> How do people trust Tesla to make cars that work even remotely as long as a Toyota? I don't want to own a car that I cannot resell after 10 years because it's worn down too much.

Anecdotal experience, but most Tesla owners I know don’t really care about resale value 10 years down the line. Tesla owners are pretty well off who wouldn’t be buying a Toyota Corolla in the first place anyway.

They are willing to overlook reliability issues for an EV experience with considerably better UX than traditional manufacturers (tbf some parts of it are bad too like not having a heads up display or all-touch interface), some shiny features and gimmicks which is more akin to using an iPhone than operating a car.

I personally think the build quality is an abomination for a $40k+ price tag car, which is why I don’t own one. But I can see why some people prefer a Tesla for the overall experience and a certain cool factor.

Doesn't that mean though that tesla will be limited to people with money to waste or that it will lose a big chunk of its early to the market customer base once traditional car manufacturers enter the game at similar price ranges?

You could say that about just ICE cars too. Why would anyone want to buy a Porsche or a BMW (or even a Ford or VW) when they can have the rock solid reliability and lower depreciation of a Toyota?

Also, leasing has become so much more common that Toyota and other (mostly Japanese) manufacturers key strength in long term reliability isn't as big of a factor as it used to be. If you're only keeping the car around for 3 years anyways, it doesn't matter so much if the car is notorious for falling apart after 5 years.

That's why I buy reliable cars from established carmakers with proven reliability records. I buy used cars coming off their three year lease. Most leases require all the service be done on time and by the dealer so you know you're getting a quality used car - and I'm saving thousands of dollars. Then you drive it for five years because there's a market for people looking for cheap, reliable cars for second cars or for their kids to drive. Seems to work for all involved and for me personally, I'm minimizing my purchase price while minimizing my need to do major repairs.

And I 100% respect your approach and consider it logical and sound.

That said, it's not for me, and not for many, many other people for whom a car is not just a reliable appliance to go from point A to point B with minimal fuss and minimal financial expenditure.

Which is why even brands with horrific reliability and depreciation like Alfa Romeo still sells.

Remains to be seen. I think the hope from a lot of Tesla owners is that they improve quality control so they can stay in the ecosystem.