5 Months with my Model 3 Mid-Range

[USCCowboys]

Hello TMC forum buddies,

I have a MR RWD
Ordered 10/18/18 6PM PST
Midnight Silver
Black Interior
18 inch wheels
EAP
$2500 deposit
Priced $51,500
$1200 Delivery fee.
6.25% TX sales tax.
I tool delivery of my LEMR on 12/15/18 via home delivery with less than 50 miles.
Benefited from $7500 Federal Tax Rebate when filing for taxes on 4/15/19.

I did not jump on the $2,000 offer to buy FSD back in March. Wish I had since my account shows $5000 to upgrade and I hear it is going to $7,000 tomorrow. Especially with Elon's claim that my car may be worth $250,000 if I had FSD...

I've come to grips with the fact that I can now buy a new LR for a few thousand less (Net of tax breaks) that I paid for my MR back in October. Six months is a long time in a model year for any car to expect pricing to remain static. I love driving this car! After my first trip, I regretted not paying the extra $4,000 for the LR, but now with the price changes, I'm glad I didn't as I would be even more upside down than I am now. Not taking in to account gas savings!

I'm posting to the forum because of some recent things I've been noticing and want to share:
1) Part of the undercarriage is pulling away from the bottom of the car. Not sure what this is about and will try to make an appointment eventually to go to a SC and update you all. Sorry the car is so dirty. It rained recently. Don't judge me.



2) I finally got to a Discount Tire yesterday to have the tires rotated, normally I do at 5,000 intervals because of the Discount Tire warranty, but the Tesla manual says to do so at 7,500. Before I knew it, I've driven 10,704 miles since 12/15/18, putting me on an annual usage of ~ 25,000 miles. The tread was at 4,5,6 and 7. The guy said the Michelin's that come with the car are rated for 45,000 miles, thus wearing faster than they should. He was already trying to get me to buy 2 new tires, because they won't rotate once they reach 3-4... He said the cost to replace the exact same were $245 a tire. Not sure how these tires are going to hold up, but I will try to contact the tire manufacturer for more info on their warranty and update you all as well.

3) Since various software updates, my Range has been bouncing around. I drive a lot each day (as you can see by the mileage) and charge to 90% using a home NEMA 14-50. I have not had to visit a supercharger for normal everyday work/life for local use, unless I go on a long trip. When I first charged to 90% it charged to a range of 232. After an update or two it peaked at 238, with it recently settling to 235. However this last week, it seems to be losing a mile a day. I was at 234, then 233, then 232 and today it charged to 229. I'm sure it has to do with the calibration, etc., but I wanted to start this thread in case tomorrow it sinks even further.

Tesla has made driving fun again! Hope you all love your cars too!

 

[MoHazee4]

Nice write up. Good to hear you like you car.

• Talk to you service center about those photos. They should be able to help you out.
• Know the tire size you need - probably - 235/45R18 ---- when you call the store, tell them you need a tire that size. Don't tell them the type of car you have, or you might pay the "tesla tax" on your tire change, because - they think you have money.

 

[duanra]

I know some people reported here that during raining weather, they had similar problems with the undercarriage.

 

[USCCowboys]

I know some people reported here that during raining weather, they had similar problems with the undercarriage.

Well it has been raining a ton here. I’ve gone through some standing water/puddles, but nothing more than normal. (Nothing that would make me float like in the news. )

 

[GregBallantyne]

Yes, I sure love mine. After 40+ years of driving, I feel like I'm a teenager again at times. I've driven mine over 10k miles in a bit over 7 months, rotated tires at 6500. I expect to see 18k-19k when October rolls around (I took delivery Oct 9 last year), and I expect I'll need new tires about that time. That actually lines up well - new all season tires in time for winter driving. I've have never gotten advertised mileage out of any tire in those 40+ years, and I'm not expecting these to be any different.....

I've read about Model 3 owners who have had the under body issues from hitting water at speed, and we have had a lot of rain here the last few years. Looks like that is the new normal.... anyhow I've been careful about driving through standing water, and I don't think I've got those problems....

 

[duanra]

Yes, I sure love mine. After 40+ years of driving, I feel like I'm a teenager again at times. I've driven mine over 10k miles in a bit over 7 months, rotated tires at 6500. I expect to see 18k-19k when October rolls around (I took delivery Oct 9 last year), and I expect I'll need new tires about that time. That actually lines up well - new all season tires in time for winter driving. I've have never gotten advertised mileage out of any tire in those 40+ years, and I'm not expecting these to be any different.....

I've read about Model 3 owners who have had the under body issues from hitting water at speed, and we have had a lot of rain here the last few years. Looks like that is the new normal.... anyhow I've been careful about driving through standing water, and I don't think I've got those problems....

However driving fast through standing water shouldn't cause any problem. In another word, warranty should cover it.

 

[cappas]

My MR was ordered in October and delivered in December as your MR. It, too, suffers the bulging undercarriage as yours. It had been through just a few rainy days during the winter. Teslafi's estimated range is about 263 at 100% at the moment, but it varies.

 

[USCCowboys]

My MR was ordered in October and delivered in December as your MR. It, too, suffers the bulging undercarriage as yours. It had been through just a few rainy days during the winter. Teslafi's estimated range is about 263 at 100% at the moment, but it varies.

View attachment 407475

Cappas,

Are you going to do anything about the bulging undercarriage?

Also, do you recommend signing up for Teslafi?

And finally, it charged to 230 today, so at least it stopped the downward trajectory.

 

[cappas]

I occasionally drive by a Tesla service center. I may drop by and ask whether they can do anything about it and then schedule an appointment. Teslafi collects data on your vehicle and tells you whether it sleeps, sits idle, charges, drives, etc. and gives you statistics.

It also tracks where you drive, battery usage and drive efficiency. It's a lot of data. My concern is the data reside on some server that can be hacked. That being said, I like to have data. Why don't you give it a try and see if you like it. Free trial period is 2 weeks but you will get a month if you use my referral code below.

Sign Up

 

[bluridium]

Had this exact issue with the rocker panel on my drivers side. I pushed on it a bunch and it wouldn't re-seat. Submitted a service request, a mobile tech came out, hit it firmly twice and it re-clipped. I felt dumb but he said they encounter this a lot and it wasn't a big deal.

 

[BAven8068]

Hello TMC forum buddies,

I have a MR RWD
Ordered 10/18/18 6PM PST
Midnight Silver
Black Interior
18 inch wheels
EAP
$2500 deposit
Priced $51,500
$1200 Delivery fee.
6.25% TX sales tax.
I tool delivery of my LEMR on 12/15/18 via home delivery with less than 50 miles.
Benefited from $7500 Federal Tax Rebate when filing for taxes on 4/15/19.

I did not jump on the $2,000 offer to buy FSD back in March. Wish I had since my account shows $5000 to upgrade and I hear it is going to $7,000 tomorrow. Especially with Elon's claim that my car may be worth $250,000 if I had FSD...

I've come to grips with the fact that I can now buy a new LR for a few thousand less (Net of tax breaks) that I paid for my MR back in October. Six months is a long time in a model year for any car to expect pricing to remain static. I love driving this car! After my first trip, I regretted not paying the extra $4,000 for the LR, but now with the price changes, I'm glad I didn't as I would be even more upside down than I am now. Not taking in to account gas savings!

I'm posting to the forum because of some recent things I've been noticing and want to share:
1) Part of the undercarriage is pulling away from the bottom of the car. Not sure what this is about and will try to make an appointment eventually to go to a SC and update you all. Sorry the car is so dirty. It rained recently. Don't judge me.

View attachment 406975 View attachment 406976 View attachment 406977

2) I finally got to a Discount Tire yesterday to have the tires rotated, normally I do at 5,000 intervals because of the Discount Tire warranty, but the Tesla manual says to do so at 7,500. Before I knew it, I've driven 10,704 miles since 12/15/18, putting me on an annual usage of ~ 25,000 miles. The tread was at 4,5,6 and 7. The guy said the Michelin's that come with the car are rated for 45,000 miles, thus wearing faster than they should. He was already trying to get me to buy 2 new tires, because they won't rotate once they reach 3-4... He said the cost to replace the exact same were $245 a tire. Not sure how these tires are going to hold up, but I will try to contact the tire manufacturer for more info on their warranty and update you all as well.

3) Since various software updates, my Range has been bouncing around. I drive a lot each day (as you can see by the mileage) and charge to 90% using a home NEMA 14-50. I have not had to visit a supercharger for normal everyday work/life for local use, unless I go on a long trip. When I first charged to 90% it charged to a range of 232. After an update or two it peaked at 238, with it recently settling to 235. However this last week, it seems to be losing a mile a day. I was at 234, then 233, then 232 and today it charged to 229. I'm sure it has to do with the calibration, etc., but I wanted to start this thread in case tomorrow it sinks even further.

Tesla has made driving fun again! Hope you all love your cars too!

Also received my MR on 12/15/18. I have about half the amount of miles that you do but also had the sudden drop in range displayed. Shortly after the range was update to 264 it went from showing 238 @ 90% (264 full) to 230 @ 90% (256 full). You can clearly see the sudden drop in my Teslafi battery report bellow.

 

[USCCowboys]

Had this exact issue with the rocker panel on my drivers side. I pushed on it a bunch and it wouldn't re-seat. Submitted a service request, a mobile tech came out, hit it firmly twice and it re-clipped. I felt dumb but he said they encounter this a lot and it wasn't a big deal.

Blur -

Thanks for the advise. I got down on the ground and forcefully hit it back in. There are plastic clips and it with a good wack with the palm of my hand it did re-seat!

Cappas and BAven -

I'm going to sign up for Teslafi, to track. I'm now down to 228 at 90%. ~ 12,250 miles since 12/15/18.

Thanks!!

 

[cappas]

Blur -

Thanks for the advise. I got down on the ground and forcefully hit it back in. There are plastic clips and it with a good wack with the palm of my hand it did re-seat!

Cappas and BAven -

I'm going to sign up for Teslafi, to track. I'm now down to 228 at 90%. ~ 12,250 miles since 12/15/18.

Thanks!!

I also whacked the undercarriage panel with the palm of my hand and managed to pop it back. At ODO 6500, 100% capacity is estimated to be around 261.

 

[Vol16]

Fellow LEMR checking in...battery report @10k miles. Delivery was 12/16

 

[jerryfan2000]

This is my battery health after 5000km.

 

[cappas]

7000-mile report -- estimated 100% range nose dived to 256 miles. Perhaps, BMS is out of whack. I am going to do a few cycles of 90%->30% discharge/recharge and see if range improves.