In terms of reliability.
No. Elon Musk won't share his mechanic information with anyone so if your car has a problem, you can only send it to Tesla. Plus, you are also dealing with lawsuits and half of your car going on fire with those batteries if not treated correctly.
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/postid/136986/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/tesla-longevity/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/are-teslas-really-endless-money-pits/
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/what-do-you-think-about-teslas/
My worry is that global events risk sending lithium prices to the moon with Elon.
In the past year, heavy demand and covid lockdowns have already driven litium prices north by over 200%.
No, if you are after reliability I wouldn’t bother with Tesla’s or any EVs for that matter. Even though they have fewer moving parts but the whole vehicle is a high tech computer on wheels that has not been fully vetted out, and if you take the case of Model 3 and Y, long term reliability is unknown. Already those vehicles have issues with panel gaps, fit and finish, paint, malfunctioning electronics, battery degradation (more than normal), rattles, panoramic roof cracking or flying off in some cases, and that’s without even putting serious mileage and age (years) on the vehicle - imagine what they will be like after 100,000 miles and 8+ years?! These cars are also rushed during assembly as Elon is trying to hit his numbers and doing so at the expense of quality.
If you really find yourself wanting a Tesla despite warnings by Scotty and the rest of us here, then I recommend you only lease one and return before the bumper to bumper warranty expires. You don’t want to be lift with getting the electronics fixed outside of warranty. Since it’s not a Toyota, the odds are higher something will malfunction electrically beyond the warranty period, worse the vehicle shuts off and it is bricked at an inconvenient time/location.
EVs are also evolving and getting better over time (and who knows which technology will win out in the future) so you would still be an early adopter/guinea pig for this technology.
Thank you for the thorough answer. This does make me wonder why I see some people, like my neighbor, driving teslas.
@Aaronnn reasons why some people buy Tesla’s: https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/why-do-people-buy-tesla/#post-132196
Back in the early days of personal computers, we had a saying, "Beware the bleeding edge of technology."
They buy them because they think they're all "hip" and "woke" and all that crap.
Tesla has horrible fit and finish.
Battery is expected to go. Probably reliable during warranty period, but after that probably not.
I conjecture the electric motor will be relatively reliable. Maybe a bearing might go bad eventually.
In terms of are they with the money? I think it depends on your situation. If you regularly have easy access to a slow charger and the time necessary to slow charge, it might be worth it.
If you don’t have easy access to a slow charger, and you travel long distances frequently, probably not. Infrastructure is the big obstacle here.
And the reason I saw slow charge js because fast charging will deplete your batteries capacity faster than slow charging.
If you're asking are Teslas reliable, the answer based on data would be not really.
If you're asking are they worth the money, nobody here or anywhere can answer that question as worth is relative to the individual appraising the item.
Why do you see people driving Teslas?
1. They like the look/styling
2. They like the Tesla brand image
3. They support Elon Musk and his ventures
4. They are curious if the hype is real
Many reasons. I find them quite neat as a tech geek and would own one if the infrastructure was better for charging them. I don't like Elon and I wouldn't expect it to be extremely reliable, but not all decisions in life are made based on practicality. Life is short, and sometimes you buy something just because you simply feel like it.
Absolutely NOT.
