Featured Brand-new Tesla Model 3 strands doctor in freeway's left lane with 139 mi left on guess-o-meter

I know, but phantom braking was the complaint. They had it on that loaner vehicle. Instead of Lexus investigating, they kept telling people it was user error. It was not. The lexus dealer sent it out evan after complaints. Brake pads were probably worn even before the car was given out. That is much worse customer service and is just one example.

No excuses for bad customer service, but pretending that Tesla's phone support is much worse than other makes, when other service has resulted in death, and this resulted in a stranded car, is part of the problem.

She said she hit the brakes and it shuddered (anti lock behavior). Of course the car should not malfunction, but if she had not hit the brakes her speed was plenty high enough to pull to the shoulder. I am not blaming her, but that is one of those easy things I was taught in drivers ed a long long time ago. If you have car problems pull to the shoulder. I did not watch the whole video but read a description. I know how internet influencers operate. Tesla should have taken the car back, or at least told her what really went on, but compared to all the horror stories I have heard from other makes, this just means tesla is falling to the level of old line auto.

 

toyota paid a hefty fine for denying those 'unsubstantiated' claims.

 

IIRC, the main fine was over not reporting cases outside the country as required.

There was the one case discussed here though, with a Camry and woman's death, where Toyota was shown to not be uses best practices for software design in relation to the code controlling the brakes.

 

Wow. It sounds almost as if people are accepting odd behavior from their car caused by shipping a current model year cars with year old (outdated) software. By all reports the cars have been badly backlogged, so there's no reason for a newly delivered car to have obsolete software or firmware. That's just so far outside ANY "Quality / safety" protocols that it's ridiculous. Someone in Tesla's safety department needs to be fired for allowing that to happen.

I've had a couple vehicles suddenly stop while traveling at speed. a) A 5 year old Ford F150 pickup shorted out the ignition control system when a spark plug wire was routed across the ICS and shorted it out. b) A 7 year old Mazda RX7 locked up it's rear differential when the gears in it froze up, causing it to skid to a stop. In both cases the cars made it to the shoulder of the road, but not necessarily under complete control.

 

NHTSA and foreign agencies had been investigating for years. There were hundreds of publicly reported incidents. NHTSA had asked toyota to put in a brake interlock, but they refused and illegally hid information from incidents outside the US. Toyota is far from the only one doing this, but yes toyota investigated and then hid data from the regulatory agencies. There were at least 3 possible reasons for the hundreds of claims. The floor mats were one. There was no excuse for a toyota or lexus dealer to not investigate the claim on any car. The floor mats were a known issue as was one accelerator pedal issue with one manufacturer at the times of deaths.

 

I remember reading about joints on the Bay Bridge triggering phantom brake events. Then there was the brake pause problem in 2010.

A bump on a rain or snow/ice slick street could trigger 200-500 ms brake release. Toyota did a recall that changed the brake ECU software and I later confirmed the fix.

Bob Wilson

 

Over 3 million Tesla's driving around to date - more on the way, & this particular owner is getting center stage? Considering Boeing 737 Max's we're falling out of the sky not too long ago (the CEO walked away w/millions after putting in place the process that led to it) how many people are concerned about software failures today - for very long into the future?
That's the thing about history ignorami ..... prone to repeat.
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Recalled: Ram 2500, 3500, 4500, 5500 For Loss of Power | CarComplaints.com

hair on fire !!!! .... ram trucks loose power too. and here i thought it was just tesla

 

'problems with body fit, paint, weatherstripping, rear hatchback and climate control'

 

And according to CR, Tesla is tops for customer satisfaction.

"The rankings show that brands with a more conservative approach to new features tend to sell the most reliable rides, says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports."
Guess Toyota was correct in holding off with the Car Play and Android Auto.

I guess if a body panel comes off, you won't be getting to your destination.

 

Engineering calls this 'managing user expectations.' If the product meets your expectations, the buyer will be delighted.

It isn't the number of models that count as much as the model meeting expectations. So my requirements:

• low operational cost
  • low cost per mile based on utility flexible fuel cost, ~$0.0129/kWh, using natural gas, nuclear, coal, wind, and solar
  • minimum maintenance with no engine/transmission oil/air filter, radiator coolant, belt, timing chain, or spark plugs
  • drive power as close as the nearest 120/240/fast DC charger source
• driver automation
  • compensation for driver age related joint pain, cataracts, and slower reaction time
  • treatable sleep disorder

Switching habits from the gas station to electrical outlets is not trivial and for a variety of reasons some will not be able to handle the change. The transition from horse to petrol powered vehicles did not happen overnight either. But kids and curious people will handle the change easily. Every year, the inflexible grow older and die only to be replaced by curious, quick to learn, young.

Bob Wilson

 

Because California tries its darndest to not use three of the five sources Bob lists.
Some of the reasons are valid for doing so. But cutting them without reliable replacements in place leads to higher costs. You don't sell your old FSP, if it's your only ride, before being able to get a replacement.

Then Ca likely has higher taxes.

 

When talking about the customer satisfaction, don't forget that Tesla has provided incentives to convince other people that Tesla is a great car to own. Look at the post above this one and you will find that bwilson4web includes his Tesla Referral Code in each of his posts. Tesla owners used to get free power when someone used the referral code. Not sure what's in it for Bob now.

There is also the choice-supportive bias or post-purchase rationalization ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias ) , wherein a buyer feels the need to justify and defend their decisions. An example: A man who buys a $60K sports car justifies the price because "it's a luxury car" or "It's my midlife crisis car". Another example: The person who says that their car is better because it has special features that they've never wanted nor found a use for, like the 16 speaker stereo in a new Camero with tuned exhaust that drowns out everything within 100 feet.

There is another aspect of post-purchase rationalization that coincides with Buyer's Remorse. It helps one live with an overpriced lemon if you can find as many silver linings as you can.

And last, but not least, is the bravado that frequently infects all of us when our choices are challenged. That's a trigger which often makes a person reluctant to say that they would not buy the same car again, even if they swear at it each day as they fumble with the door or touch screen.

 

As I see it, that's not really the cause. We have higher rates because the California Public Utilities Commission approves the rates as proposed by the utility. The utility has based some rates solely on the idea of "fairness" **. Other rates are set to persuade people to change their behavior. My rate for electricity at 4 PM is 1 /2 dollar per kWh. At midnight rates are cut in half to only 25 cents. They are "helping" people remember to use power only when it's most plentiful (and cheapest) the utility to provide it.

Note that there is nothing to keep you from charging whenever they want if you can afford it.