I have a 2019 Model 3, and it has some paint issues, specifically in the door hinge areas. It had some suspension issues which were repaired in half a day, under warranty. It has an issue where the windshield in front of the self driving cameras gets obscured with some gunk, blocking the cameras (it continues self driving even when half blind). The steering wheel material is falling apart. Other than that, for the past 6 years, it’s turned on every day, driven flawlessly, and cost me exactly $0 in maintenance other than tire replacement - not even brakes needed in 90k miles. No German car I’ve owned has ever come close to that record. I’m skeptical of the review.
The competence and pricing of dealers along with the proclivities of a car’s customers have a lot to do with it, too. This ranking is basically “of the cars brought for the german federal safety inspection, what percentage were issued a note or failure about an item in a given category” Things like bent suspension linkage caused by driving into a curb, poorly maintained brake pads, or torn rubber boots left unaddressed would all count.
You can see this skew quite easily on these reports by looking for VW AG cars that are generally identical, and comparing their rankings, like Audi A1, VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia.
(note that this isn’t really to defend Teslas, which are clearly behind on this metric in Germany for some reason. Just; the reason could be “their service is overpriced and nobody wants to take the car in” rather than “the car is junk.”)
The post doesn't link to the report itself. It looks like you can only read a summary of it for free and must pay 5.90 to download a copy.[1] From what I can glean from reading TUV's summary, it seems like the Teslas had significantly higher mileage than other vehicles (>50,000km in 2-3 years). Also their failures were mostly in brake discs and rear axle issues, which makes me think that due to regenerative braking, the discs were rusty from disuse. The rear axle issue they mention is probably a clicking noise caused by under-torqued rear halfshaft nuts.[2] Tesla updated their torque values last year[3], so this shouldn't be a problem anymore. Any older vehicle that has the click can be fixed by re-lubricating the hub and torquing the nut to the new value.
Without paying for the report, we can only speculate as to what TUV considers a serious defect. If the rates are as high as claimed (17% Model Y, 13% Model 3), then the issues are most likely minor things such as rusty brakes or rear axle clicking. Rusty brakes are less than ideal, but they're common on EVs and they work just fine. The fix is to simply use the brakes occasionally. If anything it's an indication that the vehicle requires less maintenance because the brake pads won't need replacement as frequently.
Can cobfirm, I’ve been driving a Model 3 for 6ish years and the brakes have problems from disuse pretty regularly. It’s annoying but not critical. Other than that it has been shockingly reliable. This matches my experience.
I am not surprised, my model s, supposedly a good build year is absolutely crappy and feels like a cheap piece of plastic. Talk about regret! I can only complain anonymously because I am sure musk will be vindictive and cut off all updates, service and even self driving just for me :)
I’ve owned two model Ys over the past 5 years or so. Zero maintenance issues. I also had a 2020 Model 3 that I recently sold and it had 1 issue with the small secondary battery after 5 years. Tesla charged me ~$140 to come to my house and replace it.
[Bought cheapest Tesla Model 3 Nov 2022.]
[Before that - owner of 2 consecutive Priuses] - before that 2 caravans 2 jeeps etc (I am 60+yrs old)
I have the answer to all these questions :-)
Its very simple. I was about to answer "me too - i have no clue why the germans say that" (to all the (real) tesla owners here that explain that their car was by far the most reliable car they ever drove..
But then I forced my mind to truly remember.
None of the two priuses had any issue that required repair in its first 60K miles.. - I remember saying that because the caravans were not like that.I never bought a over-engineered german car - but I am guessing they are not far behind.
But really the tesla - had some issues:
- taking the car to fix an erroneous TPMS alert (tire pressure measuring system) (twice)
- replace headrest - headrest "bubbles"
My mind doesnt really recorded the above as repairs.. because they were totally painless... the second was a mobile visit - I opened the app - service - asked me for photos - it told me sorry - we will fix for free - because its the first time - they asked me to leave the car outside the garage - the next day found the car fixed
As for the TPMS it involved a 4 week out visit to a tesla - and even though nothing was perfect... i left that place feeling i have visited a utopia were car dealerships are friendlier than anthropology and more trust worthy than your accountant.
Most importantly though i never did anything else for the Tesla. no oil service nothing. For 3 yrs I just commuted in it - occassionally washed it - and last month i changed its tires... Not even refilled the water. Every other car (included the priuses) involved the time investment of visiting a dealership twice a year - were someone would make sure the car was alright. They wouldnt charge me - because they made me buy with extra $K the free service while the car in warranty package.. .. But still in my head I must have counted this as an actual service penalty.
So thats the diff in the apples to oranges german comparison.
They compare german cars that are being regularly service with Teslas that never do.
I may be right!!!
Regardless of the accuracy of this particular report, the general trend seems to be that Teslas are not improving in reliability, fit, finish, or worst of all, availability of spare parts as time progresses. This is now, what, a 15 year old company?
My biased opinion is that it won't get better in the future, because Tesla has ceased to be a company that aspirational people will work at, and the CEO isn't even interested in being CEO of a car company.
I hope that Chinese EV makers gain access to the US market directly or indirectly, and are able to globally diversify. It's the only way we'll really get the EV revolution and the diversity of models and form factors.
We'll certainly never get it with Tesla. They are years behind in battery tech, they basically make two cars.
If Tesla had a real CEO, they wouldn't just have 10 models of cars, they'd have multiple marques, true luxury cars, entry level cars, probably would have acquired other struggling automakers for production capacity, market access, existing designs to adapt, would have had companies pushing PHEVs with their motors, battery packaging, and battery management.
Instead, they make two cars, and still have a CEO that did perhaps the single dumbest public gaff in the history of corporations with his public nazi salutes and AfD dogwhistling.
Tesla has its problems (between 2019 and 2024 the auto headlights and auto wipers were borderline unusable, now they are merely tolerable, and autopilot is a whole story on it's own), but maintenance is not one of Tesla's issues.
Useable, human-readable errors in the app/touch screen (the car self diagnosed it's 12V battery problem and told me to call a tech) and mobile service is just an awesome experience.
21 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 32.2 ms ] thread* Tesla Model Y ranked most unreliable among nearly new cars, with 17.3% serious defect rate.
* TÜV report found rising major defects, particularly in electric vehicles like Tesla’s Model 3 and Y.
* European brands, especially Mercedes and Volkswagen, dominated reliability rankings across all age groups.
Our Benz sprinter needed an engine at 11k miles.
I wonder what they count as defects.
You can see this skew quite easily on these reports by looking for VW AG cars that are generally identical, and comparing their rankings, like Audi A1, VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia.
(note that this isn’t really to defend Teslas, which are clearly behind on this metric in Germany for some reason. Just; the reason could be “their service is overpriced and nobody wants to take the car in” rather than “the car is junk.”)
Funny enough, my 2007 BMW had so many issues and cost so much to maintain i used to call it a “wallet burning machine”
Are the Germans biasing toward their companies? Or am I underrating VW’s quality?
Without paying for the report, we can only speculate as to what TUV considers a serious defect. If the rates are as high as claimed (17% Model Y, 13% Model 3), then the issues are most likely minor things such as rusty brakes or rear axle clicking. Rusty brakes are less than ideal, but they're common on EVs and they work just fine. The fix is to simply use the brakes occasionally. If anything it's an indication that the vehicle requires less maintenance because the brake pads won't need replacement as frequently.
1. https://www.tuvsud.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025/novem...
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HncCmgMp-s
3. https://service.tesla.com/docs/Model3/ServiceManual/2024/en-...
The article doesn't even get this right. It's the 2026 report.
https://www.tuvsud.com/de-de/publikationen/tuev-report/maeng...
Trying to buy this report but I am failing right now.
I have the answer to all these questions :-)
Its very simple. I was about to answer "me too - i have no clue why the germans say that" (to all the (real) tesla owners here that explain that their car was by far the most reliable car they ever drove..
But then I forced my mind to truly remember. None of the two priuses had any issue that required repair in its first 60K miles.. - I remember saying that because the caravans were not like that.I never bought a over-engineered german car - but I am guessing they are not far behind.
But really the tesla - had some issues: - taking the car to fix an erroneous TPMS alert (tire pressure measuring system) (twice) - replace headrest - headrest "bubbles"
My mind doesnt really recorded the above as repairs.. because they were totally painless... the second was a mobile visit - I opened the app - service - asked me for photos - it told me sorry - we will fix for free - because its the first time - they asked me to leave the car outside the garage - the next day found the car fixed
As for the TPMS it involved a 4 week out visit to a tesla - and even though nothing was perfect... i left that place feeling i have visited a utopia were car dealerships are friendlier than anthropology and more trust worthy than your accountant. Most importantly though i never did anything else for the Tesla. no oil service nothing. For 3 yrs I just commuted in it - occassionally washed it - and last month i changed its tires... Not even refilled the water. Every other car (included the priuses) involved the time investment of visiting a dealership twice a year - were someone would make sure the car was alright. They wouldnt charge me - because they made me buy with extra $K the free service while the car in warranty package.. .. But still in my head I must have counted this as an actual service penalty. So thats the diff in the apples to oranges german comparison. They compare german cars that are being regularly service with Teslas that never do. I may be right!!!
odysseas
My biased opinion is that it won't get better in the future, because Tesla has ceased to be a company that aspirational people will work at, and the CEO isn't even interested in being CEO of a car company.
I hope that Chinese EV makers gain access to the US market directly or indirectly, and are able to globally diversify. It's the only way we'll really get the EV revolution and the diversity of models and form factors.
We'll certainly never get it with Tesla. They are years behind in battery tech, they basically make two cars.
If Tesla had a real CEO, they wouldn't just have 10 models of cars, they'd have multiple marques, true luxury cars, entry level cars, probably would have acquired other struggling automakers for production capacity, market access, existing designs to adapt, would have had companies pushing PHEVs with their motors, battery packaging, and battery management.
Instead, they make two cars, and still have a CEO that did perhaps the single dumbest public gaff in the history of corporations with his public nazi salutes and AfD dogwhistling.
Useable, human-readable errors in the app/touch screen (the car self diagnosed it's 12V battery problem and told me to call a tech) and mobile service is just an awesome experience.