As does Lexus, MBZ, etc.
Porsche offers a leather-free interior option called Race-Tex in the Taycan.
Tesla Drops USA Prices up to 20%
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Porsche offers a leather-free interior option called Race-Tex in the Taycan.
Nice try. Not even close. Tesla has no leather option. Race Tex and Alcantara are both brand names. Porsche has both and they are nice. Tesla has vinyl and it sucks. It’s not the same. Polyurethane that squeaks when you sit in it. Give me Naugahyde from the 70s every time.
Lousy try. Of course Tesla has no leather; that's by design. The seats are fantastic, by the way. Tesla calls their seat material "vegan leather", which is a synthetic, man-made alternative to animal hide. Tesla has been offering this material in all of its vehicles since 2017.
What does the name of the material have to do with anything? It ain't leather and is very common in vehicles today.
I think you don't understand Tesla's business model; they are not trying to be like other car companies. Leaders don't follow.
Alcantara is by far better than anything Tesla has. It’s not the name. It costs more because it’s better. Way better.
https://www.alcantara.com/
Tesla isn’t a luxury car. A $35k sedan isn’t a luxury vehicle. Stop worrying about leather as a barrier to why you don’t like the car when you have another 18 issues to complain about with these cars.
If there’s one thing a Tesla owner probably doesn’t care about, it’s the material on the seats. The car is bought more as a tech product than what it’s made out of like 90% of car buyers. People just buy the car they can afford with the features that they like. I don’t care for the seat material either. My wife loves it and just like this I couldn’t and don’t bother telling her otherwise.
I our my Tesla and all, but none of it is about materials. It’s just about how it functions as a vehicle. My GTI is a far more luxurious experience and it’s not a luxury car. It also costs more than a Model 3 in a trim level that offers leather interior, which I do have in mine.
I can’t think of a more futile effort than trying to argue with a Tesla owner trying to convince them that they suck. The average Tesla owner is buying a Tesla for a much different reason than you or I would look for typically. When I was driving Jaguars before they modernized the style and lost the leaping cat I wouldn’t have been cross shopping an XJ with a Tesla based on interior materials.
A premium marketed product doesn’t equal luxury. It also doesn’t dictate what materials cars need to be made from. Oh and alcantara absolutely sucks to deal with in a daily driven car. There’s not a worse material for wear in adverse conditions. I was going to say it looks good when clean, but I don’t like the look of it personally and it makes no sense on any surface you’ll actually touch.
Really? Anything? I guess you didn't know Tesla uses some Alcantara in their cars. And the vegan leather' is very good, by the way.
How is this even a debate? Have any of you actually driven a Tesla and a luxury car back to back (until the Highland, they were LOUD!), or even looked at the shoddy materials and assembly of a Tesla? There is literally not another manufacturer out there making vehicles as poorly as Tesla (ok, the Chinese Polestar looks pretty bad, I grant, lol! ). Using the sales argument makes no sense. The best car in the world is not a Camry.
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Exactly. Tesla buyers are not concerned with fit/finish, etc. They are concerned with UI, Integration, NACS, and that sort of thing. They are literally a completely different customer. There IS crossover with people who like performance, as Tesla performs very well, but by and large you can think of Tesla customers the same way you think of Apple customers. In fact, I bet most Tesla buyers own Apple, and probably use terms like "Apple ecosystem" etc. when you ask them "why?". It's just a different mindset. But that doesn't change that the Tesla is very shoddily assembled using the cheapest parts available and hoping that a class action doesn't result, and fixing it only when absolutely necessary. Like that time they used non-vehicle rated screens in their Model S and when they began falling apart FINALLY fixed it, lol!
https://www.thedrive.com/tech/27989/teslas-screen-saga-shows-why-automotive-grade-matters
They are literally a meme of a company...but noone said memes weren't popular!
Nor do I care. I don’t want to sit on their crap vinyl whether they call it vegan leather or not it’s still crap. It’s really not like a Porsche seat is it? But I guess if you like fart noise go for it.
JHZR2
Staff member
That was my point. If I was in the market for a 5/E, I wouldn’t be shopping a Tesla model 3.
The model 3 compares more to the 3/C classes, but the data was putting it up-segment. That was my point…
JHZR2
Staff member
I’d put my 1980s MB-Tex vinyl against any other seating surface out there. They’ll all lose and be inferior besides separating someone from their money.
Not sure what is crap about vinyl, it’s superior to natural surfaces in most every way.
Feel free to stay in the 80s. I’ll take a modern seat surface every time. I’ve driven a Mercedes with MB-Tex and it requires a sheepskin to be useable. For longevity in a taxi cab environment it’s great. For my use, no thanks. And Tesla sure as @#%& doesn’t have anything close to MB-Tex.
I would agree that the fit and finish sucks on both a Camry and a Tesla but having owned (long ago) a car that supposedly had very high initial quality ratings but during 130000 miles of ownership was a complete money pit disaster I tend to question if initial quality actually translates into reliable operation long term.
Many Toyota’s years ago had arse initial quality but the wheels continue going around forever with a low TCO.
Sadly you don’t know the reality of reliability until cars are no longer manufactured
Leather is the modern choice? Now I’m confused.
Tesla has an industry bottom of the barrel 14% rework rate on their vehicles post manufacturing. The industry average is 7 percent. I've spoken with many a Tesla owner and they seem to not care about fit and finish just that "It's a Tesla ".
JHZR2
Staff member
Of course so do any “natural” surfaces, which crack, tear, fade, and still are hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Oh, right… and are typically coated with a vinyl or other polymer surface anyway… right.
Who are the others who exist that make electric cars in the same numbers that Tesla does?
Does "rework" mean warranty work? If so, the percentage does not mean bad quality, it could also mean they accept responsibility for more complaints from customers and fix their stuff as opposed to argue with the customer act like nothing is wrong.
I would. Because it is. Join any Tesla group and you'll see a TON of "Within spec..." posts. The quality and materials are abysmal. Not fit for automotive use in some cases, even.
Go look at a bunch of Teslas. This guy's isn't unique. At 10:25 he drops the famous "Within spec", lol! Tesla loves that line. The guy making the video absolutely "gets it" and his expectations were pretty reasonable. He sums it up "Straight line performance, and technology. That's it."
Don't EVER let a pro detailer loose on the thing if you value your ego, lol!
I remain torn on the 2024 Highland. Yes, it's got terrible quality, but as noted, the battery and motors seem G2G, and it is very efficient. It's also priced with its quality in mind. Would I buy one? I have a soft spot for Gen 2 Vipers, so...I won't say never. Kit car build quality and big speed are kinda cool if price is right (and the M3P is). But I will say I'll go over it with a fine toothed comb, if I ever do.
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