LR vs SR+ for my situation

[Charlotte1]

Been lurking here and around Model 3 for two or so months. Just going crazy about the trim, range anxiety and cant still make up my mind.

Current car: 2008 BMW 328i 6 speed (had it for 9 years now).

Daily commute: 10km one way to Go station but thinking of driving to work in downtown Toronto with the M3 (80km two way).

Do sometimes visit Ottawa/Montreal or NYC-probably 3-4 times a year. I intend to keep the car for atleast 6-7 years.

Wanted to test drive the SR+ but they didnt have it on appointment day so tested the lr awd which was AMAZING. Controlled myself that day as I think payments would be a stretch for me. But I cant make up my mind as I dont want to have regrets after getting the SR+.

• Would SR+ still have good instant torque and push me back in the seat?
  
  
• Will it be better to drive than my current car?
  
  
• Will I miss the fog lights and the bigger battery in the long run. Will I have range anxiety?

• 6 years of payments of SR+ or 8 years of LR?
  
  
• If I get the LR awd, I cant afford the ppf or other accessories etc. If I get the SR+, I cant use the 7 day return policy due to the rebate. What to do....

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.

 

[IdaX]

If that commute and those trips are your use case, then the SR+ will be great for you! It’s still an awesome car, no doubt. Of course the LR AWD is awesome, particularly in icy weather (though RWD is really great with winter tires) which I suspect you will see occasionally in Canada. Can’t go wrong either way.

 

[Charlotte1]

Would the SR+ still have similar instant torque as the AWD, and push me back in the seat? Is still a better car than a 328i?

 

[ccudmore]

Would the SR+ still have similar instant torque as the AWD, and push me back in the seat? Is still a better car than a 328i?

My SR+ certainly pushes me back into my seat. If you look around (either here on a local Tesla social media group) you should be able to find someone with an SR+ who will let you take their car out for a test ride.

 

[T~Bone]

Don't forget to ask them what's in inventory. They apparently (at least from what I read on Reddit) built a batch of LR RWD lately.

I had the same choice to make in June. There were a few LR RWD available in inventory so I jumped on that opportunity right away.

 

[awww]

The price difference between the 2 trim levels is around $20000. Personally, I probably would have gone for a LR if it qualified for the rebate making the gap smaller.

As someone that has driven both, I did feel a difference in acceleration between the 2. The torque and power is adequate enough for me in the SR+.

For lights aren't particularly important in Southwestern Ontario.

As for range anxiety, do you have a place to charge daily? If you can top up overnight it's not a big deal but for your road trips count on an additional super charger stop. If you don't have a place to charge daily, try topping up the gas tank at like 250km to see if the frequency bothers you.

 

[Charlotte1]

Yes, I can charge at home. I meant range anxiety for long trips or in the winter as usable range is 70% I read? We should be charging from 20-90% only to maintain good battery health?

 

[pcons]

My $0.02: save the 20k and go with the SR+. Your commute is more than sufficient, and you may even be able to charge in TO depending on where you work. Only real reason to go AWD is I'd you want the better performance. You will still feel fast in SR+, but I think it's about a 1-1.5 second difference in 0-100km/h time (5.6 vs 4.4 I believe).

But how much is that extra speed worth to you vs the cost? I looooooove my AWD, but when I bought there was no rebate on anything, SR+ didn't exist, you had to pay for autopilot (wasn't bundled) and my colour of choice (white) was 2000.

Specific answers to your questions below. Hope it helps. Any other questions, just PM me.

• Would SR+ still have good instant torque and push me back in the seat?

Still good instant torque for sure. A volt and bolt are slower than Sr+ and both have good torque and will beat most ice cars handily. But Sr+ won't compete with AWD.

• Will it be better to drive than my current car?

Not having driven a 328i before, I'd still say yes given your car is going on 12 years old and likely isn't operating as brand new. Autopilot will definitely make a huge improvement imho...

• Will I miss the fog lights and the bigger battery in the long run. Will I have range anxiety?

No, you'll adapt. I did 110,000 with my 2 volts and only 2000 on gas. That's with a 60-80km battery and before there was a semi decent public charging infrastructure. You'll adapt

• 6 years of payments of SR+ or 8 years of LR?

How much money you got?

• If I get the LR awd, I cant afford the ppf or other accessories etc. If I get the SR+, I cant use the 7 day return policy due to the rebate. What to do....

Imho, PPF isn't necessary. Others may disagree, but I didn't do it and have no regrets. Definitely recommend ceramic coating though. Makes washing the car and keeping it clean much easier.

Don't worry about the return policy, you won't need it either way

 

[MexiCanuck]

Any anxiety is subjective. You likely know more about your anxiety than anyone here.

I drive my SR+ much more than you describe. My daily commute is 150 km return. Ione of my common one-day drives is 450 return. I have driven 16,000 km in three months. I have no range anxiety.

To reduce range anxiety start looking at PlugShare. That will show you where the charging stations are where you will be driving. You may be surprised as how much charging is available.

To increase your charging options you can get a CHAdeMO adaptor. That will give you access to Tesla superchargers, CHAdeMO stations, and J1772 stations. You will have access to more charging stations than any other vehicle driver.

Acceleration information is on the Tesla website. You will have to decide whether the difference between the acceleration rates and the premium vs partial premium interior is worth the price differential and the loss of the $5000 federal incentive that applies to the SR+ but not the LR.

I plan to keep mine a minimum of 10 years. PPF can be expensive, but I want my car looking good for as long as I can have it looking good. For me, full PPF and ceramic was a long term investment in my car looking good and in me washing it frequently because wash doesn’t make me irritable.

 

[X.l.r.8]

I have the equivalent range to an SR+, my commute is Cambridge-downtown Toronto and I know where all the chargers I can use are. The difference is I cannot L3 charge but I can charge at 70A L2. you learn where the best places to charge are pretty quickly and I also have a S90D, range anxiety doesn't go away if you have the largest battery in the world. Looking for charging stations becomes second nature as does looking at gas prices at your favorite pump. The big questions are do you have the ability to fully charge daily at home, and can you plug in at work, even if its 12A 110V.
In the next few years model 3 prices are going to crash, as the model S has done recently, so the best advise is buy the car that fits your needs today, if you have a plan for the next 6-8 years that's amazing but a lot can happen in that time. you will probably find a used P3D for a lot less than you will pay for a SR+ in the near future. Easier to get out of a cheaper car at that point to get into that, than a more expensive car in the same time frame.
Also spending the difference in price on accessories on a car you are already making payments on is going to give you nothing in return.

SR+ and look forward to the future.

 

[Shiraz8484]

Get the SR+ and you wont regret it. I had a C400 (325hp) and my SR+ feels faster. Like you, I would have go e for the Dual Motor too but without the rebate, the diff was way too much.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Tesla Canada has some RWD 3LR's under their loaner fleet. Ask if these are available for purchase?

I currently have one as my car is in service for a front axle clicking.

Here's the VIN:

 

[X.l.r.8]

They won’t sell any of their loaner cars, there must be something that makes them loaners. They used to sell fleet cars but I had a loaner for 3 months that my wife loved and they refused to sell it to me, I asked weekly, went to a head of sales and was still told no. I think the loaners are now buybacks or have some flaw that prevent them being sold or being able to warranty them.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

They won’t sell any of their loaner cars, there must be something that makes them loaners. They used to sell fleet cars but I had a loaner for 3 months that my wife loved and they refused to sell it to me, I asked weekly, went to a head of sales and was still told no. I think the loaners are now buybacks or have some flaw that prevent them being sold or being able to warranty them.

Hmm, if that's the case, I'll inspect the hell out of this car later. I'm falling in love with the white interior! Doesn't burn my skin after being in the sun for the day.

 

[pcons]

They won’t sell any of their loaner cars, there must be something that makes them loaners. They used to sell fleet cars but I had a loaner for 3 months that my wife loved and they refused to sell it to me, I asked weekly, went to a head of sales and was still told no. I think the loaners are now buybacks or have some flaw that prevent them being sold or being able to warranty them.

I expect its more that it just doesn't make financial sense to sell them. Then they would have to replace them with a other loaner car, and if that's coming from new stock it immediately depreciates vs just someone buying it new. Not to mention the logistics and paper work behind it and having a constantly fluctuating pool of loaner cars. Maybe they would sell some as an end of quarter push to generate more sales, but they would rather sell a brand new one at full price 100% of the time

It's pretty standard that companies won't sell out of their demo pool, until defined times of the year or perhaps not at all.

 

[pcons]

Hmm, if that's the case, I'll inspect the hell out of this car later. I'm falling in love with the white interior! Doesn't burn my skin after being in the sun for the day.

Maybe give these a try for 335? The picture make them look too good to be true...the white plus black looks neat too. Been thinking to try them for fun since I already have a white dash and if they look terrible, Amazon has free returns

Model 3 Car Seat Cover PU Leather Cover All Season Protection 9pcs for Tesla Model 3 2017 2018 2019 (White) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07XR1HDGZ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_.0mIDbQZ0HFKH

Or you could go crazy and do red interior/red ext!

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Maybe give these a try for 335? The picture make them look too good to be true...the white plus black looks neat too. Been thinking to try them for fun since I already have a white dash and if they look terrible, Amazon has free returns

Model 3 Car Seat Cover PU Leather Cover All Season Protection 9pcs for Tesla Model 3 2017 2018 2019 (White) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07XR1HDGZ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_.0mIDbQZ0HFKH

Or you could go crazy and do red interior/red ext!

I really like the white interior. If the amazon site had a Red/Black or Red/White combo, I may bite. Black interior is nice in the winter - which is coming

 

[SupraDude]

The reality is that most of us would be fine with an SR+ or heck even an SR most of the time. 95% or more of the time in terms of features, driving experience, and general ownership satisfaction, there is not 20k worth of difference between an SR+ and an LR. I have a real mental block about not being restricted to leave my house whenever I want regardless of weather, thus AWD alone is worth a lot to me but for those of us that can just call in on snow days and work from home and don't have kids to worry about getting to in a snowstorm, etc. then ya an SR+ is probably fine.

Chargers are plentiful especially in Ontario so I'm sure you'd have no problem with long-distance trips, you'd just have to stop a fair bit more. If you travel on long trips 4 times a year and have to stop say 3 extra times for an hour each (which it wouldn't be but let's say worst case), that's 12 wasted hours per year. Times 8 years of ownership is 96 hours wasted BUT if you divide your $20,000 difference by 96 hours, that's 208.33 per hour. After taxes, you'd probably have to make almost $300 an hour to think your time is worth more than that. However, I'd consider where you might be stopping along the way and maybe try www.abetterrouteplanner.com to map out a few trips. Also, keep in mind that you really only want to charge to 90% on a day to day basis. So your 386 is more like 347 and on a bitterly cold day, you might only get 60% of that so 208kms. Still more than enough for most of us on a day to day basis but consider the plausible outliers in your day to day and how often you might exceed this.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Unless you do a lot of long haul driving, and because of the tax credit, you might well be advised for SR+ and then add a set of winter tires and the ChaDeMo adapter. Also make sure you have 240v overnight charging setup.

You might be too late to order and take delivery this month, but if not, you should be able to get delivery in a few weeks.
So unless you are desperate for immediate transportation just order the configuration you want.

 

[Charlotte1]

You might be too late to order and take delivery this month, but if not, you should be able to get delivery in a few weeks.
So unless you are desperate for immediate transportation just order the configuration you want.

Not in a rush. Just want to make the right decision. No SR+ available at my local SC for a test drive. Apparently they are quite busy with deliveries with the current supercharging promotion.