They're shit cars. Let's please stop pretending they aren't. The build quality is abhorrent.
Yes, they had the cool factor for a while, and yes, I feel sorry for (some of) those who got caught up in something they didn't want to be caught up in. But also, the writing has been on the wall a long time, and build quality issues have been public knowledge for about as long.
I have a co-worker that bought a 10 year old one and is finding out it's not great doing all the repairs. He had to replace a motor after the coolant leaked and caused the car to seize up. Had to be flatbeded to the nearest Tesla repair center and hour away. Got put on the back of the queue and couldn't get any commitments on when the repair would be finished. It has some other issue with a window and a parking brakeb ring being flaky as well.
On the other hand my 16 year old Honda kept chugging along.
My buddy found blue painter’s tape where there was supposed to be wire conduit and screws when he lifted up the carpet on his. You may note that blue painter’s tape is intentionally designed to be temporary and dissolve away after a few weeks, which is much less than the expected lifespan of AN ENTIRE FUCKING CAR.
Except it isn't stupid bullshit. They are giving the money to musk so that they can get something they want done. This also gives musk more power as he's able to buy more people.
If this were a movie, (that I was writing)
The car would glitch and lock Dumpster inside, then burst into flames. He would push the panic button, then look through the smoky windows at fElon laughing demonically, while Dumpster lights-outs coughing and railing against the betrayal, and injustice of it all.
Hearing Trump talk about how the car has 'computer' (during the news conference) made me think back to a news event with George H.W. Bush in a supermarket, seeing a grocery barcode scanner for the first time.
Same kind of inquisitive and excited response from both of them.
Trump did a supermarket thing while out doing his disinformation circuit, and the owner guy was trying to explain things to him and you could tell Trump had never grocery shopped and then quickly lost interest and tuned the guy completely out.
The McDonald's fries thing was also amusing when he learned "how fries were made" and that they put them in a basket and not scoop them out by hand lol.
The McDonald’s fries thing was also amusing when he learned “how fries were made” and that they put them in a basket and not scoop them out by hand lol.
They could have let him learn that the hard way, but no.
Imagine if everyone in the world would just say "fuck no, I am not cooking for you" and the billionaires would die of starvation because they don't know how to do. Hilarious.
Musk did some crazy brand management with Twitter, but the Tesla/Trump stuff has got to be unparalleled in the history of branding. He built a product that was an identity-broadcasting thing for liberals and then pulled a 180 and drove as hard as one could possibly imagine in the other direction.
Even if he had some idea of selling to conservatives, become the only EV manufacturer selling to that segment, he could have put out a different brand, which lots of manufacturers do, and mitigate losses to the original brand.
Stifel’s Think Tank Group data has shown that Democrats’ net favorability of Tesla fell to -15% from 7% since February 2024, while Republicans’ rose to 27% from 11%. Democrats’ net purchase consideration for Tesla vehicles also dropped to -42% from -31% since Musk endorsed Trump in August, while Republicans’ improved to -13% from -26% in the same period, per Stifel.
“There is a clear negative shift from Democrats, while Republicans willingness to buy a Tesla is rising… This backlash has surfaced anecdotally and on social media (people placing bumper stickers on their Tesla’s claiming they love the car, but not Elon, and other variations),” the analyst noted.
Car brand history has a lot in store if youre interested. You can basically start at Volkswagen for the obvious, mitsubishi is a story too, hell even Ford but that has some anachronisms we have to kind of ignore.
At least denazification worked on Henry Ford. Someone showed him footage of the death camps and being confronted with the reality of it gave him a stroke that almost killed him, and which contributed to the cerebral hemorrhage that did kill him.
I think disallowed only out in the public. I think I read that theyre allowed to drive on the whitehouse property, and maybe private institutions like race tracks? I dont recall the specifics
I think more like the SS advises the president not to drive for their own safety, and to leave it to experts.
Or as Trump probably sees it: The deep state is being insufficiently loyal and trying to tell him - the president - of all people - what to do. So he totally shouldn't listen, and should drive if he wants to, and they should fall in line or be fired.
What's weird is that Presidents aren't allowed to drive themselves. Secret service is no doubt impounding that new car until he's no longer their problem.
That's code for he never learned to drive. Whatever polite bullshit you're used to from other politicians isn't happening here, so you can safely assume the exact opposite of what he's saying.
He did have a drivers license and was shown driving in 2014 on a video that his wife posted. The license expired in 2020.
He probably didn't renew it, since ex-presidents are also not allowed to drive, so he hasn't been allowed to drive since 2016.
Duh. The dude has the intellect of a 90-year-old rotten turd. What the fuck did you expect from him? Are you fucking stupid enough to think he would do any differently than suck Elon’s ball sack on the front lawn of the White House in front of a bunch of cameras?