Seems Tesla has many recalls on some very basic issues together with known quality/reliability issues.
In my opinion;
I do not believe any company can just walk into a market and design and properly build vehicles like that. I am sure as a MSc Mech Eng I see things in a certain way, yet I do understand what it takes to design and build things reliable (= lot of effort and experience and discipline and money to develop and test each subsequent model).
Unless there are no other options (think Toyota, Lexus and Honda or for best driving experience the German brands like BMW), I would go with a wide circle around them. I guess that is one of the aspects which made me buy a Land Cruiser. Owning a Land Cruiser and a Tesla or worse a Rivian makes zero sense to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
I think this is def true for Rivian, and I give Tesla somewhat of a pass here. I used to hate the brand, and still hate its CEO… They are however continually improving and ramping production faster than anyone thought they could, with a lot of it outside of China. Before you judge also remember 200s were made in China as well to meet volume.
I personally have tons of quality issues in my $100k LX too, so although that is rare i guess since im a special boy, the image is tainted as it is for me. I just no longer believe ANY vehicle is made with care. And I know im alone here in that regard but i also came from what felt like a much more solid 14 year old 470.
I was replacing my third row recently and a piece of the plastic slotted vent trim popped out and will not go back in right because its a cheap s***ty piece of s*** plastic tab pop in junk just like every other vehicle on the road. MUD can get mad about it, disagree with me or not its the truth. No japanese craftsman dedicated his life and honor to designing and building it. Its a cheap piece of plastic s***. Thats it lol.
I also agree it doesn’t really make sense considering a 200 ownership lens, but that’s exactly why i need something disposable, cheap, and fun to trash around.
Toyota is having a hell of a time with the Tundra as well, there are recalls, issues and bad launches everywhere. Everything coming out broken, from vehicles to video games, to iPhones. Its trash all around and masses of hype men gobbling it up even fighting over the scraps. Something i will never do.
Owning a car on public roads for 30 years also makes less and less sense the more i think about it. Its a shame too, since im trying really hard not to fall into the trap the industry is cornering us into, with the eventual death of real ownership looking more likely day by day.
So given all that, if a car is capable of offering me 5 years of driving without a single oil (or fluid) change or a single brake job, and is cheaper to operate at the same time i don’t know how any rational non politically motivated person could think that its not a great choice for city use (and also having your real rig for all it can do).
I still agree with you though, but there is really nothing I can compare to the model 3 in its price range. Assuming you believe build quality is largely universally bad like I do. If there is an exception, let me know, i really am deliberating the choices.
