Looks so clean! I'm too chicken to go darker than 35%. I might just do 35% all around and no tint for windshield. I'm too old and can't see well at night lol
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Model 3 Performance/Ludicrous Waiting Room
- Thread starter GreenHokie
- Start date
Also those Vegan leather they use on the seat needs a lot of care.Looks like the material will stretch and wrinkle. Pic is my driver seat after 2 weeks/ 1000 miles. I am 6'3" 180lbs. If anyone have experience with a good leather cleaner and conditioner on the type of Tesla Vegan leather, please let me know!
Could you please send me contact for your Tint guy, I just joined the teslamotor club and it won't allow me to send DM to any members till I have few posts I guess. I am in Bay Area, scheduled to pick up sometime this week. Have scheduled appt for pickup at the factory tomorrow but no Vin as yet. Tesla keeps on pushing day by day the appt's given there is no VIN. This different than the past 3 tesla's I picked up. I am picking a SG/White interior, OD May 31st. Have already sold my 2017 Tesla model 3 last week.
Will probably end up doing 20% for side windows and rear window.
Hopefully my last post until the next Model 3 in a few years. Picking up tomorrow. See ya everyone
I went by the lot last night and I might go again tonight. If you want me to see if your VIN is there go to your DMs
Hey everyone,
I took delivery on Sunday, 6/23. Below is my honest assessment and some basic pictures. I’m sure some will disagree with my overall assessment. I’m not trying to start a long conversation (or debate), but just providing my perspective.
Order Date- 4/27
Phoenix, AZ
Most recent EDD- 6/21- 6/30
VIN date (6/21)- I called my SA and snagged a “demo” vehicle on 6/21 that was already en route to AZ. It was never a demo, but was slated to become one. The car had 17 miles on it when I picked it up.
Fit and finish: The paint quality was exceptional and much better than my 2023 M3P. There are one or two panel gaps that can likely be adjusted 1-2 MM, but they are not noticeable unless you’re looking for them. The level of clear coat on the car is really good. The pics below are with a simple polish and hand-applied ceramic coat. That’s all I’m doing. No PPF, etc. This has always been my method. I’m old school.
Interior: There is one rattle on the dashboard. I located it and it’s the carbon fiber strip. I placed the service request right away. My old M3P also had a rear rattle upon delivery. The seats are nice, but they are tight. I’m only 145-150 pounds and there’s less than an inch on either side remaining. If you’re 200 pounds, it’s going to be like a sardine can. LOL. The seats feel a bit firmer, so if you’re looking for a comfortable seat for road trips, then this isn’t the model for you. The interior material and build does seem to be of higher quality. Everything lines up well and feels somewhat sturdier. The ventilates seats don’t seem very strong. It’s better than not having them, but nothing amazing.
Stereo: The stereo system, especially with the dual sub setup, is much, much better than the 2023.
Wheels/Tires: I opted to have the aero blades removed for visual appeal. I really liked the solid design of the Uberturbines. Yes, they were 30 pounds versus 22 on the new model, but at least they didn’t have plastic, garbage inserts. And yes, the new aero inserts all squeaked and creaked at low speeds. I asked the service tech at the delivery location about this and he said it’s a known “design flaw” and they won’t be able to fix it. This further solidified my decision to remove them.
In any case, I visited my friend at Discount Tire. We dismounted all four wheels and removed the inserts carefully from the back. Even doing it this way was *very* difficult. I was watching them like a hawk and they were super careful. They did not scratch anything. As others suggested, the marks from the blades did leave some significant residue that mostly came off with Goo Gone. But there are a few residual scratches that remain---primarily on the spokes where the aero blades were originally touching. It’s not a huge issue, but if you remove the blades, you’ll likely have a few scratches. Don’t expect them to be perfect.
One important point: if you remove the aero blades, you definitely need to rebalance the wheels/tires. We checked them before and after, and they were all 1-2 ounces off with the inserts removed. So, I would recommend not simply ripping them off at home if you want a perfect wheel balance.
Performance: Yes, this thing is significantly faster. It’s definitely much more powerful on the mid and top-end. For example, it was 110 degrees out, dry AZ conditions, tires warmed up, and I was cruising at 45 MPH. I punched it and the front tires actually broke loose a bit. It felt like front torque steer on a FWD car. This never, ever happened on my 2023 M3P. To be honest, I do feel like the old model was dialed-in in terms of power. There might be *too* much power for this chassis. I’m not complaining, and I’ll take it, but it’s slightly less inspiring given the likelihood of losing traction. In my view, the updated suspension simply does not compensate for the power/lack of traction. :/
Range/efficiency: My 2023 had a screen range of 240 miles at 80% when new and remained there after one year. This model has an 80% range of 236 miles. That’s not a huge difference given the increase in power. Real-world efficiency is slightly worse in my opinion, but I have not driven it long enough for the average to be meaningful. After about 100 miles of mixed driving (including some crazy initial driving), I’m at around 300-ish WH/mi. My old model was 285 lifetime, so I suspect it’ll get under 300 eventually with more driving. Though, removing the aero inserts likely won’t help.
Suspension/steering: This is where I was really not super impressed. I know, I know, but Jason Camissa said it’s perfect, so it must be! LOL. Suspension has always been my thing, and I’ve driven every type of setup you can imagine, so I do have a good sample size for comparison. In my 2023 M3P, I thought the suspension was great. I had very few complaints. The occasional “juicy” rebound on certain corners, depending on the road, but nothing to gripe about. I always drove the 2023 with the following settings: sport acceleration/sport steering. In the 2024, I have it set to “Insane/Sport/Heavy.” Given these settings, the road feel is very similar, and I would argue just as rough as the 2023. I really cannot tell the difference. If you move the ride/handling into “standard,” then it is much softer. I don’t prefer the soft ride and love to feel the road, so for me the comparability between the 2023 and 2024 is very similar in “sport.” For those that want a softer ride, then I think they’ll be very happy with the “standard” ride setting. The “heavy” steering setting is extremely heavy, which I generally like, but significantly heavier than the 2023 “sport” steering mode. The 2024 “standard” steering, to me, is lighter than the 2023 “sport.” I wish there was a fourth option (between standard and heavy), which would be perfect.
Turn signal/Gear selector: I’m happy with the stalkless gear selector. It took just a day or so to get used to this. I would prefer a stalk, but it’s not an issue. However, the steering wheel turn signal feature is ridiculously annoying. This is going to take a very, very long time to get used to. I keep reaching for the stalk, like a phantom limb. When zooming in and out of traffic quickly and changing lanes (one of the perks of this car), I had to hesitate to think about it, which was unsafe. I ended up not even using my blinker a few times to avoid the time lag so that I didn't crash, which probably angered a few drivers.
Styling: This is where I feel like the new model shines (literally and metaphorically). The overall styling, stance, front and rear bumpers, diffusers, lights, etc. are significantly better.
Overall impression:
2023 M3P: 9.0/10
2024 M3P: 9.5/10
*The car is certainly better, but I think it’s an exaggeration to say that it’s in a different class altogether. I made the move because with the tax incentive my monthly payment actually dropped, so it was a no-brainer. For those that love their old M3P, have no monthly payment and are on the fence, I don’t know if I would recommend the immediate switch, especially given the order delays, etc. If anything, it might be best for someone to wait a bit until the demand has dropped and it’s easier to obtain, assuming one has the time to wait. There’s always the chance the $7,500 credit will be removed (not by Tesla necessarily, but from the Feds, given the political climate).
Put another way: In retrospect, if I had *not* purchased this car, would I feel like I am missing out (FOMO)?................No.
Thanks for reading!
I took delivery on Sunday, 6/23. Below is my honest assessment and some basic pictures. I’m sure some will disagree with my overall assessment. I’m not trying to start a long conversation (or debate), but just providing my perspective.
Order Date- 4/27
Phoenix, AZ
Most recent EDD- 6/21- 6/30
VIN date (6/21)- I called my SA and snagged a “demo” vehicle on 6/21 that was already en route to AZ. It was never a demo, but was slated to become one. The car had 17 miles on it when I picked it up.
Fit and finish: The paint quality was exceptional and much better than my 2023 M3P. There are one or two panel gaps that can likely be adjusted 1-2 MM, but they are not noticeable unless you’re looking for them. The level of clear coat on the car is really good. The pics below are with a simple polish and hand-applied ceramic coat. That’s all I’m doing. No PPF, etc. This has always been my method. I’m old school.
Interior: There is one rattle on the dashboard. I located it and it’s the carbon fiber strip. I placed the service request right away. My old M3P also had a rear rattle upon delivery. The seats are nice, but they are tight. I’m only 145-150 pounds and there’s less than an inch on either side remaining. If you’re 200 pounds, it’s going to be like a sardine can. LOL. The seats feel a bit firmer, so if you’re looking for a comfortable seat for road trips, then this isn’t the model for you. The interior material and build does seem to be of higher quality. Everything lines up well and feels somewhat sturdier. The ventilates seats don’t seem very strong. It’s better than not having them, but nothing amazing.
Stereo: The stereo system, especially with the dual sub setup, is much, much better than the 2023.
Wheels/Tires: I opted to have the aero blades removed for visual appeal. I really liked the solid design of the Uberturbines. Yes, they were 30 pounds versus 22 on the new model, but at least they didn’t have plastic, garbage inserts. And yes, the new aero inserts all squeaked and creaked at low speeds. I asked the service tech at the delivery location about this and he said it’s a known “design flaw” and they won’t be able to fix it. This further solidified my decision to remove them.
In any case, I visited my friend at Discount Tire. We dismounted all four wheels and removed the inserts carefully from the back. Even doing it this way was *very* difficult. I was watching them like a hawk and they were super careful. They did not scratch anything. As others suggested, the marks from the blades did leave some significant residue that mostly came off with Goo Gone. But there are a few residual scratches that remain---primarily on the spokes where the aero blades were originally touching. It’s not a huge issue, but if you remove the blades, you’ll likely have a few scratches. Don’t expect them to be perfect.
One important point: if you remove the aero blades, you definitely need to rebalance the wheels/tires. We checked them before and after, and they were all 1-2 ounces off with the inserts removed. So, I would recommend not simply ripping them off at home if you want a perfect wheel balance.
Performance: Yes, this thing is significantly faster. It’s definitely much more powerful on the mid and top-end. For example, it was 110 degrees out, dry AZ conditions, tires warmed up, and I was cruising at 45 MPH. I punched it and the front tires actually broke loose a bit. It felt like front torque steer on a FWD car. This never, ever happened on my 2023 M3P. To be honest, I do feel like the old model was dialed-in in terms of power. There might be *too* much power for this chassis. I’m not complaining, and I’ll take it, but it’s slightly less inspiring given the likelihood of losing traction. In my view, the updated suspension simply does not compensate for the power/lack of traction. :/
Range/efficiency: My 2023 had a screen range of 240 miles at 80% when new and remained there after one year. This model has an 80% range of 236 miles. That’s not a huge difference given the increase in power. Real-world efficiency is slightly worse in my opinion, but I have not driven it long enough for the average to be meaningful. After about 100 miles of mixed driving (including some crazy initial driving), I’m at around 300-ish WH/mi. My old model was 285 lifetime, so I suspect it’ll get under 300 eventually with more driving. Though, removing the aero inserts likely won’t help.
Suspension/steering: This is where I was really not super impressed. I know, I know, but Jason Camissa said it’s perfect, so it must be! LOL. Suspension has always been my thing, and I’ve driven every type of setup you can imagine, so I do have a good sample size for comparison. In my 2023 M3P, I thought the suspension was great. I had very few complaints. The occasional “juicy” rebound on certain corners, depending on the road, but nothing to gripe about. I always drove the 2023 with the following settings: sport acceleration/sport steering. In the 2024, I have it set to “Insane/Sport/Heavy.” Given these settings, the road feel is very similar, and I would argue just as rough as the 2023. I really cannot tell the difference. If you move the ride/handling into “standard,” then it is much softer. I don’t prefer the soft ride and love to feel the road, so for me the comparability between the 2023 and 2024 is very similar in “sport.” For those that want a softer ride, then I think they’ll be very happy with the “standard” ride setting. The “heavy” steering setting is extremely heavy, which I generally like, but significantly heavier than the 2023 “sport” steering mode. The 2024 “standard” steering, to me, is lighter than the 2023 “sport.” I wish there was a fourth option (between standard and heavy), which would be perfect.
Turn signal/Gear selector: I’m happy with the stalkless gear selector. It took just a day or so to get used to this. I would prefer a stalk, but it’s not an issue. However, the steering wheel turn signal feature is ridiculously annoying. This is going to take a very, very long time to get used to. I keep reaching for the stalk, like a phantom limb. When zooming in and out of traffic quickly and changing lanes (one of the perks of this car), I had to hesitate to think about it, which was unsafe. I ended up not even using my blinker a few times to avoid the time lag so that I didn't crash, which probably angered a few drivers.
Styling: This is where I feel like the new model shines (literally and metaphorically). The overall styling, stance, front and rear bumpers, diffusers, lights, etc. are significantly better.
Overall impression:
2023 M3P: 9.0/10
2024 M3P: 9.5/10
*The car is certainly better, but I think it’s an exaggeration to say that it’s in a different class altogether. I made the move because with the tax incentive my monthly payment actually dropped, so it was a no-brainer. For those that love their old M3P, have no monthly payment and are on the fence, I don’t know if I would recommend the immediate switch, especially given the order delays, etc. If anything, it might be best for someone to wait a bit until the demand has dropped and it’s easier to obtain, assuming one has the time to wait. There’s always the chance the $7,500 credit will be removed (not by Tesla necessarily, but from the Feds, given the political climate).
Put another way: In retrospect, if I had *not* purchased this car, would I feel like I am missing out (FOMO)?................No.
Thanks for reading!
Not planning on doing anything to the windshield. Will be getting 50% nano ceramic to the ceiling glass though to block out the heat.
Well, you may be the luckiest person in this thread. Grats!
I wonder if that other UR was supposed to be mine until they gave it away because I'm on vacation. Did you get the VIN of the other one?Well, just got back from my delivery appointment in Springfield, NJ. I decided to reject delivery.
The car had several (4-5) paint defects, and a pretty bad raised "panel gap" where the trunk met the rear passenger panel. 3 of the paint defects seemed like artifacts that were under the paint, causing it to be raised (almost like dust or shavings that got painted over). There was a spot on the hood in front of the driver that looked like a dent, but was under the clear coat, and the other defect seemed like gravel or rocks had been kicked up in front of the passenger front tire. I also noticed some paint drips on the inside bottom panel of the rear driver side door. A sloppy paint job overall.
The main thing that made me decide to reject is that my Ultra Red was parked right next to another, and I did not notice any paint defects on that other car. It truly is luck of the draw.
I chatted with a technician that told me that they handle paint issues through a third party body shop and it can take 6-7 days. I did not feel comfortable taking delivery of a new car that would need to be immediately taken to a body shop... who would probably make the issue worse.
Back in line I go.
Blue black bueatuful. I’ve been waiting for that config since day one. Congrats!!! Back to the east coast wait.
Interesting. I wondered about that so I weighed each insert when I did mine and they all weighed 3.47 ounces (with the wires on the back). They are also all the same shape so the weight should be distributed evenly around the wheel. Thus I figured we wouldn't need to rebalance. What am I missing? How is it the wheel balance is off when we remove weight uniformly around the wheel?
Edit: Just went out and weighed all 20 of the inserts including the wire since I initially only weighed the ones from a single wheel. The biggest variation I could find was: the lightest one was 3.44 ounces and the heaviest was 3.50 ounces. So if you were unlucky enough to get both of those on one wheel and the light one was was in one of the two spots opposite the heavy one, I'd think the maximum difference you could see on a balancer would be .06 ounces or six one hundredths of an ounce. I even washed the slight amount of brake dust off the outliers and it didn't change the weights.
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Better than in NY, all tints are illegal and you can’t pass inspection with tinted windows. So sad…
M109Rider
Active Member
I Didn’t say don’t resolve it. I just don’t think the vindictive approach of threatening a YouTube strike is warranted. But if you need to see a suggestion to take a professional rational approach to a resolution as fanboy-ism, ok.
Just to add some sunshine to your day for those still waiting. I’m seeing some video reviews from the UK coming in and they pretty much gush about how much value there is for the money on the M3P. Now, I know Britain in particular has higher COL and wages comparatively, but when I hear “$60K pounds is a steal for this car” and I do the math to figure out that’s $75 K USD I just think we are in a special time right now for Teslas in the US!
I’m about to lock myself in a dark room and delete the Tesla app until they deliver the car to me themselves…….
After having my delivery day rescheduled from Saturday to Wednesday for a “containment hold”, my SA called me and said the vehicle needs an entirely new battery pack. I’m absolutely gutted.
It’s going to take at least 2.5 weeks to repair and he put me back in line for a potential new VIN, so back to waiting.. again.
F’s in the chat. Send me your sympathies. I will rise from the darkness eventually.
After having my delivery day rescheduled from Saturday to Wednesday for a “containment hold”, my SA called me and said the vehicle needs an entirely new battery pack. I’m absolutely gutted.
It’s going to take at least 2.5 weeks to repair and he put me back in line for a potential new VIN, so back to waiting.. again.
F’s in the chat. Send me your sympathies. I will rise from the darkness eventually.
Yes, that was my general thinking as well, but upon checking each wheel, they were *definitely* out of balance (after removing the caps). In fact, one of them was significantly out of balance even before removing the caps. Perhaps it has something to do with the location of the weight needed to balance. The caps are all on one side of the wheel, so removing them from one side (as opposed to removing them evenly from the inner and outer edge of the wheel) must make a difference. That's what the dudes at the tire shop said, anyhow.
I was getting the notorious 65-75 MPH slight vibration right as I left the delivery center. Regardless, I never trust the factory balancing. I trust what I can see directly. I was planning on visiting my buds at Discount even if I kept the caps on to get a balance check. I don't pay anything since I've been buying tires/wheels with them for 30 years. They know I'm coming back in 15K miles to get some tires. LOL. Also, the Dutch Bros. I threw in helped a bit.
The white rubber balancing weights that Tesla uses leave a lot of residue. I much prefer the metal weights (for color matching purposes) and because, for whatever reason, they leave less residue in my experience. P.S. I had the same issue with other new cars in years past. All out of balance on delivery.
Allow me to explain the concept of consequences to you and how that differs from being vindictive. The consequence for you rejecting two cars is $250 of your money. The consequence for Tesla delivering two unacceptable cars is a lost customer and a bit of bad press. Considering (in this ongoing example) that Tesla charges the customer $250 for failing the customer twice, I think the consequences are quite mild. Considering Tesla is the company who is responsible for treating many customers fairly and we're not just talking about one person, the consequence of choosing not to do business with them and sharing your experience online is probably weak, but it's enough for me. I speak my mind and vote with my wallet. It's how you inspire change when it is needed, not saying "Here's my $250" and walking away, pretending to be fine with it.I Didn’t say don’t resolve it. I just don’t think the vindictive approach of threatening a YouTube strike is warranted. But if you need to see a suggestion to take a professional rational approach to a resolution as fanboy-ism, ok.
Again, I've been quite happy with my experience with Tesla so this is just my take on what I would do IF I was presented with two cars with so many defects I couldn't accept them and then told I have to pay $250 anyway. Hope that never happens.
One option to consider, which I know they will honor, is to drive the car for a bit, so that it can be enjoyed. As long as you place the service request within the first 100 miles, you don't necessarily need to surrender the vehicle right away. On my last M3P, I kept it for like 1-2 months before going back in to have the bumper and wheel replaced. Just an idea....I Didn’t say don’t resolve it. I just don’t think the vindictive approach of threatening a YouTube strike is warranted. But if you need to see a suggestion to take a professional rational approach to a resolution as fanboy-ism, ok.
I can't recall what the original issue was, but if it's drivable, then this is an option.
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