Och

iTrader: (3)

Great for Tesla, but IMHO they should slow down their sales until their quality control can catch up, and until they add service centers and parts suppliers that can keep up. Right now people are waiting for months just to book a repair appointment.

AMIRZA786

That's like shooting themselves in the foot, they cannot slow down their sales, it's not an on and off button. Tesla doesn't advertise, most people just order directly from their website. Companies exist to present positive earning results, that's what Tesla is doing. Imagine a company telling it's investors we are stopping sales because we have to much sales

Och

iTrader: (3)

But they will lose buyers on repeat business when they get frustrated that they can't get their cars repaired in a timely fashion.

AMIRZA786

That's actually not true. I'm around Tesla owners and buyers and they are willing to wait 6 to 8 months for their orders. And most don't care about the quality issues because they know Tesla will fix them. My brother in law is on his second Model S, both had some minor quality issues, his first one had to have the screen changed. Tesla's quarterly earning report yesterday proved that they are only gaining customers as well as retaining current ones

Och

iTrader: (3)

Orders are orders, repairs are a whole different issue. When you're already in possession of the car, and something breaks but Tesla isn't able to fix it for months on end, people get frustrated. To be fair, the entire industry is experiencing similar issue right now, with no end in sight.

AMIRZA786

That's definitely an industry wide problem right now. In my area Tesla sends mobile techs to people's home and office, that may be one reason Tesla owners are willing to put up with some inconvenience because they like the brand. BMW owners I've been around are similar, they are always getting stuff fixed under warranty, for them it's no big deal and is a normal part of the ownership experience. Certainly Toyota/Lexus customers would be less patient

sg021

I can give some insight here, as ours is currently in the shop from a minor accident. There are more authorized body shops than there used to be, but still in need of more. We took it to the closest authorized place. It was close, but farther than I would normally want to go (~30 min). Their lot was at least 50% Teslas. I talked to them a bit and they said lead times are not too bad as Tesla has an east coast parts center now. If it's in stock there, they get it quickly.

We had also repaired hail damage at one point through a dent repair place and had to take the car back again at a later time for a couple trim piece replacements as the lead time on them was a couple weeks.

Service centers cut both ways. There is no scheduled maintenance. There is mobile service. Both of those are fantastic. If you have something that must go to a service center to fix it is not convenient or set up well in my opinion. They need to invest more there, and in some places the dealership laws need to be changed to allow that.

Where I live, and based on my driving history, I think the Tesla model still gives me the best solution overall. Most of the time it's the most convenient, but the ceiling for worst case inconvenience is higher.

JeffKeryk

What I think or what you think does not matter; the market considers Tesla a luxury car.
By the way, Lexus, BMW, MBZ, etc are terrified of Tesla.

swajames

Absolutely spot on.

Och

iTrader: (3)

There is absolutely nothing luxury about a Tesla, especially a model 3. It's interior is far worse than most econoboxes such as Mazda 3.

swajames

That's the last thing they should (or would) do. It's not exactly like Tesla's quality issues are a well-kept secret. They are obvious and well-understood by owners and prospective owners. And yet they are selling every car they can make, and demand continues to outpace supply.

Yes, they absolutely need to up their QC game. But they can do that in parallel with growing sales. You would only have a point if the quality issues were impacting sales. And for reasons best known to actual buyers and customers, they aren't.

Och

iTrader: (3)

But they are impacting sales. There are many potential EV customers that will never consider a Tesla because a) they are about as luxurious as a city bus, b) awful QC, c) horror stories when it comes to repairs.

swajames

Well apart from the drivetrain, the performance, their lead in technology, their brand appeal, the likelihood of post-purchase increases in features, range and performance, and that these things and more appeal to affluent consumers.

LeX2K

I get the sense some people think luxury has to mean pillowed cushions with buttons.

swajames

An argument that can't possibly be true because demand continues to outstrip supply and growth in that demand shows no sign of slowing. What you are suggesting is a distinction without a difference until supply outstrips demand, which is likely some way into the future.