Toyota Owners Jump Ship to Tesla

That's all based on when the $35k model 3 would be available. Elon predicts next year, but again all those backlogs from 2016 probably wouldn't see those cars for a very long time. Its going to take a very long time unload a backlog of 500k reservations with a failing inefficient manufacturing system. Its just going to get worse trying to release more models on top of the model 3 such as the Y model. If I was the CEO of Telsa, the first thing I would change is top level management and the philosophy of the company. I would train management on Total Quality Management from top to down approach based on Deming's 14 point philosophy. I want to keep it customer focus and quality first. I would get rid of all the robots, be more conservative on new design changes by implementing a kaizen "continuously improvement" approach on existing designs without compromising reliability and quality. I would implement a Just-in-Time system for the production line, to have supplies ready in a timely manner to eliminate waste, cost, time, over-processing etc. Having a human centralized system, offers greater advantage of visually inspecting every single part for defects during assembly to eliminate manufacturing defects and wasteful material. You simply can't do that with automation when defective parts get missed during assembly resulting in higher rates of lemons produced. If Tesla doesn't change its philosophy on how it builds it's cars and fix its production problems, the company will forever struggle and burn through cash. There's a reason why Toyota dumped Tesla's shares because the two companies have a very different philosophy. Toyota puts quality first as they didn't want to risk those chances. Tesla Model 3 scrap high at Gigafactory - Business Insider
Report claims Tesla has been manufacturing FLAWED parts | Daily Mail Online

 

Has anyone thought that Elon does not want to sell a 35k cars. He is in need of cash, $50k plus cars will bring him faster out of the red. The low end Model 3 has been placed on the back burner.

 

Yeah, getting destroyed by the media, and you, unfairly without knowing any of the facts. The NTSB released a preliminary report today on the crash that killed one person in the S.F. Bay area last month. The findings, "The NTSB report also indicates that not only did the driver not have his hands on the steering wheel in the final six seconds before impact, but there was "no precrash braking or evasive steering movement detected." The driver also had his cruise control set at 75 mph in rush hour traffic.

This is a tragic accident. Unfortunately a person died because of his own inattention to driving. You and the media may want to use this tragedy to bash Tesla, but that is the height of cynicism to use this incident to push your false narrative and agenda.

 

Huh! That's not what I read, it looks like his vehicle sped up and veered to the left right before impact....so the main question is what caused the vehicle to veer left? Driver or autopilot?

 

@orenji, you are a day late and a dollar short. Elon himself said that he was releasing the more highly optioned car first to facilitate cash flow. This comes as no surprise and is news from a year ago. Elon said that the $35K car will go into production as soon as Tesla shows a profit. He said the Tesla will show a profit by the end of Q3/18. He said that the $35K car will go into production in Q4/18, that is 4 months from now. I know, I have one scheduled for production at that time, yes, the $35K car (but I will load it up with about $11K in options).

 

Good to know.

 

Read again, the subject car was following a car in front at 62 mph with the cruise control set at 75 mph. When the car in front moved out of the lane, the subject car sped up to the pre-set 75 mph, as set on the cruise control just like my Prius would do and does! The car veered to the left trying to follow the lane lines. The driver did not take control of the car, correct the steering wheel, apply the brakes, or take evasive action. He made a lot of errors and lost his life as a result...........just as Prius drivers do sometimes.

Who sets their cruise control at 75 in rush hour traffic? Some Prius drivers do.

Who doesn't apply the brakes when they are about to hit an object? Some Prius drivers don't.

Who doesn't try to steer away from a potential accident? Some Prius drivers don't.

Do we blame Toyota or do we blame the Prius driver?

 

Glad you have it all figured out, and NHTB is still scratching their heads on what happen. I ask you this, if Tesla did not have autopilot installed, would this man more then likely be alive today?

 

Mom's Subaru is 19 years old, her previous Buick was traded in at 18 years old. My Mustang is 21 years old. What do all three of these cars have in common? Fluid leaks! Rubber and plastic dry out and become brittle with time. Seals start leaking, headlights cloud over, the steering gets sloppy due to dried out bushings, etc., etc. New parts aren't always available, particularly odd plastic body and interior parts, except for "New old stock".

Toyotas may be made of some unobtanium materials not available to other manufacturers, but my anecdotal evidence is that ~20 years is the limit for normal cars before parts start needing to be replaced due to time rather than mileage.

 

So that is a 200 word paragraph that says “yes”?
Again you said it would be “years” until anyone sees a $35 version (not including delivery fees, sales tax, etc). Does that mean a minimum of 24 months from today? 36? Just looking for a minimum timeframe.

 

Not exactly. If you read the sections quoted by the Seeking Alpha site it may seem that way.
If you read the full NTSB statement it is a little more clear.

There are still questions, the investigation is no where near done. This is just an initial release of preliminary findings.

Oh, and to your question, no, he would not be more than likely to be alive today. Anyone paying that little attention to the road, especially in an area they know is dangerous, is playing with fire.

 

@orenji you didn't read the NTSB report that came out yesterday. I quoted from the report. Read the report and educate yourself.

No, the man wouldn't be alive today driving any car. He was a careless driver.

 

Neither did Tesla announce they were building a car for the masses.

They said it would be more affordable, and it is, but they also stated it was going to be in the same segment as the BMW 3 series and Mercedes C-class. Neither of those are cars for the masses.

Many Model S and X buyers came from a luxury brand, and many hadn't even owned a hybrid before the Tesla.

If the average working class are buying pick ups with lifts like you see, yes they can afford a Model 3 that is being built now. A bare bones, 2WD, regular cab pick up with base engine costs more than a Prius Prime. Pick a larger cab, and the price goes past $30k. Start adding 4WD and the optional engines, and the price will quickly climb past $40k. The high performance Raptor model is over $50k.

Despite just having 76k miles on the Sable, we got rid of it because at 16 years things were starting to leak, and the body was rusting. Had replaced the A/C clutch recently because its innards had basically rotted out.

 

I forgot to mention that at the rate mom drives, hitting the 500k mile mark would take a couple centuries! Her 99 has about 40k miles on it, and she doesn't drive as much as she did when she was younger.

 

Yeah but the vast majority of those trucks are bought 2nd hand as you loose a ton of money in deprecation buying a new Vehicle. I see a lot of older trucks and SUVs on the road esp older 4Runners, Highlanders, RAV4 etc. I never buy new cars. New cars are best for leasing if you like driving a late model car every 2 or 3 years.

 

I buy new cars because I keep them for 10 years or more. Leasing is the expensive way to drive a car.

 

Its more economical to buy cars used. You are still locked in a $25k or $35k loan that you will generally be upside down the whole time owning the car to due large depreciation hit in the first 3 years. Just like Scotty Kilmer that's only owned 4 cars in his entire life as he bought used Toyota's and drove them for 20-30 years. His old 94 Celica would probably out live him ha.

 

It's more economical to buy a bicycle. I don't worry about depreciation or loan amortization since I purchase for the long term.

 

You loose all that money once you sell the car. Some of the best used cars to buy are young age cars with highway miles on them that you can pick up for a bargain. They have very little wear and tear and tend to be in near mint condition vs one with low miles driven in the city that takes a beating. My 09 Toyota happened to be one of those cars that I bought 2 years ago with 160k miles on it. Now I have 187k miles on it.