We went for the RWD GT-Line-S. Other than brief mentions of the GT, no sight or sound of one and, TBH, overkill for what we would be looking for, in same way I suspect that Model 3 Performance was. We first dabbled with the thought of swapping a month or so back, and went for first test drive with my wife having GT-Line spec in head, and me having GT-Line-S spec in head, but only because of sun roof and a few other improvements, ok ... 'toys'. But we both came away way with the GT-Line-S spec at top of list, so it was then colour and RWD/AWD and, as I later learned, heat pump and tow bars. The AWD was a compromise in many respects, range, storage, insurance, and tbh, the front motor on Model 3 is used so little, and Model 3 RWD divers happy with their choice that whilst, living on a hill, I always said that AWD was the way forward, it would have been only used a few days a year at most. Yes, had those compromises not have been there, would probably have gone for AWD.
The other gripe I had was anticipating a return to the old “bring your car in to a big glass fronted dealership on a regular basis to have your pants pulled down”. In that respect Tesla is a revelation in car terms. Mobile service and no particular requirement to service them is a breath of fresh air, and I would be unhappy to have to return to the old way of doing things. I don’t imagine Kia charge a King’s ransom for mundane stuff to the same degree as the likes of Audi and particularly Porsche (lol ~£2400 bi-yearly service plan for Taycans), but I do suspect they’d expect servicing etc, which means booking days off to take it in, etc.
Its was actually Tesla's customer facing (or lack of) model that pushed us over the edge. A recent service issue with Tesla at their most arrogant faceless stonewalling just finished us with the thought of another 11 years of utter contempt of their customers - if this had been the first time, it could be forgiven, but this seems to be the norm for Tesla and anything better is out of the ordinary. So for us their faceless, technology driven customer communications let them down again. I guess, like many things Tesla, its work in progress and customer gets to take all the *sugar* when it doesn't work properly.
Its been nearly 7 years since I last bought a 'new' car from a dealership. That experience was not too bad, but its final in warranty service was awful so glad to get out of the clutches of that manufacturer. It started off pleasant at our local Kia dealership, to the point that come second test drive, we have a firm spec that we wanted to order dependent on the (in the env very positive) second test drive. But it turned very sour when the salesman would not order us the car that we wanted (we wanted a tow bar, salesman told us to get one fitted down the road), plus changed his story on the refundability of the deposit (an important factor given the long lead time). Long story short, he lost that sale.
But I found another fairly local dealership (still a lot more local than our closest Tesla one and there are actually 3 in 'our area') and they couldn't have been any nicer. No pressure, although a passing mention (no more than a minute of we can offer this and this, I'll leave you with the leaflet) of potential upsells (GAP and wheel insurance) at the end. My first contact with them was yesterday, over the phone. I just wanted to query the position of the tow bar and its warranty. No bullshit from the chap, a simple 'I don't know, I can find out for you' and today when we came in, another chap was there with the answers and more importantly, an explanation of the current situation and how they have to currently operate as Kia are not currently accepting fitted orders but he would put tow bar on the order form and be able to have an official Kia tow bar fitted at their garage by a specialist external fitter prior to our collection. And the ability to see a tow bar fitted only that morning. As for delivery dates, the first dealership said 1 year, but normally sooner. Todays, officially 1 year, but tbh, most litley be towards the end of next year. At the end of the day, the it would have been the same car and would come when its ready, but I will be a happier customer when our 'towards end of next year' car comes early than had we ordered one expecting it to be a year or less and taking longer.
So, a light touch and hands on can all work differently, even amongst the same car brand. In todays experience, a friendly face to face approach, with Tesla, an anonymous, hands off approach where you could ask the same question 6 times and get 6 different answers. When you get face to face at Tesla, they are usually great, but its rare to be in that position of face to face communication.