Another first from Elon Musk: Tesla Service Centers won't try to rip you off

The entrance to the Tesla Motors Service Center on Route 17 in Paramus, N.J. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Tesla Motors is well-known for putting customers first -- from direct sales to free use for life of a nationwide network of fast electric chargers.

Dealers for traditional automakers -- whether Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota or Mercedes-Benz -- have made buying and servicing a car two of life's most unpleasant experiences.

Think of that last brake job the service writer insisted you absolutely had to have to keep your family safe from disaster (and to line his or her pocket with more commission).

Now, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the first to take the focus off of service as a profit center:

Tesla "intentionally operates its service centers at break-even," Musk says.

"We don't believe in profiting off our product, if it is not working," he said in a message to Model S owners in rolling out Tesla's referral program.

This is what he had to say about service:

"Tesla received the highest customer feedback rating for service of any car brand in production: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/03/best-places-to-get-your-car-repaired/index.htm 

"A big reason for this is that Tesla intentionally operates its service centers at break-even. We don't believe in profiting off our product if it is not working. 

"Our service centers are located throughout North America and Canada, with Mexico coming soon: http://www.teslamotors.com/findus/service 

"If there isn't one near you, no problem: our Tesla ranger service will take care of you wherever you are."

What a relief

I took delivery of a Model S 60 in mid-April, and it's scheduled for service in 12,500 miles or one year.

What Tesla calls the "annual inspection" costs $600, but I bought four years of prepaid service for $1,900.

My only purchase so far has been wheel locks, which cost $60 and were installed free as a goodwill gesture.

Compare that to a $25 labor charge at the Toyota dealer in Hackensack, N.J., to install a $25 cabin air filter in a 2010 Prius -- a job the owner can perform in less than 5 minutes with the help of a YouTube video.

Model S and Roadster owners also get 20% off Tesla-branded merchandise, including hats and jackets. 

Update

We have a 2007 Toyota Prius with HID headlight bulbs that have been a problem for years, flickering on and off or staying off.


The passenger-side bulb was replaced free a total of three times under the warranty or to reward my "loyalty" as a Toyota customer -- we bought four Priuses from 2004-10.


As I was leaving Hackensack Toyota with a new right-side bulb several weeks ago, the service writer told me the driver-side bulb had started to flicker.


I called Toyota national customer service again, but this time they refused to cover the $249 cost of replacing the bulb.


Then, I found a Phillips HID bulb on Amazon.com for about $40. And a retired Toyota mechanic I know installed the bulb for $20.

Just when you thought TV ads couldn't get any more bizarre: The Chevro-Benz SUV

Does this look like the interior of a Mercedes-Benz?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When you own a Tesla Model S, the inane TV commercials other manufacturers run can drive you crazy.

Tesla Motors doesn't spend tens of millions of dollars to advertise on TV or in newspapers and magazines, which may be at the root of the media's hostility toward the all-electric luxury car and the genius behind it, Elon Musk.

But just about every other manufacturers does, and the cost of those ads boosts the MSRP of the vehicle you buy. 

And now ... the Chevro-Benz

In northern New Jersey, where I live, I've seen a TV commercial showing prospective SUV buyers sitting in a Chevrolet and enthusing over how the interior looks like one in a far more expensive vehicle.

In turn, different people say they think they are in a Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, BMW and even a Mercedes-Benz.

What were they smoking?

They are shown in several gas-guzzling Chevy SUVs, including the enormous Suburban.

When I was working for fleet management companies for a measly $12 an hour, I drove a lot of SUVs from Mercedes, other German manufacturers, Lexus and Infiniti, and I can tell you none of them look or feel like the far cheaper Chevy. 

LOL.

AP says Tesla's Elon Musk is embarking on another one of his 'far-out projects'

California-based Tesla Motors has revolutionized travel with all-electric luxury cars that can go more than 200 miles on a single charge and a nationwide network of free Superchargers. Now, Tesla is planning to do the same with home energy.

Eight Supercharges are available at Tesla's Showroom and Service Center on Route 17 north in Paramus, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A Tesla home storage battery that can keep your lights on and your appliances humming during a blackout has been dismissed as a 'far out' project.

An Associated Press story said David Foster paid $7,500 for his battery as part of  pilot program after California state incentives -- less than the cost of a noisy standby generator powered by natural gas.

Thousands of those generators were installed in the New Jersey-New York area after Superstorm Sandy plunged much of the region into darkness in late 2012.

Yet, AP reporters Michael Liedtke and Jonathan Fahey, who are based in California, say "as with Tesla's electric cars," the battery "will probably be too expensive for most consumers."

Of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the reporters say "he is renowned for pursuing far-out projects" like "colonizing Mars ... one of Musk's goals at Space X, a rocket maker he also runs" (The Record of Woodland Park).

Powerwall

Today, Musk announced Tesla Energy's home battery will be about the size of a large flat-screen TV and cost only $3,500.

Musk is calling it the Powerwall Home Battery, and his Tesla Web site shows the battery under an elegant cover mounted on the wall of a garage holding a Model S.

The official announcement came only a few hours after the AP story appeared in morning newspapers, but showed what is often the case with the wire service:

Its reporters are uninformed and often base their stories on mere speculation, not facts.

See: The Tesla Powerwall

Solar power

As a homeowner with more than 60 solar panels on my roof, Tesla's home battery is just what I am looking for as an alternative to a noisy, expensive backup generator.

A battery that can store electricity also would supplement the power generated by the panels, making me even less dependent on the grid.

Now, I generate all the electricity I need five to six months out of the year, meaning I pay nothing to power my home.

In addition, I have earned more than $10,000 from selling solar credits to my utility through a middle man.

LOL: Auto blogger gives advice to genius behind Tesla Motors, SolarCity, SpaceX

Hybrid electric buses have been a common sight in Manhattan for years, but this is the first hybrid electric UPS truck I've seen, being driven up Third Avenue a couple of weeks ago.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Christopher DeMorro is a writer for Gas2, a blog that promises to bridge the gap "between gear heads and green heads."

I've been driving hybrids for more than 10 years and have no idea what a "green head" is.

In view of climate change and air pollution that kills many thousands of people every year, you also have to question the assertion of Gas2 that it reports on "green cars that don't suck."

How could any green car "suck," if it reduces the reliance on fossil fuels and helps clean the air?

But today, DeMorro has outdone himself with a post that advises Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk to take five steps to improve his all-electric cars:

Elon Musk should 'stop, just stop'

DeMorro faults Musk for undertaking too many projects, including an attempt "to bring solar grid storage to homes en masse via SolarCity."

SolarCity is one of many companies that install solar panels on homes. I'm not sure what DeMorro means by "solar grid storage."

More troubling is that an ad for a competing solar-panel installer appears just below the Gas2 post, "Five changes that could make Tesla better."

Did Tesla's Elon Musk pull strings to get The Times to fold Automobiles section?

The all-electric Tesla Model S is a large, heavy and luxurious four-door hatchback, as seen in this image from a company gallery in Westfield Garden State Plaza, a shopping center in Paramus.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When automobile writers get together for lunch once a month in Manhattan, you never know what you might hear.

I arrived on the ninth floor of the 3 West Club just before 12:30 on Tuesday to find the room full of members and guests of the International Motor Press Association.

I saw Norman Mayersohn, deputy Automobiles editor at The New York Times, speaking to an older man I didn't know, and the latter wished Mayersohn all the best.

When I asked what happened, I was told The Times is folding its 20-year-old Automobiles section, ostensibly for economic reasons.

The older man claimed Elon Musk, CEO of California-based Tesla, reacted angrily when the Automobiles section published favorable articles in October about BMW's new iBrand, a plug-in hybrid sports car and an all-electric sedan.

Musk went to the higher ups and had something to do with The Times decision to fold the Sunday section, the man said.

The Times' evaluation of the i8 compared the cramped sports car favorably to the Tesla Model S, a luxurious four-door hatchback, and completely ignored the BMW's shockingly impractical ergonomics.

Musk blasted Times

In 2013, Musk claimed Times reporter John Broder falsified information about the performance and range of the all-electric Model S.

On Feb. 13, 2013, in a follow-up entry in the Tesla Blog, Musk wrote:

"Yesterday, The New York Times reversed its opinion on the review of our Model S and no longer believes that it was an accurate account of what happened. After investigating the facts surrounding the test drive, the Public Editor agreed that John Broder had 'problems with precision and judgment,' 'took casual and imprecise notes' and made 'few conclusions that are unassailable.'”

Mayersohn, who didn't hear the other man's comments about Musk, said later the section is expected to fold at the end of the year.

During lunch, he noted The Times is the only newspaper that pays for the so-called press cars it evaluates and forbids staffers from going on junkets that are paid for by the manufacturers of cars, tires and other products.

Auto Express: Tesla readies a smaller, more affordable all-electric car for 2017

The Tesla Model S.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A London-based automobile publication says Tesla Motors will start selling a smaller, all-electric sedan called the Model 3 at a starting price of $35,000.

The car is set to debut in 2017.

The larger Tesla Model S with a 60 kWh battery has an MSRP of $69,900.

Tesla boss Elon Musk is quoted as saying the Model 3 will have a "realistic range of over 200 miles."

Here is a link to the full article in Auto Express:

Tesla Model 3 to challenge BMW 3 Series