A couple new observations:
(1) Problems with icing. So, we had a very mild cold rain the other night followed by 25F weather. In the morning, I went to open the doors of the Model 3 and the handle took reasonable pressure to open. There was no ice on the exterior... it felt like I was pushing through freezing behind the handle. The door opened, but the window didn't drop 1" like usual, so it wouldn't close. I could hear the motor trying, though. Basically, the windows were iced into place. I want to be clear that there was no visible ice on the window or lining the edge of the window. It took about 30 minutes of high heat to finally warm the window enough to melt the within the door and allow the door to open and close properly. Later in the day, with the exterior of the window dry, I lowered the window and then raised it. The exterior of the window was wet. This leads me to believe some water is getting inside the door, between the molding and the glass. On a cold day, this can freeze and lock the window in place... basically leaving you stranded because you can't close your door against the rubber weather seal. I believe upgraded weatherproofing is in order because, again, this wasn't even close to a major weather event. It shouldn't strand you for 30 minutes. (I have videos of this to give a better idea.)
(2) The app often won't "wake" the car to heat it. This usually happens after it hasn't been used for a while, as though it won't wake properly. When I walk up to the vehicle, it turns on fine with the phone/Bluetooth. This has never happened with the Model S. One guess is that the LTE goes to sleep and, unlike the S, there's no ability to keep connected to my home Wi-Fi?
(3) I'm feeling a vibration in the steering wheel lasting about two seconds at apparently random times. It's not at a specific speed, but typically around 40-50mph. It almost feels like it's a rumble strip or lane departure warning, but a little more subtle, and it happens when I'm not even close to crossing a lane marking. Again, nothing I've felt on the Model S.
(4) Going back and forth between AP1 and AP2 in the same day, I can say with confidence AP2 is not as close to AP1 as many have suggested. I have high hopes for it with all the sensors, but I'm had a few scares in less than one week of ownership than I've had in 2 years with AP1 on the same exact roads. Also, as many of you know, AP2 still doesn't depict adjacent lanes or the types of vehicles. It's just not there yet.
(5) The rear camera of the Model 3 is just as bad, if not worse, than the Model S in getting covered by rain. If this is required for safe FSD or even automatic lane changes, there would have to be some kind of upgrade to keep it clear (like a blast of air or mini wiper). In rain today, it was practically useless.
On the positive side:
(1) In comparison to the Model S, the new navigation is really slick. When you're using route guidance, the map gently zooms and rotates perfectly to give you situational awareness. The built-in arrows telling you which lane to get in for an upcoming turn are very intuitive and make you easily forget the pop-up images that appear on the Model S instrument cluster. It's fluid and has a high frame rate.
(2) The car is still a joy to drive. I'm finding it more "fun" than the S, even with less power. My wife isn't a car person. She puts up with my talking about Tesla when anyone asks about it. She drove the Model 3 the day we got it, but today took it out to drive around town for the first time today. I received an unsolicited text: "This car is so much fun to drive. It hugs the turns. It's awesome." For reference, her car is a Mercedes GLC300 but she has been driving the P85D for the past week. Even so, she still went out of her way to text about the Model 3. She has never complimented a car like that before.
I'm convinced this could be a massive hit for Tesla, but it does feel like we're still in the beta stages here. As I noted in my original post, I knew what I was getting into. I share all the positives and negatives here (and with Tesla Service) in hopes of setting expectations and ultimately (in a very small part) helping make the car better.
