Saturday, May 25, 2019
Father/son dynamics
It's interesting to see the father/son dynamics between Paul (father) and Ed (son) Niedermeyer. Both are extremely smart and detail-minded and ambitious. Both run websites about cars. Their attitudes are opposite. Paul (about 60) is one of those high-status hippies who managed to use the hippie era as a springboard to prosperity; so he retains the values that have served him well. Ed (about 40) rebelled against hippie COOLness toward a more old-fashioned view.
Paul is an all-out Tesla cultist, even though he doesn't own one. He will rip out the throat of any commenter who questions Elon's wisdom.
Ed is one of the leading skeptics, but always strictly on the basis of facts. His website has consistently and coherently exposed Elon's fakes and idiocy.
Today's wisdom from Ed:
The difference between a Tesla and its growing competition has less to do with the design/performance car itself and far more to do with the build quality, reliability and service ubiquity/availability. Don't read the reviews for consumer advice, read the forums.Yup. It's an old story. In the '60s, VW beat the other imports on "service ubiquity/availability". VW built a huge dealer network with competent mechanics and well-stocked parts departments before it tried to go national. Renault and Fiat skipped that step. Renault was a better car than VW in EVERY way, including reliability, but without regular maintenance Renaults failed faster than VWs. Fiat was equal to VW in unreliability, so without service Fiats failed SUPERFAST. Judging by what I read, Teslas are in the Fiat category. Crappy and unreliable, with very little service available. The important then/now difference is the FORUMS. In the '60s you had to rely on the experience of friends and family. If you didn't know several people who already owned a specific car, you had no way to prejudge the experience. ¶ 3:01 PM
