5 ms·

Tesla issues statement on the negative Reuters article

10 points by leetgirl83 3y ago

leetgirl83 3y ago
"Reuters published an article that leads with a wildly misleading headline and is riddled with incomplete and demonstrably incorrect information. This latest piece vaguely and nonsensically suggests there are thousands upon thousands of disgruntled Tesla customers. It’s nonsensical because it’s nonfactual—the reality is Tesla’s customer retention is among the best and highest in the industry. Misleading headline: “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective.” Reality (buried in the article): Tesla paid for most of the 120,000 vehicle repairs under warranty. Manufactured story: The customer photo represents not a failed component, but instead a post crash component that was damaged in the course of reducing the adverse effects of a collision. The customer was informed that Tesla was able to review the telemetry and understood there was a crash that resulted in this repair not being covered by warranty. Most, if not all, manufacturer warranties exclude damages caused by a crash because that is the point of insurance coverage. Helpful context: Tesla has the most advanced vehicle telemetry system that can identify emerging issues, determine scope, and allow for faster vehicle and service improvements than has ever been seen in the auto industry. We take action as soon as we see a problem, something that should be celebrated as best-in-class, and is often cited by our regulators as a major safety advantage. False accusation: The author has conflated a noise-related (non-safety) issue with a range of unrelated and disconnected service actions. Contrary to the article’s statements based on erroneous data, Tesla is truthful and transparent with our safety regulators around the globe and any insinuation otherwise is plain wrong. Tesla Service Principles: a. Our service technicians and advisors diagnose, maintain and fix our customers’ cars efficiently and are not incentivized to profit off customers’ repair needs. b. Tesla provides our service employees with excellent compensation and benefits packages. They don’t work off of commission like at other dealers who are incentivized to upsell or overcharge their customers. c. The best service is no service. When service must be done, we fix 90%+ problems without even needing the customer present – either through over-the-air updates or with mobile service at a customer’s house or workplace. To see Tesla’s approach in action, one can refer to this maintenance study from earlier this year, “Tesla was named the cheapest luxury car brand to maintain..” → https://autos.yahoo.com/tesla-named-cheapest-luxury-car-110000613.html?guccounter=2#:~:text=Tesla's%20average%20maintenance%20cost%20was,the%20Model%203%20in%20fourth https://autos.yahoo.com/tesla-named-cheapest-luxury-car-1100... This cherry-picking approach to journalism results in missing the truth, which is a pattern in many of the negative articles about Tesla. Using one customer’s one-sided version of events as the universal experience of all customers paints a false and misleading picture of Tesla. In reality, for every upset customer, there are hundreds more who are thrilled with their Tesla and eager to repeat their business. The numbers don’t lie in terms of repeat sales and customer satisfaction. We strive to make every customer a lifelong member of the Tesla family. While others may have their own agendas, our principles have been the same since the beginning: to make the safest cars in the world, which are easiest to maintain, while accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy."
- defrost 3y ago
  Thank you for the full quote of the Tesla statement. Misleading headline: “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective.” and Reality (buried in the article): Tesla paid for most of the 120,000 vehicle repairs under warranty. can of course both be true - and side steps a followup on why Tesla hasn't paid for all warrenty repairs.
  - enslavedrobot 3y ago
    I was one of the few who had to pay for it, since my warranty ran out. The problem outlined in this article was so absolutely banal I don't believe it caused any safety concerns at all. The front control arms were poorly designed so that the wear in the bushings would cause them to squeak. This happened to ours car after 4.5 years. It cost me 200$ out of warranty to repair. That's what this whole article is about squeaky bushings. Notice how they make no definitive claims about anything and vaguely make some throw away comments on safety without mentioning anything concrete? That's because it's all over a squeaking noise. Good part is the new control arms make the car feel like even more planted and improved cornering (which was previously amazing already). 200$ that's the only maintenance cost my Tesla had in the first 4.5 years. What a scandal!
    - defrost 3y ago
      > The problem outlined in this article was so absolutely banal This article | thread is about the Tesla PR response to a long form Reuters report. > That's what this whole article is about squeaky bushings. Maybe you read a different report, not the Reuters one that highlighted premature failures of suspension or steering parts described as: chronic failures, many in relatively new vehicles, date back at least seven years and stretch across Tesla’s model lineup and across the globe, from China to the United States to Europe, according to the records and interviews with more than 20 customers and nine former Tesla managers or service technicians. > 200$ that's the only maintenance cost my Tesla had in the first 4.5 years. What a scandal! Oddly the Reuters report wasn't all about you. I'm glad for you that all you've personally seen or experienced is squeaky bushings and $200 out of pocket. As this is HN, a technical forum, I'm sure no one needs to explain how your personal anecdote has no real bearing here and fails to negate the documented stories of many many others.
JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
"The failing Thomson Reuters Corporation"
rimeice 3y ago
Reads a bit like the article touched a nerve with Elon directly.
i13e 3y ago
If you remove the context of this quote, "The best service is no service" is a wild thing to hear from a car manufacturer. Did anyone proofread this?
wg0 3y ago
"nonsensical, nonfactual, hypothetical" etc. Tone suggests that Brother Musk is so furious that Tesla's Twitter handle is also logged in from his devices.

10 points by leetgirl83 3y ago

"Reuters published an article that leads with a wildly misleading headline and is riddled with incomplete and demonstrably incorrect information. This latest piece vaguely and nonsensically suggests there are thousands upon thousands of disgruntled Tesla customers. It’s nonsensical because it’s nonfactual—the reality is Tesla’s customer retention is among the best and highest in the industry. Misleading headline: “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective.” Reality (buried in the article): Tesla paid for most of the 120,000 vehicle repairs under warranty. Manufactured story: The customer photo represents not a failed component, but instead a post crash component that was damaged in the course of reducing the adverse effects of a collision. The customer was informed that Tesla was able to review the telemetry and understood there was a crash that resulted in this repair not being covered by warranty. Most, if not all, manufacturer warranties exclude damages caused by a crash because that is the point of insurance coverage. Helpful context: Tesla has the most advanced vehicle telemetry system that can identify emerging issues, determine scope, and allow for faster vehicle and service improvements than has ever been seen in the auto industry. We take action as soon as we see a problem, something that should be celebrated as best-in-class, and is often cited by our regulators as a major safety advantage. False accusation: The author has conflated a noise-related (non-safety) issue with a range of unrelated and disconnected service actions. Contrary to the article’s statements based on erroneous data, Tesla is truthful and transparent with our safety regulators around the globe and any insinuation otherwise is plain wrong. Tesla Service Principles: a. Our service technicians and advisors diagnose, maintain and fix our customers’ cars efficiently and are not incentivized to profit off customers’ repair needs. b. Tesla provides our service employees with excellent compensation and benefits packages. They don’t work off of commission like at other dealers who are incentivized to upsell or overcharge their customers. c. The best service is no service. When service must be done, we fix 90%+ problems without even needing the customer present – either through over-the-air updates or with mobile service at a customer’s house or workplace. To see Tesla’s approach in action, one can refer to this maintenance study from earlier this year, “Tesla was named the cheapest luxury car brand to maintain..” → https://autos.yahoo.com/tesla-named-cheapest-luxury-car-110000613.html?guccounter=2#:~:text=Tesla's%20average%20maintenance%20cost%20was,the%20Model%203%20in%20fourth https://autos.yahoo.com/tesla-named-cheapest-luxury-car-1100... This cherry-picking approach to journalism results in missing the truth, which is a pattern in many of the negative articles about Tesla. Using one customer’s one-sided version of events as the universal experience of all customers paints a false and misleading picture of Tesla. In reality, for every upset customer, there are hundreds more who are thrilled with their Tesla and eager to repeat their business. The numbers don’t lie in terms of repeat sales and customer satisfaction. We strive to make every customer a lifelong member of the Tesla family. While others may have their own agendas, our principles have been the same since the beginning: to make the safest cars in the world, which are easiest to maintain, while accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy."

defrost 3y ago
Thank you for the full quote of the Tesla statement. Misleading headline: “Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective.” and Reality (buried in the article): Tesla paid for most of the 120,000 vehicle repairs under warranty. can of course both be true - and side steps a followup on why Tesla hasn't paid for all warrenty repairs.
- enslavedrobot 3y ago
  I was one of the few who had to pay for it, since my warranty ran out. The problem outlined in this article was so absolutely banal I don't believe it caused any safety concerns at all. The front control arms were poorly designed so that the wear in the bushings would cause them to squeak. This happened to ours car after 4.5 years. It cost me 200$ out of warranty to repair. That's what this whole article is about squeaky bushings. Notice how they make no definitive claims about anything and vaguely make some throw away comments on safety without mentioning anything concrete? That's because it's all over a squeaking noise. Good part is the new control arms make the car feel like even more planted and improved cornering (which was previously amazing already). 200$ that's the only maintenance cost my Tesla had in the first 4.5 years. What a scandal!
  - defrost 3y ago
    > The problem outlined in this article was so absolutely banal This article | thread is about the Tesla PR response to a long form Reuters report. > That's what this whole article is about squeaky bushings. Maybe you read a different report, not the Reuters one that highlighted premature failures of suspension or steering parts described as: chronic failures, many in relatively new vehicles, date back at least seven years and stretch across Tesla’s model lineup and across the globe, from China to the United States to Europe, according to the records and interviews with more than 20 customers and nine former Tesla managers or service technicians. > 200$ that's the only maintenance cost my Tesla had in the first 4.5 years. What a scandal! Oddly the Reuters report wasn't all about you. I'm glad for you that all you've personally seen or experienced is squeaky bushings and $200 out of pocket. As this is HN, a technical forum, I'm sure no one needs to explain how your personal anecdote has no real bearing here and fails to negate the documented stories of many many others.

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago

"The failing Thomson Reuters Corporation"

rimeice 3y ago

Reads a bit like the article touched a nerve with Elon directly.

i13e 3y ago

If you remove the context of this quote, "The best service is no service" is a wild thing to hear from a car manufacturer. Did anyone proofread this?

wg0 3y ago

"nonsensical, nonfactual, hypothetical" etc. Tone suggests that Brother Musk is so furious that Tesla's Twitter handle is also logged in from his devices.