This is my first Tesla, prior to this car I was driving a much loved Subaru Impreza 2.5i that I bought new in 2007. However, it was getting older and I was increasingly having a difficult time justifying burning fossil fuels. So like many of you I put my wallet where my conscious was and took the plunge. I had initially decided to wait until March to see how things played out with the tax rebates and updates but when the 7500$ discount was announced I took a peak and saw a new M3 sitting just 150 miles away in Portland and I couldn’t resist.
When I went into research mode back in September I was looking for a 4 door sedan, the crossovers and smaller SUV’s are interesting but didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I of course looked the ID.4, the Polestar, the Ioniq 5/6, Bolt, and Volvo’s offerings but the M3 appeared to be the best fit. It is efficient, a good size for me, and capable of road trips thanks to the supercharger network which was a major draw.
To summarize I’ve had a very positive experience so far and the car is amazing. For those who are interested here are some my experiences in purchasing the car and living with it.
Purchase and Pickup Experience:
Despite a few hiccups this was fairly easy, I requested some info about a listed M3LR on the Tesla website and a representative gave me a call back and answered my questions. I clicked the order button and gave my local CU a call to get get things going. The only issue I had was my bank asking for a signed “Purchase Agreement” while the only thing Tesla had provided was an “Order Agreement”. After calling the Tesla sales rep back, who was very patient and talked with my loan officer over speaker phone, it was discovered that this was due to my trade in amount not being approved yet. The sales rep poked that department and got everything cleared up within the day.
As the car was in Portland and I live in Seattle I had to drive down to pick the car up. My CU had provided me a check made out to Tesla and with that in hand I headed down in my old car. The trip down was a bit of a slog, it was cold and rainy but that was offset by the giddiness I felt every time I noticed a Tesla on the road. Getting into Portland I hit a lot of traffic, there had been cars pulled off to the side the whole way down but this last bit of traffic was due to a MY with its hazards on stopped in the far left lane. This time I felt something other than giddiness, but I kept reminding myself that it wasn’t the only car I had seen broken down on the trip and I had no idea what had gone wrong for them.
On arrival, in the pouring rain, I was greeted inside and directed to the sales associate handling my delivery. Paperwork was signed and we went out to inspect the cars, me the new one and them my trade in. The associate had pre-warmed the new car for me and it was beautiful. I did a quick inspection inside and out which concluded in my accepting the car which seemed to be an excellent Fremont build. I found it interesting that on accepting the car the cars computer reboots and then knows you as its driver, neat! The car had 59% charge on it and as I had a long drive ahead I asked if I could charge a bit. The sales associate immediately put the car on a supercharger and said I could charge as long as I’d like for free. After reading some horror stories here I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the experience was. As soon as I drove the car for the first time my apprehension due to seeing the broken down MY was forgotten.
The Car:
I've enjoyed every moment of driving this car. Not to say the car doesn’t have some minor faults, but it has lived up to expectations and has often beaten them. On my drive home I stopped at my first super charger, it was cold and rainy which of course impacts the cars range, and I’m still getting used to trusting the cars range estimates. I also don’t have charging at home for a few more weeks and wanted to make sure I arrived with plenty of charge. This was an easy experience, the only moment of panic was realizing I had to back the car into a spot near other nice cars for the first time! I survived.
I’ve taken the car on several 100-200 mile day trips now and it is a fantastic car to just drive. The heated steering wheel is now one of my favorite things. I haven’t played with the autopilot features much yet as I want to get used to the car first. Most of the auto features seem to work really well*, I’ve had a good experience with the auto climate system, the auto headlights and a mixed relationship with the auto wipers. I’m in Seattle, and its currently the rainy season, and sometimes the auto wipers are brilliant and respond just as I am thinking about hitting the wiper button. However they do seem to struggle when its not directly raining and the roads are just wet. The spray from the cars in front does not always seem to be detected by the system to be a problem. I would LOVE a ‘Scroll’ mode for the wipers where one of the steering wheel wheels becomes an analog adjuster for the wipers, I would gladly give up volume adjustment while in this mode.
One thing I didn’t anticipate was how comfortable an electric car would be to just sit in and wait or hang out in. I never liked to leave my car engine on when not driving so the inside would quickly become cold and uncomfortable while in an EV the seats stay warm and air circulates, music and theater mode are available with little energy usage. It’s just pleasant. I’ve taken the car on some ferry rides, and especially if you get a spot on the ferry near the sides where you can see out, its a great place to spend time.
The last thing I’ll mention is that I hit a pothole the other day, it was raining hard, dark, and the pothole was filled in with water so I didn’t notice it, my mistake. I was maybe going 15-20mph and my partner and I just heard and felt a large thump**. A moment later the car let me know in no uncertain terms it was unhappy. I immediately pulled over and noticed my front passenger tire was completely flat. I attempted to use an electric tire pump I keep with me but to no avail. It was time to try out Tesla’s roadside assistance! After reading the forums here I wasn’t expecting much, however I was pleasantly surprised. After requesting help via the app someone was there within 30min putting on a loaner tire. That was it. No toeing, no crappy doughnut, they just threw on a loaner tire and told me which Tesla service center they were going to drop it off at for repair or replacement. I’m sure it won’t be to cheap to repair or replace but both my partner and I were pleasantly surprised at how fast they got us back on the road.
Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to all the folks at Tesla for building a great car!
* Quick note for any new Tesla owner out there: When setting preferences I learned the hard way that I need to be in my own profile and not the Easy Entry profile, something to watch out for if you find your settings are not saving.
** The car came with the 19in wheels which I have heard are more prone to problems with potholes, I’ll probably look at getting the winter tire kit next season with the 18’s.
When I went into research mode back in September I was looking for a 4 door sedan, the crossovers and smaller SUV’s are interesting but didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I of course looked the ID.4, the Polestar, the Ioniq 5/6, Bolt, and Volvo’s offerings but the M3 appeared to be the best fit. It is efficient, a good size for me, and capable of road trips thanks to the supercharger network which was a major draw.
To summarize I’ve had a very positive experience so far and the car is amazing. For those who are interested here are some my experiences in purchasing the car and living with it.
Purchase and Pickup Experience:
Despite a few hiccups this was fairly easy, I requested some info about a listed M3LR on the Tesla website and a representative gave me a call back and answered my questions. I clicked the order button and gave my local CU a call to get get things going. The only issue I had was my bank asking for a signed “Purchase Agreement” while the only thing Tesla had provided was an “Order Agreement”. After calling the Tesla sales rep back, who was very patient and talked with my loan officer over speaker phone, it was discovered that this was due to my trade in amount not being approved yet. The sales rep poked that department and got everything cleared up within the day.
As the car was in Portland and I live in Seattle I had to drive down to pick the car up. My CU had provided me a check made out to Tesla and with that in hand I headed down in my old car. The trip down was a bit of a slog, it was cold and rainy but that was offset by the giddiness I felt every time I noticed a Tesla on the road. Getting into Portland I hit a lot of traffic, there had been cars pulled off to the side the whole way down but this last bit of traffic was due to a MY with its hazards on stopped in the far left lane. This time I felt something other than giddiness, but I kept reminding myself that it wasn’t the only car I had seen broken down on the trip and I had no idea what had gone wrong for them.
On arrival, in the pouring rain, I was greeted inside and directed to the sales associate handling my delivery. Paperwork was signed and we went out to inspect the cars, me the new one and them my trade in. The associate had pre-warmed the new car for me and it was beautiful. I did a quick inspection inside and out which concluded in my accepting the car which seemed to be an excellent Fremont build. I found it interesting that on accepting the car the cars computer reboots and then knows you as its driver, neat! The car had 59% charge on it and as I had a long drive ahead I asked if I could charge a bit. The sales associate immediately put the car on a supercharger and said I could charge as long as I’d like for free. After reading some horror stories here I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the experience was. As soon as I drove the car for the first time my apprehension due to seeing the broken down MY was forgotten.
The Car:
I've enjoyed every moment of driving this car. Not to say the car doesn’t have some minor faults, but it has lived up to expectations and has often beaten them. On my drive home I stopped at my first super charger, it was cold and rainy which of course impacts the cars range, and I’m still getting used to trusting the cars range estimates. I also don’t have charging at home for a few more weeks and wanted to make sure I arrived with plenty of charge. This was an easy experience, the only moment of panic was realizing I had to back the car into a spot near other nice cars for the first time! I survived.
I’ve taken the car on several 100-200 mile day trips now and it is a fantastic car to just drive. The heated steering wheel is now one of my favorite things. I haven’t played with the autopilot features much yet as I want to get used to the car first. Most of the auto features seem to work really well*, I’ve had a good experience with the auto climate system, the auto headlights and a mixed relationship with the auto wipers. I’m in Seattle, and its currently the rainy season, and sometimes the auto wipers are brilliant and respond just as I am thinking about hitting the wiper button. However they do seem to struggle when its not directly raining and the roads are just wet. The spray from the cars in front does not always seem to be detected by the system to be a problem. I would LOVE a ‘Scroll’ mode for the wipers where one of the steering wheel wheels becomes an analog adjuster for the wipers, I would gladly give up volume adjustment while in this mode.
One thing I didn’t anticipate was how comfortable an electric car would be to just sit in and wait or hang out in. I never liked to leave my car engine on when not driving so the inside would quickly become cold and uncomfortable while in an EV the seats stay warm and air circulates, music and theater mode are available with little energy usage. It’s just pleasant. I’ve taken the car on some ferry rides, and especially if you get a spot on the ferry near the sides where you can see out, its a great place to spend time.
The last thing I’ll mention is that I hit a pothole the other day, it was raining hard, dark, and the pothole was filled in with water so I didn’t notice it, my mistake. I was maybe going 15-20mph and my partner and I just heard and felt a large thump**. A moment later the car let me know in no uncertain terms it was unhappy. I immediately pulled over and noticed my front passenger tire was completely flat. I attempted to use an electric tire pump I keep with me but to no avail. It was time to try out Tesla’s roadside assistance! After reading the forums here I wasn’t expecting much, however I was pleasantly surprised. After requesting help via the app someone was there within 30min putting on a loaner tire. That was it. No toeing, no crappy doughnut, they just threw on a loaner tire and told me which Tesla service center they were going to drop it off at for repair or replacement. I’m sure it won’t be to cheap to repair or replace but both my partner and I were pleasantly surprised at how fast they got us back on the road.
Thanks for reading, and a big thank you to all the folks at Tesla for building a great car!
* Quick note for any new Tesla owner out there: When setting preferences I learned the hard way that I need to be in my own profile and not the Easy Entry profile, something to watch out for if you find your settings are not saving.
** The car came with the 19in wheels which I have heard are more prone to problems with potholes, I’ll probably look at getting the winter tire kit next season with the 18’s.
The car was delivered with several cosmetic issues which had me really annoyed, and I am yet to decide whether I want to take into the service center and risk other issues due to poor repairs. In any case, I am loving the vehicle and am very happy with the purchase. I wish you the best.
