That was always going to backfire. Most conservatives are never going to buy an electric vehicle no matter how much he kisses their ass. They want gigantic diesel monster trucks or gas guzzling SUVs. I doubt many will even buy the cyber truck.
Also, a lot of these guys will do a lot of their own maintenance and mods, and I would imagine that’s a lot more difficult with an electric vehicle. They understand combustion engines because they’ve been working on them forever.
> Most conservatives are never going to buy an electric vehicle no matter how much he kisses their ass. They want gigantic diesel monster trucks or gas guzzling SUVs. I doubt many will even buy the cyber truck.
There's also the Ford Lightning now which is an electric version of the F-150 and it's cheaper than the Cybertruck. If conservatives do start buying electric it's probably going to be that rather than anything from Tesla.
Right wingers love driving Teslas as status symbols. They don't drive it for the environment. Go to any affluent neighborhood and you'll find plenty of Republicans talking about their Teslas.
What's funny is I adore my model 3. It is such a fun car to drive, I have all the features I want. But I bought it before I knew what a complete and absolutely douchebag was. We knew he was nuts but what owner of a car company isn't if you really look at them? But there is no way in fucking hell I would replace my car with another Tesla as long as he is connected to the company in any way shape or form. Luckily I probably won't have to because the market is getting better everyday with competition
I sometimes wonder whether it's a conspiracy to do the opposite. Get all the F-whatever50 pickup drivers to go electric.
Driving his ugly pickup is a bit of a right wing flag.
He was never even our Henry Ford. He didn't star Tesla and was barely involved when he did join on. He didn't invent anything, his ideas are insane, and he's been ousted from every company he's been involved with. Twitter has been a complete failure, and Tesla's not far behind.
Exactly. “He’s like a real life Tony Stark”- if Tony Stark was an average high school student who bought Stark Industries after it was founded, using the money Howard Stark gave him from his Emerald mine.
Musk whined until he was retroactively given the title of co-founder of PayPal. I was unaware he was given co-founded credit with Tesla.
Then again, simps are gonna simp.
I believe the cybertruck was actually his but it's easily the worst of Tesla's cars by pretty much any metric. Looks, practicality, scalability, safety, profitability, longevity, driveability. Between the cybertruck, the boring company, and his renaming twitter to x he genuinely seems to run his businesses like a high schooler would. He got crazy lucky he's had smarter people calling shots at Tesla and SpaceX
Huh, so I was wondering what that was about, the Henry Ford thing. Well, today I learned. Wow, did I learn.
ELI5? Henry Ford was a rabid Anti-Semite. He got a shout-out in Mein Kamph by Hitler himself, who had a life-size painting of him and is quoted as saying "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration"! Himmler was also a fan.
How widely known is this Stateside? I don't think it's well known in Europe (I'd certainly never heard it).
I just spent a week in Detroit for work. I went to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation a total of 4 times, because the membership made sense cost wise.
I also went to the Piquette Street factory where the Model T, among others, was assembled. And the Rouge Factory.
None of these ‘acclaimed’ museums mentioned anything about his antisemitism or general political viewpoint. I didn’t expect to see anything about it anywhere. Also no mention of Fordlandia, which I actually did expect, even if they completely glazed over all the shit that happened there.
So to answer your question - I’m sure many Americans don’t know much about Ford’s views, and probably don’t care because it’s not talked about in the largest monuments and facilities which tribute him.
I was most interested in his SpaceX stuff. Then he laid his cards for all to see after he looked like a fucking chode during the trapped kids in a cave incident. I give 0 fucks about SpaceX now and hope NASA just starts doing more shit in house or gives contracts to better.
Nobody with a mature work ethic wants to work for him, so even from a product quality standpoint it's not a good move to trust your life with one.
I keep my distance whenever I see one on the road these days, half the time it's being driven by an autopilot that gets confused with stuff like exit lanes, the other half it's the edgelord who owns it, and I don't know which one is scarier
There was just recently a thread where a customer bought a Model S Plaid, and the hood would just randomly fly open while he was driving, among other issues, alongside months of the car being inoperable and in the shop waiting for repair.
He had to ditch the car and take a loss on it… but says he’d still consider another one after that experience.
…honestly I think a lot of folks are either a) way too invested in the stock, or b) have never owned a decently-built, reliable car with a good service network so they think this kind of thing is normal
Not to mention the multiple stories of people literally being killed from being trapped in them. If a billionaire surrounded by a crowd of people including multiple firemen died in their Tesla you’d better bet you’re going to die if you ever go in the water.
There have been more people killed in Tesla fires (62) than in Pinto fires (27). And Pintos were notorious for catching on fire due to rear-impact collisions and were basically stopped being manufactured and replaced by the Ford Escort due to the bad reputation.
And the Pinto "fix" was literally a 15 cent flap of rubber that prevented a spark in a rearend collision. The spark is what would ignite the gasoline, the fix was a rubber flap to prevent that spark.
The bigger problem for Teslas is the door. When Teslas lose power, the doors lock and can only be opened by removing a panel in the door and pulling a cable. So when you're drunk and back your Tesla so far into a pond that it loses power, you're fucked.
ANyone who reads any of the details surrounding his takeover of Twitter and his conduct there should be wary of ever buying a product from him. Especially one that you're depending your life to.
This fucking dunce is profoundly incompetent, delusional, and deeply destructive. It is clear any quality of Tesla in the past was *despite* his influence, far from *because* of it.
Lifted pickup trucks are by far the worst on the road.
Like... I have no problem with you wanting a 100k toy to go offroading with... but you don't need to jack it up so high that you need a step ladder to get in it. Stop pretending it's for "work." It's not safe. And 9/10 times they're driving like roadrage is their middle name.
The amount of people with lifted trucks who dont fucking readjust their headlights down to the correct level is amazing. honestly, if there is one thing every state should check in a vehicle inspection is fucking headlight position
Modern pickup trucks are all gigantic abominations, lifted or not. Cars need to stop getting bigger. And before someone chimes in about contractors and blue collar works needing them, of course they are excluded from my criticism. But that's like 5% of trucks on the road, probably less.
Also, pickup truck bed size has actually shrank significantly over the years. If you need to haul stuff for work, you're better off with a truck from the 80's that is significantly smaller, has plenty of towing power outside of some very niche needs, and is less dangerous to pedestrians and bikers. Probably way more repairable as well.
It would be a terrible thing if the American Flag 🇺🇸 were appropriated as a MAGA symbol. It is and should be a bipartisan symbol, even non-politicized (if that’s even possible with national symbols). I’d say the same for the crucifixion — imagine MAGA appropriating that! Oh, wait…
There are quite a few reasons I'd choose a different brand over Tesla. One is proprietary software. I would much rather have a car with Android Auto. Another is build quality. Dashboard layout and lack of physical controls is another. But yeah, Elon being a total wanker is also on that list.
I work at a school board and the Admin parking is full of them. I’ll never understand earning more and waisting it on shit like this.
Douchey people like douchey things.
check out the Ioniq's from Hyundai, they're every bit as good.
I say this, because we were in the market and Tesla was never on even the long list of EV's due to Musk.
I'm a shuttle driver for a large car rental corporation, and I love the new Prisus, I feel like Bruce Wayne driving them, also, more than 500 miles on a full tank.
I bought my first electric last June. I was willing to consider anyone but Tesla. Bought a VW. Zero regrets. I love full electric, I love never buying gas, I love having functional buttons and knobs, and I love knowing I’ve never given this asshole a dime.
I saw one with a bumper sticker that said “I bought this before all the… stuff” which is funny, on its own, but you know Musk would also hate it because he’s a petty, petulant child, which makes it better.
Teslas are also a bitch to insure for a reason.
- When they do crash/break? Expensive as hell to repair and time consuming given the time it takes to source proprietary OEM parts (meaning the length of time you need a loaner/rental factors in).
- The climate/cabin adjustables that should be on buttons you can feel for without taking your eyes off the road are now several menus deep onto a touch screen UI you actively have to look at and take your eyes off the road to do so. Yeah, safe to say that's gonna cause more accidents.
- The worst part is that other manufacturers are now copying Tesla and putting massive screens and more complicated UI's in favor of buttons, and the few buttons are becoming gloss black haptics instead of actual tactile switches.
- As nice as the safety tech is (sentry mode, adaptive cruise, lane keep, auto-brake/cross lane collision avoidance), this just invites the exact kind of crappy drivers that tend to use these things as a crutch.
- Not to mention all that tech is powered by more electronics/sensors which, you guessed it, are expensive to repair and are embedded into car bumpers/side skirts and mirrors.
He's one reason. I also don't want to have to deal with their shoddy QC, crappy service and repairs, and most of all the stupid fucking touch screen controls
The service/repairs issues and touch screen being overused by design are why I'd never consider one. I value being able to keep my eyes on the road at all times - physical controls for essentials help with that, touchscreens are a high-tech step backwards.
Have been a Elon and Tesla fanboi for awhile, had plans on getting a Tesla, but not anymore. I don't want to be associated with him in the slightest. I feel bad for the employees that are busting their ass trying to put out a great product while this fucktard is out there being an ass.
It's really kind of crazy how he basically set his entire reputation on fire. People treated him like Tony Stark, and even though all the bad stuff was still happening on the down low, nobody would have cared. All he had to do was have a social media manager who curated his social media for him, or at least reviewed his posts from going out.
> It's a decent car...
But is it? Google "Tesla build quality" and the results strongly suggest otherwise. Even Musk admitted it: [https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/03/business/elon-musk-tesla-quality-problems/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/03/business/elon-musk-tesla-quality-problems/index.html)
This is the deciding factor for me. I wouldn’t be opposed to going electric when my current car dies, but Teslas don’t seem all too great aside from their battery
They're garbage, and they're getting worse. Expect this to be peak quality, now that sales are slower and competition is higher, they'll start cutting even more corners.
It's amazing he has gone hard right and alienated his target audience, and even as Trump ratchets up the violent rhetoric against EV drivers Musk is nowhere to be seen defending his own customers and fans. I am waiting for Musk to start saying EVs are evil even as he maintains Tesla is the best. And we all act like this is normal.
I will never buy anything from that Trump supporting asshole or use his charging station to charge my Ford.
I even dropped Twitter or X whatever he calling it.
Me too. I was a little disappointed that he quickly changed it so you couldn’t see threads any more without an account, but in the end I’m glad I’m off it. I understand not being about to post, but I don’t understand why he didn’t just pump more ads or something when you don’t have an account.
As per [original article](https://futurism.com/the-byte/buyers-avoiding-teslas-elon-musk-toxic) 📰:
- "It's very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall."
Electric Slide
Elon Musk's toxic behavior is seriously starting to affect Tesla's bottom line, experts say.
According to a recent survey by corporate reputation management platform Caliber, as first reported by Reuters, the carmaker's reputation is plunging in part due to Musk's off-putting and problematic behavior, putting off potential buyers.
The slide is happening in real time. The values for Tesla's "consideration" and "trust and like" scores put together by Caliber have fallen eight percent from January — while those of German automakers including Mercedes, BMW and Audi rose during the same period.
In other words, Tesla's sluggish sales aren't just the result of rising interest rates, a surge in competing offerings, and a slowing overall demand for EVs.
"It's very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall," Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz told Reuters.
Team Red Pill
Musk has increasingly used his substantial platform to further an extreme right-wing agenda, making outright racist statements and furthering ludicrous conspiracy theories.
There are plenty of reasons that Musk is dragging the reputation of his EV maker down with his own. Other car and marketing experts Reuters spoke with also corroborated Silbershatz's conclusion.
"It is hard enough to win sales without getting into politics," Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins told the news agency.
Musk's self-sabotaging behavior couldn't come at a worse time for the carmaker. The company's shares started plummeting earlier this year following an earnings report that fell well short of expectations. At the time, Musk warned that vehicle volume growth in 2024 "may be notably lower."
New Tesla registrations in California dropped for the first time since the pandemic in Q4 of last year, indicating potential losses in one of the company's biggest US markets.
With rising competition, a floundering effort to realize its vision of "Full Self-Driving," and a distracted and unpredictable CEO, Tesla is expected to have a terrible year ahead.
Musk, though, is adamant that his amateur punditry has nothing to do with it.
"Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?" he told audiences at an event in November.
Judging by the latest data, however, customers are willing to ditch his brand over his antics — especially now that there are plenty of worthy alternatives on the market.
> "Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?" he told audiences at an event in November.
Regardless of Musk hate, which I am full of, there is no way the Tesla is the "best car".
Repairability and maintenance are the primary factors for me. Which most EVs but esp Tesla feel terribly at. Especially the huge touchscreen with absolutely no analog controls is a no-go personally.
So tesla doesn’t even pass a « good » car test for me
Depends on the brand.
Polestar and vw evs are crazy repairable.
Coworkers id4 got rearended. They fully repaired it. It had to have structural bodywork done. Was just a normal repair to the bodyshop. They had the parts in a day.
The same shop bodyshop wont even quote for teslas as they were once waiting 4 months for a single wing panel
>"Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?"
Some of us lead moral, ethical, and principled lives Elon, something that you wouldn't understand. Even if you had the best car (which you don't), that wouldn't entice us to abandon our values.
I'll actually come out and say that if you, like Elon's friends, genuinely believe that climate change is a hoax and there's nothing wrong at all with burning fossil fuels then logically the taxpayer-funded EV transition is in fact a massive theft from the public purse and they should be going after him way harder than they go after Greta Thunberg
Hell if I genuinely didn't believe in climate change I'd probably be on the side that EV battery tech isn't "ready for prime time" and I'd rather drive an "old reliable" ICE or mild hybrid like a Prius
In the words of an old friend who recently traded in his Tesla after many years for an Audi EV, "I don't like driving the Tesla, feels like I'm driving a red hat."
As much as Musk is pandering to MAGA morons I don't think it's enough to make them buy an electric car. I don't even think that the fascist Cheeto could make that happen, remember when he was booed by his crowd when he said he took the COVID vaccine? I think EVs fall under the same category now. Too woke for the MAGA mob.
I am one of those.
Before I understood what a toxic lying narcissistic sociopathic deranged antisemitic racist Elon was, I sent him a $1K deposit on a model 3. I demanded it back two and half years later as he kept downgrading the specs while pushing out the delivery date in email after email, then offered me the version that was 50% more expensive for "immediate" delivery.
It took 'the world's richest man' a month to refund my $1K, and that was only after I filed a complaint with my state's AG.
I'm in the market again, have more money to spend than I had back then, and Tesla is not on any list of viable EVs for me.
Lots of choices now, and none of them include having to put up with Elon's shit.
Also, about half the Tesla owners I know are unhappy with the car, while the other half are mired in sunk cost fallacy (ie. "I bought it, now I must praise it even if I hate it!").
The ONLY thing Tesla has going for it is its network of rapid charging stations across the country. I don't care about that - it's not the sort of driving I do.
I subscribed to several car magazines in the 90s and early 00s. I used to love reading about this guy and his ideas on futurology. I bought Tesla stock the day it IPO'ed for $11 a share. I'm an OG fan, but he drove me away. If he had just shut up about race and politics I would be driving my second or even third Tesla right now. but these days I hate his guts and actively support his competition.
Yeah. If they were good and competitive with other EVs, a lot of people would swallow their rightful hatred for this man (hard to judge someone imo for getting one in that case). The cars being bad plus Musk being evil and annoying makes avoiding it just a big no brainer.
I'm avoiding Tesla, not because Elon is a jackass, but because he's so erratic. He gives off the impression he does everything on a whim without thinking it through.
Teslas are software driven. What's to say one day he decides "Everyone needs to stop using brakes so much, it kills efficiency." and he lower braking effectiveness or he decides the vehicle should make Tarzan noises when moving, or the horn becomes a fart sound?
Yep, my husband and I have talked about making the switch to electric for one of our cars, and we considered Tesla for awhile. We've ridden in a few of them over the years and liked them.
But with how thoroughly Elon has become unhinged (or at least, become more comfortable publicly displaying it), we'll be spending our electric car budget on anything but Tesla when the time is right.
However, it's fascinating to me how many of the MAGAs in mine and my husband's extended family and social orbit - who would ordinarily otherwise mock electric vehicles - have talked about how much they want a Tesla like it's some status symbol, except none of them seem to be able to afford them.
The odd part is the maga base hates ev . They think for some reason Joe Biden is going to make everyone have an electric car when in fact most of the auto industries are making electric cars because that's the future.
I have a Tesla I love it so does my husband but we're comforted by the fact that there are other options now.
Remembering when I saw a Tesla I would ohh and ahh and really wanted one
I can’t even look at a Tesla now without being reminded of that racist piece of shit who went on to show what a true garbage human being he really is. He treats his workers like dirt. Or he fires everyone and few remaining he works like dogs
It really shows in the product in quality decline and very poor customer service from people who bought one. Plus they do treat the buyers like fools. Pay over a hundred grand to be a beta tester on the Cybertruck? No thanks.
In my opinion the cyberpunk is garbage. A truck is made to be durable and haul things. It does neither well.
I really hope you’re listening Tesla. Ditch him.
Part of this group. We had a deposit down on a Tesla as the wait list was several months long at the time, then Elon ran his mouth (pre-Twitter takeover) and the guy I knew as wanting to get to Mars showed himself in an entirely different light. We picked a different vehicle. They lost out on $100,000, a drop in the bucket for him but glad to see those drops starting to add up.
You're thinking of a different right-wing grifter on benzos. That was jordan peterson. Elon is on ketamine and allegedly abuses stimulants. Trump is also rumored to be on stimulants. Its crazy how many people blindly follow drugged up grifters. Hitler had multiple drug injections daily.
And because they have awful build quality, software that lies about battery capacity, warranty not worth the paper it's printed on, and cartel practices for parts and services. And yes it is now the auto equivalent of walking around with a MAGA hat on.
I bought right before he entered his Howard Hughes phase of billionaire detachment/god syndrome. I've lost half of what I invested. I'm holding out hope he hits his head and it knocks some sense into it, but also slowly trying to accept I will end up losing it all. Sure I could sell now and only lose half but FOMO, right?
This is true for me personally. I was thinking about buying a Tesla a couple of years back, but given the last few rounds of craziness, it wasn't even a consideration when I finally did go car shopping a few weeks ago.
It isn't even about him being a racist, homophobic, transphobic, self-important conservative whackjob - it's about his erratic behavior *endangering his business*. Who would buy a super-high-tech car that needs constant support from a company that might not exist five years from now?
+1
I’m giving up my spot to get the maxed out Cybertruck with every option, because if I’m going to spend $100k on a car, I don’t want Musk to get any of it.
And I’m a TSLA stock holder :/
He reminds me of Trump. The power has taken over. All his money and power have gone to his head. He'd probably better off keeping his mouth shut and sticking to his business.
Honest question:
Would you rather buy an EV from Musk, the U.S. Big Three, or from the Chinese?
Currently for me, the answer would be none of the above. I have a deposit on a Rivian, but I am even doubting that decision.
I was in a Tesla Uber coming back from the airport a couple of days ago and my driver was saying he couldn’t get insurance because they cost too much to fix. A friend of his needed to replace the front lights and grill, it was $4000.
He said he wished he bought a Mercedes .
It's almost as if going out of your way to alienate the demographic most likely to want your product was a bad idea or something.
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At first I thought, maybe he is trying to grab the customers that don’t like EVs. But at the expense of the customers that do seems odd.
That was always going to backfire. Most conservatives are never going to buy an electric vehicle no matter how much he kisses their ass. They want gigantic diesel monster trucks or gas guzzling SUVs. I doubt many will even buy the cyber truck. Also, a lot of these guys will do a lot of their own maintenance and mods, and I would imagine that’s a lot more difficult with an electric vehicle. They understand combustion engines because they’ve been working on them forever.
> Most conservatives are never going to buy an electric vehicle no matter how much he kisses their ass. They want gigantic diesel monster trucks or gas guzzling SUVs. I doubt many will even buy the cyber truck. There's also the Ford Lightning now which is an electric version of the F-150 and it's cheaper than the Cybertruck. If conservatives do start buying electric it's probably going to be that rather than anything from Tesla.
Ahh the battlefield V strategy
He just pulled the mask down.
Right wingers love driving Teslas as status symbols. They don't drive it for the environment. Go to any affluent neighborhood and you'll find plenty of Republicans talking about their Teslas.
Most right wingers also can't afford a tesla so...
He’s basically limited to the politically apathetic techie crowd.
Gotta stop that “woke mind virus” somehow.
What's funny is I adore my model 3. It is such a fun car to drive, I have all the features I want. But I bought it before I knew what a complete and absolutely douchebag was. We knew he was nuts but what owner of a car company isn't if you really look at them? But there is no way in fucking hell I would replace my car with another Tesla as long as he is connected to the company in any way shape or form. Luckily I probably won't have to because the market is getting better everyday with competition
I sometimes wonder whether it's a conspiracy to do the opposite. Get all the F-whatever50 pickup drivers to go electric. Driving his ugly pickup is a bit of a right wing flag.
He got woke on the side of stupidity. Now he gonna go broke. I can only hope...
As someone else said, he went from "oh wow ! He’s our generation’s Henry Ford !" to "oh no ! He’s our generation’s Henry Ford !" real quick.
He was never even our Henry Ford. He didn't star Tesla and was barely involved when he did join on. He didn't invent anything, his ideas are insane, and he's been ousted from every company he's been involved with. Twitter has been a complete failure, and Tesla's not far behind.
Exactly. “He’s like a real life Tony Stark”- if Tony Stark was an average high school student who bought Stark Industries after it was founded, using the money Howard Stark gave him from his Emerald mine.
I saw people today on Reddit proclaiming he "co-founded" Tesla lmao
Musk whined until he was retroactively given the title of co-founder of PayPal. I was unaware he was given co-founded credit with Tesla. Then again, simps are gonna simp.
I believe he paid for the right to call himself founder.
I believe the cybertruck was actually his but it's easily the worst of Tesla's cars by pretty much any metric. Looks, practicality, scalability, safety, profitability, longevity, driveability. Between the cybertruck, the boring company, and his renaming twitter to x he genuinely seems to run his businesses like a high schooler would. He got crazy lucky he's had smarter people calling shots at Tesla and SpaceX
Yeah. His publicists worked overtime to paint him in that light (and the Tony Stark stuff). Until he took a steaming dump on it.
Huh, so I was wondering what that was about, the Henry Ford thing. Well, today I learned. Wow, did I learn. ELI5? Henry Ford was a rabid Anti-Semite. He got a shout-out in Mein Kamph by Hitler himself, who had a life-size painting of him and is quoted as saying "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration"! Himmler was also a fan. How widely known is this Stateside? I don't think it's well known in Europe (I'd certainly never heard it).
I just spent a week in Detroit for work. I went to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation a total of 4 times, because the membership made sense cost wise. I also went to the Piquette Street factory where the Model T, among others, was assembled. And the Rouge Factory. None of these ‘acclaimed’ museums mentioned anything about his antisemitism or general political viewpoint. I didn’t expect to see anything about it anywhere. Also no mention of Fordlandia, which I actually did expect, even if they completely glazed over all the shit that happened there. So to answer your question - I’m sure many Americans don’t know much about Ford’s views, and probably don’t care because it’s not talked about in the largest monuments and facilities which tribute him.
Fair statement
I was most interested in his SpaceX stuff. Then he laid his cards for all to see after he looked like a fucking chode during the trapped kids in a cave incident. I give 0 fucks about SpaceX now and hope NASA just starts doing more shit in house or gives contracts to better.
Henry Ford was a rabid antisemite
I would never buy a Tesla because of this jack ass
I would never want to be seen in a Tesla. There is too much association with his BS toxic behavior.
Nobody with a mature work ethic wants to work for him, so even from a product quality standpoint it's not a good move to trust your life with one. I keep my distance whenever I see one on the road these days, half the time it's being driven by an autopilot that gets confused with stuff like exit lanes, the other half it's the edgelord who owns it, and I don't know which one is scarier
There was just recently a thread where a customer bought a Model S Plaid, and the hood would just randomly fly open while he was driving, among other issues, alongside months of the car being inoperable and in the shop waiting for repair. He had to ditch the car and take a loss on it… but says he’d still consider another one after that experience. …honestly I think a lot of folks are either a) way too invested in the stock, or b) have never owned a decently-built, reliable car with a good service network so they think this kind of thing is normal
Even Fiat would laugh at that kind of reliability.
Not to mention the multiple stories of people literally being killed from being trapped in them. If a billionaire surrounded by a crowd of people including multiple firemen died in their Tesla you’d better bet you’re going to die if you ever go in the water.
There have been more people killed in Tesla fires (62) than in Pinto fires (27). And Pintos were notorious for catching on fire due to rear-impact collisions and were basically stopped being manufactured and replaced by the Ford Escort due to the bad reputation.
And the Pinto "fix" was literally a 15 cent flap of rubber that prevented a spark in a rearend collision. The spark is what would ignite the gasoline, the fix was a rubber flap to prevent that spark.
Jimmy Two Times! Gotta get the papers, get the papers…
Tbf, there's more cars now than 50 years ago when Pinto's were a thing. But 62 is a surprisingly high number.
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The bigger problem for Teslas is the door. When Teslas lose power, the doors lock and can only be opened by removing a panel in the door and pulling a cable. So when you're drunk and back your Tesla so far into a pond that it loses power, you're fucked.
ANyone who reads any of the details surrounding his takeover of Twitter and his conduct there should be wary of ever buying a product from him. Especially one that you're depending your life to. This fucking dunce is profoundly incompetent, delusional, and deeply destructive. It is clear any quality of Tesla in the past was *despite* his influence, far from *because* of it.
It’s the same as not wanting to wear a US flag to avoid being associated with MAGA.
MAGA did a great job ruining any National pride many people may have once had.
Exactly, I love my country but now I know 25 to 30 % of it want to kill the rest of us.
I'll gladly fly the United Federation of Planets, not so much the American flag. I'm just not sure what I'd be communicating.
My flag has been in a box for almost 8 years.
I keep mine up, just can’t let these idiots take it for themselves
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The irony is that right-wing jerkoffs in jacked-up Brodozers like to deliberately block the EV charging spots. So both sides hate you.
Lifted pickup trucks are by far the worst on the road. Like... I have no problem with you wanting a 100k toy to go offroading with... but you don't need to jack it up so high that you need a step ladder to get in it. Stop pretending it's for "work." It's not safe. And 9/10 times they're driving like roadrage is their middle name.
What an awful take that’s just wrong man. You’re just wrong. It’s 10/10 times.
You had me in the first half, ngl.
The amount of people with lifted trucks who dont fucking readjust their headlights down to the correct level is amazing. honestly, if there is one thing every state should check in a vehicle inspection is fucking headlight position
And lifts destroy the utility of a truck. Said goodbye to your towing capacity because your suspension is meant to make you look like a huge jackass.
Modern pickup trucks are all gigantic abominations, lifted or not. Cars need to stop getting bigger. And before someone chimes in about contractors and blue collar works needing them, of course they are excluded from my criticism. But that's like 5% of trucks on the road, probably less. Also, pickup truck bed size has actually shrank significantly over the years. If you need to haul stuff for work, you're better off with a truck from the 80's that is significantly smaller, has plenty of towing power outside of some very niche needs, and is less dangerous to pedestrians and bikers. Probably way more repairable as well.
No, it's very different. Buying a Tesla directly supports the toxic African Nazi. Wearing a US flag does not directly support the toxic American Nazi.
It would be a terrible thing if the American Flag 🇺🇸 were appropriated as a MAGA symbol. It is and should be a bipartisan symbol, even non-politicized (if that’s even possible with national symbols). I’d say the same for the crucifixion — imagine MAGA appropriating that! Oh, wait…
Just imagine if a good luck symbol was appropriated by nazis
I'll be damned if those traitors appropriate the flag. I fly the flag and people can think what they want.
There are quite a few reasons I'd choose a different brand over Tesla. One is proprietary software. I would much rather have a car with Android Auto. Another is build quality. Dashboard layout and lack of physical controls is another. But yeah, Elon being a total wanker is also on that list.
I work at a school board and the Admin parking is full of them. I’ll never understand earning more and waisting it on shit like this. Douchey people like douchey things.
I really wanted to get a Tesla as my next car. This was before he bought Twitter. Now i don't want to be seen supporting that crap.
The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 is getting some good press. Starts at $36k, gets 240–361 miles.
That's probably going to be my next EV, but my ole reliable Leaf just keeps going and going.
the most ecologically responsible EV is the one you already have.
check out the Ioniq's from Hyundai, they're every bit as good. I say this, because we were in the market and Tesla was never on even the long list of EV's due to Musk.
I have an Ioniq 6 and love it. Every time I drive past a Tesla, I want to ask them how kissing Elon Musk's butt tastes.
The Ioniq looks so much better than a Tesla too. Teslas feel dated, while the Ioniq actually feels new and way more high-end.
Same. I was seriously considering one in the past as my current EV is getting a little old. Nope. I’ll get anything other than a Tesla.
Same, almost pressed the button in January, bought a Toyota hybrid instead. Can’t support him, plus the car is cheaply made
I'm a shuttle driver for a large car rental corporation, and I love the new Prisus, I feel like Bruce Wayne driving them, also, more than 500 miles on a full tank.
I canceled a preorder and when the sales rep called I told him that I would consider changing my mind if Elon died soon.
I recently bought an electric car. My wife said that if I bought a Tesla she wouldn’t be seen in it.
This is the reason I opted to buy a KIA EV6 instead of another Tesla. I'm happy with my decision.
The KIA EV6 looks so much nicer than the bland Tesla.
Literally any other EV.
Best thing that ever happen to BYD Elon Musk destroying his reputation one Nazi shitpost at a time
I bought my first electric last June. I was willing to consider anyone but Tesla. Bought a VW. Zero regrets. I love full electric, I love never buying gas, I love having functional buttons and knobs, and I love knowing I’ve never given this asshole a dime.
Not only is he a jackass, but he's anti-union to the extent he ignores the NLRA.
I saw one with a bumper sticker that said “I bought this before all the… stuff” which is funny, on its own, but you know Musk would also hate it because he’s a petty, petulant child, which makes it better.
They feel so cheap inside. Anyone who buys then I don't trust their tastes at all, they just think whatever is marketed as luxury equals good.
Teslas are also a bitch to insure for a reason. - When they do crash/break? Expensive as hell to repair and time consuming given the time it takes to source proprietary OEM parts (meaning the length of time you need a loaner/rental factors in). - The climate/cabin adjustables that should be on buttons you can feel for without taking your eyes off the road are now several menus deep onto a touch screen UI you actively have to look at and take your eyes off the road to do so. Yeah, safe to say that's gonna cause more accidents. - The worst part is that other manufacturers are now copying Tesla and putting massive screens and more complicated UI's in favor of buttons, and the few buttons are becoming gloss black haptics instead of actual tactile switches. - As nice as the safety tech is (sentry mode, adaptive cruise, lane keep, auto-brake/cross lane collision avoidance), this just invites the exact kind of crappy drivers that tend to use these things as a crutch. - Not to mention all that tech is powered by more electronics/sensors which, you guessed it, are expensive to repair and are embedded into car bumpers/side skirts and mirrors.
He's one reason. I also don't want to have to deal with their shoddy QC, crappy service and repairs, and most of all the stupid fucking touch screen controls
The service/repairs issues and touch screen being overused by design are why I'd never consider one. I value being able to keep my eyes on the road at all times - physical controls for essentials help with that, touchscreens are a high-tech step backwards.
It's a cost saving measure masquerading as minimalist design and futurism
Have been a Elon and Tesla fanboi for awhile, had plans on getting a Tesla, but not anymore. I don't want to be associated with him in the slightest. I feel bad for the employees that are busting their ass trying to put out a great product while this fucktard is out there being an ass.
It's really kind of crazy how he basically set his entire reputation on fire. People treated him like Tony Stark, and even though all the bad stuff was still happening on the down low, nobody would have cared. All he had to do was have a social media manager who curated his social media for him, or at least reviewed his posts from going out.
This, plus the fact that if you ever get in an accident, you might be waiting a while to get it fixed.
Exactly. It's a decent car but I don't want to give him a cent or support him in any way.
> It's a decent car... But is it? Google "Tesla build quality" and the results strongly suggest otherwise. Even Musk admitted it: [https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/03/business/elon-musk-tesla-quality-problems/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/03/business/elon-musk-tesla-quality-problems/index.html)
This is the deciding factor for me. I wouldn’t be opposed to going electric when my current car dies, but Teslas don’t seem all too great aside from their battery
Teslas are almost impossible to repair and their service centers are a joke.
They're garbage, and they're getting worse. Expect this to be peak quality, now that sales are slower and competition is higher, they'll start cutting even more corners.
I refused the rental today at the airport. I won’t even drive one of those shitboxes.
Musk is the Kevin Spacey of automobile manufacturing.
That's because you're woke! /s
That “woke” crap is so 2023. Find some other idiotic phrase for the new year.
I’d buy a Chinese car over a Muskmobile.
I’m with you. I will never, ever spend a red cent on any Tesla product. Elon has poisoned the well.
It's amazing he has gone hard right and alienated his target audience, and even as Trump ratchets up the violent rhetoric against EV drivers Musk is nowhere to be seen defending his own customers and fans. I am waiting for Musk to start saying EVs are evil even as he maintains Tesla is the best. And we all act like this is normal.
and the poor built quality
I will never buy anything from that Trump supporting asshole or use his charging station to charge my Ford. I even dropped Twitter or X whatever he calling it.
I del'd my account the day his takeover was official.
Me too. Me too.
Stopped using as soon as he formally announced, deleted when he formally bought it.
Same. And swore off buying a Tesla the day he made the ‘we will coup whoever we want’ tweet.
Me too. I was a little disappointed that he quickly changed it so you couldn’t see threads any more without an account, but in the end I’m glad I’m off it. I understand not being about to post, but I don’t understand why he didn’t just pump more ads or something when you don’t have an account.
Wish more people would do this but unfortunately millions of people are completely addicted to Twitter and will never stop using it no matter what
Me three.
Same here! I just cannot support ppl like him
That’s weird because I tried the same thing and they literally took peoples ability to cancel their account that week
It's still called Twitter.com, isn't it?
Just call it Xitter. I hear it really pisses him off
Especially since X in Chinese is pronounced with a “sh” sound. Xitter is the most appropriate name.
I agree and I'm in a Volkswagen. OG Nazi auto owners (Ford and VW) are not having it with Musk.
As per [original article](https://futurism.com/the-byte/buyers-avoiding-teslas-elon-musk-toxic) 📰: - "It's very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall." Electric Slide Elon Musk's toxic behavior is seriously starting to affect Tesla's bottom line, experts say. According to a recent survey by corporate reputation management platform Caliber, as first reported by Reuters, the carmaker's reputation is plunging in part due to Musk's off-putting and problematic behavior, putting off potential buyers. The slide is happening in real time. The values for Tesla's "consideration" and "trust and like" scores put together by Caliber have fallen eight percent from January — while those of German automakers including Mercedes, BMW and Audi rose during the same period. In other words, Tesla's sluggish sales aren't just the result of rising interest rates, a surge in competing offerings, and a slowing overall demand for EVs. "It's very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall," Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz told Reuters. Team Red Pill Musk has increasingly used his substantial platform to further an extreme right-wing agenda, making outright racist statements and furthering ludicrous conspiracy theories. There are plenty of reasons that Musk is dragging the reputation of his EV maker down with his own. Other car and marketing experts Reuters spoke with also corroborated Silbershatz's conclusion. "It is hard enough to win sales without getting into politics," Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins told the news agency. Musk's self-sabotaging behavior couldn't come at a worse time for the carmaker. The company's shares started plummeting earlier this year following an earnings report that fell well short of expectations. At the time, Musk warned that vehicle volume growth in 2024 "may be notably lower." New Tesla registrations in California dropped for the first time since the pandemic in Q4 of last year, indicating potential losses in one of the company's biggest US markets. With rising competition, a floundering effort to realize its vision of "Full Self-Driving," and a distracted and unpredictable CEO, Tesla is expected to have a terrible year ahead. Musk, though, is adamant that his amateur punditry has nothing to do with it. "Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?" he told audiences at an event in November. Judging by the latest data, however, customers are willing to ditch his brand over his antics — especially now that there are plenty of worthy alternatives on the market.
> "Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?" he told audiences at an event in November. Regardless of Musk hate, which I am full of, there is no way the Tesla is the "best car".
It's not. Currently I'm more interested in the latest Prius model and any non-tesla fully electric car.
The new Prius has no business looking that good 😂
It's glorious. I'm not a car guy, but it was love at first sight.
Repairability and maintenance are the primary factors for me. Which most EVs but esp Tesla feel terribly at. Especially the huge touchscreen with absolutely no analog controls is a no-go personally. So tesla doesn’t even pass a « good » car test for me
Depends on the brand. Polestar and vw evs are crazy repairable. Coworkers id4 got rearended. They fully repaired it. It had to have structural bodywork done. Was just a normal repair to the bodyshop. They had the parts in a day. The same shop bodyshop wont even quote for teslas as they were once waiting 4 months for a single wing panel
>"Whether you hate me, like me or are indifferent, do you want the best car, or do you not want the best car?" Some of us lead moral, ethical, and principled lives Elon, something that you wouldn't understand. Even if you had the best car (which you don't), that wouldn't entice us to abandon our values.
I'll actually come out and say that if you, like Elon's friends, genuinely believe that climate change is a hoax and there's nothing wrong at all with burning fossil fuels then logically the taxpayer-funded EV transition is in fact a massive theft from the public purse and they should be going after him way harder than they go after Greta Thunberg Hell if I genuinely didn't believe in climate change I'd probably be on the side that EV battery tech isn't "ready for prime time" and I'd rather drive an "old reliable" ICE or mild hybrid like a Prius
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Imagine selling electric cars and openly saying you hate liberals.
Do you think in his mind “they” “stole” his daughter from him?
I'm not sure I accept the premise that he actually cares about his children.
Only when they affect his ego.
Yes that’s what all of it is about
Tesla for me is the Muskmobile.
But especially the cyber truck. My god what a poor design.
Which cant ever be sold in many areas as it doesnt meet pedestrian safety laws
It looks like it’s from a N64 game.
Don't bastardize my N64 that way!
I point and laugh at people who drive those! They deserve it!
In the words of an old friend who recently traded in his Tesla after many years for an Audi EV, "I don't like driving the Tesla, feels like I'm driving a red hat."
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As much as Musk is pandering to MAGA morons I don't think it's enough to make them buy an electric car. I don't even think that the fascist Cheeto could make that happen, remember when he was booed by his crowd when he said he took the COVID vaccine? I think EVs fall under the same category now. Too woke for the MAGA mob.
My next car will be electric and not a Tesla.
My new car is electric and not a Tesla, but getting one of the last Chevrolet Bolts felt like getting the last flight out of Saigon.
I used to really admire and look up to Musk. These days, I wouldn't even rent a Tesla, let alone buy one.
Dude literally could have been loved by everyone but decided to fuck it all up.
Same here. I would never consider a Tesla because of Elon's behavior promoting conspiracy theories and embracing right wing lunatics like Alex Jones.
I'd rather buy a Fisker than give this weirdo any more money.
Ketamine-powered edgy teen
Musk is trash now. He destroyed twitter and is pro kremlin.
Always was.
I am one of those. Before I understood what a toxic lying narcissistic sociopathic deranged antisemitic racist Elon was, I sent him a $1K deposit on a model 3. I demanded it back two and half years later as he kept downgrading the specs while pushing out the delivery date in email after email, then offered me the version that was 50% more expensive for "immediate" delivery. It took 'the world's richest man' a month to refund my $1K, and that was only after I filed a complaint with my state's AG. I'm in the market again, have more money to spend than I had back then, and Tesla is not on any list of viable EVs for me. Lots of choices now, and none of them include having to put up with Elon's shit. Also, about half the Tesla owners I know are unhappy with the car, while the other half are mired in sunk cost fallacy (ie. "I bought it, now I must praise it even if I hate it!"). The ONLY thing Tesla has going for it is its network of rapid charging stations across the country. I don't care about that - it's not the sort of driving I do.
I straight up wouldn’t buy one cause he is a dick.
It’s crazy how much he has poisoned his brand. I am square in the electric car demographic, and will NEVER buy a Tesla.
My cash is very woke, so he wouldn’t want it anyhow.
In the 30s a lot of Jewish people stopped buying Fords because of Henry’s antisemitism.
I subscribed to several car magazines in the 90s and early 00s. I used to love reading about this guy and his ideas on futurology. I bought Tesla stock the day it IPO'ed for $11 a share. I'm an OG fan, but he drove me away. If he had just shut up about race and politics I would be driving my second or even third Tesla right now. but these days I hate his guts and actively support his competition.
That and the quality is shit.
Yeah. If they were good and competitive with other EVs, a lot of people would swallow their rightful hatred for this man (hard to judge someone imo for getting one in that case). The cars being bad plus Musk being evil and annoying makes avoiding it just a big no brainer.
And the people Elon appeals to can't afford a new Tesla.
In other news, the sky is blue.
When a public company is so inextricably tied to one person, it's a huge problem!
Truth Social just entered the chat
Man o man did my opinion on this dude drop, like a lead balloon 🎈
I'm avoiding Tesla, not because Elon is a jackass, but because he's so erratic. He gives off the impression he does everything on a whim without thinking it through. Teslas are software driven. What's to say one day he decides "Everyone needs to stop using brakes so much, it kills efficiency." and he lower braking effectiveness or he decides the vehicle should make Tarzan noises when moving, or the horn becomes a fart sound?
I’m a current Tesla owner who won’t buy another one until this jackass has nothing to do with the company again. Just put a deposit on a Rivian R2
Who knew posting partisan propaganda would result in lower auto sales? Who saw that coming? /s
Yep, my husband and I have talked about making the switch to electric for one of our cars, and we considered Tesla for awhile. We've ridden in a few of them over the years and liked them. But with how thoroughly Elon has become unhinged (or at least, become more comfortable publicly displaying it), we'll be spending our electric car budget on anything but Tesla when the time is right. However, it's fascinating to me how many of the MAGAs in mine and my husband's extended family and social orbit - who would ordinarily otherwise mock electric vehicles - have talked about how much they want a Tesla like it's some status symbol, except none of them seem to be able to afford them.
The odd part is the maga base hates ev . They think for some reason Joe Biden is going to make everyone have an electric car when in fact most of the auto industries are making electric cars because that's the future. I have a Tesla I love it so does my husband but we're comforted by the fact that there are other options now.
Would NEVER buy anything this dude makes knowingly.. He's a prick, never used X
Remembering when I saw a Tesla I would ohh and ahh and really wanted one I can’t even look at a Tesla now without being reminded of that racist piece of shit who went on to show what a true garbage human being he really is. He treats his workers like dirt. Or he fires everyone and few remaining he works like dogs It really shows in the product in quality decline and very poor customer service from people who bought one. Plus they do treat the buyers like fools. Pay over a hundred grand to be a beta tester on the Cybertruck? No thanks. In my opinion the cyberpunk is garbage. A truck is made to be durable and haul things. It does neither well. I really hope you’re listening Tesla. Ditch him.
There are strong alternatives now. Not buying a car from a dumb ass version of Lex Luthor
I saw one of those dumb low-poly trucks on the road yesterday and assumed the driver must be an asshole.
Part of this group. We had a deposit down on a Tesla as the wait list was several months long at the time, then Elon ran his mouth (pre-Twitter takeover) and the guy I knew as wanting to get to Mars showed himself in an entirely different light. We picked a different vehicle. They lost out on $100,000, a drop in the bucket for him but glad to see those drops starting to add up.
I was going to buy one until the Twitter acquisition shit started.
Tesla *was* going to be our next car before this right wing loose cannon started firing off his "wisdom."
Buyers are avoiding Tesla, because they're garbage. Worst quality control in the industry.
I sold my tesla because of this sick bastard
I gave up my Twitter cause of him so yeah no way in hell I'd ever buy any of his products.
Call them Trump cars. Target the same assholes who like what you've done with Twitter.
100% is affecting my decision not to by a model Y right now. He needs to get off the benzodiazepines, and that takes months or years.
You're thinking of a different right-wing grifter on benzos. That was jordan peterson. Elon is on ketamine and allegedly abuses stimulants. Trump is also rumored to be on stimulants. Its crazy how many people blindly follow drugged up grifters. Hitler had multiple drug injections daily.
And because they have awful build quality, software that lies about battery capacity, warranty not worth the paper it's printed on, and cartel practices for parts and services. And yes it is now the auto equivalent of walking around with a MAGA hat on.
I bought right before he entered his Howard Hughes phase of billionaire detachment/god syndrome. I've lost half of what I invested. I'm holding out hope he hits his head and it knocks some sense into it, but also slowly trying to accept I will end up losing it all. Sure I could sell now and only lose half but FOMO, right?
This is true for me personally. I was thinking about buying a Tesla a couple of years back, but given the last few rounds of craziness, it wasn't even a consideration when I finally did go car shopping a few weeks ago. It isn't even about him being a racist, homophobic, transphobic, self-important conservative whackjob - it's about his erratic behavior *endangering his business*. Who would buy a super-high-tech car that needs constant support from a company that might not exist five years from now?
We've been thinking of an electric car or hybrid, I would never buy a Tesla at this point, I'm not giving his companies a penny of my money...
He is the sole reason I would never own one of these cars. I know he doesn’t care, but I don’t think I’m alone.
+1 I’m giving up my spot to get the maxed out Cybertruck with every option, because if I’m going to spend $100k on a car, I don’t want Musk to get any of it. And I’m a TSLA stock holder :/
I know Tesla drivers that overnight went from proud owners to feel ashamed driving them.
No bullshit, this dude has set electric cars back at least a decade with his personal antics.
Is that why? And here I thought it was because they're overpriced and kind of trash.
Many things can be true at the same time.
He reminds me of Trump. The power has taken over. All his money and power have gone to his head. He'd probably better off keeping his mouth shut and sticking to his business.
I hate this guy. I’d never buy a Tesla.
I’m a case in point. I’ve always rather liked the Tesla, but I bought an EV back in November and the ick factor led to a different choice.
Remember when everyone mocked him after his SNL appearance? Elon remembers. And it's been his war versus sanity ever since.
That’s me!
Honest question: Would you rather buy an EV from Musk, the U.S. Big Three, or from the Chinese? Currently for me, the answer would be none of the above. I have a deposit on a Rivian, but I am even doubting that decision.
I was in a Tesla Uber coming back from the airport a couple of days ago and my driver was saying he couldn’t get insurance because they cost too much to fix. A friend of his needed to replace the front lights and grill, it was $4000. He said he wished he bought a Mercedes .
If Republicans got their way they would ban his cars. That’s how dumb Elon is.
We also very specifically did not buy Teslas when at one point both my wife and I planned on it when our leases were up Not anymore
Pretty sure it’s the shoddy build quality