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Model 3 - LR AWD Waiting Room

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I agree, definitely pros and cons to weigh but I'm just stating facts here without being biased and everyone seems to be bashing me for it. Those that think Tesla can do no wrong and are willing to accept whatever they say. This will be my first Tesla but you only have one time to make a great impression and so far it's not looking so good. Speaking of the ID.4 I've ordered one and the dealer doesn't have a markup. Not sure where you're located but ask around. If it gets here before the Tesla (which it just might) I'm going with it. And as far as the tech I don't really see what the Tesla does that is so special. The full self driving is not realized yet and the videos I see on YouTube, it crashes into bollards, misjudges turns and everything. I wouldn't trust it. As far as everything else besides summon mode (which has its hiccups as well) other cars have been doing for free. My old Buick could park itself and it wasn't bundled in a $12k package. My current ice car can drive itself on the highway and switch lanes...has adaptive cruise...the whole 9. I'm sure I'll get downvoted but I don't care, just being real. The acceleration is nice but there are other vehicles with similar performance for less money. I'm not even sure if I'll like electric as I stated earlier, just trying it out to see what all the fuss is about. I drove from Ohio to Florida frequently and sometimes to New York from Ohio and am used to just stopping at the gas station for 5 minutes and being back on the road. Having to reroute to be able to hit superchargers and sitting for 30 or 40 minutes...idk... we'll see.
Being a Tesla owner is a lot about being an early adopter. You gain some things, you lose some things. You have to decide if the tradeoff is worth it. I've bought 3 Teslas in the last 9 months but I am not a fan boi. I see the good and the bad.

The adaptive cruise on my model Y was horrendous as I got caught in the first batch of cars where radar was removed (which I think was a huge mistake). I lost count of the phantom braking events I had. I can't tell you how many software revisions I suffered through with little to no improvement in this area.

Compare that with the model 3 I just took delivery of. Not a single event so far in over 300 miles. I often couldn't get 30 miles in my Y without an unintended braking event for the first 8 months of ownership. Then I have my model S whose cameras still haven't calibrated in over 200 miles so I can't even engage the cruise control.

If you are traveling long distances, and want to minimize your travel time, buy a turbo diesel car, that simple. Or if you go electric, Tesla is the best option and if you are spending 30-40 minutes at a charger, something is wrong with your route planning. Pick up ABRP (a better route planner) and let it optimize your charging stops. On a recent trip from Florida to Texas, it saved me over 1 hour in charging time by optimizing my stops based on my driving style, energy consumption, weather, terrain, etc.

It seems counter intuitive (until you understand the logic) but it is best to stop when you have a lower state of charge and NOT top off the battery. On my trip I stopped more frequently but for a lot less time per stop by keeping my charge between about 15-70% max (assuming 70% was enough to get me to my next stop with a buffer. Teslas charge at a much higher rate when they have a low state of charge when using a supercharger. It tapers off dramatically above about 60-70% so you can get from 15-60% much quicker than say from 60-80% and even that is much better than 80-100%. There is a bit of a learning curve but once you master it, it really reduces your charging time.

Tesla has got a lot of things right. The longer you own one, the more you appreciate it. Hard to really go into all the details but it can be little things. Very easy to send an address directly for many apps right to the car. Once you setup your nav favorites, when you pull down on the nav search bar it routes you to work if at home. If away from home it routes you to home. How easy it is to setup your car to be ready to depart at a certain time. Batteries will be preconditioned, you can charge off hours for cheaper rates, and have the temp ready to go at the time you preset. A lot of companies copy what Tesla is doing.

If you live in a cold climate the heating efficiency is far better do to a heat pump. I had an electric Ford and the range was killed about 40% when I had to use the heater in the winter. With my model Y I saw maybe about a 15-20% heat and I didn't have to make a choice to either heat my car or not make my destination.

Something I appreciate every day is the phenomenal acceleration. My Y had acceleration boost, I put it on my 3 and the S is just damn fast to begin with. The slowest of these cars did 0-60 in about 4.2 seconds. That is damn quick but there was no lag whenever you hit the throttle. Unlike many other TVs, Teslas doesn't just die at higher speeds or when you keep the throttle floored. A Mustang Mach E gives you about a 5 second burst and game over. The amazing thing is the car is consistently fast, and perfect launches every time, if that is your thing.

Overall the car is super easy to live with. My 3 is so efficient it is shocking. I think I spend about 2.3 cents per mile (cpm) for electricity with my current usage patterns. My Y was about 3.2 cpm and my S is about 2.9 cpm. For the smile per mile I get, any one of them is hard to beat.

On the flip side to the goodness is the Tesla tax. It is real. You may spend more and I think people try and gouge because it is a Tesla. When I went to have my charger installed I experimented. I told a few companies the outlet was of a Tesla and others for a motorhome. Don't need to guess which quotes where cheaper. The cheaper ones were about 40% cheaper too.

Order experience is really hit or miss. After I learned the process on the Y, I was much more chill with the S and 3. I waited 9 months to get the S and it was worth every day of waiting. The 3 took about 4-5 weeks. Far better car than the ones I drove a year ago. TBH it compares pretty well with the S. I thought the S was the best value in the Tesla lineup when it was 79k. Now it is 99K and I'd say the best value is the M3 LR. The long range is fast, quick, pretty roomy and super efficient. Add acceleration boost and you have about 95% of the M3 Performance for a huge price savings.

QC is still an issue but definitely getting better. Back to the Mach E, the ones I looked at had QC issues too. Tesla still needs to do a lot better in this area but the odds of getting a really poorly put together car have gone down a lot. Unfortunately though an acquaintances S delivered a few weeks before mine was pretty atrociously put together considering how much the car cost. Despite that it was for his wife and he loved it so much despite the flaws he plans to buy a Plaid. Teslas has been good about rectifying the issues I've had with delivery.

Some people are overly protective of the brand and as you can see and think it does no wrong. I am not one of those people. I think FSD in its current state is a total rip off. Love the rest of the car but FSD has been vaporware so long it reminds me of the saying; fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Despite all this you just need to look at the price hikes Tesla keeps rolling out. The demand is outstripping supply. Many people get the value prop of owning a Tesla. For some people it makes a lot of sense, others it doesn't. I can't think of a single model out there from another company that could match the value I get from any of my Teslas. If something comes out better though and I am in the market to replace one of them, I'll definitely consider it. I looked at everything when I bought and nothing made more sense to me. I'd pay a lot more money to maybe get similar performance. For example I looked at a Taycan. I'd have to spend about 40-50k more to get something as good as my S in most areas, maybe better in some. I wanted similar acceleration I'd have to spend about 70k more and almost 100k more to beat it.

I have to say the one thing that pushed me over the hump to buy a Tesla was trying to value the supercharger (SC) network. This was the one trump card (at least in the US) where Tesla still has no equal. I didn't use SCs initially as much as I thought I would but they were far more important to me than I thought they would be. It is such a seamless experience and the convenience of most SCs is pretty good. I likely won't take as many long trips but the 3 and S have better range and give me more flexibility in trip planning.

Didn't plan on writing a book but it might help others. It was a hard choice to go with my first Tesla as I am a big Porsche/VW/Audi fan. I was really intrigued by the Mach E. I am glad I was able to get past all the ordering BS and moving dates. Finally with the 3 I rarely even bother checking it as it wasn't worth the effort to get wound up about something I had absolutely no control over other then when I pulled the trigger to order. Glad I ordered earlier as it saved me a lot of money in the end.

Good luck with whatever you buy. I'll just say it isn't easy to "get" a Tesla from the outside looking in. By get I mean to appreciate/understand it. My first month was a little rocky as I adapted to the car and worked my way through all the settings. I added a few accessories to make it better and cursed it for a long time because it didn't have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Now I just curse the lack of turn signal and gear shift stalks in my S even more than the yoke wheel.
 
Having no updates sucks. I went 3 weeks before getting an update on my order this morning. As far as I can tell, I cant see any patterns in the timing updates.


M3LR, MSM, Black Interior, 18" Aero, no FSD
OD: 2/22
EDD1: 5/26 – 6/23
EDD2: (3/15) 5/2 – 6/6
This Saturday is 3 weeks for me…. Fingers crossed I get my first update lol.
 
Could I trouble you to post a picture of the area missing paint? I'm also getting one in blue.
Check the picture. Is the same both side
 

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Check the picture. Is the same both side


That sucks. I liked the build quality I've had on my current X3. I'm hoping I don't miss my ventilated seats (the south) and heads up display too much.

Been using sirius XM for awhile now. Listen to a lot of talk radio (NPR, Bloomberg, CNN, NBA radio, etc). Not sure if all or any of those are available on the tesla either...
 
Zero updates to my EDD since ordering 3/4… others ordering at/around the same time with a similar or different experience?

M3LR / MSM / Black Interior / Aero / FSD / Massachusetts

EDD 5/24 - 6/21
Ordered 3/1 Red, white, Aero, no FSD, no updates either after checking the app like a maniac. Seems like a ton of orders went in right after gas went up, hard to tell how their supply chain will do. Personally I'm thankful mine is coming after the end of quarter push.

EDD 5/10 - 6/7
 
Having no updates sucks. I went 3 weeks before getting an update on my order this morning. As far as I can tell, I cant see any patterns in the timing updates.


M3LR, MSM, Black Interior, 18" Aero, no FSD
OD: 2/22
EDD1: 5/26 – 6/23
EDD2: (3/15) 5/2 – 6/6
Same build as you coming to PHX. I’ve gone a month today now and still no update from my original.
 
I’m in the west valley (Buckeye) and ordered two weeks after you. I’m still showing May, and that’s with FSD.
They say they are trying to distribute the cars evenly throughout the quarter but they still clearly are delivering east to west coast mid to end of each quarter.

The cutoff for this quarter seems to be just after my OD which was 2/3.

At this point I think it’s very possible I could get bumped to May / June.

I went about 30 days before seeing anything change and I’d imagine since it’s still in Q1 there won’t be any updates on most people who ordered in late Feb / March for at least 30-40 days.

I just hope we all get our cars and enjoy the hell out of them!
 
That sucks. I liked the build quality I've had on my current X3. I'm hoping I don't miss my ventilated seats (the south) and heads up display too much.

Been using sirius XM for awhile now. Listen to a lot of talk radio (NPR, Bloomberg, CNN, NBA radio, etc). Not sure if all or any of those are available on the tesla either...
I drove bmw for the past 10 years, and still have an X5… i can tell you, you will miss the BMW quality. But the reward is worth it i think
 
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Well my positive thinking didn’t work this time haha.

Woke up the other morning to a delayed EDD.

However let’s continue the positive mindset… I will get my car this month… hopefully 🙏

M3LR White/Black/18/noFSD
Scottsdale, AZ

OD: 2/3
EDD#1: 2/25-3/25
(2/27)EDD#2: 3/2-3/16
(3/3)EDD#3: 3/6-3/31
(3/4)EDD#4: 3/10-3/24
(3/11)EDD#5: 3/14-3/26
(3/15)EDD#6: 3/18-3/31
Same exact order except OD1/14 & EDD 4/24-5/22, Also same location
 
Interesting! Did you fully fill out all the online profile right away? Mine was Cash, No Trade fully completed about 10 minutes after ordering.
I think that will be the difference. I had a trade accepted, it expired and I had to re enter mileage. Also I waited a couple weeks to finish the finance info then switched to cash. I’m curious how far apart our orders get filled. If you’re way ahead it’ll prove that the best purchase method is cash and no trade.
 
I think that will be the difference. I had a trade accepted, it expired and I had to re enter mileage. Also I waited a couple weeks to finish the finance info then switched to cash. I’m curious how far apart our orders get filled. If you’re way ahead it’ll prove that the best purchase method is cash and no trade.
Interesting! We shall definitely see.

I was told by every Tesla rep I spoke to prior to placing and that was at least 10 of them that even if you plan to finance or trade in that you should always select cash no trade in and adjust once you get a VIN.

I am planning on financing and am currently debating a trade in.

Regardless I am praying you get your car as soon as humanly possible. At the end of the day we are all about to get the coolest car money can buy for this price.

I feel fortunate to exist at a time when I’m able to drive one of these incredible vehicles.
 
Check the picture. Is the same both side
Thanks a ton for taking the time to post the picture. I did a search online and apparently this problem has been around for years.

I'm a bit surprised to hear about this after watching so many YouTube reviews about Teslas. I looked at a bunch of YouTube videos talking about delivery gripes and none of them mention that area as a paint issue. The videos devoted to paint quality gripes also don't mention it. I did find this one guy who mentioned this exact problem, saying that a prior car in that area had bare metal. He showed his new Tesla (May 2021) and the paint was fine there. I hope this isn't something that happens at end-of-quarter when they're trying to quickly crank out a lot of vehicles.

I also don't mean to hijack the thread with posts about paint issues. I was just curious about this one. Carry on with the anticipation :)
 
Check the picture. Is the same both side
This isn't exactly an issue, or missed paint. These cavities are typically not painted fully, but generally primed and clear coated. The same level of paint applies around the hood and trunk, they are just hidden under the plastic panels.

We have a Ford Explorer with the tr-layer platinum white. In the cavities, like in your picture, it is a flat white and not the tri-coat.

In other words, you are not missing paint, but received the vehicle as intended. These ares are not painted to reduce costs and the impact of paints on the environment.