266478]

At the time that the muscle car came into existence, there was nothing wrong with the build quality of American cars compared to European cars. It wasn't until the mid-70s that this changed.