>> $13,078.58 to fix a quarter-size hole
Years ago I read this advice "Find an under-served market and serve it cheaply."
There's an opportunity here for a 3rd party to service and repair Teslas at a reasonable price.
Years ago I read this advice "Find an under-served market and serve it cheaply."
There's an opportunity here for a 3rd party to service and repair Teslas at a reasonable price.
We're quickly entering a world where car manufacturers are trying to extract profit from subscriptions (see: BMW heated seats, Toyota remote start, Ford BlueCruise, etc). On top of that, most cars are now shipping with an encrypted CAN bus, which lands us right back in the same "trusted computing" quagmire as every other consumer electronic device.
Their existence doesn't but their success does. If and when Framework becomes large enough to steal a significant portion of marketshare from less repair friendly companies, they will adapt or die.
There are success stories here; IBM and Panasonic didn't struggle to find customers for the Thinkpad and Toughbook respectively. But the market was never forced to "adapt or die" as you put it; in fact, the rugged and repairable machines were now the ones that had to adapt. How can you compete against a monopoly on repair pricing?
Looks like selective quoting to me, the quarter sized hole was under the battery pack, which was damaged.
Since the hole was punched upward from the ground, it counted as exterior damage.
So $13,078.58 to fix the hole and battery pack issue.
That makes a used Tesla a less attractive option, and makes any Tesla more expensive to insure. In the long term that also makes new Tesla's less attractive. Low resale value and high insurance costs both increase the monthly cost of owning one, which is the number the majority of consumers will look at.
What else is required to remove and reinstall?
I could see a new pack costing about 10k retail, probably 7 mfg costs.
To remove and install a new one:
0: Lift car on Jacks.
1: Disconnect old pack connector at car.
2: Discharge old pack
3: Remove old under-armor panel
4: Remove old pack from car
5: Install new pack in car
6: Install new under-armor panel
7: Reconnect new pack to car
8: Run diagnostic tests
That looks like a 3 to 4 hour job minimum, with specialized equipment dealing with high voltage to me.
I think 13k is not a bad price at all.
But that means a Tesla does not have as low a cost of ownership as people originally thought. It doesn't need oil changes, but now you have to deal with a low resale value and high insurance costs. The savings on fuel and mechanical maintenance may be lost to that.
My bets are on supply chain or Tesla refusing to honor warranties if you get work done elsewhere.
At least until people start to consider them unrepairable.
But it probably comes down to right to repair, and can Tesla be shown as impeding this right. My guess, is yes. But I also think, as usual, the authorities are reluctant to penalize Elon. He makes such a stink about such things, they'd rather penalized John Deere.
> With Activation Lock, your Apple ID password or device passcode is required before anyone can turn off Find My, erase your Mac, or reactivate and use your Mac. Even if you erase your Mac remotely, Activation Lock can continue to deter others from reactivating your Mac without your permission. All you need to do is keep Find My turned on and remember your Apple ID and password.
> Only new Tesla parts, Tesla-approved fasteners, and Tesla-approved structural adhesives must be used when performing repairs on Tesla vehicles.
https://service.tesla.com/docs/BodyRepair/Body_Repair_Proced...
What’s not clear: how much are those “new Tesla parts”?
Tesla uses some scary language to make it seem like they are the only ones that can repair their product.
They have taken a page out of the Apple playbook.
I didn't read all the was too the fine print, but these statements are patently nonsense. Maybe doing the things they don't like will void your warranty or something, but adhesives don't get stickier just because Tesla decrees it.
They may well advise you on what to do, or even try to fuck up your car's software if they detect you've defied them, but they can't just issue commands or make statements about the impossibility of letting someone else fix your bumper.