5 ms·

To everyone saying “they’re just about to ramp up production, then they’ll be fine”, keep in mind that might be “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. There

To everyone saying “they’re just about to ramp up production, then they’ll be fine”, keep in mind that might be “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. There are already some serious questions about quality control at Tesla, and a lot of suggestions that they are cutting corners to meet these production deadlines, which will come back to hurt.

curtis 9y ago
> There are already some serious questions about quality control at Tesla, Quality control specifically for the Model 3 or quality control for the Model S? Clearly the Model 3 quality isn't good enough right now, but it seems quite likely that given time they should be able to bring it up to Model S levels. I don't know if that's good enough, but I think it might be. Will Tesla have time to reach that quality level? I think they probably will, but they may have to raise more money to pull it off. And they may have to raise that money at a less than favorable valuation. However, the idea that they won't be able to raise money at all seems unfounded to me, just like the implied notion that they can't fix the quality problems. There's a big difference between "Tesla is struggling" (yes they are, and it's not even the first time) and "Tesla is going to fail".
- MBCook 9y ago
  I still seem to see reports of problems with brand new model S cars off the line, so while moving up to S quality would be an improvement for the three it’s still a pretty low bar. Why aren’t they where Ford/Toyota/GM/Honda/Kia/anyone else is? I thought one of the big ideas behind the model S was that they would use it to learn higher volume manufacturing (relative to the roadster) so that when the model three came they be ready. We are not seeing that at all.
- Fins 9y ago
  No opinion whether Tesla will or won't fail, but driving behind a Model S you can see that it was assembled by people who would not get a job at a Yugo factory. Model S levels of quality is... not impressive.
systemBuilder 9y ago
I'll tell you when I buy a car the first thing I look at is how many millimeters between the door panels. Nothing else makes me happier than to have a car with 2 millimeter gap between door panels. Driving Experience, fuel economy, range, safety - those are always secondary to 2 mm door panel spaces. And that is what people mean when they talk about Tesla's low-quality they mean 3 4 5 mm door panel spaces...
- matwood 9y ago
  If they can't do something basic like put the doors on correctly, how can you trust they did the complicated things right?
- philmcc 9y ago
  Not entirely true. https://imgur.com/a/chHEm https://imgur.com/a/chHEm The damage to this rim is something that would cost a non-significant amount of money to replace or repair. I'd argue that very few (if any) people would knowingly and willingly pay full price for a car with this kind of damage. You included.
  - sysdyne 9y ago
    https://imgur.com/a/chHEm https://imgur.com/a/chHEm I'd buy that. Seriously, I'd buy it.

curtis 9y ago

> There are already some serious questions about quality control at Tesla, Quality control specifically for the Model 3 or quality control for the Model S? Clearly the Model 3 quality isn't good enough right now, but it seems quite likely that given time they should be able to bring it up to Model S levels. I don't know if that's good enough, but I think it might be. Will Tesla have time to reach that quality level? I think they probably will, but they may have to raise more money to pull it off. And they may have to raise that money at a less than favorable valuation. However, the idea that they won't be able to raise money at all seems unfounded to me, just like the implied notion that they can't fix the quality problems. There's a big difference between "Tesla is struggling" (yes they are, and it's not even the first time) and "Tesla is going to fail".

MBCook 9y ago
I still seem to see reports of problems with brand new model S cars off the line, so while moving up to S quality would be an improvement for the three it’s still a pretty low bar. Why aren’t they where Ford/Toyota/GM/Honda/Kia/anyone else is? I thought one of the big ideas behind the model S was that they would use it to learn higher volume manufacturing (relative to the roadster) so that when the model three came they be ready. We are not seeing that at all.
Fins 9y ago
No opinion whether Tesla will or won't fail, but driving behind a Model S you can see that it was assembled by people who would not get a job at a Yugo factory. Model S levels of quality is... not impressive.

systemBuilder 9y ago

I'll tell you when I buy a car the first thing I look at is how many millimeters between the door panels. Nothing else makes me happier than to have a car with 2 millimeter gap between door panels. Driving Experience, fuel economy, range, safety - those are always secondary to 2 mm door panel spaces. And that is what people mean when they talk about Tesla's low-quality they mean 3 4 5 mm door panel spaces...

matwood 9y ago
If they can't do something basic like put the doors on correctly, how can you trust they did the complicated things right?
philmcc 9y ago
Not entirely true. https://imgur.com/a/chHEm https://imgur.com/a/chHEm The damage to this rim is something that would cost a non-significant amount of money to replace or repair. I'd argue that very few (if any) people would knowingly and willingly pay full price for a car with this kind of damage. You included.
- sysdyne 9y ago
  https://imgur.com/a/chHEm https://imgur.com/a/chHEm I'd buy that. Seriously, I'd buy it.