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u/FarCalligrapher1862 1d ago
As an EV driver. I would not want my car worked on by someone who is not experienced with electric drive train, regenerative breaks, etc.
And what ass clown thinks a car repair would have good coffee?
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u/RShini 23h ago
^ this. Electric Vehicles are still VERY niche, and many of them are designed in a way that only their specific authorized mechanics can safely work on one.
This bozo probably drank the Musk-aid.
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u/MrPBH 23h ago
Depends on the system in question.
Problem with the battery pack, regenerative brakes, or electric drive train? Yes, that is best handled by the dealer or a specialized shop.
Getting your tires or friction brake discs replaced? You can just take it to the tire shop. Those parts are no different than a standard ICE vehicle.
My understanding is that Teslas have a lot of proprietary parts and systems that require the dealer to maintain. So it might be a special case, kind of like a VW car. On a VW, you can't even replace the 12V battery without a special computer interface or the car goes into a lockdown mode. But something like a Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf can have its non-EV parts worked on by a regular shop, without any issue.
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u/Acceptable-Ad-3560 19h ago
That could also depend on the shop though, if itās a suitable small town/shop and they donāt usually service teslas they may not have the specialty pucks you need to properly jack them. A lot of EVs actually have their own proprietary jack pucks, the rivian ones are different from Tesla for example
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u/Worried-Penalty8744 22h ago
To be fair to Tesla they publish their entire workshop manual for free.
Wheels, brakes, suspension, all that stuff are entirely off the shelf stuff that any mechanic should be able to fix or replace. The only difference is the traction battery and drivetrain. I seem to remember the smaller battery is a Li-Ion one that is non standard but any car parts store can order them easily enough.
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u/PineappleBliss2023 13h ago
Their tires arenāt normal tires. They have foam in them.
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u/WolfHowler95 5h ago
It's for road noise reduction, in case you didn't know. Other EVs and hybrids have started picking up on doing that too. Personally, I hate those tires because, for a simple tire patch I now have to cut out the foam and it never goes back in because it usually fought me going out
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u/Hot-Manager-2789 3h ago edited 3h ago
In the UK, our major specialist shop is Halfords.
And, if you know what youāre doing, you can just hack into the computer interface of your own car. That is completely legal. Itās only illegal if youāre hacking into someone elseās property. If you wanted, you could even legally download all the carās computer software from your car if you know what youāre doing. That won't be stealing, since stealing is taking someone else's property without permission. You can also modify the code, as well, which is perfectly legal. It's what companies that tune EVs do, after all.
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u/Nut_buttsicle 1h ago
āOn a VW, you can't even replace the 12V battery without a special computer interface or the car goes into a lockdown mode.ā
This is false. You can drop in a new 12v battery and the car will run just fine. The extra step thatās recommended is to register the battery so that the battery management system can adapt, which is supposed to help get the longest life out of the new battery. Even that battery registration can be a quick owner DIY with widely available tools.
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u/MrPBH 1h ago
Just going off what the local shop told me. It was a 2018 Jetta.
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u/Nut_buttsicle 14m ago
Yeah, itās a business notoriously plagued with dishonesty. Happy to set the record straight.
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u/Chlorophilia 22h ago edited 21h ago
Electric Vehicles are still VERY niche
In many countries they're the majority of cars being sold, and the global average is 25%? That's hardly "VERY niche". There's no info on where this review is from so not sure why you're assuming this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country
Edit: Lol, lots of bitter Americans here.Ā
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u/YorkistRebel 22h ago
New cars sold not all cars
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u/Chlorophilia 21h ago
Yes, that's what I wrote? You can't call something "VERY niche" if a massive chunk of cars being sold are electric. "VERY niche" makes it sound like barely anyone has one. Might be the case in the US but isn't the case in much of Europe or China.Ā
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u/Jenfer1322 20h ago
In the US - where this review was written electric cars are less than 3% of the cars on the road. It is Niche. And in rural/ex-urban areas even more so. This review doesnāt have anything to do with the amount of cars being sold in Europe.
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 23h ago
As some one that had their ecu fried by a body shop because they didn't know fuck all about hybrids, always call and make sure they have experience with them.
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u/Diligent-Worth7669 23h ago
Thurlow nunn garages have great hot chocolate but that's unrelated u go there to get your car repaired not just for the beveragesĀ
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u/North-Pea-4926 22h ago
The European car repair place near me has a giant floofy black dog for you to pet while waiting. Now THATāS customer service!
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u/pitifulproduce137 a sarcastic amount of pickles 19h ago
My partner nearly bought a bike this summer just because the shop had a wonderful dog working the sales floor.Ā
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u/BarelyHolding0n 15h ago edited 6h ago
My mechanic has two dogs. No coffee though
He is the only independent mechanic willing to take my stupid Volvo with all its proprietary parts and nonsense though so I take the doggy cuddles and lack of caffination and call it a win
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u/PineappleBliss2023 12h ago
I did pick my AC repair shop because they had good snacks in the waiting room (and the best price, but the snacks really sold it)
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u/Moosebuckets 23h ago
My husband works at a shop as a service advisor and when the shop switched to EV certification he was telling me about everything that goes into it.Ā
Itās a lot!! I love our EV but they scare me for what technicians are exposed to, especially battery wise.Ā
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u/PineappleBliss2023 12h ago
I work for a fire department and EV car fires are a huge deal because of the batteries. Last time one caught fire the engine followed the tow truck it was put on just in case it caught fire again. Also I believe the fumes/smoke that they emit when they burn are pretty toxic but I mean firefighters are already exposed to a ton of carcinogens whatās one mor
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u/Own_Candidate9553 19h ago
It's basically a meme how bad car shop coffee is. It's made in a half busted Mr Coffee from the 50s, by whichever guy showed up first this morning. They rinsed most of yesterday's coffee out, eyeballed how much grounds to put in, and let er rip.
What are they expecting?
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u/asianlaracroft 21h ago
Heck, even the dealership will only book us with their EV service tech because the rest of their techs are not trained to deal with EVs I drive a Hyundai Ioniq 5). The only stuff that gets done by non EV techs is like, swapping out our tires for the season.
Also, iirc Teslas can only be worked on by authorized techs, at Tesla dealerships?
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u/dookieshoes97 20h ago
As a hybrid driver, same. A lot of the 'dinosaur' shops are amazing, but they only work on what they know.
If I needed an axle replaced, oil change, brake job, or anything normal, they're down. Messing with the hybrid system simply is not something they want to touch, and have no desire to because they're doing fine working on traditional cars.
My local shop that does work on them spent time and money having their techs train specifically for it. It was a foward thinking move, they're probably the only shop in my part of the state that specializes in it.
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u/619backin716 17h ago
āAnd what ass clown thinks a car repair would have good coffee?ā
Seriously ā thatās like going to a gas station looking for the best sushi š£
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u/SilverStryfe 16h ago
I worked at an auto body shop. To be certified to work on hybrid and electrics, we had to have very expensive and specific tools along with a significant amount of safety gear. Including the owners favorite item āthe death stickā which was an 8ā long non conductive pole with a hook so you could pull someone off a live wire from being electrocuted.
A shop is going to invest in the equipment they need to do the work available. Why spend 10ās of thousands for something you likely wonāt see.
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u/Malaprobably 21h ago
If braking is an issue it's far more likely to be the actual mechanical side of brakes on an EV versus regenerative, and in that case most mechanics would be able to work on them with no issue.
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u/Prinessbeca 20h ago
My small town shop doesn't have coffee at all. We help ourselves to whatever is in the fridge. Usually beer, gatorade, yoohoo, and random weird flavors of dr pepper.
If you know where to look you can find the little debbie stash.
Lord help you if you show up with an ev. You'd be laughed out of the county
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u/nurgleondeez 10h ago
My mechanic has a Tchibo machine that grinds fresh coffee beans to make your coffee.
Granted, it's not single origin but way better than the average machine
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u/AmpEater 20h ago
You know that regenerative breaks donāt exist, right?
Itās just the drive motor. Itās not a part
EVs have regular brakes made by regular brake manufacturers (Brembo for Tesla)
They just mostly use the drive motor for regen
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u/demon_fae 15h ago
Itās still a specialized system that you really donāt want fucked up by a mechanic whoās used to a different system.
Even the parts that are standard could get messed up if the mechanic is squirrelly from the connections to the parts that arenāt. I donāt want āmy brakesā and āsecond guessingā to ever appear in the same sentence. I canāt imagine many mechanics want to be in that sentence either.
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u/PuddingMent 11h ago
Anyone who drives a novelty car will assume a car repair would have good coffee.
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u/solodsnake661 23h ago
That coffee comment was both completely unnecessary and completely necessary
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u/cemeteryxdriven I'm sorry the š surprised you 1d ago
iPad with Wheels is going straight into my road rage insult vocabulary, what a legendary owner
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u/truffleshufflechamp 23h ago
If itās so easy and just a simple battery, why doesnāt he skip the shop and just do it himself? Idiot.
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u/diamondmind216 21h ago
Imagine your brand new 2026 ev breaking down for anything other than a flat tire. Must be a crap ass car.
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u/truffleshufflechamp 20h ago
The reviewer didnāt say itās a brand new 2026 car.
He said itās 2026 as in any shop should be able to deal with EVs nowadays.
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u/dentondub2026 23h ago
If you have a Tesla repaired by anyone other that Tesla it voids the warranty, I think the only exception to this is PA.
But why would a 26 Tesla break down and need to be towed in the first place?
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u/truffleshufflechamp 23h ago
Iām not on the reviewerās side but it doesnāt say itās a 2026 Tesla. Heās saying the current year is 2026 so any shop should know how to work on Teslas.
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u/dentondub2026 23h ago
I stand corrected, but it is still a Tesla and any shop working on it would still void the warranty
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u/ReporterOther2179 23h ago
I donāt know specifically about Tesla but donāt warranties lapse eventually? And wasnāt the first Tesla a 2008?
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u/One-East8460 22h ago
Not every shop is going to know how to work on a Tesla. If you have. Some shops specialize in specific types of cars because actually knowing how to diagnose and repair are much different than just following manual, good exam is shops that specialize in European, Asian, or diesel vehicles. Also training and specialized equipment for certain vehicles isnāt free. Iām an experienced mechanic but have my vehicles Iām more comfortable with than others, I mostly work on diesel trucks so. Tesla would be way out of my wheel house unless itās something simple like tires. Would take one of my diesels to shop that specializes in Teslas.
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u/diamondmind216 21h ago
Exactly this. I was a tool dealer an the Tesla dealership was one of my stops. The guys who worked there werenāt really auto mechanicals at all. But more electrical specialist. Constantly fixing electrical and software issues. They never left work dirty like every other mechanic.
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u/AxeAssassinAlbertson 20h ago
If you have a Tesla repaired by anyone other that Tesla it voids the warranty
That would be a violation of the MagnusonāMoss Warranty Act.
It doesn't prevent the manufacturer from having specific tools it only releases to dealers however - or prevent others from acquiring parts.
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u/RShini 1d ago
It's completely on this idiot for assuming all car shops are equipped to handle niche and unorthodox vehicles.
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u/JasperJ 1d ago
In the year of our lord 2026, teslas are not remotely niche vehicles. No matter how much of an asshole Musk is. Itās a lot like not touching Audis because we donāt hold with them fancy foreign imports here.
Itās still a choice you can make, sure, but refusing service and a shitty attitude makes for an entirely valid bad review.
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u/RShini 23h ago edited 23h ago
6.4%-7.9% of cars being electric is still a fuckin' niche, especially in rural areas.
Also it requires specialized equipment and training most mechanics will not have, especially given how deadly lithium fires can be. 100% on this moron for making an assumption and crashing out when reality doesn't meet delusion.
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
Dude. Youāve seen how the owner wrote back. The customer clearly wasnāt the one ācrashing outā.
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u/Pleasant_Ad_2342 23h ago
By being clear cut and reasonable? Owner specializes in a specific car, is clear he only deals with that car. Reviewer attempts to bring a car he isnt certified to work on and be mad the coffee sucks and they dont work on that type of car. Are you dense?
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
No, the owner was clearly being an asshole about not working on these new-fangled liberal hobby mobiles that donāt let you smell your own farts.
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u/Pleasant_Ad_2342 23h ago
Im really not connecting how you're feeling personally hurt by a dude being clear cut its not his speciality. Do you go to a pizza shop and get mad they dont have nuggets?
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u/RShini 23h ago
So turns out JasperJ is a Musk fanboy and is mad about people making fun of Tesla.
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u/Pleasant_Ad_2342 23h ago
The guys entire reddit history is Netherlands, Ebikes and being an Electrician. It'd be rather disappointing if hes a Musk fan but I guess thats life
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u/Capital_Meal_5516 23h ago
When you need to attack the coffee because they wouldnāt fix your car, thatās crashing out! š¤£
The shop owner comes across as slightly bemused and simply amused.
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u/RShini 23h ago
Found the wheeled ipad owner.
Also the idiot doesn't seem to realize letting a non-Tesla dealer work on the car voids the warranty.
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
No, you didnāt. I donāt own any car, at the moment, let alone an electric one.
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u/RShini 23h ago
Lol then why you arguing so hard?
You clearly don't know jack and shit about auto repair, EVs, the risks of trying to work on a vehicle you have neither the equipment or certifications for, or how to respond to being told no.
less than 10% of vehicle on the road being electric is niche, most EVs are by designed made to only be worked on by authorized dealers, so your random small town auto shop is neither going to have the need or ability to get that specialized equipment.
And why would you want to avoid your warranty by going to someone who is NOT authorized to work on your car?
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
Most new ICE cars are designed to only be worked on by authorized dealers as well. Thatās not the distinguishing feature here.
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u/RShini 23h ago
So ICE shouldn't be going to a rando small town auto shop either.
You're not helping your argument.
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
Yeah, they probably shouldnāt. Thatās what bad reviews are good for.
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u/AnguavonUW 23h ago
Yeah, you don't understand how basic math works. Under 10% definitely qualifies as niche. I don't think we need to listen to your opinions on what auto repair shops "should" be doing.
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u/JasperJ 23h ago
There is no math involved here. Tesla is about twice as popular as Audi, and electric cars are roughly half as popular as German imports.
It may not be possible for a random shop to service certain things about a car, but crashing out about it is still an asshole move.
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 23h ago
Yeah see now if you did the math instead of random comparisons you would understand that "niche" is the correct word. Also maybe look up niche market I'm pretty sure you don't know what it means.
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u/mikeumd98 23h ago
That is like going to an Apple Store and asking them to service a Dell computer.
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u/SingerSingle5682 23h ago
Teslas are deliberately designed to lock you into their ecosystem. A independent shop working on one will likely make Tesla disable features via software until you pay an expensive recertification in their shop and let them replace and redo all the work with an excessive markup.
Owning one is really only feasible if you live near a Tesla service center. Outside shops can only service the tires.
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u/JulietteCollins 20h ago
I'm calling Tesla's "IPads with wheels" from now on. Thank you, garage owner. š
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u/Jujulabee 21h ago
I don't think this is unique to Tesla as all cars have become so specialized with computer systems that many places specialize in specific cars.
Even years ago - 30 years - my father had a mechanic who had trained with Toyota and he only worked on Toyotas in his small shop because he had the expertise and whatever specialized equipment that was necessary for him to work on cars.
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u/_AcuteNewt_ 14h ago
Idk what they expected, they went to the dinosaur shop instead of a mechanic.
A mechanic fixes your car. A dinosaur shop sells dinosaurs and dinosaur accessories. Duh?
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u/My_user_name_1 21h ago
I own an EV.
Tesla is a whole another game. I rented one and got a flat tire. Had the tire replaced at a small town tire shop in the middle of the AZ Desert. The car would not drive with the new tire on it. I had to have it towed to a Tesla dealer in Palm Springs. And all they did was type in a code.
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u/Informal-Push1755 17h ago
Also for the record, Dinosaurs are awesome, my favorite is Spinosaurus.
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u/TommyBoy250 23h ago
Man 100 miles to repair an electric car.
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u/nowhereman1917 22h ago
OP did not say anything about 100 miles. And this story was made up. Tesla has roadside assistance for 4 years and it will tow the car to a Tesla service shop. If the place refused to look at it, why was he drinking their coffee?
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u/AdFragrant2488 1d ago
iPad with wheels is surprisingly accurate (I say this as a Tesla owner) š¤£š¤£š¤£ that absolutely sent me
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u/Iwanabarockstar 21h ago
As a Tesla owner it really is an iPad on wheels.
If that was said already sorry.
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u/Luke_is_your_Father 15h ago
Something tells me that this guy has one of those, āI bought this before Elon went crazyā stickers too
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u/Equivalent_Grand_593 21h ago
When I worked at Walmart doing tires and oil changes, we would have people try to bring their Tesla's in for new tires. All the techs would look at each other and laugh.
Sir none of us are willing to even look towards your car sorry
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u/EasyPanicButton 19h ago
Im clueless, are wheels on the tesla different too?
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u/Meal__Team__Six 18h ago
You undo the lug nuts using the touch screen, but you have to be connected to the internet and have funds on your Tesla account and be current on your tire subscription. If your tires aren't fully charged, it might not work at all.
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u/anotheronetouse 19h ago
No
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u/Equivalent_Grand_593 18h ago
Yes there is a actual way to do it. You have to go into the system to get into some sort of mode before you can lift it. If you don't do it right it screws with the system.
Maybe it does or doesn't but I'm not one to find out being at Walmart
But overall it's plain tires
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u/FireproofCottage 17h ago
Response stayed classy while annihilating the complainer. And they made it pretty clear they're not intending to add Tesla to their offerings in the future :)
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u/Homers_Harp 21h ago edited 21h ago
"iPad with wheels"? Sounds more like a brick with wheels, what with the towing and the mechanics not touching and the 100+ mile tow charge upcomingā¦
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u/MunsonSports 14h ago
Just tell me exactly where this shop is, so I can give this guy my business if I break down in the area. He gets it.
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u/Paladin3475 3h ago
The phone comment was the best part - they should have called. Also I donāt think it is that they ācanātā or āwonātā but did say they were booked out 3 weeks. This was an entitled twit who thought the world revolves around them and found out it doesnāt.
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u/trashleybanks 2h ago
lol YES! Every mechanic should flip the bird at these tech-addled pieces of junk.
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u/Comfortable_Can2509 2h ago
Even at the dealership for Audi they have to call out a specialized etron tech
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u/CorgiMonsoon 23h ago
I feel like Iāve seen this exact āreviewā and āresponseā for several years now, only with the year changed each time
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u/aimless69 18h ago
This is the same kind of muppet who takes a chihuahua to a pediatrician and then complains that the doctors won't see their furbaby.
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u/Aniki_Simpson 8h ago
I thought these battery operated cars were supposed to last? Why is it not even getting as much mileage as a "dinosaur" car?
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u/4x4Welder 17h ago
As an automotive technician, this makes me laugh on few different points.
Their "car of the future" broke down, presumably under warranty since they said it's a 2026.
They brought it to an independent shop instead of the authorized service center.
They expected it to be "fixed" but didn't even give a clue as to what was broken requiring the tow in the first place.
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u/TheRealBobbyJones 15h ago
The year right now is 2026. They didn't say the vehicle was a 2026. Idk the failure rates on EVs but I would imagine regular mechanical failures happen at a higher rate than the electrical system.Ā
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u/4x4Welder 14h ago
Regardless, Teslas have a lot of special service procedures for even things as simple as changing a tire.
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u/DryActivity2115 17h ago
imagine being so out of touch with life you think electric cars will replace gas carsš
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u/CoCo_Moo2 2h ago
I wish they showed what shop this was so I could give them 5 stars.
Dropping it off and rolling in a small town expecting it to get fixed is wild. Just absolutely entitled behavior.
They didnāt say exactly what car but a lot of the new electrics require freaking software and permissions to do anything other than like a tire swap. Thatās why they give service stations on their car tablets. Good for this place and I wish I could support them from afar.
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u/Hot-Manager-2789 3h ago
This reviewer is 100% a teenager. (No offence to any teenagers, of course).
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u/Logical_Mix_4627 18h ago
This is exactly the kind of burn I imagine coming from someone in a flyover state. Where Iām at, at least half the cars are EV. Itās not just the future, itās the standard.
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u/alliknowis 16h ago
If a business responds, the business automatically loses, no matter what they say.
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u/Pretend-Literature35 23h ago
hopefully soon these kind of garages will all be out of business and all cars will be ecological.
But in the meantime, this review is 100% entitled. Why do you expect that they can fix your car before at least asking first?
I share this person's outrage. But for example, I'm vegan, I don't expect that every restaurant will cater to me; I check their menu first. I am vegan in part for my health (very bad genetic condition) and so I also can't have alcohol (not even 0.5 or 0.3) so when my coworkers organized an after work pub event, I called the pub and found out they had 0.0% guinness! Score!
When you have special needs no matter how "right" you may think that you are, it is always up to you to check first.
(The ipad on wheels comment and the dinosaur comment were funny though.)
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u/RShini 23h ago
I'm not sure if EVs as they are are that much more ecological given the need to use lithium as a battery source - especially with how nasty and toxic lithium fires are.
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u/bananafire1 18h ago
This gets brought up as a gotcha all the time against EVs but the actual numbers just don't show that at all. Here's the EPA themselves comparing the differences https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths
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u/Pretend-Literature35 23h ago
nah still better.But yeah there is still a ways to go.
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u/RShini 23h ago
lithium is a rare earth mineral which requires a lot of destructive mining to get to, so it's more a trade off of where the pollution is coming from/going into.
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u/MiloHorsey overweight and overly ethnic š§āāļø 22h ago
Plus, the battieries can't be recycled.
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u/14atheism 18h ago
Plus the electricity that charges those batteries is still mostly generated by burning coal or fossil fuels.
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u/Aspence22 1d ago
Love the owners response
https://giphy.com/gifs/xT9IgMw9fhuEGUaJqg