Slate first drive review video - Jay Leno's Garage!

[E90400K]

The only thing I learned is that they will honor DIY warranty repairs - an industry first. Pretty cool.

Agreed, I noted as such too, and that the Slate app will provide access to trouble codes. We'll have to see what "DIY warranty repairs" actually means, though.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

739,065 views now 🚀

No doubt it'll hit 1 million views at some point. Any guesses when?



We both underguessed by a lot. The video is about to hit 1M views.

Let gooooooooooo

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

739,065 views now 🚀

No doubt it'll hit 1 million views at some point. Any guesses when?



We both underguessed by a lot. The video is about to hit 1M views.

981,000

 

[bloo]

1,000,000 views at 10:05 EST.

 

[fuzzyweis]

Agreed, I noted as such too, and that the Slate app will provide access to trouble codes. We'll have to see what "DIY warranty repairs" actually means, though.

I could see it being things like loose panel or failed lighting, most things on the 12v system, maybe seats too.

-Jim

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

Let's goooooo over a million now in just under 2 days

 

[cadblu]

I could see it being things like loose panel or failed lighting, most things on the 12v system, maybe seats too.

-Jim

Agree, plastic handles like on seats, especially the one on the passenger seat that slides it forward to access Slate’s rear seat is a candidate to fail from ‘over-stress.’ It even happens on Lexus SUVs.

I was also thinking about the telescoping shocks that hold the frunk open. They are prone to failure. We have even seen locking pliers keeping the frunk open in some of Slate’s media events!

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Owned a 2012 Kia Soul with a solid rear axle. Although it was front drive, I could easily get the light rear end to hop outward on a bumpy turn. Sharp offramps were kinda fun in dry weather, troublesome in the rain, and downright spooky in even light snow.

The DeDion is a lot lighter than an axle-differential combo, so it'll react more quickly. Yet it's not independent, so I guess there will be at least some hop. But the truck's 50/50 weight distro should dampen that.

It would be cool if Slate split the DeDion tube in the middle with bearings in between so each half could move independently. Has this ever been done?

I had three Souls. Loved that little turbo runabout. I wanted the newer EV Soul so bad, and they never brought it to the USA. And yea, it was a primitive design. But a totally great city vehicle. So of course they discontinued it Sales were slipping, and now they have the Seltos..

 

[ScooterAsheville]

One thing caught my eye in the video You could see daylight at the bottom of the tailgate when closed. That was weird. I mean you want a drainage gap there, but I've never owned a truck where you could see daylight at the bottom of the tailgate when closed. Maybe it was just a prototype thing.

 

[E90400K]

It sounds like even those here who didn't expect to learn anything new, actually did discover a couple of tidbits to add to the knowledge base.

In fairness to Leno and Slate, we weren't the primary intended audience. It was for Jay Leno’s Garage 4 Million subscribers who probably know little or nothing about it. So from that standpoint I think this was a huge exposure win for Slate. I'm watching the YouTube view counter and it's already at over 50K and counting quickly. Lots of new eye on the Slate 👀 That has to be a good thing, right?

Let's goooooo over a million now in just under 2 days

Been thinking about this. I know Leno has a huge following because he is also a celebrity, but do you really think that most of his followers are not already carguys (people) who have not yet heard of the Slate? All the carguys I know have already heard about Slate.

 

[E90400K]

Agree, plastic handles like on seats, especially the one on the passenger seat that slides it forward to access Slate’s rear seat is a candidate to fail from ‘over-stress.’ It even happens on Lexus SUVs.

I was also thinking about the telescoping shocks that hold the frunk open. They are prone to failure. We have even seen locking pliers keeping the frunk open in some of Slate’s media events!

Hopefully Slate stays true to the 1970's meme of manual crank windows and uses pot metal for the window cranks; we'll see a lot of DIY warranty replacement of window cranks.

 

[bloo]

I was e

I had three Souls. Loved that little turbo runabout. I wanted the newer EV Soul so bad, and they never brought it to the USA. And yea, it was a primitive design. But a totally great city vehicle. So of course they discontinued it Sales were slipping, and now they have the Seltos..

Funny thing is, Kia didn't sell that many more Seltos' than the Soul.

The Seltos is nicer in most ways - Especially with AWD. The fuel economy is much better than the 2012 Soul I had. But the Seltos is slower and the CVT is far less responsive. I got a warranty replacement transmission at 90,000 miles, so reliability isn't great.

I got 232,000 mostly trouble-free miles out of my old Soul. I doubt the Seltos will make it to 200,000.

 

[Orley]

Let's goooooo over a million now in just under 2 days

I wonder how many more reservations now

 

[MotoGary]

Been thinking about this. I know Leno has a huge following because he is also a celebrity, but do you really think that most of his followers are not already carguys (people) who have not yet heard of the Slate? All the carguys I know have already heard about Slate.

What I said was that Jay Leno's Garage subscribers probably know little or nothing about it. Not that they have't heard of Slate. The implication was that they would most likely learn something new about it.

I think it's fair to say that most of us here learned something new, therefore it's likely that the majority of Leno viewers did too. It's also very likely that many viewers had never previously heard of Slate. So on at least two levels, I think the Leno exposure was a win for Slate, and by extension to us here.

 

[E90400K]

What I said was that Jay Leno's Garage subscribers probably know little or nothing about it. Not that they have't heard of Slate. The implication was that they would mostly likely learn something new about it.

I think it's fair to say that most of us here learned something new, therefore it's likely that the majority of Leno viewers did too. It's also very likely that many viewers had never previously heard of Slate. So on at least two levels, I think the Leno exposure was a win for Slate, and by extension to us here.

I think we are getting into semantics. When I used the term heard of, I meant understood what Slate is. I don't follow Leno; I really don't follow anyone on the internet, though I check in on some sites on occasion. I believe that most of Leno's followers are car enthusiasts and I think most car enthusiasts have heard of Slate and probably checked out the Slate Auto website and have a good understanding of the company and prospective product. So, my question is, is my contention an accurate portrayal of the situation with the Leno Slate video. Your post stirred my thoughts.

For example, I certainly knew about the Cybertruck well before Leno reviewed it, but I was interested on Leno's take on the Cycbertruck. I didn't learn anything new about the Cybertruck from Leno's video. The same goes for the Leno Scout review video other than the thing he drove was a very early prototype that basically had a traction motor in it to move it around. There was no hint of production parts in the Scout he drove and I found the test drive extremely pointless. But sadly, I'm a car geek that eats all this stuff up.