Despite being aware of the significant quality issues, a current research conducted by JD Power has found that most Tesla owners are still very much attached to their electric vehicles. The automotive research company has allegedly outlined some of the more major complaints owners have with their Tesla units but found that owners were still satisfied overall. Concurrently, J.D. Power has also released an annual quality and consumer satisfaction surveys that highlight whether which cars and brands consumers are most, and least, happy with.
According to Car Keys, some of the most common complaints about Tesla cars were the high cost of spare parts, the sub-standard interior fit, and issues with its finish, along with faults with the door handles and leaks in the rubber sealing. The research company finds that although Tesla owners have typically reported more faults and quality issues as compared to the average car buyer, the findings reveal that they would still want to buy another Tesla in the future. In addition, considering the company's meager share of the global automotive market, which is believed to be fewer than 80,000 cars sold in 2016, Tesla is allegedly receiving a hugely disproportionate amount of media attention.
Meanwhile, in one of her statements reported by Behind The Wheel, Kathleen Rizk, the director of global automotive consulting at J.D. Power reveals that as compared to the average, Tesla owners would still normally report more faults and quality issues, but that doesn't mean those owners like their vehicles any less. Furthermore, it was found that while spending hundreds of thousands on a vehicle that has so many problems would really have a dramatically negative impact on sales and brand perception, experts say that it looks like that Tesla seemingly has been immune from such disenchanted customers. However, Rizk has highly emphasized that the arrival of the more affordable Model 3 is bound to only lift customer expectations, making them more forgiving.
While Tesla customers can expect a good quality of battery technology or excellence at using social media channels in particular for promoting its image, experts claim that what seems to be very difficult to apprehend until now is how Teslas stack up against the establishment in other areas such as quality and reliability. Rizk adds that when consumers buy a mass-market car priced around $35,000 that will be their primary mode of transportation, the degree of expectation will increase immensely, but has highlighted that this situation has also been observed in other well-liked brands, whether or not it involves an electric vehicle.
