Workers Claim Over 90% Of Teslas Have Assembly Defects

blah blah blah, i'm no fan of musk, or tesla for that matter, but all of these reports/crticisms/stories about Tesla mean nothing.

Tesla has developed a cult like following and become somewhat of a phenomenon, so they have already mastered the larger part of the puzzle, creating crazy demand.

Production/supply/quality issues will be managed in time. Even retailers like Walmart and DHL cant get enogh of Tesla which have already ordered the firm's Semi Trucks.

This quality/production glitch is just that a glitch and blip on Tesla's radar, the future looks very bright, they have the steam to become the Apple of the auto world.

Remember, Apple struggled at the beginning too...

The detail behind the statement is this: In some months, up to 90% of Teslas rolling off the production line requires some form of post-production fixing before they can be shipped to the customer.

Musk spins this as testimony to how meticulous they are about perfection.

Anyone who knows the tiniest bit about manufacturing can see this for what it is: Tesla's production process needs big improvements! So much so, that only about 1 out of each 10 vehicles made are "done right" the first time.

A company wastes a lot of resources (time, money, materials, production capacity, people) fixing mistakes rather than doing it right the first time. No doubt, this plays a substantial role in why Tesla can't ramp up their production numbers as quickly as they stated and hoped they would.

Tesla's news just gets more and more loaded up with apparent indicators about how fast things at Tesla might be deteriorating.

Does the stock 'waft' gently down in price or does it get its knees taken out and plummet over a couple of weeks, if the Model 3 problems remain unresolved?

How long do the investors wait. If Tesla calls itself a manufacturing company, it needs to get the 'manufacturing' part right!

Rushing products to market without proper testing and quality control checks to boost share price and generate needed cash flow will do this every time. Musk is a shooting star who might as Bob Lutz predicted crash very soon.

Anyone who has actually been to a final assembly plant knows that virtually every car that comes off the line has some type of Assembly defect - from missing or not completely tight screws and bolts - to Upholstery problems. Some of these will never even be addressed for the life of the car - and cause no problems. Others might end up causing squeeks and various other noises. ANd then there are some that actually disable the car. A single wire caught in a place where it does not belong can do that. A car that has NO defects would be spot on PERFECT - and I doubt that ever happens.

Remember that there is only so much time for a line worker to do their ONE job - before they MUST move to the next car. This is not one at a time like Rolls Royce - and could never be completely perfect - which is what some people expect. THAT is why dealers are PAID to perform pre-delivery checks of the cars - to hopefully find any problem that might turn into a major headache for a buyer. Still - ask any auto mechanic - and if they have worked more than a week - they have already seen things that are missing or stripped or caught or similar.

I take note that if you think about it - if writers are so good - why do they need Editors?

One thing Toyota et. al. taught the auto industry (and all manufacturing) in the late 1980s and early 1990s is that quality is designed into the product, not inspected in at the end of the line. That design includes considering vendors, manufacturing processes and tools, tolerances,etc. When all this comes together the product costs less and is more reliable. The days of the guys with rubber hammers at the end of the line banging parts to fit better is long gone. Yet it is alleged Tesla is using rubber hammers to get the model 3 finished. Another indication of Tesla troubles is the fact the vast majority of a quarters sales ergo shipments are in the last month. That's a sign production isn't continuous, but has lots of scrambling to make the quarter at the end.

The progressive liberal love fest with Tesla is breaking.

AS a progressive Liberal - not a democrat or a republican - I never supported Tesla's sales model and always thought it was destined to fail

YOu would be better off using the word GREEN - instead of trying to link it to politics.

@TomM "Progressive Liberal" = Democrat. Democrats who are ashamed of the name just call themselves progressive liberals.

Green as in $? Because most environmentally green folks drive more modest EVs or still have their 12-year old Prius.

Yes Greenies are selfless martyrs of perfection and the farthest thing from being total hypocrites.

I wonder if these interviewed employees are the disgruntled group that wants to unionize? Hard to know how much is interpretation or manipulation of data instead of actual facts.

Having said that Tesla is clearly discovering that manufacturing is complex and not easy and the other car companies have certainly had a large head start on problem solving assembly line challenges.

I don't want to!

Gives me the willies!

Yeah, the suckers that love their cars and would gladly buy them again. Highest Consumer Reports rating ever on that metric, which honestly is the one that counts the most.

They are available, but you might have to wait a few days for the part. However, the way Tesla service works is there is a free valet that will pick up your car and drop off a free loaner and then do the reverse when your car is ready. Usually this is a better car than the one you drive (I've gotten P85 and P85+ models several times, lately they are using P100Ds as loaners). So during service or part replacement, usually you want them to take a long time.

Consumer reports ratings mean nothing to Tesla compared to profitability. And this quarter will likely bring another billion dollar loss. Tick tock.

If you have happy customers, eventually you will have profits as well. Amazon operated in the red for what, 14 years? Now they practically own the whole eCommerce space.