Still no word on who/how/where the cars will be serviced in USA/Canada
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Nothing yet. I'm betting on Firestone since they have the largest presence (1700+ locations). Other national options are Midas (1300+), Pepboys (1000+), Meineke (900+), and AAMCO (500+).
I'm hoping it's Firestone since there is a location five minute from my lab.
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Or Valvoline
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I am not getting everyone's comfort level with these various "tire shop" alternatives. My experience is that they are ok for tires, maybe an exhaust. Do I want them trying to get behind the instrument panel for a rattle, or deal with an unforeseen electrical glitch on a new Ocean? I think not. The folks at the legacy dealerships go through exhaustive training to achieve "master mechanic" status. Why are these tire shop guys not at legacy dealers working on higher end cars already as professional backgrounds? For the volume of Ocean, how many independent shops would send their techs out of service bays for such training, if they have the underlying skill set to start? However, with Cox, don't they have relationships with actual automobile dealers? Those technicians would seem to already be more generally expert.
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I think with evs most repairs can be done OTA
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Many likely can, but others will have a "hands-on" mechanical aspect. My concern is for those. If those weren't a reality, there would be no need for any servicing affiliation.
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Hopefully they announce something soon. I feel they should get everything out in the open.just too many unanswered questions
Agreed. It feels very unorganized for a company taking deposits on a vehicle know one has test driven and has no service contract with any third party company. These issues should have been rectified prior to the required $5000 deposits for the One edition.
I also don't feel myself comfortable if a tire shop technician will try to repair my Ocean, even after 1 month training. I have 50+ years of experience with electronics design and the troubleshooting.
It is so easy to fix one problem and create other 10 problems on the way due to luck of experience. This kind of light business model is my biggest concern.
It is so easy to fix one problem and create other 10 problems on the way due to luck of experience. This kind of light business model is my biggest concern.
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My mechanic has seen the aftermath of work done by Firestone. If they actually expect the techs at Firestone to service the car at all, I don’t see that ending well. Loose control arm bolts, wheels not torqued, brake jobs with anti-rattle clips left out are the norm vs the exception. The customer experience is also going to be a hell of a lot different than what someone buying a $70K car will expect, and the tire slingers are not ready to service a $70K EV.
If it’s used as a FBO (fixed base of operations) for a trained, qualified Fisker tech….cool. If not…I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to go forward. Maybe our local Firestone just isn’t up to the same level as others, but I have to think it’s representative on the whole.
If it’s used as a FBO (fixed base of operations) for a trained, qualified Fisker tech….cool. If not…I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to go forward. Maybe our local Firestone just isn’t up to the same level as others, but I have to think it’s representative on the whole.
Have you ever owned an EV? Very few repairs can be done OTA. Even if it was a computer (which it's not) hardware fails. You can't just push an update if electrical components fail/short, or brakes need to be serviced.
Heck, diagnosis via OTA is rough.
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Ok thanks how does Tesla fix their millions of cars on the road
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They can address a narrow range of issues susceptible to OTA updates. They can’t use OTA to fix when a Tesla rear fascia or sunroof falls off or a door handle has an issue.
@probrien44 do you own a Tesla? I don't, but I can speak of the fact that there are quite a few Tesla service centers in my area. If Tesla "fixed cars" with OTA, there really wouldn't be a need for Tesla service centers. I ask again, not to be mean, but do you own an EV? I do, and almost nothing is is "repaired" via OTA alone.
Most of the recalls Tesla has had were able to be fixed via OTA, however, that has more to do with what NHTSA is making Tesla issue recall notices. As far as repairs, Tesla has service centers and a large fleet of mobile service. Most of the times I needed service, it was done at my house with a mobile service unit. Tesla diagnosis your car remotely so they typically already know the issue by the time the get to you. Most of the repairs are replacement like for like and usually can be done fairly quickly (most of the components are located underneath the rear seat so easy to reach and cars do not need to be lifted). For larger jobs, the cars would need to go to the service center. At my house, I have had the FSD computer upgraded, wheels rotated (just back to front), HVAC filter replacement and replacement of faulty rear blinker (which was causing autopilot lane change to fail).
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