Cybertruck reliability concerns?

[string33]

I have never owned a Tesla but I have always wanted too . I have a CT reservation.., just hoping I can mange the wait. Saw this article the other day about Model Y reliability concerns. Consumer reports references things like paint issues and panels not lining up. To me those are more cosmetic concerns and not so much reliability. Reliability to me means mechanical issues, something that would impair the vehicle from working properly or having a shorter than expected useful life. Do Tesla's have these types or reliability issues? Are you anticipating concerns with the CT? Does Tesla stand behind its product with a good warranty? Service is good?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/tech/tesla-model-y-reliability-consumer-reports/index.html

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[Blue Steel]

Yes, I expect the CT to have issues. Probably a lot for at least the first year of production.

And yes, I expect most of the issues will be annoyances like panel gaps or rattles. Mechanical breakdowns are still fairly rare, even on the problematic Model Y. The problem is with the Y, if you have a panel gap issue you may need to drop off your car to be fixed. And that can take awhile. So even though the issue was minor it still left you without a car.

I will be interested to see how the CT will be received. A huge problem for the Y has been paint issues. No surprise there. But that won't be an issue for the CT obviously. And it's a truck. Maybe people will have... different expectations coming in.

 

[Luke42]

And it's a truck. Maybe people will have... different expectations coming in.

The crowd which buys middle-class vehicles (and pickup trucks) is much harder to satisfy than the luxury-car set.

If you can be fired from your job for poor attendance, having a reliable car is non-negotiable.

As someone who prefers the reliability and image of a Honda/Toyota, I'm amazed by the crap BMW owners will put up with.

Mass-market cars are held to a *much* higher standard than luxury cars when it comes to mechanical reliability.

You can compare apples-to-apples by looking at the times Mercedes vehicles have been imported to the US under another brand-name (like the Sprinter vans, the 1st-gen Chrysler Pacifica vehicles, or some of the Jeep platforms). Those vehicles get negative marks on reliability every time.

I'm happy to not be at the front of the line for the CT. I'll let the people who are buying exclusivity have their exclusivity, while Tesla works out the bugs at their expense. Everybody gets what they want.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I have never owned a Tesla but I have always wanted too . I have a CT reservation.., just hoping I can mange the wait. Saw this article the other day about Model Y reliability concerns. Consumer reports references things like paint issues and panels not lining up. To me those are more cosmetic concerns and not so much reliability. Reliability to me means mechanical issues, something that would impair the vehicle from working properly or having a shorter than expected useful life. Do Tesla's have these types or reliability issues? Are you anticipating concerns with the CT? Does Tesla stand behind its product with a good warranty? Service is good?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/tech/tesla-model-y-reliability-consumer-reports/index.html

The CR article must be based on consumer complaints rather than any research because the a Model Y build quality is now pretty good. CR should do some real evaluation if it wants to be valid. Their autopilot evaluation was lame, as though the GM system could be compared to a Tesla...

That said, these types of problems won’t exist on the CT but will be replaced by others and we will need a few months to get them resolved. I am hoping that Tesla will be kind and resolve them for early recipients.

 

[Bigvbear]

If the model S is any indicator. You can google tesla cost over 200,000 miles (there are several articles by multiple tesla people)

There are several trends in out of pocket repairs. MCU and Center screens seem to be the most replaced items (and are out of pocket expenses due to being out of warranty when they died.) besides wear items like tires and wipers.

Some model 3 owners have also reported dead screens, but since this model is new most are replaced under warranty.

 

[97trophy]

No doubt about it the Fremont factory has ongoing output quality problems. From what I have read online part of the problem is the management 'culture' that pushes the line to focus on quantity over quality. I believe part of that is due to start-up pains from a new company desperate to grow.

Tesla is a company that is keen on learning and improving so I am optimistic.

 

[ajdelange]

Does Tesla stand behind its product with a good warranty?

Yes.

Service is good?

Uh, service is not Tesla's long suit. The first problem is access to it. This has temporal and spatial aspects. Where I live in the winter there are three service centres within say 20 - 25 minutes driving. The closest one is only 6 miles away but it takes 3 weeks to get an appointment. Just noticed your location. I'm talking Tysons, Rockville and Sterling.

Where I spend the summers the nearest service centre is about 2 hours away and the next nearest one 3. The first problem I had with the car (seat could not be adjusted) was up there but they sent a "ranger" to the house and so no problem. When the same problem occurred on my newer Tesla (except that it was the driver's seat this time) no ranger service was offered. Rather than trek into Montreal (which is now red zone) we waited till we came south but had to wait three weeks for an appointment for a repair that took an hour to do. Once you get in the service seems good. Employees are super friendly, helpful and competent.

There are many horror stories to be found about people waiting six months for parts. These mostly seem to be for body work and we hope those days are past.

The CT is going to be a new design built in a new factory and contain new technology. If, as an early adopter, you don't expect some burps you are very naive IMO.

 

[Blue Steel]

The crowd which buys middle-class vehicles (and pickup trucks) is much harder to satisfy than the luxury-car set.

If you can be fired from your job for poor attendance, having a reliable car is non-negotiable.

As someone who prefers the reliability and image of a Honda/Toyota, I'm amazed by the crap BMW owners will put up with.

Mass-market cars are held to a *much* higher standard than luxury cars when it comes to mechanical reliability.

You can compare apples-to-apples by looking at the times Mercedes vehicles have been imported to the US under another brand-name (like the Sprinter vans, the 1st-gen Chrysler Pacifica vehicles, or some of the Jeep platforms). Those vehicles get negative marks on reliability every time.

I'm happy to not be at the front of the line for the CT. I'll let the people who are buying exclusivity have their exclusivity, while Tesla works the bugs at their expense. Everybody gets what they want.

I don't think the CT will leave people stranded or unable to get to work anymore than the Y does, which is very rare.

By different expectations I was referring more to things like panel gaps. I see some of the pictures of Model Ys that get rejected and oftentimes the gaps are not that bad. I wonder if the typical CT buyer will be more like me. Middle class people that aren't put off by a little gap at the bottom of a door.

 

[Luke42]

I wonder if the typical CT buyer will be more like me. Middle class people that aren't put off by a little gap at the bottom of a door.

I spotted the inconsistent panel gaps on our Civic, and decided I liked the car just fine -- considering it cost about half of what the equivalent BMW would cost.

(I actually did a little bit of Civic / 3-series cross-shopping. My Honda dealer is a combined Honda/BMW dealer. I went over to the BMW side and looked at the 3-series while we were buying the Civic, but it didn't look like a good match for our application.)

Is eliminating those panel gaps worth spending an additional $20k to me? That would be a negatory, good buddy, I have much better things to do with $20k -- and that's before we even get to the TCO of the Civic on the monster commute we bought it for. That particular Civic (with Honda Sensing) was the best vehicle for that particular commute at any price when we bought it (prior to the release of the Model 3).

I'm approaching the CT as a long-term buy, which changes the picture somewhat. I care more about the details, because little things may needle me quite a bit after 15-20 years of ownership. I also care a lot about reliability and longevity in a way that those people who lease BMWs from the other side of the shop just don't seem to understand.

 

[Bigvbear]

I don't think the CT will leave people stranded or unable to get to work anymore than the Y does, which is very rare.

By different expectations I was referring more to things like panel gaps. I see some of the pictures of Model Ys that get rejected and oftentimes the gaps are not that bad. I wonder if the typical CT buyer will be more like me. Middle class people that aren't put off by a little gap at the bottom of a door.

I quote Elon "Making a prototype is easy, mass producing it is hard"

The prototype has a bunch of fit issues and things the did not line up.

I hope these are not worse when the production version rolls out.

 

[braddibbnd]

I view my purchase of a CT as the last pickup I'll probably ever buy. Little issues like panel gaps are not a big issue to me and some of the smaller nitpick items I may be able to fix my self. But my location in NW North Dakota has given me pause about buying a Tesla. The nearest service location is over 550 miles away in Minneapolis. And the Denver area is over 700 miles away. I likely won't have first production issues as my reservation is past the 400,000 mark. Even if I get one at the 300,000 mark, most problems will be ironed out. But our state has a Stealership lobby and best I can hope for is a service location in Billings, MT or Moorhead, MN within the first year of ownership.
.
So I'm definitely picking up the CT in Austin if that is possible. And really, really hoping it is the Armageddon vehicle that Elon is marketing it as.

 

[TI4Dan]

I view my purchase of a CT as the last pickup I'll probably ever buy. Little issues like panel gaps are not a big issue to me and some of the smaller nitpick items I may be able to fix my self. But my location in NW North Dakota has given me pause about buying a Tesla. The nearest service location is over 550 miles away in Minneapolis. And the Denver area is over 700 miles away. I likely won't have first production issues as my reservation is past the 400,000 mark. Even if I get one at the 300,000 mark, most problems will be ironed out. But our state has a Stealership lobby and best I can hope for is a service location in Billings, MT or Moorhead, MN within the first year of ownership.
.
So I'm definitely picking up the CT in Austin if that is possible. And really, really hoping it is the Armageddon vehicle that Elon is marketing it as.

I have the same problem I live in northwest Montana and service centers are not in this state yet. Of course in Washington 575 miles, it will make a 3 day road trip Maybe stay a few more days get my belly full of big city drive home and appreciate my small town life.
I don't know the actual count of CT owners per state but you are the second person in North Dakota with a reservation that I know of. At this time I think I am the only CT reservation holder in Montana. I plan on driving to Illinois were my friend retired, we worked for over 20 years for the same employer. I want to drive highway 2 over to Illinois but not enough superchargers to drive that route. I hope that changes soon I have family In North Dakota, so for now I drive my diesel truck which is no problem with fueling.

 

[jerhenderson]

I have never owned a Tesla but I have always wanted too . I have a CT reservation.., just hoping I can mange the wait. Saw this article the other day about Model Y reliability concerns. Consumer reports references things like paint issues and panels not lining up. To me those are more cosmetic concerns and not so much reliability. Reliability to me means mechanical issues, something that would impair the vehicle from working properly or having a shorter than expected useful life. Do Tesla's have these types or reliability issues? Are you anticipating concerns with the CT? Does Tesla stand behind its product with a good warranty? Service is good?

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/tech/tesla-model-y-reliability-consumer-reports/index.html

Short sellers love to push the narrative...... truth be told look at Legacy ICE vs EV vehicle life spans if you want to look at apple's to apple's.

 

[ajdelange]

Sure they do but prospective buyers need to have realistic expectations. Just as one has to approach fueling differently when fueling points are, relative to petrol, few and far between one has to approach service differently when service centres are few and far between. Buyers also have to appreciate that a young company selling a new product made in a new factory is not, with respect to the first months of production, very far along the learning curve. Even so I do believe the CT's will prove to be reliable in the long term because the company will ascend the learning curve and rectify the early production problems - many through OTA software updates.

I will mention that when I picked up my X the other day the guy took me out through a side door in the shop area because my car was around the side of the building. While walking through the shop I spied a huge pile of half shafts lying in the corner illustrating that Tesla does, as does any manufacturer, have some persistent problems.

 

[empiredown]

Coming up on 8,000 trouble free miles on our “crappy” Y. The minor issues we’ve had aren’t even worth mentioning. The car is awesome, my wife loves it, and I worry less about her driving it than any other car she’s owned. All the Chicken Little crap about the Y is just that. Crap.

Trying to extrapolate how reliable the CT will be based on how the other models have been is about as futile as trying to worry about whether they are going to honor your FSD price that you reserved at... Life is too short to stress about some things.

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