Tesla Drops To Dead Last In Used Vehicle Reliability Causing Distress Among Tesla Owners, One of Whom Says, We Have a Model S, Model 3 and Model Y and Have Not Found Reliability to Be an Issue Is Anyone Else Having Reliability Issues With Their Used Tesla

Battery-electric vehicles have proven to be more troublesome with regard to reliability than many advocates hoped. Study after study of the real-world reliability and dependability of battery-electric vehicles reports the same bad news. This is hard for many EV advocates and owners to deal with, since so many pinned hopes on the theory that EVs were somehow simpler, had fewer moving parts, and thus, should be more reliable.

In a new report updated this week by Consumer Reports, the group ranked the reliability of brands based on owner-reported reliability survey results. The vehicles in the study were five to ten-year-old used cars. Not new cars. Consumer Reports ranks Tesla in the top ten brands for new vehicle expected reliability. Consumer Reports also reports very favorable rankings of Tesla vehicles from recent model years and even “Recommends” some Tesla models of some model years.

The news that Tesla is anything but perfect has raised the hackles of many owners. Particularly the ones who have not had any problems they consider "worthy of note." Here’s what one Tesla owner posted in a popular Facebook Tesla group after the new Consumer Reports data was released:

The new Consumer Reports article came out, and Tesla is dead last on the reliability list.  I have a 2015 Model S, 2018 Model 3, and 2020 Model Y, and I have not found reliability to be an issue, but I only have a sample size of 3.  Is anyone else having a big reliability issue with their 5+ year old Teslas?

The post was popular and generated quite a buzz. Many of this poster’s fellow Tesla owners quickly posted up their thoughts on why this owner-based data is not accurate. Here are some posts of that type in support of used car Tesla’s reliability. 
VJC - “My 2021 has been flawless. I had a control arm replaced, but not a big deal. Tesla waived the price of the part. I only paid labor costs.”
JS - “Not a single issue. Had mine since new 2021. I have spent maybe 1200 at most, and that’s because of a rock cracking my windshield .”
JJ - “Zero issues with 2022 Model 3 LR."
If you have been paying attention to the details of this story, you may notice that not a single one of the comments above pertains to five to ten-year-old Teslas. All of the cars that the posters commented on are newer than five years in service. It’s social media, so the facts are not scrutinized; it’s the vibe that matters, right?

Here are some legitimate comments on the topic from owners who do have vehicles in the age range of the study. 
CBT - “2018 Model 3 LR no problems."
BC - “I have two 2018 model 3s and have had no problems at all.”
BD - “Yeah, CR has been full of (expletive deleted) for some time now.”

Many owners posted up comments that they felt were supportive of the Tesla brand, but to our eyes sort of proves that the study is valid and owners are confusing reliability with owner satisfaction. MB had the best example of such a post, saying: 

In five years, I’ve only had it in the shop three times. The computer went out on the second day. I replaced the control arms at three years (normal wear), and the main battery had to be replaced at year five under warranty. Otherwise, no issues.

We laughed at this comment since replacing control arms in an automobile is never “normal wear.” And just the battery and all of the vehicle controls failed. Yikes! Another owner mimicked this sentiment, saying, “My 2021 has been flawless. I had a control arm replaced, but it's not a big deal.”

Finally, we have the owners of Teslas who straight up agree with the Consumer Reports conclusion. Here are some posts that lend credence to the Consumer Reports study:
MK - “So many problems. We are on Tesla number four, and there have been so many problems. We can’t wait to move on to a different brand.”
RB - “A nine-year-old Tesla is not nearly as reliable as the newer ones. It's taken a while for the tech to become reliable.”
MF - “I have a 2019 Model 3. Traction battery gone at 116,000 miles (in this model, the warranty is until 100,000 miles). I had to pay $14,000 from my pocket to replace the battery 2 years ago.”

Our Take On Tesla Reliability
If you look closely at the available reliability and durability data on Tesla vehicles, the trend is clear. Tesla started off poorly and has now progressed to around average for its most important models, the Model Y and Model 3. The Cybertruck’s reliability is hurting the brand right now, but it will be sorted out if Tesla doesn’t cancel it. Tesla has barely sold any Model S and Model X vehicles, so they simply don’t matter one whit when it comes to overall brand loyalty. Tesla cares so little about Models S and X that it doesn’t even break them out in its delivery report. It just lumps S, X, Semi, and Cybertruck into a losers category that has barely any quarterly global deliveries. By contrast, the Model 3 and Model Y are top sellers in their segments, regardless of the fact that they are battery-powered.

We’ll never convince an owner of a vehicle that they love that the vehicle can be both much loved and also unreliable. They suffer the indignity of repairs with pride because they love the overall ownership experience. That does not mean the repairs are meaningless or that the brand or model is reliable. Some Range Rover and Stellantis brand vehicle owners feel the same way about their vehicles.

What say you, Torque News readers? Are used Tesla vehicles reliable, or is the brand being somehow given a bad rap by Consumer Reports? Tell us your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below. 

Top of page image by John Goreham

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.