Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

1 week review (M3LR).

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I wanted to give a brief review of my 1 week experience.

for context, i have come from driving audis exclusively for ~20 years and i tend to keep them for a long time.
2000 audi s4 2.7L twin turbo (retired after 180k)
2010 audi q5 s-line premium plus 3.2L (retired after 180k)
2012 audi q5 s-line prestige 3.2L (retired after 190k)

i had also never been in a tesla nor driven one before picking mine up. all of my decision making was from watching youtube and friends with similar past cars and their current experience with teslas.

tesla.jpg


1. buying experience
overall, great. the only part that was on the annoying side was the ever changing EDDs. i ended up with delivery close to the original EDD (ended up being about 10 days sooner). picking up the car from the dealership was painless. we just recently picked up a 2022 audi q3 for my wife and the contrast between the 2 experiences was substantial (mainly the paperwork aspect).

2. car
coming from audi and having set very low expectations for the fit and finish of the model 3, i was pleasantly surprised. yes, the fit and finish is not where german cars at the same price point are -- but i have no major complaints. i do love the minimalist interior. i purchased a few accessories to make the internal space more usable (main console, armrest). i had no major issues with panel gaps, creaks, whistles etc.

im a bit of an audiophile and not being able to play lossless directly off my phone and having to partition a separate drive for sentry/audio is my biggest complaint.

3. drivability
ridiculously smooth was my first thoughts pulling out of the dealership. acceleration is addicting. quiet. just did a ~200 mile trip using autopilot quite frequently with no major hiccups.

my wife loves her q3 but after driving home with me from the dealership was wondering if she should have got a Y...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am in the same boat. Bmw guy through out 1 series /3 series/5 series. Last few i ve had nothing but issues and servicing is getting more and more expensive day by day. Not to mention any out if warranty costs. And although i cannot fault thr interior quality and build of my 5 series. The 3 that i had(G20) was very plastic. Never owned a tesla before. My m3 is getting delivered in march. Looking forward to it. One thing that I will miss is the ambient lighting haha. But i ve seen a few in amazon for tesla. Might give that a go.
Standard, long range or performance? You're going to love the car I think.
 
Standard, long range or performance? You're going to love the car I think.
Ordered the RWD. 315 miles wltp range and 0-60 in 5.8 sec. I think coming from an ICE car that is plenty of speed for me haha. Was thinking of dual motor but tesla has made rwd very appealing. Somewhat similar range and now you get rear heated seats and heated steering as standard.I chose the white interior. I have not seen that in person so fingers crossed it looks good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Birdsfan
Ordered the RWD. 315 miles wltp range and 0-60 in 5.8 sec. I think coming from an ICE car that is plenty of speed for me haha. Was thinking of dual motor but tesla has made rwd very appealing. Somewhat similar range and now you get rear heated seats and heated steering as standard.I chose the white interior. I have not seen that in person so fingers crossed it looks good.
I have ALWAYS gone black on black and I let me son talk me into the panda (black exterior white interior) and I love the interior, you will not be dissapointed!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cooksmaster1
Don’t buy a Tesla just to save gas. It will take over 100,000 miles to even come close to the overall costs per mile that a gas vehicle has.
Sounds like you do not own a Tesla, because if you did you would never make such a claim.

My son just put his order in for a base Model 3, pricing was around 41K. You price a new Camry or similar car these days. They'll cost you close to 40K for a decent one.

100,000 miles to come close to cost per mile? Must be using some of that new math to come up with that one.

When I charge at home it cost me about .40 to get 23 miles. Old math get's me 230miles for $4. A Camry let's say gets 23mpg, 230miles 10 gallons x $4/gallon.=$40.

I will agree you should not buy a Tesla just to save gas, they're a great car to drive as well. Some may call it the "Ultimate Electric Driving Machine"
 
Nice review. Just went over 3000 miles and I still love the car. I just watched a bunch of videos like you and never test drove and was pleasantly surprised by the handling and acceleration of course. I came from a long line of G35s and 16 Infiniti Q50 Hybrid which I loved before a deer totaled it.

I like having a separate drive for sentry. I bought 250gb ssd and it seems to run faster than the default usb drive.

I’m still trying to figure out where to put my phone lol. I’ve tried so many mounts but I keep going back to the minimalist design and keeping my phone on the pad.
 
If my new solar installation passes inspection today my new math will be .00 to get 23 miles, except on long trips. I was in LA in a M3 rental last weekend and with gas prices there hovering around $5/gal, the gas would have cost $100 based on the miles I drove. The rental included free supercharging, I think because Hertz hasn't figured out how to chargeback yet.
 
If my new solar installation passes inspection today my new math will be .00 to get 23 miles, except on long trips. I was in LA in a M3 rental last weekend and with gas prices there hovering around $5/gal, the gas would have cost $100 based on the miles I drove. The rental included free supercharging, I think because Hertz hasn't figured out how to chargeback yet.
One thing that has been pointed out regarding cost to charge and Solar. While your cost to charge once you go solar is 0. you really have to add in the cost to go solar to achieve that.
My cost to charge is 0, since I've been on solar for over 11 years. My payback for the solar installation after rebates was right at 6 years. Could have mentioned that when I responded to the 100,000 mile comment, but it would have made the response more complicated. Wanted to keep the response simple enough to understand.
But still going solar or any renewable, and having an EV is a great way to not be affected by any gas prices directly.

Another thing when traveling is using Level 2 chargers that are no charge. I recently drove to LA from AZ, and did a camp mode at a state park, and utilized a free level 2 charging at a ball park that allowed overnight stay.
That trip I stopped at a SC once each way, total charging cost for the 600+ mile trip about $20.
 
Last edited:
The additional cost of the solar for the car was actually pretty marginal since I was doing it anyway. The panels aren't the expensive part, the installation is. Adding a few panels for the additional usage for the car wasn't all that much.
 
I will pick up my red 2022 M3LR on Thursday (coming from serial BMW 128s with old school manual trans, RWD, no turbo). We have 4 grandchildren and simply feel a strong commitment to avoid burning fossil fuels for their (and everyone else's) sake. My wife bought a 2021 Accord EXL Hybrid last summer and that is a very impressive car. She wasn't willing to go full EV yet. My car will be the 4th Tesla in our extended family.

Our home is solar via a community solar farm so we still pay the Massachusetts utility rate of about $0.25 per kWh. At that high rate, the savings vs. gasoline is almost 50%.

1646159143246.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: tm1v2 and XPsionic
Don’t buy a Tesla just to save gas. It will take over 100,000 miles to even come close to the overall costs per mile that a gas vehicle has.
If you go to fuel economy.gov and have a look it is clear that the economics are on Tesla’s side. I am from Australia and our cost of electricity is higher, especially in our state. More like 20c per kWh in the night and petrol os $8 a gallon. Compared to my Kia I can save about $35k over 10 years in petrol and servicing costs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KenC
I wanted to give a brief review of my 1 week experience.

for context, i have come from driving audis exclusively for ~20 years and i tend to keep them for a long time.
2000 audi s4 2.7L twin turbo (retired after 180k)
2010 audi q5 s-line premium plus 3.2L (retired after 180k)
2012 audi q5 s-line prestige 3.2L (retired after 190k)

i had also never been in a tesla nor driven one before picking mine up. all of my decision making was from watching youtube and friends with similar past cars and their current experience with teslas.

View attachment 772613

1. buying experience
overall, great. the only part that was on the annoying side was the ever changing EDDs. i ended up with delivery close to the original EDD (ended up being about 10 days sooner). picking up the car from the dealership was painless. we just recently picked up a 2022 audi q3 for my wife and the contrast between the 2 experiences was substantial (mainly the paperwork aspect).

2. car
coming from audi and having set very low expectations for the fit and finish of the model 3, i was pleasantly surprised. yes, the fit and finish is not where german cars at the same price point are -- but i have no major complaints. i do love the minimalist interior. i purchased a few accessories to make the internal space more usable (main console, armrest). i had no major issues with panel gaps, creaks, whistles etc.

im a bit of an audiophile and not being able to play lossless directly off my phone and having to partition a separate drive for sentry/audio is my biggest complaint.

3. drivability
ridiculously smooth was my first thoughts pulling out of the dealership. acceleration is addicting. quiet. just did a ~200 mile trip using autopilot quite frequently with no major hiccups.

my wife loves her q3 but after driving home with me from the dealership was wondering if she should have got a Y...
Congratulations and Enjoy!! I love my Y
 
Don't want to hi-jack this thread, but in a similar position. Have a 2020 X3 s30i. 1st bmw (own and owed Audi before -- wife with a Q5 PP).

I put in an order for the Tesla 3 LR last November (continued delays) in anticipation of a new EV credit being passed (didn't happen) and used car prices.

Anyways, Tesla now showing potential delivery of my 3LR at the end of this month. Value of X3 is low to mid 30s now (dealership offered 37k in January, tesla offering 32k now). No issues with the car.

Debating to pull trigger on the tesla 3 (not a need, bmw working ok. Extended warranty to 80k miles, at 28k now).

Also have a R1T pre-ordered (late 2022 delivery estimated) and Lucid Air Pure. Unsure if the R1T will deliver on time.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: KenC
Thanks author for the review. I just took my M3 delivery 2 days ago and just wanting to get your thoughts and everyone else regarding the door close / opening. I am used to Toyota cars where opening and closing is smooth and it locks in place firmly at minimal effort. With my M3, i feel it close and only lock halfway if i use the same strength to close. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Also, opning the door from inside via the door button seems to requite me to click it twice to get it fully opened. I'm new to Tesla and EV in general so just wanting some comparisons. Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks author for the review. I just took my M3 delivery 2 days ago and just wanting to get your thoughts and everyone else regarding the door close / opening. I am used to Toyota cars where opening and closing is smooth and it locks in place firmly at minimal effort. With my M3, i feel it close and only lock halfway if i use the same strength to close. What is everyone's thoughts on this? Also, opning the door from inside via the door button seems to requite me to click it twice to get it fully opened. I'm new to Tesla and EV in general so just wanting some comparisons. Thanks in advance!
Mine is smooth… I’d have service take a look.
 
Don't want to hi-jack this thread, but in a similar position. Have a 2020 X3 s30i. 1st bmw (own and owed Audi before -- wife with a Q5 PP).

I put in an order for the Tesla 3 LR last November (continued delays) in anticipation of a new EV credit being passed (didn't happen) and used car prices.

Anyways, Tesla now showing potential delivery of my 3LR at the end of this month. Value of X3 is low to mid 30s now (dealership offered 37k in January, tesla offering 32k now). No issues with the car.

Debating to pull trigger on the tesla 3 (not a need, bmw working ok. Extended warranty to 80k miles, at 28k now).

Also have a R1T pre-ordered (late 2022 delivery estimated) and Lucid Air Pure. Unsure if the R1T will deliver on time.

If you don't need it, why get it? Its definitely not going to save you any money given you've already been hit with the depreciation of your X3. If you want to go fast, thats another story but from a value perspective, its a terrible trade.
 
If you don't need it, why get it? Its definitely not going to save you any money given you've already been hit with the depreciation of your X3. If you want to go fast, thats another story but from a value perspective, its a terrible trade.
Leaning towards passing on the tesla. See if someone I know would be interested in it.

Might wait for the Rivian R1T instead (pre-order).
 
  • Funny
Reactions: KenC
As a fellow Ex Audi owner. I'm coming from a super rare Viper green S3 which was a blast to drive and looked amazing.
I've been a big fan of Audi's because of their fantastic interiors. So I was a little worried that the fit and finish with the tesla would be lacking.

I was pleasantly surprised at the level of quality and have no complaints at all with the interior of my 2022 LR+ Boost. When I first got in to the car for the test drive I was thinking man this air right in my face is going to be annoying. I thought, I can't believe that you can't change the direction of the vents.
What I neat touch to direct the air or split it from the touchscreen I wouldn't have thought it would be there.
I checked out a bunch of EV's but they were just a bunch of cars that happened to run on batteries. There was nothing that made me feel like wow this is something unique and futuristic. I love that Tesla didn't just try to make another car following all of the old guidelines.

Performance is unlike any other car I've driven. It's just insane to me that I get to drive a 3.7sec 0-60 11.8sec 1/4 mile commuter that gets 131MPGe.
And is quiet and smooth with every tech feature I could ever want and then some. With the S3 I would cringe because every bump felt like you were ripping the wheels off. Another plus is the Tesla was cheaper than my S3.
I've had a lot of fun cars TT, S3, BMW M3's etc. this blows them all away with the overall package.

Don't get me wrong I will miss the look and exclusivity of the S3 but that's about it.


1647009868489.png

1647009998011.jpeg