An American EV Was Germany’s Most Defective Vehicle This Year

How can that be when everything's computer?

2 years in a row? Stock up 10%

Now this does need some context, much as I like to bash on everything Tesler. Most "classic" dealers will let you know about the upcoming inspection and let you schedule it with them. You'll bring it in, have them check it and the inspector shows up there and does it, usually with a first-try pass. Tesla doesn't do that, because Tesla doesn't know what the fuck "service" even is. Not only will you have to remember the due date yourself (or check it on your license plate) but also have to take care of it all. You can probably still take it to Tesla for an inspection, but they don't offer that as standard. So most Tesla owners just take it to TÜV/Dekra/GTÜ/whoever offers it nearby themselves, which is cheap and quick. But obviously, if anything is wrong, it'll fail and have to be redone after getting it fixed. Whereas most other cars will go to inspection fresh off a dealer service, so all potential fails have already been fixed. So the results are kinda skewed. Now granted tho, there really shouldn't be any failures after three years, but Tesla's suspension are made from cardboard and can easily get warped from minor bumps. Most of the fails are just rusted brakes from underuse (which is a user error) and incorrectly setup headlights.

OTA updates will fix the issues with the suspension!

Freedom is the only way

Crazy that the T-Roc is so good. I had it for a week and it felt like one of the cheapest and trashiest cars I have ever driven. But of course a 17 % failure rate on Model Y is incredibly bad. And it's not only small things, the axles are the second most cause of failure. Which is a 5.000 € repair. Imagine driving your five year old car to TÜV and then you are hit with that. And warranty expires after four years.

So you are saying that Tesla, by disrupting something that works, is now an excuse for shitty owners who believed that Teslas are maintenance free and would obviously pass such an inspection... Talk about creating problems that were previously solved. Classic Tesla

This is in the very first bracket. So the very first inspection. For new cars, that is three years. After that, the interval shortens to two years. Be hilarious if Tesla was the cause for that longer first period to go away because they can't even get new cars right.

Yeah, it all comes down to their piss-poor service. And the fans eat it up. Tesla die-hards will mock you if you mention that your car is in for interval service, "you're just getting ripped off, EVs don't need service intervals!" and two months later TÜV will deem their car a road hazard. Sure, EVs don't need oil changes. But air filters, brake (brake fluid REALLY does not like water...) and suspension checks still need to be done. And it's not like the average Tesla owner will or even can do any of that themselves. My Model 3 passed its one and only inspection during my ownership, but I did have the brake fluid changed and generally, once a month, I drove it for a day or two exclusively on brakes and little regen so the discs don't rot away, especially in the winter with all the road salt.

i follow some english-speaking germans on bluesky who were talking about this. The failures aren't for items commonly fixed in routine service intervals for real cars of this age, such as an extremely high rate of half shaft failures and other suspension failures this is tesla using cast aluminum parts and caring nothing for quality and safety after the sale is done.

FSD 14months

It’s not just Germany. In Finland 49% of Tesla’s Model 3 cars failed their first inspection last year. The first mandatory inspection takes place 4-5 years after initial registration. The main cause leading to these inspection rejects was unacceptable level of wear in the rear suspension supports.

I would expect most cars to pass an inspection at 3 years regardless of whether they are fresh off service or not unless they’ve been in a wreck or the like. It’s not much of an excuse for Tesla when these are first inspections for 3 year old cars.

People still say this is great, because atleast you have no mandatory inspections yada yada, so it's cheaper to just fix things that the TÜV finds. But when you look at actual ownership stats in the ADAC database you will find that ID.3/ID.4 etc. have less repair/service costs than Tesla Models. So while you have to pay for mandatory service on VW cars, they are still cheaper to maintain than Teslas.

13% failure rate on the model 3? That is way above unacceptable lemon frequency. Seems cutting corners on the assembly line and listening to a fake Techbro isn’t good for quality control.

I have a 7-8 year old car from VW group and it's passed through every single inspection without a single remark every single time and in those years all that has been done is more or less a completely unnecessary change of spark plugs because the service plan thought it was a good idea despite only 35000 km. It's now at around 85000 km. Seriously. The "EVs doesn't need service" needs to end. Especially as you say when the suspension is made of cardboard. I don't really care if there's no yearly oil change if there's a bi-yearly suspension failure. And incorrectly setup headlights... what a joke.. how can they be setup incorrectly from factory?

Cumpewhther, Tessler

The headlamps is a known issue. Basically because Tesla conducts almost no PDI prior to delivery they are given to the customer with the headlamps set up the way they left the factory. And (of course) Tesla doesn’t calibrate them at the factory. Apparently buried within the menu system there is a way for users to set the headlamps up but very few of them are aware of that and so they drive around for the first three years getting flashed by other road users because their headlamps are are aimed incorrectly.

EV's do need service, they just need less intense service since they have way less (moving) parts etc. thus making service and with that the ownership of the car cheaper. I don't see how people can even think that they don't need service lol.

It’s a miserably engineered Car. Even the best QC cannot improve improperly designed suspension parts that fail after a couple of years.

>rusted brakes from underuse (which is a user error) While it's avoidable, i would not call it a user error As there is no reminder, nothing in the Manuel  or anywhere else and could even be fixed in software.

There is a fat warning in front of that menu that you should not change the calibration.

They are not a car company. They are a sex robot company.

>nothing in the Manuel  "I... Know... Nothing..."

Is this comment from 2014?

No dicks, either!

Yay. Buy American.

No one can predict how quickly technology advances but we'll keep trying to predict it every 14 months