Does this ring true?

[Neilio]

Jeremy Clarkson once said (of the Maserati Quattroporte but still): "Owning one is like owning a 2 year old child. Very annoying for a lot of the time. Yet if someone tried to take it off you, you'd kill them"

With hearing stories of the quirks and reboots and dodgy wipers and pants gaps. The complaints about customer service and delivery schedules I wonder if Tesla are similar?

I hope so, cars are practical tools in the end but people have an affinity with them, people buy with their heart as much as their head. I tend to think Tesla is in that bracket.

I'm already annoyed about the lack of delivery information but, I genuinely love my Tesla already and I'm still 19 days away from picking it up!

I do like it when a car is more than just a vehicle to it's owners.

 

[Beady3647]

I agree with JC's thought process.

From my experience you will have endless enjoyment, punctuated with the occasional sour moment, from your purchase. I'm a bit of a gadget geek (although I sometimes fail to understand them fully) and absolutely nothing I have ever owned has come close to my Tesla.

 

[Roy W.]

In my experience all cars are a bit like that. I’ve had 23 cars over the last 44 years and none has been without its foibles.

In the year I’ve had the Model 3 it’s been a really pleasurable ownership experience. Far, far better than the Hyundai Kona electric before it. I too have a technical background, and make allowances for the fact that we’re driving a computer on wheels.

 

[Sparkeur]

I assure you, anything negative you might read here is certainly not what friends and family hear.

 

[Neilio]

I assure you, anything negative you might read here is certainly not what friends and family hear.

Haha "hey, why doesn't your rear quarter light fit properly?"
"Erm, have I showed you the acceleration?!!'

 

[MrBadger]

Depends if the two year old is winding you up on purpose. Talking to the Tesla brick wall can be like that sometimes, not sure if a 2 year old has learned to do arrogance at that age, but Tesla have it down to a fine art at times. Other times you get reason and they are a pleasure to deal with. But you are never sure what you are going to get until you get to communicate with someone. As for not wanting to take the car off of me, Tesla can gladly have it back some of the time. 10 months into ownership, we still have not gone a day without something not needing fixing.

 

[Jason71]

You have to remember that forums always show the worst.
Day to day my M3 is easier to live with than an ICE car. nothing has really gone wrong with it so far and I rarely do round trips of >200 miles so range is not an issue.
it also has lots of advantages over other cars like remote turn on of AC before you get in etc. I don't remember any plus's when I owned a 2 year old.
I do spend too much time on this forum though so am now paranoid that things will go wrong

 

[JohnFitz]

Jeremy Clarkson once said (of the Maserati Quattroporte but still): "Owning one is like owning a 2 year old child. Very annoying for a lot of the time. Yet if someone tried to take it off you, you'd kill them"

With hearing stories of the quirks and reboots and dodgy wipers and pants gaps. The complaints about customer service and delivery schedules I wonder if Tesla are similar?

I hope so, cars are practical tools in the end but people have an affinity with them, people buy with their heart as much as their head. I tend to think Tesla is in that bracket.

I'm already annoyed about the lack of delivery information but, I genuinely love my Tesla already and I'm still 19 days away from picking it up!

I do like it when a car is more than just a vehicle to it's owners.

Having been luck enough to own both, I can only agree with the sage comments of JC

 

[Mr H]

Apart from the purchase price which is still significantly cheaper than a wife it will save you money whereas a 2 year old will only cost money

 

[Drew57]

2 year olds eh - noisy, demanding, inconsistent, erratic, constant liquid refreshment, smelly rear end w/ seeping pools of fluid, a lot of attention & a body where nothing fits properly.

Hmmm, sounds like a Cherokee Jeep I once owned but NOTHING like my Tesla....

She's tee-total, curvy & sexy with a flat little nose, a turned-up tail & all under a flowing black mane - flashes her eyes, waggles her ears and chirps when I touch her sides - what a turn on! My right wrist works overtime whenever I'm with her, meanwhile my redundant left foot withers away... controlling a feisty but silent beast like this with just two of my limbs is such a pleasure (from time to time I also let her dominate & enable AutoHarlot mode). Earlier today we had a bath & rub down together.

She does charge quite a lot for all this ecstacy though & is very clever, sometimes spending time on the drive with her head in the clouds 'improving herself'. I forgive her few faults - her eyes sometimes light up in the sun, she doesn't always bat the rain away when I want her to & sometimes ignores me when I speak but nevertheless my four month old go-girl-cart remains the only one for me.

 

[Mr Miserable]

2 year olds eh - noisy, demanding, inconsistent, erratic, constant liquid refreshment, smelly rear end w/ seeping pools of fluid, a lot of attention & a body where nothing fits properly.

Hmmm, sounds like a Cherokee Jeep I once owned but NOTHING like my Tesla....

She's tee-total, curvy & sexy with a flat little nose, a turned-up tail & all under a flowing black mane - flashes her eyes, waggles her ears and chirps when I touch her sides - what a turn on! My right wrist works overtime whenever I'm with her, meanwhile my redundant left foot withers away... controlling a feisty but silent beast like this with just two of my limbs is such a pleasure (from time to time I also let her dominate & enable AutoHarlot mode). Earlier today we had a bath & rub down together.

She does charge quite a lot for all this ecstacy though & is very clever, sometimes spending time on the drive with her head in the clouds 'improving herself'. I forgive her few faults - her eyes sometimes light up in the sun, she doesn't always bat the rain away when I want her to & sometimes ignores me when I speak but nevertheless my four month old go-girl-cart remains the only one for me.

After swearing I would never buy an American car after a rental experience in Florida in the 80's I ended up buying a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT in 2014. A 6.4l V8 is a bit of a gas guzzler (17 mpg! ) but other than that it was a very reliable joy to drive. Apart from the cost of insurance, of course. And tyres - it seemed to eat tyres. I did expect it to breakdown at any moment, but it never did. It also didn't fit in a parking space at Tesco and so I ended up parking way over there, strangely the same spot I use when I'm not charging! To be honest it was a relief when I sold it because I knew that at sometime, somewhere down the line, a big bill was going to wing it's way to me. I felt I had dodged the bullet. The Tesla is certainly not as well built as the Jeep was nor is it as comfortable. The acceleration is about the same, but the tyres are cheaper, the insurance is cheaper, operating it is a lot cheaper and it's a lot quieter..
I also suspect the depreciation on the Tesla will be less, a lot less actually.
Would I buy another American car?
I'll let you know as soon as orders are open for the Model Y.

 

[NewbieT]

I'll let you know as soon as orders are open for the Model Y.

Ahh, a German Tesla you mean?!!

 

[Mr Miserable]

Ahh, a German Tesla you mean?!!

Das ist eine gut punkt, buddy.

 

[MrBadger]

I just stumbled on this. Thought much of it rang very true, especially the comments.

Linus (From Linus Tech Tips) Bought a Model Y for his Inlaws and comments on the delivery experience. : teslamotors

 

[browellm]

Some of this is classic Stockholm Syndrome. I don't quite know what it is about tech disruptors, but the community that builds up around them become so protective and precious, the tribalism trumps any objective thinking.

 

[rincewind]

Depends if the two year old is winding you up on purpose. Talking to the Tesla brick wall can be like that sometimes, not sure if a 2 year old has learned to do arrogance at that age, but Tesla have it down to a fine art at times. Other times you get reason and they are a pleasure to deal with. But you are never sure what you are going to get until you get to communicate with someone. As for not wanting to take the car off of me, Tesla can gladly have it back some of the time. 10 months into ownership, we still have not gone a day without something not needing fixing.

Must be luck of the draw. I've had my M3P for 9 months and had only one issue, a misaligned steering wheel, which was fixed at the service centre. Other than that, flawless.

 

[Lucanesque]

Some of this is classic Stockholm Syndrome. I don't quite know what it is about tech disruptors, but the community that builds up around them become so protective and precious, the tribalism trumps any objective thinking.

Not sure all objectivity is trumped, although I do agree with you that there’s a certain passion surrounding the new and innovative where people focus more on the positives.

I’d also say that most people don’t like to be told they’ve got an “ugly baby”, particularly after spending 50-100k on it

 

[Twiglett]

I have the feeling that although you hear horror stories in here, the reality is much more mundane and normal.
You can lay accusations of tribalism and stockholm syndrome - but only in the cases of folks having a bad experience.
For the rest of us (the majority?) its been great.
Rather like TMC, sometimes feels like its full of people who are cynics and pessimists - but it also has a whole bunch of helpful people

I once joked that if Tesla gave 10 people in TMC a free Model 3, over 70% wouldn't say anything while 20% would complain that they couldn't choose the color and the last 10% would whine endlessly about all the options he wanted but couldn't get because the car was free.

 

[Twiglett]

probably should add to list of reactions to the fictional free Model3 scenario
Another 100 people would complain that they thought the free car would be given to 100 people not 10
Another 1000 would complain because they thought the free car should have been a Model S instead
A further 2000 would post about their feeling of outrage on behalf of the one guy who couldn't choose his options for his free car.
That one guy will still be here, years from now, telling everyone about how the lack of options in his free car impacted him.
Finally an additional 5000 people will be complaining about how those free cars have devalued their own cars

I still love this place

 

[browellm]

And suddenly we're talking about a fictional free car. All completely normal.