Since its establishment in 2003, Tesla has effectively become the face of the electric car market, yet it still struggles to gain consumer trust, with numerous complaints about Tesla cars over the past two decades.

Here are a number of reasons why Tesla cars are disliked by many consumers:

Tesla Car Prices:

Compared to the time when Tesla cars were first made available, their price has dropped significantly. The original Tesla Roadster cost nearly $100,000, meaning that it was not affordable for anyone who was not already planning to buy a luxury sports car. In comparison, you can get a Model 3 or Model Y at a lower cost these days for about half that price.

However, while Tesla cars are no longer as expensive as they once were, they are still far from affordable for everyone. For those without thousands of dollars to spend on a new car, a price tag of $50,000 is still steep.

Potential Privacy Violations:

Most Tesla cars feature built-in cameras designed to capture footage of the driver and passenger in the event of an accident, which by itself is not a significant issue, but the fact that you can't decide when the camera is on or what it is recording is concerning from a personal privacy perspective. There is also the matter of the “Sentry Mode” in Tesla cars, which activates the cameras when the car is not in use to monitor potential theft.

The idea of a camera pointed at your head every time you drive is unsettling for some drivers, especially with Tesla’s ongoing interest in AI algorithms for facial recognition. There are also concerns that bad actors could remotely access Tesla cameras to steal private footage of drivers, and that Tesla itself could use the footage for surveillance or unauthorized market research.

Flaws in Autopilot:

One of the main goals of Tesla's modern vehicle lineup is a seamless Autopilot experience, and the idea of self-driving cars has been a science fiction dream for generations, so the pursuit of it is commendable.

However, in its quest for true autonomy, Tesla has experienced many failures. According to a report from The Washington Post in June of this year, Tesla's Autopilot system has been involved in or directly caused nearly 736 car accidents since 2019. There have been at least 17 confirmed fatalities of drivers, passengers, or pedestrians due to these incidents.

Poor Update and Recall Support:

Like a personal computer, Tesla cars receive firmware updates at regular intervals which, in theory, could solve issues without needing to recall affected vehicles.

However, there have been instances where Tesla updates have instead created new problems or exacerbated existing ones. A prominent example of this occurred in November 2022 when Tesla was forced to recall over 40,000 Model S and Model X vehicles after a failed update caused its electronic steering features to fail suddenly while handling rough terrain.

CEO Elon Musk:

Elon Musk is known to be a controversial figure. While he is an outspoken advocate for technological advancement, Musk has repeatedly made statements that many find troubling or offensive, as evidenced in recent years with the COVID-19 pandemic and his acquisition of Twitter.

Musk has also used his celebrity status as a weapon to influence the direction of the Western economy, not only in how he manages his businesses but through simple statements on social media. Before his acquisition of Twitter, Musk frequently made provocative statements about businesses or prominent investments, which in turn caused market surges.