3 ms·
My problem with Tesla's business model is that the service model doesn't seem to scale well. Because there's no decentralized dealership network, you are behold
by tempsy 6y ago
My problem with Tesla's business model is that the service model doesn't seem to scale well. Because there's no decentralized dealership network, you are beholden to the nearest service center, which could be hours away from you or be so in demand that the next available service appointment is weeks away.
Yes, they also have mobile service, but that is also spotty depending on where you live and is only appropriate for minor issues.
The service center growth is really slow compared to number of sales...something like only 10% a year when they are now trying to add almost 1M cars/year to the road. Combined with spotty quality of new cars and aging vehicles approaching 5-10+ years old that will need more frequent maintenance the quality of service has rapidly deteriorated in real time. I don't see how they fix or address that at all without serious investment in building new service centers or changing the service model to allow 3rd party repairs.
- vkou 6y ago> or changing the service model to allow 3rd party repairs. I honestly don't understand how the technologist crowd, with its ties to hacker culture, open source, etc, is not at the forefront of a backlash against this model. Third party repair is critical at keeping the manufacturers honest. This might not matter for a disposable $60 kitchen appliance, but is critical for a $60,000 car.
- tempsy 6y agoTesla probably overcharges for out of warranty maintenance and repairs and wants to keep that margin for themselves. Also other trade secrets related to their service biz that they want to stay secret. But this means they either need to build 10x the SCs over the next decade or risk losing customers over time as people get fed up with maintenence issues.