Long term(ish) Model 3 owners, how reliable has the car been to you?

[dfwatt]

Hey all,

Are there any older Model 3 owners here, maybe from 2017 model year? How reliable has the car been to you? Any big or small issues that people may have had?

As the 4 year bumper to bumper warranty have starting to run out for older owners(or might have already run out from high mileage), do you think the car will be reliable enough to be kept for a long time? Just wanted to hear people's opinions on this topic, that's all.

Two Dual motor Performance cars from Fall 2018 (summer manufacture dates), one with 19K, one with 13K.

Best cars ever, both from fun/performance standpoint, and from reliability/cost to operate standpoint. Wife, who hates cars, and most technology, loves her Model 3P. Punching it and getting pushed back into the seat just never gets old. Free unlimited SC, plus big Tesla solar system on house, so cost/mile is just astonishingly low. Made up for that with many suspension, wheel and tire upgrades, UP front spoilers, plus extra sound insulation and dynamatting. Major overhaul of stereo. Wife threatening to commit me if I buy another set of wheels! Car with MPP Sports coilovers is probably best handling car I've ever driven, including some Porsche Caymans, C7 Vettes. COVID19 has killed track and upgrade budget though. Don't know when I'll recover enough to even just buy a set of track tires, assuming I can sneak them past hyper-vigilant wife.

A few minor problems on each car. Overall, just amazingly reliable though. Both cars have occasional loss of back up cam functionality/ screen blanks, radio signal issues. All minor *sugar*.

on white car - truck latch too tight - had to go to Tampa SC to adjust, cracked roof glass, that appeared to spread rather aggressively from a very small impact crack, both through the roof section, and then into back roof glass which is actually a separate panel. Big hassle to get replaced, and Tesla refused to consider it a warranty item. Insurance finally covered fortunately as cost over $2K.

on midnight silver car - computer started malfunctioning, lost AP and radar CC, replaced Feb. 2019 under warranty. Flat tires, minor bent wheel, aftermarket, but not enough to cause major tire runout or vibration at speed.

So far, just close to perfection. Cars don't usually impact quality of life, but these really have been the best purchases for any technology ever. Lots of fun, great on trips due to AP reducing strain of long distance driving, and virtually no hassles. Can't imagine ever owning anything but a Tesla. Just wish the toy budget could accommodate Roadster 2.

 

[SageBrush]

COVID19 has killed track and upgrade budget though

<<chuckle>>

 

[Tomc62]

August 2019, 27,000 miles. No reliability issues. It failed to take updates right after the first of the year. 1 visit to service center. Car operates as I had hoped.

 

[Lancew]

Mine is an April 2018 LRRWD with 38,000 miles. I have had clicking in the rear brake fixed, the seat belt connector fixed and a control arm, but other than that really no issues. They were each fixed in one day per item.

 

[dgodfrey]

5/18 build LRRWD with 39k+.
Within first 2 months:
Glove box replaced due to side pins not latching causing random opening, usually under acceleration, dumping entire contents into front seat. New glove box has a slight misalignment when closed now. Not a big deal but eventually will have them fix.

Charge port door magnet fell out so it failed to open when pressing. Replaced the entire port, I asked them to just send me the magnet and I would use "real" glue rather than the cheap stuff they used but they considered it electrical and "me no touch". I told the tech it was just the magnet that fell out hoping they upped the glue specs. He assured me they did which within a few days proved false. Fortunately, when I went back to where I last charged, there was the magnet on the ground. Glued it with "Merican" glue and holding strong.

After first year:
Funky A/C smell (old sweat socks) along with A/C taking a few minutes to start cooling eventually replaced the condenser. Cooling season just getting started here in upstate NY so can't confirm problem solved.
Two weeks ago had the HW3 upgrade which they kept the car for about a week.

First two issues resolved by mobile tech but now we have a local SC which did the condenser and HW3. Mobile techs were great, on time, quick, courteous, polite, convenient. Trip to SC's not as great. Both times, missing parts meant either reschedule or leaving car for extended time. Got a loaner Model X for condenser but on my own for HW3. Didn't matter though as I'm WFH and had major surgery that week anyway.
I'd give the car a B+ and service a C-.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Has anyone taken the car into Tesla Service before going out of warranty? Do they do anything to get you checked out before the end of warranty or just hope you don't find out about it until it's too late?

We are at 45K miles, and I'm intending to, as we get closer to 50K

But really to make sure the car is up to date with service bulletins.

Don't expect an issue, based on recent experience. We recently had a couple of service bulletin items fixed.

 

[Twiglett]

Oh yeah, we had a 2015 Leaf for 3.5 years. Winter range with heat on was about 60 miles, less at highway speeds. My daughter was driving it while away at college and she was rear ended. Totaled the Leaf, my daughter walked away without a scratch. For that reason I will always think well of our Leaf.

I did 47k miles in my Leaf. Driving one of those before getting my Model 3 means I laugh in the face of range anxiety

 

[ranss12]

I have a June 2018 LRRWD with 45,000 miles on it. Just been to the local service center for the first time yesterday to get HW3 computer installed. While I was there they also also updated the firmware and bootloader, and replaced charge port insulator pins with updated parts. Maintenance history is limited to tire replacement and glovebox replacement with a newer design to fix a "random pop-open" problem. I've driven the car roundtrip from Rochester, NY to San Diego twice - no issues. I love this car.

 

[PNWLeccy]

I have a June 2018 LRRWD with 45,000 miles on it. Just been to the local service center for the first time yesterday to get HW3 computer installed. While I was there they also also updated the firmware and bootloader, and replaced charge port insulator pins with updated parts. Maintenance history is limited to tire replacement and glovebox replacement with a newer design to fix a "random pop-open" problem. I've driven the car roundtrip from Rochester, NY to San Diego twice - no issues. I love this car.

Interesting to see we both have June 2018 model and you have had so few issues outside of the glovebox (also my first issue). Would love to hear more about that cross-country roadtrip - planning on doing something like this in about a year!

 

[davidada]

Had my LR AWD a year next week, never a problem, early on I had one screen blank out while on the motorway - it rebooted itself in a few minutes. Since then nothing but pure joy.

 

[stevesark]

Will have had my LR RWD one year by end of June, and logged 10K miles so far. One SC appointment for loose rocker panel trim, otherise all good (knock on wood). The 100% charge range has (predictably) dropped from 325 to 318.

 

[The_Observer]

Had my LR AWD a year next week, never a problem, early on I had one screen blank out while on the motorway - it rebooted itself in a few minutes. Since then nothing but pure joy.

Wow, that sounds scary. Did the car continue to drive normally? Were you also in autopilot when that happened?

 

[SammichLover]

Wow, that sounds scary. Did the car continue to drive normally? Were you also in autopilot when that happened?

The display is really only a display. Your cruise control or Autopilot continues to function, no issue. All your physical driver controls outside of the touch screen still take input as usual.

It does feel weird, to be sure, the first time it happens. I had it happen twice, but not for a very long time so they've squished whatever bug that was at the time that was triggering the computer restart. There were some people that had it happen semi-regularly.

Obviously don't have your speedo readout or manual controls you normally have access through that screen (HVAC, windshield wiper speed, range remaining). On the other hand I kinda wish I could just turn the screen off sometimes at night, to drive in dead darkness.

 

[stevesark]

Had my LR AWD a year next week, never a problem, early on I had one screen blank out while on the motorway - it rebooted itself in a few minutes. Since then nothing but pure joy.

I forgot this happened to me too after a few months of owning car. I was on the freeway, and I noticed the sound go out, the blinker indicators not work, then I noticed the speed display was frozen. System went dark, rebooted itself as I drove, and continued on normally after.

 

[SammichLover]

I forgot this happened to me too after a few months of owning car. I was on the freeway, and I noticed the sound go out, the blinker indicators not work, then I noticed the speed display was frozen. System went dark, rebooted itself as I drove, and continued on normally after.

I forgot it on my list, too. And reading about it again it didn't even occur to me that I had. Mentally I guess I don't even consider it a reliability issue, feel the impact is so insignificant? Maybe if it had happened to me more than twice in 20 months it would?

 

[israndy]

Goodbye warranty, it was a good 2.2 years we had together, sure hope I don't need you anytime soon. Thanks for all the advice on issues to look for. I think they were all looked at before I ran it out.

Didn't remember to watch when I got back in the car so of course, I missed it rolling over...

 

[Twiglett]

I didn't bother mentioning software issues at all.
Really because in the two years of ownership, the car has had 50+ updates averaging 14 days between updates.
That means most software issues are fixed really quickly. I had one version that would have a 25% chance of rebooting when using autopilot on a hot (95+) day. Thankfully the next release fixed it.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

Mine is a 2019, but it’s already exceeded 17k miles in almost a year. So far I haven’t needed service at all.

I drive a lot....

 

[mojoe]

I bought a 8/2018 build used LR RWD with 25k miles in Dec of last year. My first EV ever and bought it without ever having driven a Tesla.

Hadn’t had any issues at all but then a few weeks ago my rear drive unit went out fully and the car went dead on the highway. Preceding the unit failing I was hitting the accelerator spiritedly for quick passes and about 3x over a few days the car jerked back really hard as I was putting the pedal down. It was jarring and almost like it was braking hard. I had thought this was the Emergency Brake Assist somehow getting a false positive.

The final time it did this the car shut down and told me to pull over safely and I was getting no power from the pedal at all. Luckily I was near an off-ramp and was able to perfectly coast out of oncoming traffic to the side of the road. It was very scary and it happened within seconds. Tesla was great on the tow and my rear unit was fully replaced within one day and I was back on the road.

I know this does and has happened and the AWD is not immune to it depending on which drive unit goes. Although I am driving more conservatively now and have just the slightest paranoia, I still love the car and can’t imagine this new unit will go anytime soon. I don’t know if it was just bad luck but it happens.

 

[1.21GW]

That is a horrible experience. Although it didn’t have anything to do with your driving style. It was just a defective unit. Drive the car as spirited as you want. That statistically won’t happen to you again.