@TFCooper Do you have any specific examples of it being a 'hit piece' or is that just your 'feeling'? Because if it's the latter, I pose the same question to you as
@hydbob
Otherwise, feel free to add to the discussion! But "nah it's an article by BIG MEDIA" is not exactly a major contribution.
Fair enough.
1) The article consists of talking with specific owners about specific problems, and the owners blame Tesla. That happens with every car company, and we know that sometimes it's the owner's fault, and sometimes not. Remember the sudden acceleration issues? It turns out the majority are due to driver error.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unintended_acceleration
2) Tesla makes a lot of cars with new technology, and some are bound to have issues. The article's author talked to some owners and concluded there's a systematic problem with the quality of certain parts. OK, the plural of anecdote is data, but is it strong evidence? Maybe yes, maybe no. Here's my anecdote: my Model X, bought in 2016, had the half-shaft vibration problem, and Tesla fixed it under warranty. The car had zero problems after that, and I traded it in for a 2019 Model S. That Model S never needed service (except for a new set of tires), and I recently traded it in for a 2023 Model S. Was the half-shaft problem systematic? Probably yes, because there were hundreds of Model X owners with similar problems. Did my Model S have the half-shaft problem? No. (Note that the Reuters article shows a picture of Model S front suspension parts, not Model Y parts. Why?)
Is the Model Y problem systematic? Does it exist at all? We don't have enough data yet.
3) Tesla didn't discuss the issue with Reuters: why not? We know there are two sides to every issue and have only heard from one side. I can tell you one reason the other side is often not heard from in an article is because the author didn't give them enough time to respond.
4) We know that journalists don't like Elon Musk. Perhaps partly because of his politics, and perhaps partly because Twitter contributes to the demise of traditional media. I believe that animus matters a lot in writing articles like this.
5) Reuters could easily write a similar article about Lucid, using the issues that owners have detailed on this forum.
