Bloomberg recently surveyed 5,000 Tesla owners (you can take the survey here) and discovered some interesting things that Bloomberg, and most mainstream media outlets, are reluctant to report on.
The survey was broken up into 4 different sections, with the results from each to be released over the next 10 days. The first section released in Part I is about “Quality & Reliability”.
Their opening quote is a rebuff to what many, if not all, Tesla haters (think #tslaq) like to make their rallying cry – that Tesla simply doesn’t produce quality vehicles compared to legacy car manufacturers.
The biggest survey of Tesla drivers ever conducted shows that the automaker has finally figured out how to deliver cars with fewer problems, cutting the rate of defects nearly in half.
The survey cites the most common complaints about Tesla vehicles by owners were about paint issues and panel gaps. It asked owners about their first month of ownership, and asked them to categorize each defect as a “major” or “minor” issue. As you can see, the vast majority of complaints were “minor” in nature. According to the owners surveyed, the level of problems decreased to just 35 per 100 cars by September 2019.
For comparison to legacy automakers, J.D. Power surveys have found an industry average of 91 problems per 100 cars in 2019, so Tesla is well ahead of the curve on this, yet continue to be criticized in the media and social media over quality issues. It should be noted the J.D. Power survey was over the first 90 days of ownership, compared to Bloomberg’s 30 days.
What sets Tesla apart from these other car manufacturers is that many of the problems and defects found with a Tesla can be fixed without having to visit a Service Centre, or do anything other than update the vehicle’s software with an over-the-air (OTA) software update, delivered free or charge.
Quality and Reliability
It appears at least 2/3 of owners are either Very Satisfied, Somewhat Satisfied, or Neutral. Very few owners were Somewhat Dissatisfied or Very Dissatisfied.
Design and Performance
If you’ve driven a Tesla before, or have seen videos of a passnegers’ first time experiencing the acelleartion of a Tesla, these results are not surprising, with the results being even more lobsided, with even fewer complaints.
What many of you, if not all of you, already know, is that despite these mostly minor issues, Tesla owners raved about their vehicles and find it to be an amazing change from ICE vehicles, with a strong reluctance to ever go back to a fossil fuel burning vehicle.
“The car feels like the future, I can never go back.”
“All problems have been cosmetic. Car drives like a champ.”
Part II of the survey will be released on Halloween, and will cover Service & Charging.
You can read the full survey results here.
