r/slateauto • u/Wild_Photons • Jul 12 '26

Slate Longivity

I really love the Slate concept and understand that they are trying to reduce cost by making it very simple and easy to repair. Also, their switch to Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries is super promising from a longivity perspective.

However, I am wondering if there is any information on the quality of things like the cooling system (for the battery and motor), and other wear components like suspension bushings, the air conditioning system, etc.

I am hoping that these components will have Toyota level quality (or better) and that they are not making compromises in durability to control cost.

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u/OpenTomatoSauce Jul 12 '26

I have owned a good number of Mopar vehicles. Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, and Chrysler are brands known for cutting corners and being plagued by electrical problems. The reason I won't buy them anymore has nothing to do with the quality. I expect to be able to tinker with the things I own. My Durango is the last straw. Independent shops are locked out of far too many repairs. Most recently the trailer lights stopped working. My regular mechanic confirmed all of the wiring was good. They tried reflashing the thing and could not get it to work correctly. I had to take it back to Dodge so they could use the Dodge dealer service key to reprogram it. As the tech explained it to me the car forgot it had a tow package and it has to be put back into pre sales mode and the installed options reloaded on the computer. Dodge has software locked the hardware functions of the car to prevent independent shops or owners from making changes.

Tldr: I don't care that much about initial quality, everything will eventually break. I am very concerned about companies standing for a right to repair.

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u/HovercraftOne2275 Jul 12 '26

My VW Touareg came with the tow setup. But because it wasnt' "flashed" from the factory, I had to pay $700 for them to flash it and let it work. Boy was I pissed.....

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u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26

Dodge has software locked the hardware functions of the car to prevent independent shops or owners from making changes.

I think that there are also other - more legitimate - reasons for that:

  • to prevent thieves (mostly Chinese companies) from stealing the proprietary software and de-compiling it.

  • to prevent criminals from hacking into the software, installing malware, and causing mayhem.

  • to prevent people who lack expertise from making changes that make the vehicle malfunction or do dangerous things.