For you, Icefree, I wrote the following in my original post:I appreciate that. Yes, I agree. In the end, the cost of the car is the final filter. Is my Model S 3X better than my Model 3 even though it cost 3X as much? Honestly, of course not, well, except in one area. The "wweeeeee!" factor is > 3X better. Worth. Every. Penny.
You skipped the bit where the door handles on the S fail (repeatedly) and cost $800+ to repair. I had one fail during my first winter, and it was replaced under warranty, but it got me thinking about the future. I can't spend repair money like that. I see people reporting these failures here all the time. One guy nearby has had 14 replacement handles over the years. That would be $10,000 of out of warranty costs. Egads. (and if your answer is "you have an old car, get a new one with warranty!", you are the very definition of privilege... sorry...). You also can't go around trying to sell a car that claims to save people a ton of money in gas and maintenance and then charge them $800 to repair a frickin' door handle every year.
Agreed completely on prefering the 3 door handles. I was never crazy about the presenting handles in my S and I never had them completely fail although they would from time to time not be immediately responsive. The software update I received for the 3 today (2018.10.5) fixes the annoying habit of the car waking up whenever you approach with your phone. Now it simply unlocks the doors and trunk and the car wakes up when you enter. Great update.
Yeah, spending 3 weeks with a driver's door handle that couldn't present was kinda terrible. Oh, and the motor for it kept spinning continuously (even while driving!) since it couldn't figure out what was going on. Listening to that was the special bonus
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I think the 3 door handles will be more reliable. I have been "locked out" of my S because the handles would not present even though the car "woke up". I don't think that is possible with the 3...as long as they unlock with the phone or key card, you should be able to enter the car.
The two common failures in the S handles are the paddle gear and the microswitch wire. There is no paddle gear in the 3's handle to break. I don't know exactly how they've designed the handle movement detection (i.e. it may not even use a microswitch), but at minimum it's not designed as a dynamically moving object that will wear out that wire. Obviously there are possibilities of new and unknown failures, but getting rid of the known issues is a great step toward believing they will work better.
The issue I have with the phone vs. the fob is, it's a multi-step process to open the frunk, or open the trunk (when the car is locked), when using the phone. My typical use case: when bringing home takeout, I always put the food in the frunk to keep from stinking up the car. It's very easy to double-tap the fob in my pocket, without looking, to pop open the frunk. On the 3, I have to pull out my phone, open the app, then tap the button. Use case for the trunk: when I'm standing away from my car, and someone else needs to access the trunk, I can just open remotely, again, without looking or taking the fob out of my pocket. With the 3, same problem, I have to launch the app to open the trunk, and it takes a couple extra taps.
about not having doors. Our home door locks are digital/smart.
When the day arrives that we have the Tesla app for the Apple Watch it should alleviate the need to take out your phone.
Also, Tesla Toolbox and Remote S have excellent Apple Watch apps. I have one connected to my 3 and one to my S and use them all the time.
