Tl;dr. Great car, terrible build quality with cheap trim pieces.
Good. If this is the future, I'm here for it (not that I have a choice about avoiding the future). Quiet (double panel glass). The power is so instant at any speed that I find myself thinking about doing reckless things (only on a closed track).
Personnel. Super super nice. When the delivery agent saw that my 1.5yo daughter had a toy car (Lotus Exige) in her hand, he offered us a toy Model 3 for her. We accepted. It's a kindness we did not expect but very much appreciated.
Service. Holy cow the service guy who showed up at my door was nice. Agreeable, helpful, and just pleasant. I mean he's the kind of guy I'd invite to dinner. I had every plan to list all of the awful POS things about the Model Y, but he really changed the tone because he's just so gosh-darn nice. So while I still listed all the things wrong with the car, we mostly laughed about it. . .he didn't admit anything, just knowingly laughed. THIS is how Lexus clobbered the Germans. You can't have happy employees unless you treat your people respectfully, with kindness, and in good humor. This is just another data point towards my suspicion that Musk is a benevolent genius (contra evil genius, e.g. Mr. Bigglesworth). I wish him well and hope he succeeds in his visions for energy and transportation.
Bad. Materials. Holy cow they're awful. The trim piece that surrounds the pano-roof is this flimsy velvety plastic sheet that is less than three sheets of 30lb paper. Really, it's thin. If the pano-roof weren't UV radiant, I can't imagine it would be very long before it cracked and tore.
Plastic is worse than a Toyota Corolla. In fairness, the Corolla has benefitted from trickle down quality from Lexus, but for a cheap car, the quality of high-touch materials is way better. I just don't have confidence that the materials will nearly match the longevity of the electric powertrain.
Build quality. Who built this?! British Leyland?! 70s Rovers had more consistent panel gaps!. . .ok, not really, but you get my point. And trim pieces keep failing!
The rear hatch is crooked. To the untrained eye, you'll never notice it, but the right hinge is slightly higher than the left hinge, causing the right side of the hatch to rise 1mm above the top of the roof. Picky? Yes. And in fairness, tight panel gaps are trade secrets, and I'm sure Tesla will continue to improve them.
The driver rear door card kept popping out and preventing the door from opening. Tesla service tech looked at it and discovered some fasteners were never put in. He didn't seem surprised. I then made a joke about how this car rolled off the assembly plant that also made the world's most reliable car. . .the Toyota Corolla and (at the time) Geo Prizm. We had a good time, making the best of what should never have been an issue.
Lost a Gemini wheel cover and a wheel arch trim piece came loose when it went through high(ish) water. Compartment under the trunk panel flooded in that same high(ish) water. Water never got as high as the top of the door sill. Absurd.
Some bad designs. Rear valence panel folded backwards when driven in that high(ish) water. Really. Required a floor jack and zip ties before the Tesla tech came and patched it up.
Road feel. Nothing comes through the steering wheel. It's more disconnected than a. . .um. . .I don't think I've ever driven a car with so little steering feel (that had a proper alignment). I was curious about taking the car onto a track because of the acceleration and low center of gravity, until I drove it. No interest now. Guess I'm going to get that Viagra script filled after all. . .
The Aw Come On Now stuff. To Tesla's credit, everything keeps improving. Fiat and Renault would have just shrugged their shoulders, blamed the consumer, and left. . .oh wait, they did. I've seen panel gaps on Model Xs that could be seen from 8ft away (ask me how I know). I've seen Model S with curvy stitching that should have been straight. Those thing have been fixed in our Model Y. For a company that started producing its own cars (Roadster was made by Lotus, fight me!) only 9 years ago, Tesla's build quality improvements have been remarkable. Their meteoric rise, IMO, is well deserved: they keep improving. Now, I wonder if Tesla would consider buying Alfa Romeo. . .
Oh, and I don't like that the car thinks for me. I can't gripe at that too much. . .it's an electronic car, of course it's going to think for me.
Conclusion so far. It's the best $15,000 car I've ever driven. I'm not sure if I should be so tolerant that it ran $65k. But once I overlook the trim, the car is extraordinary. It's also lifeless. . .which goes in line with overlooking all of the pieces I'd be touching. So I guess the future is extraordinary if lifeless. Guess I'll just have to figure out that future with the same accusations that my parents complained about the present.
Good. If this is the future, I'm here for it (not that I have a choice about avoiding the future). Quiet (double panel glass). The power is so instant at any speed that I find myself thinking about doing reckless things (only on a closed track).
Personnel. Super super nice. When the delivery agent saw that my 1.5yo daughter had a toy car (Lotus Exige) in her hand, he offered us a toy Model 3 for her. We accepted. It's a kindness we did not expect but very much appreciated.
Service. Holy cow the service guy who showed up at my door was nice. Agreeable, helpful, and just pleasant. I mean he's the kind of guy I'd invite to dinner. I had every plan to list all of the awful POS things about the Model Y, but he really changed the tone because he's just so gosh-darn nice. So while I still listed all the things wrong with the car, we mostly laughed about it. . .he didn't admit anything, just knowingly laughed. THIS is how Lexus clobbered the Germans. You can't have happy employees unless you treat your people respectfully, with kindness, and in good humor. This is just another data point towards my suspicion that Musk is a benevolent genius (contra evil genius, e.g. Mr. Bigglesworth). I wish him well and hope he succeeds in his visions for energy and transportation.
Bad. Materials. Holy cow they're awful. The trim piece that surrounds the pano-roof is this flimsy velvety plastic sheet that is less than three sheets of 30lb paper. Really, it's thin. If the pano-roof weren't UV radiant, I can't imagine it would be very long before it cracked and tore.
Plastic is worse than a Toyota Corolla. In fairness, the Corolla has benefitted from trickle down quality from Lexus, but for a cheap car, the quality of high-touch materials is way better. I just don't have confidence that the materials will nearly match the longevity of the electric powertrain.
Build quality. Who built this?! British Leyland?! 70s Rovers had more consistent panel gaps!. . .ok, not really, but you get my point. And trim pieces keep failing!
The rear hatch is crooked. To the untrained eye, you'll never notice it, but the right hinge is slightly higher than the left hinge, causing the right side of the hatch to rise 1mm above the top of the roof. Picky? Yes. And in fairness, tight panel gaps are trade secrets, and I'm sure Tesla will continue to improve them.
The driver rear door card kept popping out and preventing the door from opening. Tesla service tech looked at it and discovered some fasteners were never put in. He didn't seem surprised. I then made a joke about how this car rolled off the assembly plant that also made the world's most reliable car. . .the Toyota Corolla and (at the time) Geo Prizm. We had a good time, making the best of what should never have been an issue.
Lost a Gemini wheel cover and a wheel arch trim piece came loose when it went through high(ish) water. Compartment under the trunk panel flooded in that same high(ish) water. Water never got as high as the top of the door sill. Absurd.
Some bad designs. Rear valence panel folded backwards when driven in that high(ish) water. Really. Required a floor jack and zip ties before the Tesla tech came and patched it up.
Road feel. Nothing comes through the steering wheel. It's more disconnected than a. . .um. . .I don't think I've ever driven a car with so little steering feel (that had a proper alignment). I was curious about taking the car onto a track because of the acceleration and low center of gravity, until I drove it. No interest now. Guess I'm going to get that Viagra script filled after all. . .
The Aw Come On Now stuff. To Tesla's credit, everything keeps improving. Fiat and Renault would have just shrugged their shoulders, blamed the consumer, and left. . .oh wait, they did. I've seen panel gaps on Model Xs that could be seen from 8ft away (ask me how I know). I've seen Model S with curvy stitching that should have been straight. Those thing have been fixed in our Model Y. For a company that started producing its own cars (Roadster was made by Lotus, fight me!) only 9 years ago, Tesla's build quality improvements have been remarkable. Their meteoric rise, IMO, is well deserved: they keep improving. Now, I wonder if Tesla would consider buying Alfa Romeo. . .
Oh, and I don't like that the car thinks for me. I can't gripe at that too much. . .it's an electronic car, of course it's going to think for me.
Conclusion so far. It's the best $15,000 car I've ever driven. I'm not sure if I should be so tolerant that it ran $65k. But once I overlook the trim, the car is extraordinary. It's also lifeless. . .which goes in line with overlooking all of the pieces I'd be touching. So I guess the future is extraordinary if lifeless. Guess I'll just have to figure out that future with the same accusations that my parents complained about the present.
It's a good thing the customer service and experience is so gosh-darn good! 
