My nightmare relationship with Tesla came to an end today

[plisken]

After 18 months and some 6000 miles, I finally parted ways with my 2021 model 3 LR today. In that time, it's had 3 charge ports, 2 steering racks, a front wiring loom, a 12v battery, several usb sticks, front fog lights and rear light clusters, to name but a few trivial things.

It has been without a doubt, the worst car I have ever owned, cheap, overpriced crap. Don't get me wrong, there were some good things about it and some things I will no doubt miss, such as the sat nav (I actually liked the sat nav) but the build quality, reliability, cost of ownership and customer service will certainly not be missed.

Over the past couple of weeks, it actually started to behave itself and I did for a few brief moments even consider waiting out the remainder of my finance term (due to the resale value or lack of) but today, it gave me one final insult, that was an error, something to do with the front motor being disabled, so that was it, final straw...

Will I ever buy another Tesla? certainly not a new one, that's for sure and if anything, possibly a model S (it feels more like a car to me), but in all honesty, I can't see my self buying another EV until I'm absolutely forced to.

I think my experience can be summarised using two words, expectations and disappointment.

 

[debrooker]

It's a shame to hear about your experience, I can totally agree with your two word summary very easy to get suckered into the hype. My experience has been a lot better than yours but they are so ubiquitous now, I really fancy something different.

Still onwards and upwards hey

 

[Lee Davis]

Back in the '80s, we used to talk about 'Friday afternoon cars' that freakishly had no end of issues with them. Yours sounds like that. Either that or it was made in Fremont. I was really nervous getting on the Tesla train due to these occasional horror stories, but I must say, we have had no issues at all in our first year, and if anything, our MY been the most reliable and best car we've had. Sad to hear your journey was so different. I can understand your frustration.

 

[Jason71]

I am no Tesla apologist but I think (hope) this is probably an outlier. My personal experience across two cars over 4 years and 30K miles has been one failed handbrake servo on a 2019 Fremont car.

 

[1k-dummy]

You lost me when you somehow might consider getting a Model S in the future.

3 charge ports, 2 steering racks, a front wiring loom, a 12v battery, several usb sticks, front fog lights and rear light clusters

These things aren't model specific. I'd say it's not really about Tesla build quality but rather you just feel Model 3 is cheap?

 

[redmamoth]

Just in idea, but maybe you could post the last few digits of VIN on here or something? Just so that some poor unsuspecting soul doesn't get lumbered with it!

 

[PITA]

Just in idea, but maybe you could post the last few digits of VIN on here or something? Just so that some poor unsuspecting soul doesn't get lumbered with it!

True, but unlikely anybody will check a VIN on here until AFTER they bought their Nightmare and need advice on Exorcism

 

[yessuz]

I feel your pain.

I had just couple of things which went off, but the rattles inside... jesus ****in crist... it's never ending battle.

as you mentioned - this is overpriced car for it's build quality. Anyone saying otherwise is insane.

probably the best explanation would be: it is actually under 20k car with 10k tablet on dash and 20k motors and battery.

 

[MrBadger]

as you mentioned - this is overpriced car for it's build quality. Anyone saying otherwise is insane.

Unfortunately some may think that Teslas are premium priced cars due to their price. Unfortunately most Tesla's are really mid priced car with an expensive battery which skews that perspective by £15k. Probably better to think mid range Ford, Vauxhall etc rather than BMW/Audi although some exceptions to this generalisation.

 

[spdpsba]

I am no Tesla apologist but I think (hope) this is probably an outlier. My personal experience across two cars over 4 years and 30K miles has been one failed handbrake servo on a 2019 Fremont car.

Mine is just a puncture and £76 towards 2 year service check after 30 months. Touch wood. It is going to be Tesla for the next 10years for me till others catch up with battery tech and SC infrastructure. However, worried about the hire prices etc., the only reason for me to possibly choose the Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV or the Model 2/A if and when it comes!

 

[Durzel]

Tesla feels very much like Ferrari circa 90s and early 00s to me, i.e. "you pay for the engine and the rest of the car comes for free".

I feel like you pay for the battery and motor efficiency and everything else is basically built down to a cost. There are things about it that I love - the incredible acceleration that I could only previously get on cars 2-3x the price, the UX which is slick, the software updates are a boon, mobile server, the light touch purchase & delivery experience, etc.

There are - however - many things that are inexcusable. I don't care how much it saves them, or about "the vision", single-stack, DoJo, Robotaxis, etc when it means I have to suffer driving around in a car with basic features that aren't fit for purpose. Wipers are dogshit, I mostly am ok with them due to how little mileage I do. Auto-headlights have only fairly recently been made fit for purpose, but the headlight tech generally is subpar - it is ridiculous that we're 1.5 years into matrix headlights being fitted with no functionality present. I still feel ripped off over FSD and am still mulling over taking legal action over it. Them removing ultrasonics 6 months before they had a passable software solution is ridiculous, yet people excuse it as "this is their long term vision".. like that's supposed to excuse customers paying full price for degraded experiences.

Despite ostensibly having no PR Tesla manage to do an amazing job of tricking the general public into thinking the cars are bleeding edge in tech terms. In reality the auto drive stuff - at least in this country - hasn't changed in at least 3 years, if anything it has gone backwards, while the competition has caught up or surpassed them. You can actually remotely summon and park a Hyundai or a Kia, from outside the car, from some distance away. With a Tesla you have to be in touching distance, and can basically only go forwards and backwards. You're lucky if a Tesla will even see a parking space to offer to park into, and if you have one built since they removed USS - you don't even have that (even if you're paying for it). My colleagues at work think my car will drive me home from a club, so naturally think ALL of the tech on the car is peerless. Us owners obviously know that isn't the case, and that if you scratch beneath the surface you find all kinds of issues - both in terms of build quality, material quality, stuff that Tesla inexplicably do differently, etc.

I'm also pretty irritated about how much of an afterthought the UK (and Europe) are to Tesla. Basically any non-US market is essentially irrelevant as far as development goes. We get given whatever stuff works and is allowed in our markets as and when it can be given "as is", with basically zero parallel development for our market. Prime example is the aforementioned matrix lights - they've been legal in Europe for many years, but not legal in the States, result - they don't do anything over here, Tesla can't be arsed to spend time on something that doesn't serve their primary market. I'm not convinced that FSD/autopilot needs to be as restrictive as it is over here, either. I'm aware that UNECE hobbles it, but at the same time they seem to have the attitude that we'll get FSD beta "as is" whenever it's legal - which will be many, many years from now. In the meantime the likes of Mercedes are doing level 3 stuff, within the confines of UNECE.

 

[ACarneiro]

I can't see my self buying another EV until I'm absolutely forced to.

Completely sympathetic to your post except for this bit.
Despite all your justified criticisms of Teslas, I personally think EVs are so much better in almost every other metric that I cannot see myself willing to back to an ICE ever again.

My M3 has been one of the better ones, by the sounds of it, but the electronics have been a bit temperamental lately (latest problem is an alarm that keeps going off all the time for no obvious reason).
That coupled with a general feel of arrogance and “we know best” attitude from Tesla are really off putting.

I intend to keep my M3 for another 5-10 years if it lasts that long and I’m hoping that Tesla will either have massively changed their approach to customers and customer service or the incumbent manufacturers have a slightly better offers.

 

[Durzel]

Completely sympathetic to your post except for this bit.
Despite all your justified criticisms of Teslas, I personally think EVs are so much better in almost every other metric that I cannot see myself willing to back to an ICE ever again.

My M3 has been one of the better ones, by the sounds of it, but the electronics have been a bit temperamental lately (latest problem is an alarm that keeps going off all the time for no obvious reason).
That coupled with a general feel of arrogance and “we know best” attitude from Tesla are really off putting.

I intend to keep my M3 for another 5-10 years if it lasts that long and I’m hoping that Tesla will either have massively changed their approach to customers and customer service or the incumbent manufacturers have a slightly better offers.

I'd agree. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I wouldn't consider buying an ICE car now unless it was something special for the weekend. EVs are just the best tool for the job for 95% of end user use cases.

 

[SO16]

After 18 months and some 6000 miles, I finally parted ways with my 2021 model 3 LR today. In that time, it's had 3 charge ports, 2 steering racks, a front wiring loom, a 12v battery, several usb sticks, front fog lights and rear light clusters, to name but a few trivial things.

It has been without a doubt, the worst car I have ever owned, cheap, overpriced crap. Don't get me wrong, there were some good things about it and some things I will no doubt miss, such as the sat nav (I actually liked the sat nav) but the build quality, reliability, cost of ownership and customer service will certainly not be missed.

Over the past couple of weeks, it actually started to behave itself and I did for a few brief moments even consider waiting out the remainder of my finance term (due to the resale value or lack of) but today, it gave me one final insult, that was an error, something to do with the front motor being disabled, so that was it, final straw...

Will I ever buy another Tesla? certainly not a new one, that's for sure and if anything, possibly a model S (it feels more like a car to me), but in all honesty, I can't see my self buying another EV until I'm absolutely forced to.

I think my experience can be summarised using two words, expectations and disappointment.

Wow that is crazy. I’d get rid of mine if I had that experience too. But thankfully almost 7 years and 97k miles in and it has been a very good vehicle.

Obviously what you experienced, is not the norm. Tesla wouldn’t be doing as well as they are, if it was.

But the fact that you wouldn’t buy another EV because of it, seems odd.

 

[yessuz]

Unfortunately some may think that Teslas are premium priced cars due to their price. Unfortunately most Tesla's are really mid priced car with an expensive battery which skews that perspective by £15k. Probably better to think mid range Ford, Vauxhall etc rather than BMW/Audi although some exceptions to this generalisation.

mate, Ford mondeo which costs half the price is built much much better than tesla. as mentioned, it is 20k car (read - fiesta, corsa price level) car with 5k for the tablet and infotainment (i would prefer cheaper android auto/car play though) and 20k for battery and another 5k for the motor

 

[yessuz]

Mine is just a puncture and £76 towards 2 year service check after 30 months. Touch wood. It is going to be Tesla for the next 10years for me till others catch up with battery tech and SC infrastructure. However, worried about the hire prices etc., the only reason for me to possibly choose the Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV or the Model 2/A if and when it comes!

why would anyone need to catch up SC infrastructure?
in 2-3 years all SCs will be open to non-teslas anyway

 

[yessuz]

Tesla feels very much like Ferrari circa 90s and early 00s to me, i.e. "you pay for the engine and the rest of the car comes for free".

I feel like you pay for the battery and motor efficiency and everything else is basically built down to a cost. There are things about it that I love - the incredible acceleration that I could only previously get on cars 2-3x the price, the UX which is slick, the software updates are a boon, mobile server, the light touch purchase & delivery experience, etc.

There are - however - many things that are inexcusable. I don't care how much it saves them, or about "the vision", single-stack, DoJo, Robotaxis, etc when it means I have to suffer driving around in a car with basic features that aren't fit for purpose. Wipers are dogshit, I mostly am ok with them due to how little mileage I do. Auto-headlights have only fairly recently been made fit for purpose, but the headlight tech generally is subpar - it is ridiculous that we're 1.5 years into matrix headlights being fitted with no functionality present. I still feel ripped off over FSD and am still mulling over taking legal action over it. Them removing ultrasonics 6 months before they had a passable software solution is ridiculous, yet people excuse it as "this is their long term vision".. like that's supposed to excuse customers paying full price for degraded experiences.

Despite ostensibly having no PR Tesla manage to do an amazing job of tricking the general public into thinking the cars are bleeding edge in tech terms. In reality the auto drive stuff - at least in this country - hasn't changed in at least 3 years, if anything it has gone backwards, while the competition has caught up or surpassed them. You can actually remotely summon and park a Hyundai or a Kia, from outside the car, from some distance away. With a Tesla you have to be in touching distance, and can basically only go forwards and backwards. You're lucky if a Tesla will even see a parking space to offer to park into, and if you have one built since they removed USS - you don't even have that (even if you're paying for it). My colleagues at work think my car will drive me home from a club, so naturally think ALL of the tech on the car is peerless. Us owners obviously know that isn't the case, and that if you scratch beneath the surface you find all kinds of issues - both in terms of build quality, material quality, stuff that Tesla inexplicably do differently, etc.

I'm also pretty irritated about how much of an afterthought the UK (and Europe) are to Tesla. Basically any non-US market is essentially irrelevant as far as development goes. We get given whatever stuff works and is allowed in our markets as and when it can be given "as is", with basically zero parallel development for our market. Prime example is the aforementioned matrix lights - they've been legal in Europe for many years, but not legal in the States, result - they don't do anything over here, Tesla can't be arsed to spend time on something that doesn't serve their primary market. I'm not convinced that FSD/autopilot needs to be as restrictive as it is over here, either. I'm aware that UNECE hobbles it, but at the same time they seem to have the attitude that we'll get FSD beta "as is" whenever it's legal - which will be many, many years from now. In the meantime the likes of Mercedes are doing level 3 stuff, within the confines of UNECE.

oh man, you are so right.

I still hurts my brain why I cannot disable all these audible bings and bongs on AP. yet alone why it is not re-enabling itself arfter changing lane (EAP competition... lol)

 

[plisken]

Just to address a few points I've taken from comments so far, in no order.

Firstly, why would I consider a model S, well, given the current price of 2018/19 models, I feel this could work out not too bad financially, not the same chance of continued depreciation compared to what I've went through with a new model 3 and assuming there is enough warranty left etc and as I say, it felt to me, more of a proper car to me. The other thing, if it goes bad or whatever, I could move it on with minimal loss and it would allow me to use the great sat nav I've been banging on about. But with that said, I can't honestly see myself buying another EV, not for quality or reliability reasons but simply cause I didn't save much in the way of running costs, if at all. As I pointed out many times before on this forum, any modern diesel will be more economical point to point that my Tesla was. I don't count home charging, firstly because I chose not to (too much hassle with the install), secondly cause I couldn't actually get rates that were substantially cheaper than public charging was at the time, especially without increasing my peak rate. Public charging for me will always be the deal breaker in terms of cost (cause you can't take your home with you when you travel). A recent 500 mile trip, using the superchargers, cost me more than it would have in a diesel. I had to make 4 stops, totalling £74 if memory serves me right to charge, o and I had to queue to charge twice.

The company that picked the car up told me that almost every 3rd or 4th car they collect is a Model 3 and always for electrical problems, take from that what you will.

My car was a China car, go figure.

I think too, I recall before buying mine, asking in these very forums if these cars needed constant fettling and from memory, without my blinkers on, I'm sure the answer was a resounding, no, but that has not exactly been the case. More often than not, something needs tweaking, adjusting, reseting every other drive. From the simple things like digital radio not working, to E-Call errors, then the more annoying things like profile settings not saving as they should, climate doing what it wants every now and again, windows not opening or closing properly, over night battery drain would increase every couple of weeks and required a reboot to fix. Repeatedly having to login to Apple Music or the other one (forget what it's called). Side cameras not working when going into reverse, cameras blinded at the slightest thought of some early morning sunshine, car taking control or braking for no reason. All those kind of things, every drive there was some sort of warning.

I think one other thing that I should have mentioned was the fact that these things are everywhere, what was once considered a bit special is now definitely not so.

Anyway, to wrap up again, I'm not sure where I'll go next, if by some curse of the gods, it happens to be a model S, I'll be sure to report back

 

[Toblerone]

mate, Ford mondeo which costs half the price is built much much better than tesla. as mentioned, it is 20k car (read - fiesta, corsa price level) car with 5k for the tablet and infotainment (i would prefer cheaper android auto/car play though) and 20k for battery and another 5k for the motor

They don’t make Mondeo’s anymore. Just saying.

 

[yessuz]

They don’t make Mondeo’s anymore. Just saying.

it was until 2022. it cost half model 3 and built very well.

just sayin