I rent a Model 3 via Turo for a day trip from San Francisco to San Jose. This is my first extended experience behind the wheel of a Model 3. All previous experience was with test drives which allowed for only 30 minutes or so of actual driving.
My impressions:
Positives:
- The car drives very tightly. Don't know how my passengers will like the ride but it has a very sporty handling.
- I was nervous to let autopilot took over at first. It brakes later than I normally do (or just that I did not feel I was in control). But after it was simply magic. The first few auto lane change was similarly scary but I got used to it by the night. Traffic cruise control makes cruising through traffic jams a peace.
- The screen shows distance to other objects in front and behind the car which assist parking tremendously.
- Plenty of superchargers in the area. A trip to San Jose and back costs $10 in electricity.
Negatives (I am admittedly nitpicking here):
- The screen was unviewable in bright sunlight. I later found out that there are matte screen cover for the Model 3 but the car I rented didn't have it.
- Navigation was very distracting. I was totally unfamiliar with the area (coming from Calgary, Alberta) and had to rely on GPS for directions. The zoom level is too far: I don't need to see 10 miles ahead, just the next intersection where I need to make a turn. Lane guidance was similarly hard to see. I had to turn my head and take my eyes off the road to look at the screen. Google Maps on my phone was easier to navigate. It would help tremendously if the screen was angled toward to the driver. A HUD would have been fantastic.
I was deadset on making the Model 3 my next car but now I'm holding back a bit. Most of the technologies in the Model 3 will show up in other cars within the next couple years, when I plan to change my car. And I frankly don't know when Autopilot will move up to Level 3 self-driving. Level 2 is pretty easy to find in modern cars. Even the base Honda Accord 2019 looks very compelling at half the price of the (still unicorn) base Model 3. Of course, all Teslas have the advantage that is OTA updates.
What do you think?