Scout Motors Needs to Rethink “Local” Service. Don't do the Tesla model.

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mastertroll

Active member
Jun 29, 2025
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Hot Springs Village
One of the biggest concerns I have with Scout Motors’ current service plan is the definition of “local.” According to their roadmap, they aim to have service centers—called Scout Workshops—within 200 miles of 85% of buyers. On paper, that sounds reasonable. But in practice, it’s a logistical headache.

For many of us, especially those living in rural areas or smaller cities, a 200-mile drive isn’t local—it’s a full-day commitment. That’s hundreds of miles round-trip just to get a vehicle looked at, let alone repaired. And if the issue isn’t resolved in one visit, you’re repeating that journey again and again. It’s not convenient.

This is where Scout has a real opportunity to do better. They’re backed by Volkswagen, a company with an established nationwide service network. Why not leverage that infrastructure? Let VW service Scout vehicles for routine maintenance and diagnostics while Scout builds out its own specialized support. That would give customers real local access—not just a theoretical radius on a map.

If Scout wants to win over buyers who value practicality as much as innovation, they need to rethink what “local service” really means. Because for most of us, 200 miles isn’t it.

Having owned a Tesla, I can say the service experience was one of the biggest reasons I ultimately let it go. While the vehicle itself was impressive in many ways, the logistics of getting it serviced were anything but. I often had to drive several hours across state lines—for even basic repairs or diagnostics. Scheduling was inconsistent, communication was frustrating, and mobile service, while helpful, couldn’t handle more complex issues. It became clear that the convenience of ownership was undermined by the lack of accessible, reliable support. That experience left a lasting impression. If you want to get more purchases, please consider.
 
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I'm ok with dealers being far and wide, as long as it is easy for me as a customer to look up parts diagrams and order parts. I can understand not wanting to allow owners to work on any of the high voltage stuff, but everything else should be fair game. One of tesla's major issues is they are treating a car like a smart phone. I want my vehicle to be treated like a hobby grade RC car where I can look up and order any of the parts I need in about 5 minutes.

Right to repair being a major focus fights right in with Scout's stated values and would really set them apart in a crowded and competetive market
Welcome to the community!
 
Just a quick note for Scout’s team regarding this post: EVs often come with higher insurance costs and tougher repair logistics than gas vehicles. And it’s not just Tesla—this applies across brands. For example, my Ford Lightning Platinum cost $526 (good) for six months of coverage, while my Tesla cost $807 for the same period, with exact same coverage levels. These prices are good compared to what I see others having to pay. If we want affordability, repairs need to make sense.

Industry data shows EV repairs are 30% more expensive on average, and some insurers won’t even cover certain models (like Cybertruck) due to complexity, proprietary parts, and limited repair networks.

I know Scout has some plans regarding repairs which I hope enables local technicians to easily repair. I'm sure Scout has already thought all about this.




 
Me too. Builds character though. The crawl unders and 250’ well pump pulls were the worst
I just noticed the well pull comment.
I have a bad back because as a teen I had 350’ of well pipe strike me in the shoulder because the idiot operating the support vehicle failed to engage the safety protocols and the entire stand fell back into the well while I was working to engage the safety clamp.
 
Just a quick note for Scout’s team regarding this post: EVs often come with higher insurance costs and tougher repair logistics than gas vehicles. And it’s not just Tesla—this applies across brands. For example, my Ford Lightning Platinum cost $526 (good) for six months of coverage, while my Tesla cost $807 for the same period, with exact same coverage levels. These prices are good compared to what I see others having to pay. If we want affordability, repairs need to make sense.

Industry data shows EV repairs are 30% more expensive on average, and some insurers won’t even cover certain models (like Cybertruck) due to complexity, proprietary parts, and limited repair networks.

I know Scout has some plans regarding repairs which I hope enables local technicians to easily repair. I'm sure Scout has already thought all about this.




I suspect some of these higher costs on new EV companies vs legacy companies is the Teslas of the world do digesting and larger body panels to save production costs. Then you have damage on a front quarter panel and instead of fixing quarter panel you end up fixing something much larger and it connects to other things in the way that legacy manufacturers know how to avoid. I feel like SM is approaching like a legacy builder
 
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I suspect some of these higher costs on new EV companies vs legacy companies is the Teslas of the world do digesting and larger body panels to save production costs. Then you have damage on a front quarter panel and instead of fixing quarter panel you end up fixing something much larger and it connects to other things in the way that legacy manufacturers know how to avoid. I feel like SM is approaching like a legacy builder
I hope so. The gigacasting trend is deliberately turning vehicles into disposable products and that’s bad.
 
I suspect some of these higher costs on new EV companies vs legacy companies is the Teslas of the world do digesting and larger body panels to save production costs. Then you have damage on a front quarter panel and instead of fixing quarter panel you end up fixing something much larger and it connects to other things in the way that legacy manufacturers know how to avoid. I feel like SM is approaching like a legacy builder
I know I’m in for sticker shock when it comes to insurance. I have full coverage on my Wrangler and it’s $70 a month. At least in Illinois registration is cheap. They don’t go by how much the car is worth here. It’s $151 a year regardless of vehicle and I think it’s like $50 more for an EV.
 
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I know I’m in for sticker shock when it comes to insurance. I have full coverage on my Wrangler and it’s $70 a month. At least in Illinois registration is cheap. They don’t go by how much the car is worth here. It’s $151 a year regardless of vehicle and I think it’s like $50 more for an EV.
Our insurance went down when we moved from the Golf Alltrack to the Mustang. And again when we moved from the Tacoma to the Lightning. This includes the fact that the Tacoma wasn’t comprehensive while the Lightning is.

But I don’t know if that’s a common trend.
 
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Our insurance went down when we moved from the Golf Alltrack to the Mustang. And again when we moved from the Tacoma to the Lightning. This includes the fact that the Tacoma wasn’t comprehensive while the Lightning is.

But I don’t know if that’s a common trend.
I’m hopeful Scout can deliver on this in a way that keeps insurance costs low—that alone could significantly boost adoption rates for these vehicles.
 
I’m hopeful Scout can deliver on this in a way that keeps insurance costs low—that alone could significantly boost adoption rates for these vehicles.
I’m worried it’ll fall victim to the fact that there are no actuary tables for Scout Motors reliability, repairability, or longevity. I wouldn’t be surprised if insurance companies hedge their bets against a new brand by having high premiums. And at least for the first few years, it wouldn’t surprise me if they total a lot of perfectly repairable vehicles because body shops, adjusters, and everyone else in the line don’t know how much it will really cost to repair.

I hope I’m wrong.
 
I’m worried it’ll fall victim to the fact that there are no actuary tables for Scout Motors reliability, repairability, or longevity. I wouldn’t be surprised if insurance companies hedge their bets against a new brand by having high premiums. And at least for the first few years, it wouldn’t surprise me if they total a lot of perfectly repairable vehicles because body shops, adjusters, and everyone else in the line don’t know how much it will really cost to repair.

I hope I’m wrong.
I think it will also come down to how many spare parts Scout has available after the initial launch along with how expensive each panel is to fix. If someone needs a new fender or door after an accident and it takes a couple of months to get a spare part it's going to drive up costs, especially for parts that are needed for the vehicle to be driveable. Scout needs to have a balance between enough parts to build enough vehicles but then also enough spare for when accidents happen or warranty work if anything fails.
 
200 miles to a repair center is either some very expensive towing - or 4 people days worth of travel (1 day each way, for a driver and a second vehicle.). At least with the Scout - I would not need to purchase a car hauler, I could load it on a heavy equipment trailer (my VW really does not have the ground clearance to use my equipment trailer ramps). But not many people own both a tow vehicle and a car hauler.

Cheapest of course is to rent a U-haul car hauler - been there, done that. But I really do not like renting U-haul trailers. Hate surge brakes.
 
200 miles to a repair center is either some very expensive towing - or 4 people days worth of travel (1 day each way, for a driver and a second vehicle.). At least with the Scout - I would not need to purchase a car hauler, I could load it on a heavy equipment trailer (my VW really does not have the ground clearance to use my equipment trailer ramps). But not many people own both a tow vehicle and a car hauler.

Cheapest of course is to rent a U-haul car hauler - been there, done that. But I really do not like renting U-haul trailers. Hate surge brakes.
I know I’m all sunshine and roses and positive attitude but I’m not planning on my Scout having maintenance issues. I know things will come up but I have faith in Scout that they are going to build a quality product.
 
I think it will also come down to how many spare parts Scout has available after the initial launch along with how expensive each panel is to fix. If someone needs a new fender or door after an accident and it takes a couple of months to get a spare part it's going to drive up costs, especially for parts that are needed for the vehicle to be driveable. Scout needs to have a balance between enough parts to build enough vehicles but then also enough spare for when accidents happen or warranty work if anything fails.
This is critical for sure and they need that info available to the insurance companies before launching
 
This is critical for sure and they need that info available to the insurance companies before launching
When my son bought his Elantra N the VIN wasn’t even in their system with the trim level for the N. So they had trouble that first year. It actually went up The second year because then they realized what an N was.

I’m just hoping because I’m old and have been driving forever that it won’t be as expensive.
 
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When my son bought his Elantra N the VIN wasn’t even in their system with the trim level for the N. So they had trouble that first year. It actually went up The second year because then they realized what an N was.

I’m just hoping because I’m old and have been driving forever that it won’t be as expensive.
When I got my Audi TT, coming from a Toyota Highlander it went up by like $20 bucks which surprised me. We’ve been with same insurance since wife was 16-her parents were lifers at Erie Insurance so we’ve always had great fees, now have “rest of life” accident forgiveness and they always take great care of us so hoping that carries through. Being old does have “some” perks
 
When I got my Audi TT, coming from a Toyota Highlander it went up by like $20 bucks which surprised me. We’ve been with same insurance since wife was 16-her parents were lifers at Erie Insurance so we’ve always had great fees, now have “rest of life” accident forgiveness and they always take great care of us so hoping that carries through. Being old does have “some” perks
Same. We have had our car insurance so long we are lifers now. Ha!
 
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I did not expect the number of repairs I was going to need with my VW that could not be handled locally either - motor problems should not be a huge issue - but even EV's have a lot of the same other stuff as ICE vehicles. Buttons fail (mine was the ignition button), lights fail (on 3rd failed headlight), wheel sensors fail (OMG that caused a cascade of other computer problems). But at least it will not have emission sensors to fail... So far so good on my VW AC - but those fail too.
 
I'm ok with dealers being far and wide, as long as it is easy for me as a customer to look up parts diagrams and order parts. I can understand not wanting to allow owners to work on any of the high voltage stuff, but everything else should be fair game. One of tesla's major issues is they are treating a car like a smart phone. I want my vehicle to be treated like a hobby grade RC car where I can look up and order any of the parts I need in about 5 minutes.

Right to repair being a major focus fights right in with Scout's stated values and would really set them apart in a crowded and competetive market

Scout. “People. Connections. Community. Authenticity." Welcome to the Scout community. Enjoy the ride. 🛻 🚙
Remember the built in search on the forums is a great place to start getting answers to your many questions. 😀
 
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