this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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The Bay Area is probably the only thing keeping that company alive. Every stoplight you pull up to there has at least a couple Teslas
I’m outside Boston and I see a lot here as well…
I know a lot of people who bought teslas before musk became a full blown oligarch and feel uncomfortable about it
Supports a literal Oligarch Nazi
Feels uncomfortable about it
Doesnt do anything about it
Sounds about right for America in 2025.
Realistically though what are they going to do about it? They probably can't sell the vehicle because of the now stigma attached to it and if they don't sell it they probably can't afford a new car.
Nowadays? Yeah y'all missed the bus. The time to do something about this was several years ago, when Tesla's atrocious build quality was becoming publicly apparent and Musk was inserting himself into every news story in the worst ways possible.
"Pedo guy" comment in 2018 was the first major wake up call to most people who weren't paying attention.
Acquisition of Twitter in 2022, and the major fuckery involved with that, should have rung the bell for anyone left behind.
At either of those times you still could have sold a Tesla to a Maga chud and still come out on top. Now you're just stuck holding a bag. And my concern for said bag holders is relatively minor because people who really can't afford a car are still driving 20 year old Hondas and Toyotas and Buicks. If you bought a Tesla new (and yes, it was bought new, because a used market did not exist at the time) you have car money. Buy an $8k beater, used, like the rest of us do.
Most people don't research the CEO of a car company before buying a car. Who is the CEO of ford no idea he could be a complete lunatic as far as I'm aware, I don't know because his personal attitude isn't relevant to my car buying decisions.
It's ridiculous to expect people to not buy a Tesla simply because it's CEOs in the moron most CEOs are. It's practically part of the job description.
They just weren't paying attention then because Musk has always been exactly that.
Do you look up every owner of the manufacturer of everything you buy? I agree he has been this way for a while. But people buy cars for transportation. Not for their owners.
Like the other guy said, Elon Musk is public about his shittiness. In the beginning didn't even care about him, and yet I couldn't escape him because he was constantly on the news.
I am not denying that Elon is shitty. But people don't buy cars based on their manufacturing owners. There is a need and they are fulfilling that need. Should they have known? Probably. But it's also not a usual requirement for purchasing a car.
Well, if you go back to my original comment, all I said was that Tesla owners were clearly not paying attention to even their News notifications on their phones, since Musk's presence is ubiquitous. Tesla's multitude of issues is equally as well-known.
That said, I didn't wish anybody any harm for buying a Tesla, although they probably will get harmed when the "self-driving" feature inevitably sends them speeding into a brick wall.
But buying that garbage car was their choice.
True, but most CEOs are unknown to consumers, only to employees and share-holders. Usually there is a "culture" of a company that is a blend of PR, advertising, marketing, etc. Here Musk became associated with the brand though. Tesla existed before Musk and worked well... but was nowhere near a popular. I hate Musk yet I feel it's fair (and please if you have data showing I'm wrong, do share, I'd love to remove any wrongful attributed credit from him) to say he made Tesla enormously more popular than before he invested in it. So... you are right in most cases people buy cars, and other products, without knowing about the CEO but that specifically does not apply to Tesla where the hype precisely came from a self branded as IronMan.
I'd sell that shit at a loss.
Any car is sold at a loss. As someone who recently paid one of these off, I can’t stomach a new car payment in the face of our melting economy because six years ago I didn’t foresee the head of a car company turning out to be a freaking nazi.
Considering my Tesla replaced a VW TDI, I’m feeling particularly salty and completely disillusioned about ethical consumption under capitalism, etc. etc. I wish people on Lemmy could have some empathy and not just assume that everyone driving a Tesla is sanctioning anything that Elon Musk does.
No one cares when you bought. You’re supposed to flood the used Tesla market to suppress new sales happening NOW.
I’ve heard a lot of excuses from Tesla drivers about how they can’t afford to stand for their ethics. It’s pathetic. How are we to believe this from anyone who could afford one in the first place?
Plot yourself on the historical spectrum of “what was I willing to give up for my ideals” and that brave moral stand about not having a car payment looks pretty fucking limp.
I have empathy for you. I’m just more concerns with your soul than your car payment.
I’m in a different position financially than where I was six years ago.
Flooding the used Tesla market is not a strategy I had heard before you mentioned it, actually. Maybe if I was in the same position that I was six years ago financially, I would be making different choices. But I’m not.
As for my soul, Lemmy talks a big game about focusing on the class struggle, but whenever I admit to having a Tesla, everyone piles on like I am the worst person ever. I got flat out scammed by VW and I certainly didn’t fucking know that Musk was quite as massive a tool as he has shown himself to be now. Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention. But all I’m saying is that I’m not the real enemy here.
Costs 1 EUR and takes 10sec to put a sticker on a Tesla that says "I bought this before Elon went mad" and plenty of people on Lemmy would understand I bet. It's more of a gesture to show that one having a Tesla does not support the actions of the its CEO. A Tesla without even a sticker on is assumed to be owned by someone who knows yet either does not care or even supports Musk.
I understand not being in a financial position to buy a new car (though Telsas are expensive, I’m sure you could trade it in for something and still avoid a new payment).
Anyway, the good news is if you can’t afford to change cars “Fuck Elon” bumper stickers are very cheap!
https://www.etsy.com/market/anti_elon_musk_car_sticker
I'm currently driving that VW TDI -- best car I've ever owned in 35 years. Next vehicle wasn't going to be a Tesla, but perhaps an F150 Lightning if they ever get their head out their asses and offer a regular old e-pickup -- I don't want quad cab and a short bed, just two doors and a regular full size bed would be great. Alas, that's hard to find in ICE, let alone electric.
That emissions cheating soured me on them
(Though I do believe they used a clever method)
Glad it’s so good!
The dumbest part is that after I got my car updated (the Passat only needed a firmware update) the fuel economy was not even one MPG worse. It’s been a decade and I’m still regularly getting slightly better than 50MPG on the highway and low-30s in the city. There was no reason to cheat.
No way!
Was the cheat focused on the rest of the fleet (larger cars?), but applied to all [JIC]? 🤔
50+ wao
It's my understanding that the cheat was in all TDI models, but the smaller Jetta was particularly bad because it didn't have a urea system and the fix for that model was to retrofit one. My Passat may have needed a more robust urea injector and not just software, but I can't remember now. Either way on my year/model the fix was barely noticeable.
How do you fill a urea tank on a passenger vehicle? I don't see those pumps at the gas station, and doubt it's as easy as peeing into a bottle..
It's just like the DEF tanks on 18 wheelers. I buy a 10L jug of it from Walmart for something like $10. In my trunk there's a panel you remove and under it there's a small cap very similar to the gas cap. Remove that, hook up the DEF bottle hose (the bottles come with a 12-15" corrugated hose) and very slowly pour it in. You don't want to spill that stuff, it's nasty not because it's urea, but because when it dries it kind of crystallizes and makes a real bloody awful mess.
Replace the cap, replace the panel cover, close the trunk and you're done for another 9-15mos.
Huh, interesting. I knew about urea injection to reduce diesel emissions, but didn't know it was a thing for passenger cars.
To whom though
Aquaman.
Carvana, carmax, etc.
I did
I cant wait till we start seeing them with all the conspicacy-nut writing all over them but the other way around:
Vaccines work, fuck musk, lgbt rights are himan rights etc.
When they're up for renewal, they won't be replaced with Teslas.
Well, less than 50% will, maybe. Still a lot of people buying shitty cars apparently.
...and even those are likely pre-ElonSeigHeil purchases.
Even in iowa you see them all over. There are so many drivers any car make other than the most exclusive will be seen soon if you fixate on it (read look).
Stastics show tesla is a tiny brand by market share. However they are wer the only ev brand until reciently so people focus on them.
And that’s really the only reason I have one - it was the only long range electric car available when I bought it. Now I would choose any of the many other options first.
I’d be curious about why you haven’t taken the moral stance and sold it.
What’s going on in America needs people to take actual steps. Votes aren’t enough anymore.
I don’t pay Tesla for the vehicle (I don’t even supercharge), so it doesn’t actually affect their bottom line if I sell it. Buying a new car does affect my bottom line though.
Boycotts are only effective when they change purchasing behaviors, and this purchase is long done. I do encourage everyone who asks if I like my car to look into specific alternatives instead however.
Fair enough. All the best dude.