from Hacker News

Partial Tesla Model S recall

by psychotik on 6/19/13, 8:12 AM with 117 comments

  • by cloudwalking on 6/19/13, 8:41 AM

      The Model S does not need to be brought to our  
  service center by the owner. Tesla will pick up  
  the car at a location of the owner’s convenience,  
  provide a Model S loaner if needed, perform the  
  work and bring the car back to the owner a few  
  hours later.
    Does anybody else offer service like this?

  • by MichaelApproved on 6/19/13, 8:51 AM

    A bit OT financial advice: it's almost never worth it to buy a single share. The reason is the commission will eat you up. Assume a low $7/trade commission. That could possibly cost you $14 round trip (purchase/exit).

    With Tesla ~$100/share, It'll have to go up 14% just to break even on the trade. Even if you just buy in single shares but exit in multiple shares to spread the commission, you still have to fade 7% commission. Not worth it.

    If you're investing in the hundreds of dollars, you should look for low commission options such as CDs.

    Edit: I accidentally replied to the post. My comment was meant in response to this comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5904397

  • by JackWebbHeller on 6/19/13, 8:33 AM

    I bought my first ever share - a single share in Tesla - two weeks ago. I saw the headline and my heart sank.

    But if you have to deliver bad news, that is how you do it - proactively and efficiently. It answers every question a Model S owner will have whilst providing solutions to every problem. Brilliant.

  • by etjossem on 6/19/13, 2:51 PM

    Reading this actually made me feel better about Tesla as a company. For every new vehicle concept, I expect the manufacturer to find at least one safety-related design flaw after production begins.

    If you are that manufacturer, you can save a little money by quietly telling your service centers how to fix it without informing the public. Auto manufacturers do this on a regular basis, even with serious powertrain safety issues like the ones found in Ford's 2009+ Ecoboost engine and Audi's 2002-6 CVT. Like Ford and Audi, you will probably get away with it. Your customers won't notice the pattern until their cars are well out of warranty, and then they'll blame it on age. If anyone dies as a result (and their family connects it to you) you'll just settle confidentially out of court.

    As far as I can tell, that is not what Musk chose to do. Tesla will be fixing the issue at no expense to the customer, before the NHTSA or the class action lawyers force their hand. I truly respect that decision.

  • by toddmorey on 6/19/13, 3:37 PM

    This is a beautifully crafted announcement. Very clear, matter-of-fact, and without that all too common feeling of spin. It certainly helps that they are doing right by their customers in fulfilling this recall, but as someone who has had to deliver bad news myself, I think they nailed the messaging and crafted a case study in how to communicate with customers.

    Also, I love that it's attributed to Elon and signed with his first name.

  • by codebeaker on 6/19/13, 11:09 AM

    Tesla deserves to be the leader in the future of car manufacturing, they're a company that understands what it is to create a great product, execute well, and to care about their customers. It's almost impossible to believe it's from the same background as PayPal who have one of the worst (anecdotal) customer satisfaction records I have ever seen. But, great news for Tesla.

  • by MarkMc on 6/19/13, 1:45 PM

    It's not a big deal, unless there's another recall in quick succession. One vehicle recall may be regarded as a misfortune; two looks like carelessness. (With apologies to Oscar Wilde)

  • by angersock on 6/19/13, 8:53 AM

    Very impressive service for what sounds like a blown weld.

    I wonder if this will result in a robot getting reprogrammed or welder getting retrained (or fired).

  • by MaxScheiber on 6/19/13, 4:03 PM

    This could easily be a solid example in years to come of how a business should handle a negative event such as a recall.

    For another really great example of this sort of thing, watch the Domino's pizza prank response (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dem6eA7-A2I).

  • by nickmccann on 6/19/13, 4:45 PM

    "We do not wish to cause undue alarm, so it is perhaps worth clarifying that:

    The weld has not actually detached on any car There have been no customer complaints"

    Hmmm, I know someone who had this fail and brought it back to Tesla with a complaint. She was told this would be the beginning of the first Tesla recall.

  • by joshdance on 6/19/13, 4:15 PM

    Very effective recall. Almost an advertisement for Teslas service and quality.

  • by teawrecks on 6/19/13, 2:52 PM

    Something tells me a*b<c and yet they're still recalling. Bravo!

  • by magoon on 6/19/13, 11:22 AM

    If it's a PR stunt then I love this even more.

  • by teeja on 6/19/13, 9:16 PM

    Classy operation.

  • by conformal on 6/19/13, 11:27 AM

    i can't tell if this partial recall is a Total Recall joke or not.

    quaid, start the reactor... FREE MARS!