Rental cars get a lot of minor damage. I rented a car in the Middle East where the company didn’t try to keep the cars looking perfect and it had about a hundred places on the front and rear bumper covers that were missing paint when I picked it up.

Because the cars are only kept for a few years and they don’t really bother with maintenance, the majority of rental fleet expenses are from repairing damage. If the anecdotes are to be believed, a Tesla fender bender is terribly expensive and takes months to repair. Maybe part shortages kept EV fleet cars out of the…

1st Gear: Tesla really shafted Hertz with their price cuts. It doesn’t help when Tesla’s service centers are few and far between and their wait times are not conducive to the kind of quick turnaround rental companies need.

I’ve found it sometimes makes sense to just return it with a low SOC. For example, last time I rented from Avis the charge fee was only nominally more than what I would have spent charging it at a supercharger. Better not to have to spend 30 minutes charging and let them deal with it. 

Avis requires a charge of 70% upon return.

“most rental car companies don’t make you recharge”

Hertz really did get shafted by Tesla lowering the prices.

The sad thing is, I think the majority of rental car customers would get by just fine with an EV. In fact, since most rental car companies don’t make you recharge before returning the car, dropping it off is easier than ICE cars because you don’t have to worry…

Negotiable. If you’re going to get a 20 year old German car, this would probably be the one to get. With proper maintenance, these cars can go double that mileage. And it looks to be very clean. I don’t think it’s NP, but not ND. $10K should take it.

Normally a 20 year old German car would be a ND from me, but at this price — for this kind of performance — I think the ask is just about worth the gamble. It’s still a close call, though, and I think for me it would come down to the vibe I got from the seller.

Sooooo shiiiiiiiny...

I mean, sure, you could hurt yourself getting into the thing. And you could get hurt when the thing falls apart just going down the road. And you could get hurt when the thing “self drives” into something.

No, you know what? I support this. I think our government should absolutely trust Tesla to build armored cars to protect our most elite politicians. I can think of no company I personally trust more with the lives and limbs of our leadership than the one that keeps suing Chinese people for getting killed. Let’s put…

He only became a conservative when it was advantageous for him.

Republicans propose a $1,000 tax on anyone buying s a new EV

The MAGA-Reich in full bloom. Yes, the prior admin ordered these, but funny how Musk is trying to position Tesla’s for this.

Ironic considering he’s WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT right now (or the Exec Branch as the Cosplay President). So conflict of interest isn’t a US worry anymore.

2nd Irony: A Republican admin with an…

1st & 3rd Gear coexisting on the same article is hilarious. Literally nobody is ever going to be forced to rationalize the biggest conservative mascot also owning the biggest EV company on the planet. 

In the world of military contracts $400 million will get you one prototype. Maybe.

If they think they’re gonna be safe in a Cybertruck then I’d say no, they don’t know exactly what they are doing right now.

“I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least,” Musk wrote on X on Thursday about the department’s revised forecast.

I gotta stop thinking “this timeline couldn’t get any shittier” because every goddamned day I get proven wrong.