My reasons behind choosing a M3

[atuk]

Reading through page after page of content in this forum, I feel that my requirements from a car are somewhat different and rather simplistic than most people's.

Mine will be a company car, replacing my current Audi A4 Diesel. I am a massive petrolhead and love everything with an engine ... cars, motorbikes, planes, F1, etc. But I also love innovation and follow Tesla's story since their start. I didn't think I would choose an electric car yet as my next vehicle because I was worried about range since I use it daily, and my daily journeys pre- and post Covid can be as high as 200m.

But then I arranged a test drive, mainly out of interest. In all honesty, this is what convinced me. I went for the LR which should be able to do my daily journey on one charge even in Winter. Now for my requirements:

• Company Car Tax ... Audi was a few hundred quid per month, M3 will barely be anything.
• Power from an EV
• Sound system
  
• Fuel cost (for the company). Massively reduced. Also my own as I pay for private mileage, can charge with wallbox at 5p.
  
• Modern feel, screen, minimalistic.
• External noise and stink (lack of) ... I love engines but only when they are properly set up. I hate cars that just have a loud squeel as an engine sound, driven by idiots, stinking like a coal factory. Can't wait for them all to disappear.
  
• Looks ... I like the M3 but I am also not too fussed as long as it isn't ugly.
• Autopilot ... self driving is a good idea but I don't need it until EVERY car has it. Until then I am happy with standard cruise control and distance radar. I don't need lane keeping, steering isn't a problem but letting the car slow down when I fail to spot danger is good (also, comfort in just following someong through roadworks etc). I had a Skoda once that did exactly that, keep the speed and keet the distance, I do the rest.
  
• Panel gaps, paint, etc ... not too fussed. As long as it is reasonably good and can be fixed later, I'm fine with this. A car is a commodity after all, a workhorse. It will be driven every day and will show some signs of use.
• Excessive washing ... I will look after my car and clean it too as I like the look of a clean car. But it will be a normal "snow foam, rinse off, quick 2-bucket wash, rinse, dry with leafblower" process ... done, it'll rain after a few hours anyway. And if I can't be bothered it will stay dirty for a bit longer.
• Dealer experience ... a big deal for me. I had cars from most of the German manufacturers. Every time I had to go for a service, repair, etc I felt looked down upon. Just because my car is an A4 and not an A8? Just because I haven't already bought 7 BMWs from that one salesperson? I also considered the GLC and went to the dealership to discuss, wasn't even greated with a "hello", just "have you got an appointment?". In my opinion they are all snobby, I don't need that. If I can have a remote fix, or a drop off / pick up situation ... let's have it.

I will get the M3 in Mid March. If it isn't a total wreck, I am happy. I am certainly looking forward to it. For me, the benefits of low tax, power and sound (music, internally) outweigh everything else.

 

[ACarneiro]

That last point is very interesting and probably merits an email to the manager of that dealership.
They’ll all be struggling to exist and that sort of attitude won’t help them at all.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Having owned both BMW and Mercedes cars in the past I can confirm that their dealerships that I dealt with didn't seem to be great in terms of customer service. Not sure why, either, and if I had to compare the two I'd say that our local Mercedes dealer is marginally worse than the BMW dealer. The latter got a bit better when the Mini came out, perhaps because the Mini attracts a "different" sort of customer.

One thing positive about Tesla is that I've always found the Service Centre staff to be great and very helpful. Only downside is that the car should never have needed to be returned to the SC several times to get things fixed that should have been put right before delivery, IMHO.

 

[Peteski]

One quick test drive in a Tesla MX (and a second longer weekend test with the family) was enough to convince me of the advantages of a Tesla EV. I did also test a hybrid equivalent Volvo XC90 and it didn’t come close to the MX in any regard that matters to me.

Three years later we still have the MX and a M3 as a second car. Both are great. All the performance you could ever need in a daily drive, great sound systems, spacious cabins, low running costs and modern minimalist styling. The odd time I’m forced to drive an ordinary ICE it feels like something out of the last century. There’s no going back for me.

 

[Mr Miserable]

I was a bit nervous after ordering the Model 3 and often wondered whether I done the right thing.
I made lists, spreadsheets, planned frequent journeys on ABRP and checked my Tesla account several times a day (hour) to see if there were any updates. Sound familiar?
Relax! You've proably made a good decision. I certainly don't regret it!
(I am actually relieved I didn't go for the iPace)
The wait is frustrating but worth it in the end.

 

[HenryT]

That last point is very interesting and probably merits an email to the manager of that dealership.
They’ll all be struggling to exist and that sort of attitude won’t help them at all.

Surprisingly common problem.

We had a similar experience when buying an ID.3. Took a test drive, reflected on it for a couple of days and decided to go ahead with the deal. Called the dealership and asked to speak to the salesman 'about the test drive we had on Monday' - no call. Called a second time and left a message for the sales manager (not available either) to call us 'about an order' - no call. In the event we went to another dealer further away who couldn't have done more for us, even gave us an upgrade to a car with a heatpump for £100.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

On your company fuel cost, you can only claim 4p per mile if its a company car and by your maths it will cost 5p (assuming per mile, my electricity cost is around 13p/kwh, I struggle to get 3 miles per kwh so would be about right) to charge at home, and much more if you supercharge or use other rapid chargers, so you're at least 1p down per mile driven for the company. Personally its not worth worrying about but it depends how tight your maths is

Everyone's experience of dealerships is different,. I've had good and bad at Audi, BMW, I've had willing people at Tesla but often let down by corporate attitude and chronic record keeping. There's nothing magical about the staff, most of them come form other brands of car, but when you're told the reason why your AP steering has started to throw you off the road every time you engage it is down to having a wheel alignment done 6k miles previously so its not covered by warranty you do start to question what's going on.

 

[ACarneiro]

Surprisingly common problem.

We had a similar experience when buying an ID.3. Took a test drive, reflected on it for a couple of days and decided to go ahead with the deal. Called the dealership and asked to speak to the salesman 'about the test drive we had on Monday' - no call. Called a second time and left a message for the sales manager (not available either) to call us 'about an order' - no call. In the event we went to another dealer further away who couldn't have done more for us, even gave us an upgrade to a car with a heatpump for £100.

Definitely go to the first one and tell them “I bought from the bloke down the road”.
Not only will it make you feel better but also might help remind them of who’s actually providing a service to whom.

 

[Jagdipa]

One other thing is the dreaded MOT and servicing. It was like a lottery for me and my BMW. Would it be £200/£300/£600 this time?

 

[Cardo]

Definitely go to the first one and tell them “I bought from the bloke down the road”.
Not only will it make you feel better but also might help remind them of who’s actually providing a service to whom.

No point telling the uncaring staff, better to email the manager/owner so they’re aware what their staff are costing them.

 

[HenryT]

Definitely go to the first one and tell them “I bought from the bloke down the road”.
Not only will it make you feel better but also might help remind them of who’s actually providing a service to whom.

We did - we took it to the first one for the software update.

 

[Dilly]

LR is a good all round choice. Best range driven carefully, discrete family car, eye watering acceleration!
I’ve had many petrol and diesel cars over the years. Went to hybrid, PHEV, EV and now on second EV.
I run mostly on solar power so dirt cheap to run. My 2076 miles to date has cost the princely sum of £3.62.

 

[Yachtsman]

Surprisingly common problem.

We had a similar experience when buying an ID.3. Took a test drive, reflected on it for a couple of days and decided to go ahead with the deal. Called the dealership and asked to speak to the salesman 'about the test drive we had on Monday' - no call. Called a second time and left a message for the sales manager (not available either) to call us 'about an order' - no call. In the event we went to another dealer further away who couldn't have done more for us, even gave us an upgrade to a car with a heatpump for £100.

I had a very similar experience when buying my last bmw. I test drove a 430d xdrive from one main dealer after spending a good hour or so discussing & negotiating the trade in of my Alpina.
Upon return the sales rep wasn't available so I asked to be called. Two days later still no call so i called, still not available so I asked for the sales manager, also not available.
Two more days & no reply so i visited the next nearest dealer & ordered my new 330d xdrive after being treated like a prince.

 

[SpareHeadOne]

I was a bit nervous after ordering the Model 3 and often wondered whether I done the right thing.
I made lists, spreadsheets, planned frequent journeys on ABRP and checked my Tesla account several times a day (hour) to see if there were any updates. Sound familiar?
Relax! You've proably made a good decision. I certainly don't regret it!
(I am actually relieved I didn't go for the iPace)
The wait is frustrating but worth it in the end.

That's weird, you appear to be me.

 

[pdk42]

That's weird, you appear to be me.

Me too. Are we in some sort of quantum superposition?

 

[Sparkeur]

This is me, most days.

 

[toshman]

Great post by the OP. Good points / reasons. Logical. I relate to all the points and like others the last one. What is it with premium car dealerships these days?? I used to love going to the BMW dealership when I took my car in for service or to get parts / accessories. The staff would chat and ask about the car etc. Fun times. Hasn't been like that for years. Now they're all pompous ass-wipes. I found the whole Tesla experience to be both a joy and relief.

 

[Dilly]

How long before I can get new Tesla tomorrow on Amazon Prime...

 

[LukeUK]

I'm in a very similar situation, company car, often need to drive 200-300 miles in a single day.

I've had my M3 LR since June and I don't regret it at all. Okay, my mileage is down a fair bit at the moment, but when I am on site, it's still a 200ish mile journey each way.

With Octopus Go, my day-to-day costs are around 2p - 3p a mile at the moment, short journeys, cold battery. In the summer, this is < 2p/mile.

Supercharging, or any other public charging, puts a big dent in the 4p/mile mileage claim, but I'm not that fussed, especially when I can offset it with free charging often - car parks and hotels etc.

 

[Yachtsman]

How long before I can get new Tesla tomorrow on Amazon Prime...

Next day delivery if ordered before 9pm.