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Tesla die-hard Jim Cramer calls J.D. Power quality survey “nonsense”
Well-known Tesla fanatic and investment guru Jim Cramer doesn’t agree with J.D. Power’s recent quality survey that ranked the electric automaker in dead last out of 32 brands.
Earlier this week, American data analytics company J.D. Power released its annual quality survey that found Tesla cars to hold an average of 250 problems per 100 vehicles. The report indicated that this year’s report was Tesla’s first time taking part in the survey and that its cars held a significant number of defects related to build quality.
But Cramer doesn’t buy the report, and he thinks it’s “nonsense.”
Cramer, a Tesla owner and supporter himself, refused to believe that the automaker was plagued with issues related to build quality. As the driver of a Model X SUV, Cramer has consistently stated that the company’s products are fun, reliable, and point to a future of sustainable transportation. But the J.D. Power survey certainly struck a nerve with the former hedge fund manager turned TV personality.
“Tesla’s great,” Cramer stated in a survey with TheStreet. “It’s like Land Rover; people also think Land Rover is bad. I’ve gotta 1994 Range Rover, its unbelievable…it actually goes up in value. I believe Teslas will go up in value, and I think these surveys are stupid.”
Cramer went on to explain the brand loyalty that Tesla has acquired over its 12-year history of cranking out electric cars, claiming that he’s never heard anyone talk negatively about their ownership experience.
“I don’t know a soul who owns a Tesla who actually doesn’t think that it isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen,” Cramer added.
Interestingly enough, Tesla has confronted issues with the build quality of its cars for years, and a Bloomberg survey of 5,000 Model 3 owners performed in October stated problems with the car’s build had gotten noticeably better.
From claims of “soft” and improper paint, body gaps, and poorly installed components, Tesla utilized the information from real owners to improve its vehicles exponentially. Many of the reported quality issues occurred when Tesla was amidst “production hell” for the Model 3, as the company’s Fremont facility was working long and stressful hours in an attempt to ramp the sedan which would infiltrate the mass-market sedan sector.
Improvements were made, and after Consumer Reports slashed the affordable sedan from its recommendation list, CR recommended the Model 3 once again, citing “improved reliability.”
Before taking delivery of a vehicle, owners are encouraged to inspect the car looking for possible issues with panel gaps or other indicators of lackluster build quality. If something is found, the automaker will fix the problem.
Tesla’s most recent release of the Model Y showed that panel gaps had improved compared to the first releases of the Model 3. Automotive veteran Sandy Munro stated in his first episode of the Model Y teardown that, “for an early-stage product, this is pretty good.”
J.D. Power’s survey recognized Dodge as the most reliable brand, but Tesla’s last-place finish in the rankings is controversial. After the Silicon Valley-based automaker has made strides to improve the build quality of its vehicles since hearing complaints, the company’s cars have regained recommendations from former critics.
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Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Marie Nilsson, chair of Sweden’s IF Metall union and a prominent critic of Tesla, has left X and is urging audiences to follow the union on Meta’s Threads instead.
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Anti-Tesla union leader exits X
In a comment to Dagens Arbete (DA), Nilsson noted that her exit from X is not formally tied to IF Metall’s long-running labor dispute with Tesla Sweden. Still, she stated that her departure is affected by changes to the platform under Elon Musk’s leadership.
“We have stayed because many journalists pick up news there. But as more and more people have left X, we have felt that the standard has now been reached on that platform,” she said.
Jesper Pettersson, press officer at IF Metall, highlighted that the union’s departure from X is only indirectly linked to Tesla Sweden and Elon Musk. “Indirectly it does, since there is a lot of evidence that his ownership has caused the change in the platform to be so significant.
“We have nevertheless assessed that the platform had value for reaching journalists, politicians and other opinion leaders. But it is a microscopic proportion of the public and our members who are there, and now that value has decreased,” Petterson added.
IF Metall sees Threads as an X alternative
After leaving X, IF Metall has begun using Threads, Meta’s alternative to the social media platform. The union described the move as experimental, noting that it is still evaluating how effective the platform will be for outreach and visibility.
Pettersson acknowledged that Meta also does not operate under Sweden’s collective bargaining model, but said the union sees little alternative if it wants to remain visible online.
“In a perfect world, all large international companies would be supporters of the Swedish model when they come here. But unfortunately, the reality is not like that. If we are to be visible at all in this social media world, we have to play by the rules of the game. The alternative would be to become completely invisible, and that would not benefit our members,” he said.
Despite many recent rumors and various reports, Elon Musk confirmed today that SpaceX is not developing a phone based on Starlink, not once, but twice.
Today’s report from Reuters cited people familiar with the matter and stated internal discussions have seen SpaceX executives mulling the idea of building a mobile device that would connect directly to the Starlink satellite constellation.
Musk did state in late January that SpaceX developing a phone was “not out of the question at some point.” However, He also said it would have to be a major difference from current phones, and would be optimized “purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.”
Not out of the question at some point. It would be a very different device than current phones. Optimized purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2026
While Musk said it was not out of the question “at some point,” that does not mean it is currently a project SpaceX is working on. The CEO reaffirmed this point twice on X this afternoon.
Musk said, “Reuters lies relentlessly,” in one post. In the next, he explicitly stated, “We are not developing a phone.”
Reuters lies relentlessly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
We are not developing a phone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
Musk has basically always maintained that SpaceX has too many things going on, denying that a phone would be in the realm of upcoming projects. There are too many things in the works for Musk’s space exploration company, most notably the recent merger with xAI.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
A Starlink phone would be an excellent idea, especially considering that SpaceX operates 9,500 satellites, serving over 9 million users worldwide. 650 of those satellites are dedicated to the company’s direct-to-device initiative, which provides cellular coverage on a global scale.
Nevertheless, there is the potential that the Starlink phone eventually become a project SpaceX works on. However, it is not currently in the scope of what the company needs to develop, so things are more focused on that as of right now.
Tesla has added a notable improvement to its Dashcam feature after complaints from owners have pushed the company to make a drastic change.
Perhaps one of the biggest frustrations that Tesla owners have communicated regarding the Dashcam feature is the lack of ability to retain any more than 60 minutes of driving footage before it is overwritten.
It does not matter what size USB jump drive is plugged into the vehicle. 60 minutes is all it will hold until new footage takes over the old. This can cause some issues, especially if you were saving an impressive clip of Full Self-Driving or an incident on the road, which could be lost if new footage was recorded.
This has now been changed, as Tesla has shown in the Release Notes for an upcoming Software Update in China. It will likely expand to the U.S. market in the coming weeks, and was first noticed by NotaTeslaApp.
The release notes state:
“Dashcam Dynamic Recording Duration – The dashcam dynamically adjusts the recording duration based on the available storage capacity of the connected USB drive. For example, with a 128 GB USB drive, the maximum recording duration is approximately 3 hours; with a 1 TB or larger USB drive, it can reach up to 24 hours. This ensures that as much video as possible is retained for review before it gets overwritten.”
Tesla Adds Dynamic Recording
Instead of having a 60-minute cap, the new system will now go off the memory in the USB drive. This means with:
- 128 GB Jump Drive – Up to Three Hours of Rolling Footage
- 1TB Jump Drive – Up to 24 Hours of Rolling Footage
This is dependent on the amount of storage available on the jump drive, meaning that if there are other things saved on it, it will take away from the amount of footage that can be retained.
While the feature is just now making its way to employees in China, it will likely be at least several weeks before it makes its way to the U.S., but owners should definitely expect it in the coming months.
It will be a welcome feature, especially as there will now be more customization to the number of clips and their duration that can be stored.
Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Elon Musk confirms SpaceX is not developing a phone
