Summary
A survey in the Netherlands revealed that 31% of Tesla owners are considering selling their cars due to Elon Musk’s controversial actions, including his involvement in politics and handling of misinformation on X (formerly Twitter).
About 40% feel embarrassed to own a Tesla, though 51% say Musk’s behavior doesn’t affect their view of the car.
Musk’s leadership of X has also driven users away, with 46% leaving or considering leaving the platform.
Parallel criticism of Mark Zuckerberg for removing fact-checking has fueled similar debates over tech leadership and misinformation.
buying a tesla in the last couple years is like automotive market darwinism
Gotta start selling “Bought this before it was fascism”-stickers.
Sounds like an influx of cheap second hand BEVs.
The enlightened never bought one after test driving and hearing rattles in a car with 20 miles.
Some of us were smart enough to not be making enough to make such a stupid decision.
The proper way to live when it comes to cars
I would sell my car the moment I get a proper offer. But no one wants to buy a Tesla here anymore.
So, keep driving the Model Y. But there is zero chance that we will ever buy a Tesla again. At least as long as Musk is able to profit from it.
My wife and I were planning on buying a Tesla some day. She has wanted one since before we knew the name musk. But when we had to replace her Toyota Highlander after someone hit our daughter in it, we passed over all of the teslas and went with another Highlander.
Good call going with another Highlander. Musk’s stupid, shitty antics have resulted in your getting a superior car.
Highlanders are awesome! It’s basically a rav4 with a camry drivetrain. I want one!
Is that… a good thing?
Driving German cars has lead me to expect better fuel economy and more power out of an engine. I’m in my first ever Japanese car (Subaru Outback) and man is it horrible, I’m spending twice as much on fuel if not more. The difference in fuel costs per month is roughly what my lease payment was on my Mercedes since I live in a country where we have to pay actual money for fuel lol
Depends on your needs and typical traffic you have to deal with. In Texas, I have to deal with an endless horde of bullies in duallies and SUV Karen’s. It’s nice to have some passing power in certain situations… If I lived somewhere more rural, or with generally more kind people in traffic, I’d be fine with less.
If we did not have 3 dogs over 65lbs we probably would have done a RAV4. But having the 3rd row seating is nice. Gas mileage could be better.
You aren’t willing to sacrifice enough to get rid of something you hate. Let that sink in and then ask yourself why. Might reveal something to you
(I just think it’s interesting, I’m not leading you to something specific)
I’m in a similar position, having a 2019 M3 bought back in the days of blissful ignorance of who Musk even was pretty much.
I’m not wealthy in any way, I spent very hard earned cash for a green(er) car due to extensive travel requirements at work. I can not just sell the car for pennies and get a new electric car.
So for me, I have pretty much no reasonable alternative other than to ride it out, use non-tesla-chargers, and get a new non-tesla car in a couple of years when hopefully the price of electric cars have declined.
So please don’t judge those of us who are in this shitty position too hard. I’m not in any way looking for some kind of pity (god knows even affording the car in the first place makes me very privileged), but for some understanding and to make it known that plenty of us “old Tesla car”- drivers do not affiliate in any way with Musk’s views and opinions.
You misunderstand me if it seemed like i was judging.
Is a shitty situation, like cancer is. You just can’t rid of a cancer sometimes even if it’s the only thing you want to be able to do
Ah, then I seen, thanks for the clarification! (I blame not being a native English speaker)
Yeah it’s a crappy situation where keeping the damn thing actually seems like the least shitty thing to do for now. At least I’ve managed to convince others to buy alternatives like the Hyundai Ioniq series instead when they’ve asked me for my opinion!
Take comfort if as i assume you didn’t get the car to support mush but because on paper it accomplished a goal and that’s why you bought the thing. It’s still doing exactly what you bought it for. The only thing that is changed is a persononality that’s isn’t actually connected(I’m assuming) to your reasons.
Toyota has bloodcon it’s hands, as does most of them. VW is a company that literally supported hitler and contributed the horror of people being put into nazi death camps.
Musk is a fuckwad, but hes not worse than some others that came before him.
I bought a VW almost 20 years ago, it was cheap and for my needs at the time it was what made sense.
Your choice still is making the world better than it otherwise would have been. You won’t ever buy another one(so many assumptions in making lol )
Its not your fault. Talk to any engineer about the need to make tradeoffs, you didnt know and made the best decision you could. I hate that it affects you like this, is just the sad state of 2025
If i could i would buy your car. I need a new one but life went sideways on me personally and the world went sideways on everyone so I’m in a bad position. I’m fortunate to be able to just stick with my shit car still
I’m there with you. We bought the first Model S Refresh. We knew he was a piece of shit then, but the same could be said of any automotive CEO. Then he rapidly got worse and now it’s my shame mobile. I actually love the car, but I feel so fucking gross driving it.
I mentioned this to someone else but think about that and let it sink in. Your car makes you feel gross and yet you aren’t able to get rid of it.
Sounds like cancer
The EV conversion guys like me are all rubbing our hands together to get our hands on cheap donor teslas to stick in much cooler old cars.
I’ve been perfectly happy with my Tesla, if you just look at the car. When i first got it for years ago, it was a real source of joy to me. Now all the joy has been sucked out of it by Musk’s assholery. I want to get rid of it sooner rather than later. Right now there isn’t really anything in the market that could replace it, but as soon as there is, I’ll jump.
Exactly this. I’m not going to sell my model 3 - I already paid for it, and I do like it - but I’ll certainly be looking elsewhere when I need to replace it if Musk is still associated with Tesla.
With other manufacturers adopting NACS, the biggest advantage of owning a Tesla has vanished.
Take a look at Hyundai. They have a similar range and comfort packages, and even use the Tesla chargers now.
It’s probably what my car will be.
I have some hopes for the Kia EV4, but that’s not out yet.
so true. I too long for an alternative car that features a fart button and a voice changing megaphone and who the fuck knows what else.
Just don’t buy another one. You’re just funding fascism at that point.
Why isn’t there anything else on the market to replace it? Price?
Doesn’t Capitalism dictate that with this much resentment for Tesla another product to compete with it should appear if not many products to compete with it?
Where are they? Where they capitalism? Do your ducking job capitalism! Or duck right the hell out of there
Can’t compete, the other massive EV makers are Chinese and the gubment banned them cause free market or some shit Idk.
Right?
It’s a combination of price, not being forced to purchase through a dealership, and access to the vastly superior supercharger network.
That dynamic should begin to shift in a few years, with the dealership model being the most sticky. Hopefully the used market will come along.
The not buying through dealership sounds like a “nice to have” thing.
Dont most of the new EVs have access to the supercharger network at this point?
Dont most of the new EVs have access to the supercharger network at this point?
In the last several months, yes. However, that doesn’t mean the cables at the charging stations are long enough to accommodate non-Teslas. So you wind up with someone blocking 2-4 stalls with 1 car to try and charge.
Note that the supercharger network is broadly available.
Also note that using the network means similarly sending your money to musk.
I have a mustang Mach e and the adapter to plug into supercharger network. Though I’ve never used any DC fast charging at all.
This is my plan. I figure I have at least 5 more good years with my Tesla. By then there will be plenty of alternate EV options available. I’ll definitely be one and done with Tesla.
I don’t like SUVs. There just aren’t a lot of electric sedans out there. And despite what you may be hearing in the internet, it’s a damn good car and a lot of the competition just isn’t there yet, especially when it comes to the software.
Absolutely this, sedans are virtually dead here in America thanks to CAFE regulations and I staunchly refuse to buy an SUV or pickup, even used, unless I have a need for something bigger, and then Station Wagons and vans will get my attention before pickups, and SUVs will never get my attention.
Especially when you consider my 2000 Town Car (RIP Mercury) got 21MPG city and 30 Highway (on long interstate trips), even though it was only rated for 16 city 23 highway, but somehow a 2025 Ford Explorer only is rated for 18 city/25 highway, only 2 MPG better than a 25 year old car’s official rating on both categories, despite being the same price new, before being adjusted for inflation (both started between $39-40k), 25 years of development for a 2.3L I4 SUV to match a 25 year old 4.6L V8 sedan, our vehicle market is a joke.
Reality is, tesla is the best EV out there.
I’m not looking to sell and if this crashes and burns, I’ll get another one.
I’m not stopping to eat nestle cereal either. They’re the only brand that does gluten free honey cornflakes. Pick your battles, musk will musk no matter if we all boycott Tesla regardless. Fucker got more money than all gods combined.
This is a lot of words for “I don’t have any spine and won’t change my behavior if it is mildly inconvenient”
Sure, good luck on your crusade. This surely rallied me to your banner!
Sometimes self centered dipshits need to be called out. Your actions, and the actions of people reading this, matter.
Nobody wants your help anyway, with an attitude like that.
I, personally, will never buy a Tesla. I would consider buying an EV, but never a Tesla.
I promise to never fly spacex.
I’m kind of surprised more people aren’t unhappy with their Tesla’s because of the poor build quality. I know they go through patches where the build quality improves and is okay. But there have been so many recalls and problems in general with Teslas. Even aside from Musk being a toxic, loud piece of shit, his company’s cars are overall just not worth the trouble. And that’s not even bringing up the fact that the cyber truck looks like it was designed by a 6 year old on a 386 PC’s CAD program.
Same. Historically they’re not even good EVs.
It sounds like there’s even alternatives to Starlink if you can deal with low bandwidth.
They’re fast, and have good range, but everything else about the car sucks ass. So basically the EV Hellcat.
I’m hoping BYD comes west soon personally. You couldn’t pay me to drive a Tesla
From my personal observations and conversations with people in the Netherlands this seems about right, and I’d say the 51% are mostly going to be more in the “don’t care” camp, with a tiny portion maybe having a positive view of Elon/maga, we do have right wingers here too even if they’re different.
At the end of the day, they are terrible cars. Teslas have the highest rate of of malfunction and low mileage service of any manufacturer in the US by far.
They are beating Ford at their own game!
Is this the new “maga supporters are thinking of not supporting trump” headline for the next ten years?
Sell it or don’t sell it. Who cares? 🥱
I don’t know what the CEO of most companies I buy from is like. I don’t know how many of them were friends with Epstein or deny the Holocaust or want slavery to be legal, and I fear if I did know, it would be very difficult to maintain all the boycotts. That and Teslas have some wicked acceleration so I don’t blame people for having them. Unless it’s a cybertruck, those things are ugly af
Teslas also have some horrific privacy/ownership issues, sub-par build quality, and have regularly locked people inside during fires. They also have shitty door handles that ice over in winter, use software updates as a crutch, and Elon Musk makes other vehicle manufacturer CEOs look like saints.
Also, you don’t need to buy from all of them. Subaru is a real company that doesn’t do horrific things and actually has proven that they’re honest when they say that infinite growth is not something they chase.
If the reason you’re afraid to know is because you want to buy stuff and feel good then you have a bigger problem. It’s ok not to know but to essentially refuse to know?
Subaru is a great company: previously my favorite vehicle from back when I used gasoline cars was my Forester. However, they’re late to the EV transition, with underwhelming products so far. Hopefully they’ll be a reasonable choice when I next have to buy a car
My life would get way harder if I had to boycott every bad C-level executive. Keep in mind it’s not just the CEOs profiting off the company. Companies are comprised of many people at each level and many are publicly traded. Think of all the bad people that could be profiting off Subaru, there’s no way they’re all angels. I’d rather not know because the solution isn’t to give customers a laundry list of things not to buy
If you can’t see the difference with Elon, I don’t know what to tell you.
Really easy to stop giving that shitstain money, though.
The difference is he’s a public figure
Ok, but if you do become aware of the bad behaviour because it’s become so in-your-face that you can’t ignore it, do you boycott?
No, he clearly says he has no principles.
I pick my battles but sure, enjoy being miserable and boycotting everything under the sun
People aren’t saying boycott everything. They’re saying boycott the handful of the worst people. At this point Musk is one of the worst.
Don’t give money directly to the people that are actively telling you how much they want to fuck up your life and how shitty they are.
This is a battle to pick.
The “pick your poison” people are always the ones choosing the absolute worst poisons and it’s getting really tiring listening to their pseudo-wisdom.
Practically every company has assholes near the top
This sounds like you trying hard to justify shitty behavior. Directly funding one of the most dangerous people so you won’t be mildly inconvenienced.
Like, yes, staying at a Trump property instead of a Hilton is way worse, even if Hilton execs suck to some extent.
Yeah, I’ve driven probably the majority of EVs on the market, and it’s hard to match how enjoyable it is to drive a Tesla. It’s like driving a spaceship. I probably would have leased one just a couple years ago, but my next car will almost certainly be a Polestar instead.
Honestly, when I test drove the Model S (before the 3 was available) I was left rather unimpressed. It was fast, sure, but it wallowed in corners and just felt heavy. I ended up going for a BMW i3 because it drove like a go-cart. Lower range, and top speed but so much more fun. Never regretted it.
But I’ll lose so much money needing to refill the blinker fluid! :P Seems like it’s not produced anymore though. Maybe I’ll test-drive the i4, though it’s a different class than the i3…
I’ve only tried Model 3 and Y out of the Tesla line, but yeah, I’d pick something else if I wanted a “city car” here in Europe. I’m spoiled, so it feels nice having a “police car” as my daily driver, especially when the price classes here are so comparable. Even the brands that are usually much cheaper when picking an ICE car, are barely cheaper than the more luxurious EV models. (And the used market here is awful, thanks in part to how weak SEK is – most just get exported to the rest of Europe)
The instant acceleration thing is a feature of all EVs. Even the cheapest are surprisingly fast off the line.
If you want something with more sustained acceleration, there are plenty of high performance EVs that will end your Tesla envy.
Yeah, even my Bolt is pretty zippy.
Only 3 in 10. Give it another year and that number will be up
You sure about that? Look who’s being inaugurated tomorrow. I have zero faith in the American people.
This survey was conducted in the Netherlands, but yes, faith in Americans in the toilet.
What would selling the car accomplish?
The same amount of people will own a tesla either way
It will reduce demand for new Teslas. The people who sell their Teslas will buy a different brand and some people who still for whatever reason want to buy a Tesla will buy a used one instead of a new one.
It’s so unfortunate - teslas are really nice cars now that theyve dialed in the quality. Its a perfect size for my needs, has great range for road trips, has features not available elsewhere at any price, and it’s a gadget lovers dream. I really don’t see anything comparable to my Model Y, and so many less capable cars are so much more expensive. Maybe that will start to change this year as other brands start being able to use Tesla Superchargers, but they all really seem a couple years behind in technology, or way too expensive
Ever since musk doubled down on a submarine for rescuing those kids from a cave and clearly couldn’t accept criticism, what has this guy been thinking. I’ll always appreciate his middle career when he helped establish some visionary, inspirational companies like Tesla , SpaceX, StarLink, but he really lost touch with reality. I guess when you have ungodly amounts of money, it’s too easy to see yourself as a god, or something.
I heard that Tesla lies about the range, it’s lower than they say.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/
About a decade ago, Tesla rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide “rosy” projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge, a source told Reuters. The automaker last year became so inundated with driving-range complaints that it created a special team to cancel owners’ service appointments.
I don’t see how this is different from any other car
- My previous gasoline car advertised like 350 miles on a tank, but I got about 280 between fill ups. I’m a bit of a lead foot but regularly took the tank down to the last tick on the fuel gauge.
- my Tesla advertised like 330 miles between charges. I go more like 250, but that’s also because I never let it go below 30%
The biggest difference might be that I’m more comfortable running close to empty with the gas car …. Ok fine, I also the features. My Tesla is covered with snow but I’ll probable stay inside where it’s warm and just click “defrost” on the app
The range in the dashboard is optimistic because the car does not know where you are going. The range in the navigation is pessimistic and usually spot on within ± 2%.
It’s not just because the car doesn’t know where you’re going. It’s an intentional lie that Elon Musk specifically ordered. From the article:
The directive to present the optimistic range estimates came from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, this person said.
“Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged,” the person said, adding: “When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good.”
Tesla’s intentional inflation of in-dash range-meter projections and the creation of its range-complaints diversion team have not been previously reported.
As much as I hate the guy, that just says exactly what I just said, the range is optimistic by default. Which is how every brand new EV I have ever been in measures its range when not moving/navigating, if estimated range is even shown.
Applies to non-EVs as well, they don’t go: “we will show the worst possible range estimation so we look bad”. They show the range estimate of an old granny going 30 in a beautiful Californian summer and then slowly correct it once more data is available.
teslas are really nice cars now that theyve dialed in the quality
Have they really? With all the problems with the cybertruck I don’t think so. Also there design issues that make them death traps.
Yes, their mass-market vehicles are comparable quality to other manufacturers.
Also, yes, cybertruck was a disaster in several ways. Personally I think it was another case of Musk not wanting to be wrong. Tesla seemed to have given up on it and the world moved on. Then people started saying where was it, and they eventually delivered …. Something. But yes, new design with radically different technology being forced out. Definitely not a smooth release but it’s always a good rule to never by the first model year of anything, much less something radically different.
Anyway, cybertruck is like Highlander 2: it doesn’t exist
Tesla are “nice” as long as you overlook the fact that they’re software data vacuums on wheels that you never actually own, only “license” from Tesla.
Pretty much all modern cars are. You can’t get away from it, but at least Tesla gives some value in return. Contrast their regular software updates, to something like GMs OnStar - been hoovering your data for decades, all for the chance to advertise you into paying an extra phone subscription. Been able to disable your car remotely for decades. Been able to track you in real time for decades
To whom?
and for how much. lol, there was that ctruck owner that wanted to get his money back, but the price of new ones is now less than what he paid a year ago. Like $20K+ less, but he doesn’t want to sell for that low of a price.
If you want to sell, you sell for what somebody will pay. You don’t get to control that.
Clearly he doesn’t want to sell that badly, yet.
I don’t know, but if they follow through, it must be a damn good time to be in the secondhand market for a BEV.
Hopefully. We need EVs to start having an affordable secondhand market
probably it would get imported into another country within the EU, it is quite common for used cars in Europe to make their way into the used market in another country.
Just like used American cars make their way to central an south America.
I’m aware of that but people are not stupid. Tesla is locked behind a brick ton of red tape. I have a tire shop nearby that supplies even high luxury cars and super cars. They won’t touch Teslas.
I’ll take one. I’m planning on getting an EV soon anyways
