2021 Q1 M3 New Owners Help Group!

[interbear]

Moderator comment - thread renamed from "M3 New Owners - 1-10 March 2021 Help Group!"

There is a lot of great info across the forum but it looks like owning a Tesla is a major research effort to get the best from it.

My story so far:
12 Jan - On a whim decided to book a virtual session, Tesla sales guy persuades me to skip the virtual session and went straight to test drive on the 15th
15 Jan -Test drive went well - after a few discussions at home and looking at how to get sell my lovely Porsche Boxster.....
19 Jan - Decided to order LR White/White/19"
25 Jan - Porsche sold
26 Jan - Text arrives - Panic sets in!
Jan-Feb - More panic
1-10 Mar - Collecting from Thorpe Park

I wondered if a thread for total Tesla noobs would be useful, so we are all ready for about 5 weeks time.

So far I think what I need to do:

1. Initial Insurance quotes - why is my current Directline policy change mean it is twice the price of Churchill.
   
2. Quotes for charger with aim to get installed before end of Feb - probably Zappi
3. Look at energy provides and see if something like Octopus is the way to go
4. Sort out my cherished number plate - where to get it and with green flash
5. Decide if I am going to add FSD after delivery.
6. Look at which apps/monitoring to use - already downloaded and installed Teslamate
   
7. Start looking at apps Zap Map
   
8. Do I need a screen protector
9. Mud flaps.....why haven't they been installed before, does the new MIC come with them, do I get them free and install myself or buy something different!
   
10. Do I need better mats
11. Read the manual then read it again
12. Watch 3,000 more YouTube videos

What else have I missed?
Is everyone else feeling a little more stress in moving from ICE to Electric than if they'd stayed ICE?

Would appreciate feedback from the other newbies and anything from old hands

I recall going through similar questions when I made the leap of faith into EV world from ICE. I can only offer my experience in some of your points above:
1. I went with LV for insurance, they were my existing insurer but have a good policy for EVs. Worth checking out.
2. Before getting a home charger installed don’t forget to check your main fuse rating, it needs to be either 80a or 100a depending on what other high draw electric items you have. I was completely unaware of this. Western Power upgraded my fuse from 60a to 80a for no cost, which is sufficient for my use case but if I’d needed 100a they would have charged me a couple of hundred quid. Might take a few weeks to get organised so check that out ASAP.
3. I did much research into this and went with Octopus Go for the off peak cheap rates (00:30-04:30) so that’s when I schedule car charging. And yes, I do have a referral link for Octopus if you’d like a £50 credit, I’ve sent you a DM with it if needed.
4. N/A I didn’t do this.
5. FSD is, in my opinion, a waste of money for a UK owner. Auto pilot and TACC is enough for me and even that is used rarely, only on motorway road trips. Everyone to their own but I’d save your cash.
6. Check out Tesla Stats, I find it provides enough useful info and some nice user features via a good iOS and Apple Watch app. I’m not personally bothered about deep dive data analysis. I prefer nice simple charts on charging, energy efficiency etc and Stats provides that.
7. Yep ZapMap is good but honestly, for road trips I have relied almost entirely on the Tesla supercharger network thus far. Only used ZapMap on a trip around the Highlands, it was useful then.
8. I don’t think you need a screen protector as it won’t get dropped or abused. That said, I have one as it came with a package of internal PPF that I applied to the gloss black centre console which IS prone to scratches. So I’d say you definitely need centre console protection but screen is not essential.
9. I have a set of mud flaps provided free by Tesla but haven’t got round to installing them yet. I probably should and agree, they should just be fitted as standard.
10. The Tesla provided mats are fine, but I’ve swapped mine out for weather protected mats due to muddy walks, kids, dog etc. Well I have for in the rear seats and trunk but the manufacturer still hasn’t designed front mats for UK vehicles so they are pending.
11. I found these forums a quicker route to find out what I need to know. Whatever you need to know, someone has already asked.
12. Yes, very useful source of info, agreed.

Hope that helps a bit, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your Tesla experience, I moved from a very nice Audi to my Model 3 and have no regrets. My only nagging doubt when I made the change was whether I’d cope with long road trips up to Scotland or into France. In reality, it’s been great, the charging stops are quick but also long enough for a coffee and break, which works for me.

 

[kriscii]

Too many order then start asking questions only to find they don’t like the answers.

It is those kind of things which made me think a thread like this was needed, in case I'd missed something. Hopefully most of those expecting a car in March will have done those two you mentioned and are not going to have their dream ruined.

 

[MrBadger]

It is those kind of things which made me think a thread like this was needed, in case I'd missed something.

There are threads like this. If you look in this sticky wiki thread you will see that I have renamed this thread to a more useful title and added it to some of the more recent others. But if people don't find them useful, people probably won't spend their time trying to maintain them and others.

This forum is run by everyone for everyone and people are quite happy to give up their time to help others but probably do not appreciate constant criticism when things don't work like they expect. If something is missing, add it and make it general, but please don't turn it into a whinge that it doesn't work like you think it should. That attitude is going to cause issues when you get the car and find that it doesn't work like you expect.

 

[kriscii]

That attitude is going to cause issues when you get the car and find that it doesn't work like you expect.

Yes, one of the most important things I've found recently since the first post is "Expect it to be late, have a few quality issues and be billed incorrectly" and that doesn't cover the fact it is a computer on wheels which may need a ctrl-alt-del from time to time . We're buying into whole new way for cars to work from a company at the leading edge without the many years of manufacturing experience. How that will pan out in 5-10 yrs time when the main car manufacturers are committed to EVs will be interesting.

 

[Sparkeur]

Yes, one of the most important things I've found recently since the first post is "Expect it to be late, have a few quality issues and be billed incorrectly"

I can reply to that. Mine was on time, had one quality issue (misaligned panel) which was fixed within two weeks and was billed ( direct purchase) quite normally. It is a stunning, fast and mechanically reliable car that you can add a raft of aftermarket extras to or just leave it the way it is. The only thing to really bear in mind is that the day you pick your car up is also the day you become a Tesla beta test driver.

 

[kriscii]

the day you pick your car up is also the day you become a Tesla beta test driver

A pity they don't pay us for that.

I think it is expect the worst and then you can only be pleasantly surprised. Not that Tesla is the only company in that elite group of aspirational products which some of us are willing to spend our money on knowing things might not be easy as the boring old stuff. That said when the Porsche Boxster EV comes out I may switch back to a traditional company as I'm not willing to pay nearly £200k for the roadster and still have 4 seats and have to take my roof off for open top motoring.

 

[Jagdipa]

Yes, one of the most important things I've found recently since the first post is "Expect it to be late, have a few quality issues and be billed incorrectly" and that doesn't cover the fact it is a computer on wheels which may need a ctrl-alt-del from time to time . We're buying into whole new way for cars to work from a company at the leading edge without the many years of manufacturing experience. How that will pan out in 5-10 yrs time when the main car manufacturers are committed to EVs will be interesting.

It's already happening! But the prices are too much. The Mercedes eqa/eqc, BMW i4, Audi E-tron, jaguar I pace. I was torn between traditional car companies and Tesla.

 

[kriscii]

The Mercedes eqa/eqc, BMW i4, Audi E-tron, jaguar I pace.

I've been a 2 seat sports car person since my first car; an MGB Roadster. Most of the EV's are SUV's or ugly boxes that should never be on the road the M3 Tesla was the only real option I could stomach or afford (Taycan is almost there but £100k and 4/5 seats again).