Cybertruck reliability concerns?

[TruckDaddy]

If Tesla doesn't over-engineer the drivetrain with very beefy components, the endless memes with Cybertrucks parked on the side of the road with 14,000 lb. loads that it couldn't handle while a Ford roars by will be embarrassing!

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[madquadbiker]

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.

That’s the problem the world over, management wanting to shove it out the door ready or not while the skilled line worker that’s takes pride in their work have these career paper shufflers without a skill or trade breathing down their necks.

 

[ct355]

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.

The panel gap issues is a non-issue for me. I have a 2020 Model 3 Performance Stealth and yes, it does have the odd panel gap here or there. The interior has a few squeaks and rattles. Yes, these are valid concerns, but in my mind they aren't a factor to my enjoyment of the vehicle.

I traded my 2013 Audi S8 in for my Tesla and honestly it was one of the best moves I've ever made. Was the Audi more luxurious? yes. Were the 22-way adjustable leather wrapped seats more comfortable? Ahem... yes they were. Were the panel gaps perfect? Just about. Was it more fun to drive? Hell no. Was the Audi faster? Again, no. Does the Tesla need a $4000 brake job ever 4 years and $3000 in tires ever 2 years(no kidding)? Absolutely not!

The mechanical reliability of the Tesla should far and away exceed that of the Flagship Audi super sedan. I am expecting at least an order of magnitude in powertrain life over my Audi V8TT - which was known to have issues with turbo's throwing turbine blades at the cost of $10k+ to repair.

Having said that, I suspect the Cybertruck - of which I'm a reservation holder - will be dramatically more buttoned up on initial quality than the Model 3 or the Model Y. Mechanical reliability of the CT will be on a completely different level to the Model 3. As far as fit and finish, the production methods used to build the chassis will be millimeter-perfect. Laser cut, scored, metal brake bent into position and welded by a robot. The only opportunity for panel gaps will be on doors, frunk and tailgate - all of which will be without curvatures and variation. Factory adjustment can be completed by a machine and verified by a machine, not a human. And of coarse there won't be any paint issues to be concern about either.

 

[Old Pro]

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

Our household has a 2018 Tesla Model 3 RWD with Long Range Battery. We had an issue early on related to a battery discharge while parked, that was due to my wireless not extending to my garage where the Tesla was parked during a vacation. Problem diagnosed by Tesla Service Technician that came to my home and Tesla Engineers remotely. You sure as heck would not receive that type of warranty attention from other manufacturers! Issue resolved to my satisfaction and I learned of the importance of establishing a good wireless connection for my Tesla to receive updates. (There have been several updates provided to improve the function and reliability of the Model 3-try that with another manufacturer!)

 

[TruckDaddy]

Having had 2 Priuses with regenerative braking, I only used the brake pads about once per 12,000 miles, would have easily lasted over 5 million miles, given my driving style.

With Tesla, I anticipate no wear items in the first 500k miles, other than tires, cabin air filter, and wipers.

 

[drscot]

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

How to manage the "wait": it is really quite simple and practical. Purpose to pay 100% cash for it on arrival. Save like the dickens. You will discover your "wait anxiety" replaced with "will it arrive before I am ready anxiety?" Doesn't matter. Save hand over fist and you may or may not have to borrow some, but you will for sure have to borrow LESS and that should help alleviate some of the monthly payment angst. I have almost saved enough for the sales tax (ugh!). Why does the damn government always feel entitled to my wallet? Just for those who think the rich should pay "their fair share" (Elon shouldn't be taxed at any higher rate than any other American), my accountant calculated my TOTAL tax burden to ALL entities to be 89.83%. That's right. I'm damned jealous over my less than 11 cents per dollar left over!

 

[T3slaDad]

I would love to chime in on this as an owner of an early 2018 LR RWD M3.

I have had 5 service calls since purchasing the car second hand. All 5 of them were handled by a mobile tech, and took about an hour each (about 20min of fanboy-ing out with the techs is included).

Asking for service is a breeze! Pop open the app, tap service, choose from a variety of options, and it'll let you know if you need a service center or mobile tech and the soonest availability. You can even upload photos of the issue! After that, you'll get text confirmations followed by texts the next day confirming the appointment and asking about any additional issues, any questions they might have about your claim, etc.

All the "issues" I've had have been very minor and I have 25k miles. The 2 technical ones I had were one front USB port stopped working, and the screen had the yellowing issue early on (my only major issue). Both were repaired for free under warranty.

I have my first body related issue coming up in 2 weeks which will be in a service center. I'm not too nervous about it since it's for the side skirts warping (common on early M3's in hot weather) and hopefully a proactive repair of the "rear bumper falling off in flooding" issue now that they published awareness about it. The steering wheel is also starting to make an interesting noise and odd vibration when it moves and the tech will look at it.

Growing pains of having a first adopter version of the M3? Yes. Still worth every penny? Yes!! Are these detrimental issues? Nope!

The thing is, you'll hear lots of similar stories on early adopter Tesla's or really, any Tesla that's still in the warranty period. Owners want to take care of every little thing they can while it's still free, so they are nitpicking all the minor details. In reality, the car itself works like a champ! The motor, battery, etc are built to last practically forever, which is actually a major concern for other EVs and not newer Teslas. THOSE components are the expensive ones.

Also, keep in mind the panel gaps issue was a big FUD move and it really isn't bad. Plus on the CT, most of the body is a folded exoskeleton that's one piece, so you have way less panels to worry about "having gaps" on.

 

[ajdelange]

Asking for service is a breeze! Pop open the app, tap service, choose from a variety of options, and it'll let you know if you need a service center or mobile tech and the soonest availability. ...

I wouldn't exactly say that. The first time i tried to use it it asked me to enter the problem in a text field and then where I wanted service. As I didn't want to drive an hour an a half into Montreal I asked for ranger service, It presented a bunch of addresses close to mine, I chose the closest, edited it to my address and pressed NEXT. The app hung. So start all over. Same result. After a couple of rounds of this I concluded that ranger service was not available and so made an appointment at the Montreal SC thinking the Mrs might get a kick out of going to the Montreal SC as her father's old factory was located right across the street. The appointment was confirmed by messages and e-mails. Next day comes a message/email saying my appointment has been changed to a couple of weeks later and moved at the Tyson's Corner (VA) SC (where I bought the car). Cancel that and repeat with exactly the same result. So why not just call and straighten this out? Tesla was not answering phones in those days (and I don't know if they are to this day).

I get the bright idea that maybe I can schedule ranger service at one of the pop up addresses and just be there to meet the guy if it works. It does! On the day of the appointment I get a call saying we'll be there in 15 mins. I tell him don't go there, come here and a few minutes later two guys show up at the house. Roger the comment on 20 mins spent yarning with these guys about the cars, how they like working for Tesla etc. Turns out they were brothers. Nice guys,

They pull out a laptop, connect it to a connector in my car, there is much conversation between them after which they ask if I have WiFi. I give them the password. Much more consultation after which they announce that they can connect to the mother ship but it won't allow them to authenticate and they don't know what to do. I suggest, in desperation, that they take the car to the address that the system accepted for the appointment to see if things will work there. Off they go and half an hour they are back with the the problem (passenger seat positioning controls inop) fixed. WTF? They tell me they "reprogrammed" the seat.

One year later I'm in a new model X (the first time car was also an X) with the same problem except that it is driver's side. This time the app accepts my address but tells me no ranger service is available and I'll have to go into Montreal. I decide to wait until we're back in VA 10 minutes from an SC (my wife got to see the old pill plant when the car's navigation computer failed earlier in the summer).

Evidently problems with the scheduling software have been fixed but also apparently ranger service has been, at least in some areas, curtailed which is a real pity because it is (was) great if you are 100 miles away from the nearest SC (or even if you are 10 minutes away from one).

Now note that I am not bellyaching about Tesla service. There are clearly some areas where they could do with some improvement but I can't say that my service experiences hae really been bad. The only serious problem we've had in two cars is the failure of the nav computer and they fixed that in a couple of days while we drove around in a brand new 3 loaner which was fun. Also if you are on this site you are so intrigued with Tesla and/or BEV in general that you are willing to tolerate the current situation and probably worse. Finally, I can't say that Tesla's service is really that much worse than any other manufacturers other than with respect to paucity of service centers.

 

[Martin Harford]

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

Ha! "Manage the wait"? What are you gonna do? Blow a fuse? Dance a jig? Throw a tantrum? What are your options besides managing? I manage to keep funneling money into my Tesla Cybertruck account and enjoy watching the balance grow. That's how you manage the wait! Besides my large monthly additions, I have a piggy bank method for bills and change too. There's a method to my madness and it adds up to a bigger Cybertruck account.

 

[Diehard]

I see a lot of Rivian testing on line, towing up hill, trips off road in South America. Has anyone seen anything for CT? Is Tesla just good at hiding their test or consumers will be doing the testing after the purchase Microsoft style?

 

[Cyber_Dav]

...consumers will be doing the testing after the purchase Microsoft style?

Don't leave out Tesla FSD style.

 

[mrschwen]

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

Consumer Reports is not a valid source for information about vehicles. Probably invalid for anything else either.

 

[ajdelange]

Ha! "Manage the wait"? What are you gonna do?

Log onto ABRP and plan trips. You'll learn quite a bit about BEV operation by doing this.

 

[Frankenblob]

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

Technology
A Tesla Model S erupted ‘like a flamethrower.’ It renewed old safety concerns about the trailblazing sedans.
One firefighter told the driver he was lucky he got out when he did, after the car’s motorized door handles retracted
By
Faiz Siddiqui
Dec. 28, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. EST

NHTSA are now involved.

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

Consumer Reports is not a valid source for information about vehicles. Probably invalid for anything else either.

CR is about as good as it gets, tbh. I think it's just important to read into the details. Yes, the early Model Y's have had a lot of problems, but do those problems bother you? The problems were things like panel fits, paint, etc. To me that's not reliability, but quality control. Those things are of low priority to me. I do very strongly care about motor failure, battery failure or degradation, those type of things that leave you with a crap car or even stranded. To me that's reliability. Most data seems to indicate that Tesla's have become very reliable after the initial 3 years of the Model S.