Tesla is the least-trusted car brand in America, survey finds
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I purchased a Model 3 in 2019, it was a long-term financial decision based on the low operating cost of EVs. Pay more upfront but save in the long term. Would I buy a new Tesla? No, I would not given Elon's behavior.
Since the used value of my 3 has cratered I'm stuck with the car I have for the foreseeable future. Unless someone is willing to buy it at 20k above market value. I doubt you're offering that. You'd rather judge people for not seeing the future and have them pay a significant financial cost to not be associated with a nazi. To be clear, I celebrate when Tesla stock goes down, it's overvalued. I just choose to not throw away 20k+ because I don't like the owner of a company 6 years after I purchased a car.
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Make money by hiring out your car as a robotaxi? You would need to be very organized for that to work! I have lots of odd things sat in the car because I may need them, food, umbrella, raincoat and spare tire to start with. Now you are going to hire out your car, unsupervised, and expect everything to still be there when you get it back. Someone would have to be extremely trusting about human nature to consider doing that.
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To give a bit of Tesla history, I drove a Model 3 LR RWD from 2018 to 2023 and a Model S Plaid from 2023 to 2025. (The prior was new and the latter was used; I wouldn't pay full price for that.) I switched from the Model 3 to the Model S for two reasons:
1. In the end, I didn't care for the minimalist aesthetic. This might be a bit of a reductive remark, but I describe driving a Model 3 (or a Model Y) as feeling like I'm driving a toy.
2. I didn't care for the real-world range on longer road trips... especially if those trips use higher speed roads.
Unfortunately, the Model S had its own problem, which I think can be summed up with the idea that Tesla is pushing further away from cars that are "meant to be driven". The lack of physical controls was a huge problem for me in the end. I couldn't stand how awkward it was trying to perform back-to-back signals, and now that I'm in a vehicle with a "normal" stalk setup, it's just so obvious how much easier that is with stalks.
One other aspect that made us move away from Tesla (Model S + Model Y) was the insurance. I felt like a frog being boiled slowly by insurance costs as I didn't realize how bad costs were for Tesla vehicles compared to other EVs. With the Model S and Model Y, we were paying ~$2800 for six months, and the breakdown of that was about $1550 and $1250 respectively, so it wasn't exorbitant costs on the fast car. I checked other insurance agencies to see if it was just Progressive, and it wasn't just them. We switched to two Cadillac Optiqs, and the insurance is something like $1200 for six months for both cars combined.
The Optiq did show me that Tesla is missing some really nice features, and it's kind of baffling why they still don't have them. For example, I'm really fond of the HUD and surround view in the Optiq. The HUD allows me to keep my eyes focused even more on the road while still getting pertinent information. The surround view isn't perfect, but it helps me keep my neurotic self in check when it comes to properly parking in between the lines. This is purely a guess on my part, but I wonder if those functions might have some sort of patent associated with them and would require licensing fees to add to the car... along with potentially using third-party hardware? Tesla seems to be very averse to extra, feature-specific hardware (e.g., lack of an IR rain sensor).
The Optiq hasn't really been smooth sailing though. For most things, it's absolutely fine, but I will say that Android Automotive and its apps are a bit clunky at times. For example, YouTube Music almost never resumes playing after getting back into the car, but Tidal would usually resume playing. You have to mash the mute/pause button a few times to get the music to play again, and it also never resumes after a phone call, and that's regardless of whether you pick up or not. (So, thanks for the music break, spammers.
) Cadillac also put the light controls on the left side of the dash cluster instead of on a physical control. While the lack of a physical control is annoying, it's also bad when it comes to the lights on reminder. Like most vehicles, it plays a chime if the lights are still on when you open the door, but it also turns off the car when you open the door. So, you remember that you left the lights on, but the screen to turn the lights off is no longer available. So, you have to reach in and press the brake pedal to turn the car back on, which enables the screen to turn the light off. Unfortunately, since you never took the car out of park, the car does not immediately turn off. So, if you want it off then, you have to reach over and push a small, circular "vehicle off" button on the right side of the dash and then hit the button to confirm. (I believe the car also has a five minute timeout.)
While those are mostly annoyances that I've gotten used to, my main issue with the Optiq is something that I think really relates to most EVs... poor long distance driving experience. We've gone on two trips with the Optiq so far, and it just hasn't been a great time. The real-world range on higher speed roads is pretty lackluster, which is exacerbated by the typical, self-imposed 80% charge limit combined with preferred minimum state of charge. My drive up north was supposedly ~14.5 hours with a basic Google map routing, but including charging, it became around 18 hours. On the most recent drive out west a bit, it was supposed to be ~8 hours, and it ended up being around 10-11.
Honestly, at this point, I won't touch another EV unless it has around 400 miles of range or more. I may not drive long distances a lot, but I think that's a basic function that a vehicle needs to be able to perform when I need it. In my mind, even if I start whittling away range due to common EV practices (80% max charge, worse high speed performance, etc.), a 400 mile range can still become a respectable ~250 miles (excluding range available from desired minimum SoC). Now, as long as the car charges quickly too, you're in business. Honestly, I think the only decent option for me would be Lucid at this point. They also put the charging port in the "right spot" (on the Gravity) for use at Superchargers.
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I live in the Phoenix metro area, as does my 78 year old father. Both of us have used Waymo multiple times, (I'm definitely upwards of a dozen), and we both think that the anti-autonomous sentiment is ridiculous.
The sensor suite on Waymo is incredible - the car literally sees things that I cannot, and shows a situational awareness that almost seems like magic. And it pays off; the safety record of Waymo is statistically better (by a significant margin) that human driven cars. Overall, Waymo cars have been involved in 833 incidents from 2021 through March 2025 (note - not caused, but involved; the site I was looking at does not provide causality for most accidents). Notably, since 2021, Waymo cars have only been involved in 3 accidents resulting in serious injury, and two resulting in a fatality, none of which were caused by the Waymo. In fact, one of the fatalities was cause by a Tesla, slamming into a red-light intersection at 98 MPH. The other fatality was a dog that ran into the street from behind a parked car too close for even the Waymo to respond. Unfortunately, there was actually a test monitor on board at the time - even in my imagination, that would be rough (then again, I'm an avid dog lover, with 5 of my own, all rescues).
It makes me sad that so many articles released since Tesla's rollout mention Tesla and Waymo in virtually the same breath - their approach to the technology could not have been more different.
Are the Waymos perfect? Not yet, but the only flaws I've experienced personally had to do with with impromptu road restrictions or poor mapping. In the former, cones had been set up to block a lane; my Waymo had a bit of a fit because the cones were placed badly, and the spacing between the cone on the right and the double-yellow line on the left was smaller than Waymo-width-plus-safety-margin; it paused for about 30 seconds; I assume it was yelling for help, and received advice from a remote monitor. In the latter, when trying to exit a condo complex, it tried to take a route that looked open, but was blocked at one exit by a chained gate. At that time, I was in a group that was riding across two different Waymos, and both Waymos encountered the same obstruction about 3 minutes apart (the pickup location for each Waymo was slightly different, leading to different pathing choices).
I don't know if they communicate up-to-date traffic conditions between units, but in this case, it did not seem so (there might be some sort of token and verification process, and 3 minutes was not enough to time to confirm/update - there might be room for improvement there...).
Edit: forgot to note the actual number of accidents
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I don't know why they bother, he's not going to implant his superior genes in their ova.
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If the Optimus roll-out is any indicator, they'll put some weird Robotaxi shaped costume over a guy on a bicycle, have them pedal around Austin for a bit, film it, release a YouTube video, then declare victory and go home.
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Could be a brilliant strategy by the company though...
They buy the car and you recharge it at home on your dime or at some small reimbursable amount.
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Yup, we've got some stuff in common. I can't remember if I took delivery in late 2017 or early 2018 of my Model 3, but kept it until the last days of 2022 when I replaced with my Audi.
I hate doing long drives in the Audi because of the range and charging situation and it wasn't great in the Tesla, either. I live in the northern SF Bay area and have to drive to orange county a couple of times a year, and my next car has to be able to do that in one stop even if I do 80mph in the rain the whole way.
The Gravity is what I'm sort of expecting I'll get next, albeit off-lease since I don't really think I can afford a new one.
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I mean, that depends entirely on which aspect of the Nazi state we're talking about. A significant portion of Nazi economic policy was the mass sale of public works and services to German industrialists and then letting them do whatever they wanted, as long as they stayed cozy with the party. The other side of this economic policy was absolutely massive deficit spending that incentivized/necessitated conquest to pay for it all.
Which, you know, all sounds kinda similar to current events. Granted, I'm not the one defending a guy who literally sieg heil'd the President multiple times. Or, as you might say, why let all that get in the way of polishing Elon?
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According to Putin & Trump, only the VW's being built in Ukraine.
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That's what happens when you don't refill the blinker fluid
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We were lucky they did. The most competent aero engine designer was Junkers (State owned). Daimler Benz and Junkers didn't get their heads knocked together to come up with the best possible design. Internal feuding.
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Hm… so why is it that the Trump administration is pressing various companies, universities, organizations or ways of life to bend to their will? That’s “government control”.
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The republi-turds aren't in favor of "reducing government regulation and government control" either unless it directly affects the elite or their pocketbooks. "Rules for thee but not for me" is their modus operandi. They claim to be about local governance but then stomp all over municipalities. They claim to be about state's rights but then trample them when it suits them. They're fascist liars and conmen so stop carrying water for their false narrative.
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Except, at least in the case of Waymo, there are multiple cameras in the car watching for exactly those kind of hijinks. Typically, if the car AI detects something within a range of "poor behaviors" in the passenger compartment, it then sends the video to the monitor station for review in case measures need to be taken.
So, if you really feel like giving the monitor a show, then I guess, go for it? But just hope that it doesn't end up "leaked" on the internet somewhere...
And before people scream "invasion of privacy!!!", tell me, exactly how much privacy do you have if there were actually a human driver? You don't think cabbies don't have video monitoring systems running? (Uber, or Lyft, that's a different story, but there is definitely a distinct separation of "professionalism" on that score)
Honestly, the lack of a human present is a major plus for me (for my father as well). I think we are both a bit on the spectrum somewhere; we both have issues with forced social situations (such as a taxi/Uber driver feeling like you just really want a conversation).
And my wife brings up a different factor - she's told me that, as a woman, she has a tendency to feel unsafe in a car with a driver, especially a rideshare - you can never be sure that the person driving the thing isn't into human trafficking, or just garden variety assault, and there is definitely a segment of the male population that "enjoy" exercising their generally greater gender-biased strength. This is her statement, so please don't jump on me about "feminism" - my wife is a high level executive in a multinational corporation where every other executive is male; she's about as feminist as they come.
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Skydiving has more than a century of testing. And when it goes wrong it usually only splats one person. Also if you know anything about self driving is that it comes from companies that are about as trustworthy as a scorpion.
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Intimacy would be the least of my worries. I'd be more worried about finding someone overdosed in the back or finding used needles (or worse - having a young family member find it).
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I’ve heard that blinker fluid evaporates rather quickly if you don’t use your blinkers.
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Musk's assholery has been a known quantity since 2013. Even earlier if you knew about what he did to Eberhard and Tarpenning. The people who didn't see this are mo different from the ones who tell you, "
Musk's assholery has been a known quantity since 2013. Even earlier if you knew about what he did to Eberhard and Tarpenning. The people who didn't see this are no different from the ones who way, "I didn't vote for this."
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Eh, "Volkswagen" as the current company was the creation of the British occupation force after the war restarting a useful factory left in their zone. Parts of the postwar car were based on the KDFwagen, but it was mostly a new design using the leftovers from the Kubelwagen production line.
So the VW Type 1 as commercial product was arguably more an expression of the last gasp of British colonialism than anything else.
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I’d counter with you only knew about Musk in the early days if you closely followed Musk. But that is something the general public wouldn’t have done.
But after Musk bought Twitter, Musks’s antics became much more obvious to the public. But still, only for people who paid attention.
It was only after Musk started buying elections would you have to had your head in the sand to avoid hearing about Musk. And even then you still had to work to separate truth from lies (EG that DOGE was actually finding waste)
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A reminder that if you ignore the racism, sexism, and fascism from elon you are still left with
Teslas are the only electric vehicle where your kids are almost guaranteed to burn to death in the back seat, because their designs are shit.
Now. Ignore everything else. Do you want to be in the back of a robotaxi that you might get trapped in?
- Terrible management
- Lies
- Fraud
- Worker abuse
- Drug use
- Crimes
- Much, much more
Teslas are the only electric vehicle where your kids are almost guaranteed to burn to death in the back seat, because their designs are shit.
Now. Ignore everything else. Do you want to be in the back of a robotaxi that you might get trapped in?
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It is rather unfortunate that the title, Unsafe at Any Speed, is already taken. Where's Ralph when we need him?
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The poll shows that very few people have even tried the service, which makes sense because the coverage area is tiny.
This is not a joke by the way. Well, I didn't make the joke. This is the official map. Robotaxi is only usable if you are going between two points inside of the dick shaped area Elon drew on the map.
This is not a joke by the way. Well, I didn't make the joke. This is the official map. Robotaxi is only usable if you are going between two points inside of the dick shaped area Elon drew on the map.
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Have they submitted the necessary paperwork to get government approval yet?
Do they even have a vehicle finished that can be described in the necessary paperwork to submit for approval?
Wait, what am I thinking that doesn't matter -- the only thing holding robotaxi back is govt red tape!
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The cars are a buggy mess and the support is useless. They had to practically give them away to get anybody driving.
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Musk started publicly going south, and fast, following the cave rescue and his no good, very bad day with the diver. No doubt he was already nurturing severe assholism but keeping it mostly internal before that, but that episode clearly marks the point where he went very, very public with being a self-centered gigajerk. And it's been downhill ever since.
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It's such a shame what Elon has done to the brand. There was a time not too long ago when owning a Tesla was one of my biggest goals. You won't catch me in one of those now.
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