-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Looks like I'm moving on...
- Thread starter rincewind
- Start date
ACarneiro
Active Member
I'll ditch my M3P as soon as I can. I'm sorry but: the performance is utterly brilliant and the tech and economy is very good. But I've grown weary of the spartan, empty interior and the build quality, infotainment system and number of options simply isn't good enough at this price point.
Despite my aversion to SUVs I would be quite tempted by an EQC or if the budget could stretch I'd get an E-tron GT. If it couldn't I think the Mach-e or the Polestar 2 would be my choice.
I sincerely hope Tesla improve build quality and options because I'll miss the packaging (pretty much all of my alternatives are ICE vehicles converted) and I'll really miss the charging network but on a whole I just have a downer on the brand. I get pelters for this but it's certainly how I feel: There's a certain Apple-ness about Tesla and it's owners. The hype and marketing is off the charts good but when you break down the products objectively they are just not as good as the hype suggests.
Despite my aversion to SUVs I would be quite tempted by an EQC or if the budget could stretch I'd get an E-tron GT. If it couldn't I think the Mach-e or the Polestar 2 would be my choice.
I sincerely hope Tesla improve build quality and options because I'll miss the packaging (pretty much all of my alternatives are ICE vehicles converted) and I'll really miss the charging network but on a whole I just have a downer on the brand. I get pelters for this but it's certainly how I feel: There's a certain Apple-ness about Tesla and it's owners. The hype and marketing is off the charts good but when you break down the products objectively they are just not as good as the hype suggests.
Test drove the Polestar 2 a few weeks ago. A lot to like but the plastic trim around the top of the tunnel console is naff, as is some of the switchgear (particular on the steering wheel).
The one I drove had a rattle behind the dashboard and another above my passenger's head, and the boot lid certainly wasn't level with the body when closed so they clearly have build quality issues too.
Have the same dilemma. The M3P was the car I was waiting for... I put a deposit down during the launch... but after waiting years to get the car, and after 18 months of ownership, I am this >< close to replacing it with an Ioniq 5. Losing access to the SC network will suck, but when I picked up my first MS there was one (temporary) SC in the whole country, and I was driving a lot more then than I do now.
If we do replace the M3, we'll be back for a 2024 MY. By then, these cars will be a massive step up from the 2019 cars - everything from the single cast frame and structural battery, to the double-glazed windows, proper fit and finish, and (hopefully!) better paint quality.
If we do replace the M3, we'll be back for a 2024 MY. By then, these cars will be a massive step up from the 2019 cars - everything from the single cast frame and structural battery, to the double-glazed windows, proper fit and finish, and (hopefully!) better paint quality.
I’ll be dumping my M3P for similar reasons. I’ve well fallen out of love with the Spartan interior and I want a decent binnacle display and a HUD. Comfort and refinement, especially at motorway speeds, are nowhere near as good as they should be for a car in this price range. The windscreen wipers and auto headlights are an absolute joke, and Tesla are clearly incapable of fixing them. Phantom braking is downright dangerous when it implements a full emergency brake at 70mph. Autopilot is supposed to make driving more relaxing, but it’s anything but relaxing when you have to have your right foot constantly hovering over the accelerator, ready to intervene in an instant. Others might applaud the lack of choice, but I don’t see choice as a bad thing.
FSD, at least in this country, is going nowhere fast. People are pinning their hopes on the new (as always behind schedule) software, but I go on Tesla’s track record rather than their usually empty promises, and their track record is all about over promising and under delivering.
I’ve used a supercharger twice in 25k miles, and both times there was a viable alternative, so even this is no advantage to me.
It’s got to the stage where I use my M3 for local driving and my A6 for longer distances. The A6 gives me real comfort, superb matrix headlights, and dynamic cruise control that just works as it should. I don’t know what my next EV will be but Teslas would have to improve out of all recognition before I’d consider one.
Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned the headlights too. I didn't think it would be that big a deal. Any LED headlights would be "good enough" right? However the difference between these and my old ones is literally night and day. I didn't think I'd pine for headlights as much as I do. If there was a third party offering dynamic LED lights on a par with the Audi's and Mercs of this world I'd get them fitted in a heartbeat.
Weird - the headlights on my 2019 M3LR are fantastic - the brightest in any car I've ever had, and the auto-dip function works a charm with me. Phantom braking is only very occasional and I've found the auto-wipers have improved over time. And as for the paint - I have a white car and it is flawless. Maybe I was just lucky!
All I can say is you've not experienced what the others can offer. My wifes car has the BMWs offering, and once you've driven at night following a car with your high beam on full with just the car in front blanked out, your headlights lighting up the road and verge to the sides and sometimes past the car you're following, you can't appreciate how good they are.
At the risk of stereotyping and probably sounding patronising (not my intent), I can't help thinking a fair few Tesla owners have not owned recent premium cars before, seduced by low BIK or lower running costs means they've left their relatively old or lower spec'd car behind. The step into a the higher bracket and later model is giving the wow factor as its an improvement on past experiences. It's a double edged sword though as other Tesla owners are switching from high spec Audo, BMW Merc etc are seeing the chinks and are now less open to Teslas progress if anything material did come. If someone talks about better build quality, I like many think "nah, you just got lucky", somebody saying they think autopilot has improved is met with "Tesla will break it in the next update" etc. Confidence isn't high amongst many and it takes a lot to turn those around.
I've reset my expectation - it's now the second car, smaller wheels, happy to throw it around and fill it with wood, rubbish any thing for daily trips and have a more premium car for highdays and holidays. Now I've done that the Model 3 is a hoot to drive and cheap to run and I'm happy again where I wasn't with my Model S with ludicrous which had little that really excited me after the straightline performance.
Even if the headlights work as they should (which mine certainly don’t) they are still just bog standard LED lights rather than a decent set of matrix lights. Matrix lights are a revelation, and I don’t think people appreciate how good they are till they try them. It’s great watching individual diodes turn off to prevent blinding an oncoming vehicle while all the other diodes remain on full beam.
Even the refreshed MIC M3 only has adaptive lights rather than full matrix, and adaptive lights are soooo last millennium. Lack of matrix lights on a £60k+ car really is unforgivable.
I’ve often thought this but never dared say it. When people describe the M3 as “quiet” and “refined” and say the headlights are the best they’ve ever used I really do wonder what they’ve been used to. My M3P is certainly not as quiet and refined as it should be, and the headlights are complete crap. As are the windscreen wipers. The premium sound system is just about adequate but not brilliant, and this is another thing lots of M3 owners rave about. In many ways my car has been a big step backwards, which is why my first Tesla will also be my last.
So many negative comments, makes us relative newcomers worry about the choice we have made. I’ve driven a BMW 330e for the last four years, and personally I’m looking forward to owning a M3LR. Maybe owners should expect a more refined drive when spending £60k on a M3P, but the trade off was performance wasn’t it? You could buy an ICE (maybe a BMW M3) for similar money, but even that isn’t perfect, and has its own issues.
I do think Tesla need more of an options list, so you could add the latest headlight tech, or privacy glass, or alcantara trim etc, but as everything is software controlled, compatibility issues would pop up I guess.
I do think Tesla need more of an options list, so you could add the latest headlight tech, or privacy glass, or alcantara trim etc, but as everything is software controlled, compatibility issues would pop up I guess.
I agree with @GeorgeSymonds .If you think the headlights are good I would have to question what your previous experience has been. Compared to old fashioned headlight and possibly xenon headlights then maybe. Compared to other LED headlights they are very poor. The illumination isn't even on the same level. And compared to active matrix LEDS it's just not even in the same ballpark. The illumination, the way the light adapted, the "smartness" of my Mercedes was light (sorry) years ahead of the M3P. I guess this is the issue. Until you've seen one of these systems you don't know how good modern lighting technology is to compare.
The only thing I would question you on is the auto dip feature? You really find it works well? Mine is utter, utter garbage. To the point of being dangerous: no main beam on empty roads, no dipping in some towns and with oncoming traffic. It's always switched off now as I've never known a modern car feature to be so dangerously defective.
There is a small group of people who are unhappy with their choice. As you will see from the survey above the vast majority are happy with their choice to the extent that they would buy again. (I'm certainly one of them.) There are reasons to question the features and capabilities of any car and those people are clearly missing some things that Tesla haven't given a high enough priority to. It's obviously true that if you have had a particular feature in the past that you value highly, and the Tesla doesn't have it, you may be disappointed ... but then nobody ever claimed a Model 3 has shape shifting mega wonderful adaptive matrix headlights!
(Oh, I didn't pay £60k for my car ... I paid £20k less than that ... and I think I've got plenty of Alcantara!
)
JupiterMan
Active Member
I thought that was satire until I googled it.... my god, what are Ineos smoking? awful on every level.
I'll be keeping my 2019 LR a good while longer yet. I do love the car and don't really have any complaints. When I do decide to replace it will either be to a non-Tesla because the public charging network has become equivalent or to a newer Model 3 with some magic new structural battery and FSD Computer v3.
The lights are great for me, but I've never had anything with fancy multi-segment stuff before and I largely drive on motorways so little value. The navigation, Spotify and Radio work great, I can't imagine anything much better (and every other I've looked at is far, far worse).
New car reviews are always very superficial and positive, for example how many identified that PoleStar, VW and Ford have horribly flawed software they have still not yet resolved. Grass is not greener.
The lights are great for me, but I've never had anything with fancy multi-segment stuff before and I largely drive on motorways so little value. The navigation, Spotify and Radio work great, I can't imagine anything much better (and every other I've looked at is far, far worse).
New car reviews are always very superficial and positive, for example how many identified that PoleStar, VW and Ford have horribly flawed software they have still not yet resolved. Grass is not greener.
