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Comment by kevin_thibedeau | Hacker News Reader

Is it a joyous experience when you have to wait 1 month+ for basic replacement parts to arrive? How about when your consumer grade touch panel dies from heat and vibration?

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Don't know, my experience has directly contradicted this popular narrative. I think, perhaps, these experiences are less frequent than public outlets suggest.

Tesla owner since 2015 here. We don't even have a service center here in the Boise, Idaho area (closest one is Salt Lake) just Mobile Techs. Had always had great service experience with our Model X and 3 (sold the S for the newer tech on the Model 3). They show up on our driveway after I schedule service on the app.

We now have two technicians because of the influx of new owners, which is surprising to me since Boise is not exactly a major city.

Similar experience here. No issues with getting parts.

I've had issues getting parts for my model S. Additionally the service experience has generally been a complete shitshow. I deeply regret purchasing it.

That is the fear I had in the back of my mind standing in line to reserve a car, sight unseen. Really sorry you have had such a bad time, hope it will improve for you.

What is a basic part? My seat rocker broke and I walked into a service center and bought a new one for 2 USD.

What's a seat rocker? Google is turning up household furniture.

I believe its the button on the side of the chair to adjust it

I challenge you to go to the teslamotorsclub.com forums or Reddit and poll ACTUAL users.

You will quickly find that this is NOT the majority. I frequent those forums and most users are very satisfied with their cars.

You have to acknowledge that there's some selection bias in a sampling from a forum for a particular car brand though.

Anecdotes from people who voted with their money > random opinions on the internet.

It's the usual effect: you mostly get 5 stars and 1 stars. Broad middle not motivated to post.

I think you're missing the point... It's people who have not even used the product that I'm talking about here. Akin to those who claimed that the iPhone is stupid because it lacked a QWERTY keyboard. History have proven all of those people wrong and Apple changed the entire smartphone industry...

On top of choice-supportive bias for current owners of any car brand.

most car owners don't wrench on their own car, statistically speaking.

for those of us that do, Tesla does a lot of self-defeating with the way they handle repair and service.

fyi: all car forums are filled with negative experiences with that specific car. The people usually go to forums to try to find help, not to espouse the greatness of their investment.

> fyi: all car forums are filled with negative experiences with that specific car.

Which car and what forums? Care to post some links that are at least more than a week old?

> The people usually go to forums to try to find help, not to espouse the greatness of their investment.

Not true! There are a ton of bad experiences with lackluster customer service. I myself experienced it an posted it at teslamotorsclub.com (Tesla ended up making it right!). So I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion.

I'm not OP but I've read a lot of long wait time for body repair & parts posts over in /r/teslamotors. Tends to be an issue that has slowly been getting better.

For example:

- https://old.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/byc1gt/im_abso...

- https://old.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/8nqh2b/i_got_r...

- https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/ae1goq/waiting...

- https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/bjcedf/waiting...

- https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/ae4lhv/psa_if_...

A good Google Dork is: site:reddit.com/r/teslamotors "Waiting" "parts" "support"

Your first link was for a NEMA 14-50 adapter and Wall charger order on the Tesla online shop and is not a car part? Which supports what I said regarding lackluster customer service. I'm not disputing that.

The last 4 examples are ALL collisions/accidents that involves many parts and a ton of body/structural work... OPs claim was "1 month+ for basic replacement parts to arrive"

I mean, alright, but a five month wait time for a repair after an accident is completely unacceptable. Just because "basic replacement parts" might not be totally accurate, the spirit of the claim absolutely is.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/bjcedf/waiting...

> I mean, alright, but a five month wait time for a repair after an accident is completely unacceptable.

It sure is, but OP was implying that it's the majority when it clearly isn't.

I know that was a big issue in Norway but I have not seen owners posting those complaints lately, so it might have been resolved?

In one sentence, "it clearly isn't", and in the next sentence "it was a big issue"?

Read between the lines carefully. I mentioned that it was a "big issue in Norway". Last I checked, "majority" is the entire market.

I don’t know why this comment is getting downvoted. While I generally love Tesla, I recently had a wheel alignment issue that literally no other car repair shop could handle except for Tesla’s and I had to wait almost a month for an appointment while my tires continued to unevenly wear.

They are apparently currently in the “support hell” phase of growth... They’ll get past it

> I don’t know why this comment is getting downvoted.

I guess that it's because it doesn't relate to the context/spirit of the parent comment.

Someone is grumpy that either A: they can't afford a Telsa, or B: their car is slower than a cheaper Tesla.

Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Part availability is a valid complaint about tesla. This seems to just be a blatant attack on the poster for no reason.

It seems justified though. The person before them was speaking from an overly emotional perspective.

Imagine describing sitting in a parking lot watching YouTube in your car a "joyous experience".

Have you never found yourself alone in a car waiting for someone / something?

Imagine being this eager to shit on someone else’s pleasure.

I installed the update and with the immersive sound on the Model 3. It is a great experience ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

As strange as it is to a pedestrian such as myself, sitting in parking lots with the climate set to your liking, the doors locked, and a media on the screen, seems to be an increasingly popular past-time. I personally don't understand it, but cars selling to this use-case are seemingly more successful than cars that don't, and these parking lot homebodies are popping up more and more.

I think it could be because personal space is decreasing in many populated areas. Cars are becoming that for many. Even wealthy people in US cities may share space closely with their families, and the option to go for a drive and enjoy a movie night be a real joy.

People in Japan rent cars just to sit in them!

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/5/20683406/japan-car-sharing...

I imagine a lot gig economy workers sit in their car between orders. What else are you going to do between uber rides? You either listen to something, watch something, or read a book. Maybe you are seeing some of those?

> sitting in parking lots with the climate set to your liking, the doors locked, and a media on the screen

Spotted the person who’s never supercharged a Tesla

One place where I can see this as a being useful is to give people something to do while they're waiting for their car to charge.

Which is exactly why they are installing Wi-Fi at Supercharger stations.

Imagine imagining.

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