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Blog Model 3 Named a ‘Top Pick’ by Consumer Reports

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Consumer Reports has named the Tesla Model 3 as one of its Top 10 Picks of 2020, which considers road tests, reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety. 

The Model 3 was specifically called out as the best electric car. The report said:

The Model 3 proves that EVs can challenge conventional upscale sedans by offering invigorating performance with a high-tech vibe. It boasts rapid acceleration that’s delivered in near silence, with instant passing power available at any speed and enough thrust to push the driver back into the seat. The car’s superb handling and quick, precise steering help it feel like a sports car. The Model 3 has excellent visibility and a stark interior dominated by a floating 15-inch touch screen that governs many controls. Its impressive road performance is diminished only by the stiff ride and notable wind noise. But its long range of 250 to 330 miles (depending on the version) and green credentials offset those drawbacks.

Tesla was the only American automaker included in the top picks.

 
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What's interesting and again somewhat troubling is that Consumer Reports fails to mention that the Model 3 has by a significant margin the highest user satisfaction numbers they've ever seen. Besting iconic brands with traditionally exceptionally high brand loyalty such as Porsche and Corvette and even its big brother the Model S.

They took a lot of flack for not recommending the car when (even even in the context of lots of QC problems with glass, panel alignment, rebooting screens and many other miscellaneous issues during the early run of Model 3s) owner satisfaction was still above 90%. I questioned how they could call panel alignment and Screen reboots a "reliability issue" and I had a brief email exchange with someone on their executive board about the contradiction of not recommending a car when 90-plus percent of its owners think it's the best car they've ever driven.
 
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This is a press release and cannot cover everything, e.g., customer satisfaction. But I cannot imagine a more-glowing report. If you check the complete report at CR's website, you will find that the Model 3's customer satisfaction rating is top-notch, 5/5, which is matched by others, but AFAIK the fact that 98% say they would buy the car again is unmatched, .
 
Stiff ride is necessary in any performance car to hold the road. Wind noise is only noticed because the rest of the car is so quiet, especially compared to an ICE car.

Nope. I love my Model 3, but the wind noise at speed is unacceptable. Poor window seals are the main reason. This has nothing to do with it not being an ICE car. The Model 3 is soooooo quiet at low speed, but the cabin noise on the highway is ridiculous - louder than any ICE car I own.

Do agree on the stiff ride - I wish softer was available, but it is less stiff than my old BMW 3-series....
 
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Nope. I love my Model 3, but the wind noise at speed is unacceptable. Poor window seals are the main reason. This has nothing to do with it not being an ICE car. The Model 3 is soooooo quiet at low speed, but the cabin noise on the highway is ridiculous - louder than any ICE car I own.

Do agree on the stiff ride - I wish softer was available, but it is less stiff than my old BMW 3-series....

We had the same concern about wind noise. Pretty easy to remediate with a couple of different types of seals. We put the RPM Tesla neoprene tubing around the roof glass and then a second set of door seals. Car is now 5db quieter at least.

Improving ride involves dropping unsprung weight and getting the MPP Comfort coilover kit. We have 20 inch wheels and we really like the ride of the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S but we improved things significantly by going to forged wheels. The car responds really well to tuning and tweaking.
 
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Nope. I love my Model 3, but the wind noise at speed is unacceptable. Poor window seals are the main reason. This has nothing to do with it not being an ICE car. The Model 3 is soooooo quiet at low speed, but the cabin noise on the highway is ridiculous - louder than any ICE car I own.

Do agree on the stiff ride - I wish softer was available, but it is less stiff than my old BMW 3-series....

What year Model 3 do you drive? I've been driving the 2020 for a few weeks now and 90 mph on the highway is much quieter than my 2013 Tahoe and 2014 Mercedes GLK 350. I read somewhere they improved the wind noise in the 2020 Model 3...
 
Stiff ride is necessary in any performance car to hold the road. Wind noise is only noticed because the rest of the car is so quiet, especially compared to an ICE car.

Wind and road noise are due to lots of (thin) glass (that easily cracks, mine did) and little insulation. Not due to lack of engine noise. My Model X is very quiet (with no engine noise) as well as my Volt (ICE on or off). Please stop making that silly excuse. Model 3 is very quiet below 45 mph. Above 70 mph it’s pretty bad (both wind and tire).

It’s a common complaint on the forum with lots of DIY projects to help address it.
 
What's interesting and again somewhat troubling is that Consumer Reports fails to mention that the Model 3 has by a significant margin the highest user satisfaction numbers they've ever seen.
Funny, my first thought was 'high customer satisfaction is offsetting some of the minor quality problems.'

The trick here is that Tesla enthusiasts, tech enthusiasts, and EV early adopters are probably groups that put less importance in minor quality issues that mainstream buyers so if the Tesla manufacturing process was not continuing to improve we could expect that customer satisfaction would drop as mainstream buyers try out the car.

Including customer satisfaction in the overall assessment makes the entire exercise a moving target.
 
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I find the whole wind noise thing very interesting. I’ve seen enough reports of people saying it’s really bad at high speed but neither of our Model 3’s have any noticeable wind noise on the freeways. And I came from a Lexus LS460, which is known for being one fo the quietest cars you can buy. So I would notice a noisy cabin.

I think it’s one of two possible things:

1) Whatever problems they had with wind noise were fixed in later production runs so it mainly affects early builds.
2) It’s a quality control issue where some cars just don’t have as tight seals as others.
 
I find the whole wind noise thing very interesting. I’ve seen enough reports of people saying it’s really bad at high speed but neither of our Model 3’s have any noticeable wind noise on the freeways. And I came from a Lexus LS460, which is known for being one fo the quietest cars you can buy. So I would notice a noisy cabin.

I think it’s one of two possible things:

1) Whatever problems they had with wind noise were fixed in later production runs so it mainly affects early builds.
2) It’s a quality control issue where some cars just don’t have as tight seals as others.
How about:

They drive in windier conditions
They drive faster
They are younger
They are sensitive to the frequencies that wind causes
They produce less competing noise
They produce less cancelling noise
They drive on different tarmacs that produce different noise profiles in relation to the wind profile
They want something to whine about

I'm sure I could come up with more with a few minutes of thought, but the point is that absent a controlled, well measured test you all are just comparing subjective impressions and trying to turn them into some coherent, factual model.

Don't bother