My Tesla Model 3P @ 6 months - the HORROR!!! ;-)

[Zcd1]

As predicted by the many Tesla naysayers, mine has been an absolutely horrific ownership experience thus far (@ 5K miles):

-Not a single issue or problem to bitch about.
-The car is both faster AND smarter than the day I bought it.
-Musk said it would be faster around a track than an M3, and he was proven right!
-Handling is similar to the top-spec European competitors, though the retail price is 20+% lower than any of them.
-The audio system is among the best I've heard in any vehicle, despite no brand name on any of the components.
-Front seats are amazingly comfortable.
-SO smooth and quiet.
-Fantastic visibility - hood drops away dramatically, and the fenders lend it a 911-like view of the road.
-Road-tripped 400 miles to Northern Michigan today, and the 2 Supercharging stops required less than 25 minutes in total. I lunched during the first stop and did my grocery-shopping during the second. 6:50 door-to-door including the stops, or just about on par with the time generally required in our ICE vehicles..
-The "limited" auto-pilot function makes long-distance highway driving much less fatiguing.
-Zero maintenance required - now or really ever.
-It feels like it was hewn from a solid steel ingot.

AND, it's more fun to drive than any car I've ever owned.

Horrific, indeed. ;-)

 

[jmaddr]

Well said. I couldn’t agree with you more about being the best car out there. It is such a joy to drive.

I will disagree on just three things:
- I really dislike the seats. Yes, they are EXTREMELY comfortable but the side support is just horrific for what this car is capable. I know I’m in the minority here but anyone who has owned a German performance sedan will have to agree. They are not suited for the performance version.
- The sound system is good, but not as good as my 2013 B&O S5. The bass is lacking at higher volumes and I constantly need to adjust the volume to hear as the speeds increase.
- The handling is incredible, no doubt. Certainly on par with my prior stock M3s and S5. Still, I think it rides too “squishy” in quick maneuvers. Coilovers are going to be an investment for me.

A few other things like low tech mobile phone integration and no factory black package would be nice (and a way to get more money from me if offered).

But all in all, extremely reliable for me too. First vehicle I’ve taken out “just for the thrill of driving” in quite a long time. The nitpicks above are personal and not everyone will agree (obviously).

 

[Leopold Stotch]

I dislike click-bait headlines. Except for this one!

 

[Zcd1]

Well said. I couldn’t agree with you more about being the best car out there. It is such a joy to drive.

- I really dislike the seats. Yes, they are EXTREMELY comfortable but the side support is just horrific for what this car is capable. I know I’m in the minority here but anyone who has owned a German performance sedan will have to agree. They are not suited for the performance version.

Regarding the seats - No doubt they won't be great on a track, but for everyday driving, comfort is the most important aspect for me and they absolutely ACE that test, as you said.

FWIW, my previous 2 vehicles were an Audi S4 and an Audi S6. Those seats' bolstering was better, but still not really adequate for track use, and neither was as comfortable in daily driving. Tradeoffs, as always.

First vehicle I’ve taken out “just for the thrill of driving” in quite a long time...

Agreed 100%.

 

[Jaguar]

As predicted by the many Tesla naysayers, mine has been an absolutely horrific ownership experience thus far (@ 5K miles):

-Not a single issue or problem to bitch about.
-The car is both faster AND smarter than the day I bought it.
-Musk said it would be faster around a track than an M3, and he was proven right!
-Handling is similar to the top-spec European competitors, though the retail price is 20+% lower than any of them.
-The audio system is among the best I've heard in any vehicle, despite no brand name on any of the components.
-Front seats are amazingly comfortable.
-SO smooth and quiet.
-Fantastic visibility - hood drops away dramatically, and the fenders lend it a 911-like view of the road.
-Road-tripped 400 miles to Northern Michigan today, and the 2 Supercharging stops required less than 25 minutes in total. I lunched during the first stop and did my grocery-shopping during the second. 6:50 door-to-door including the stops, or just about on par with the time generally required in our ICE vehicles..
-The "limited" auto-pilot function makes long-distance highway driving much less fatiguing.
-Zero maintenance required - now or really ever.
-It feels like it was hewn from a solid steel ingot.

AND, it's more fun to drive than any car I've ever owned.

Horrific, indeed. ;-)

I share all your "complaints".

 

[SmartElectric]

the side support is just horrific for what this car is capable

Alternative methods of securing yourself securely to a vehicle could be termed horrific, but the seats in the 3, no, that's not the right term to describe them.
Ref:

 

[Nocturnal]

August delivery here. Almost 10 months, 17k miles. 2 road course days (I did toast my front pads) and 1 drag racing day.

Issue at delivery - scratched steering wheel cover, Tesla fixed shortly after and pointed it out to me.

Repairs
Steering control module. Onboard charger. Both fixed in about a day, no problems.

Cracked windshield due to a rock chip (thanks Safelight for fully cracking it). Took about 2 weeks to get it replaced.

A++++ would buy again. I especially love having a performance car that get's super high fuel economy. No more deciding between wasting gas money and actually driving like a goof.

- I really dislike the seats. Yes, they are EXTREMELY comfortable but the side support is just horrific for what this car is capable. I know I’m in the minority here but anyone who has owned a German performance sedan will have to agree. They are not suited for the performance version.

+1, super comfortable seats, but side bolsters are not enough, even with spirited street driving. My 2007 335i seats weren't nearly as comfortable, but the bolsters really hugged me properly. If the seats secured the driver better I think the entire car would feel more stable.

My only other complaint is lack of differentiation between performance and regular models. Not a big deal, but some more aggressive styling would be appreciated. ​

 

[aspec818]

looks great. but still can't get over how big of a monster truck wheel gap the stock 3's come with.

 

[edigest]

Hear! Hear!

Adding one to the list. Before: hated "road trips." Now: where to go this week?

 

[TechVP]

Quick! Follow nay sayers and sell all your stock..... so we can say thank you, and we all can buy more at a great price.
Living the dream. Performance and Practicality!

[Toasted a Mazda Rx8 off the line today while he was too busy shifting gears ... I used to love the RX series.... ]
TechVP

 

[FlyNavy01]

Quick! Follow nay sayers and sell all your stock..... so we can say thank you, and we all can buy more at a great price.
Living the dream. Performance and Practicality!

[Toasted a Mazda Rx8 off the line today while he was too busy shifting gears ... I used to love the RX series.... ]
TechVP

RX-8's are actually quite slow off the line due to their weird rotary engine power curve (I owned one for 10 years before my Model 3).

Screaming up to 9,000rpm through twisty mountain roads was where it shined

 

[SleeperService]

I have all the same complaints! I'm so angry right now!

Seriously though, I have to 10000x echo that I LOOOOVE having a car with this performance that has at LEAST 2x the efficiency of cars that have 1/10th of the performance. Best of all worlds for me. 16k miles since end of September. I can only imagine how much gas I would have burned and maintenance expenses incurred if I'd bought another car with roughly the same performance that WASN'T a Tesla.

 

[ChadS]

I have had my 3P for 7 months and 8k miles, and I agree completely with the OP on every item except one: this isn't the most fun-to-drive car I have ever had. It comes in second to the Tesla Roadster I used to have.

But, hey, the 3P is pretty close - and it's quicker, a lot cheaper, a lot more comfortable, and more practical in about a zillion ways.

 

[Triplett]

Love the car but nothing can come close to replacing the adaptive bolsters on my sl550...they literally hug you when they corner and then adjust back to normal after the turn is complete.

 

[Pete_in_FL]

As predicted by the many Tesla naysayers, mine has been an absolutely horrific ownership experience thus far (@ 5K miles):

-Not a single issue or problem to bitch about.
-The car is both faster AND smarter than the day I bought it.
-Musk said it would be faster around a track than an M3, and he was proven right!
-Handling is similar to the top-spec European competitors, though the retail price is 20+% lower than any of them.
-The audio system is among the best I've heard in any vehicle, despite no brand name on any of the components.
-Front seats are amazingly comfortable.
-SO smooth and quiet.
-Fantastic visibility - hood drops away dramatically, and the fenders lend it a 911-like view of the road.
-Road-tripped 400 miles to Northern Michigan today, and the 2 Supercharging stops required less than 25 minutes in total. I lunched during the first stop and did my grocery-shopping during the second. 6:50 door-to-door including the stops, or just about on par with the time generally required in our ICE vehicles..
-The "limited" auto-pilot function makes long-distance highway driving much less fatiguing.
-Zero maintenance required - now or really ever.
-It feels like it was hewn from a solid steel ingot.

AND, it's more fun to drive than any car I've ever owned.

Horrific, indeed. ;-)

While I only have the Mid-range version, the Model 3 of loads of fun to drive all the time. Love the instant torque and responsive handling and steering. As a long-time Porsche 911 owner, I really enjoy having such a fun daily driver.

My only complaints are the lack of an speed-variable volume control on the outstanding radio, and the high level of road noise at anything higher than local city street driving. It gets pretty wearing after a while - when riding with others, you can only turn up the radio so much to try to drown it out.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

I have had my 3P for 7 months and 8k miles, and I agree completely with the OP on every item except one: this isn't the most fun-to-drive car I have ever had. It comes in second to the Tesla Roadster I used to have.

But, hey, the 3P is pretty close - and it's quicker, a lot cheaper, a lot more comfortable, and more practical in about a zillion ways.

Buy a used Elise.

The BMW is being replaced with a model 3 Performance. It’s on its way to Texas now (we’ll hopefully tomorrow it will start its journey).

 

[Mhycki]

ZCD1 .. just wondering about your actual trip up north .. I live in the Detroit Metro area and love going up north but have been a little reluctant do to charging. Where did you charge on the way ? What are did you visit and how did you charge while there and how long were you there? Just wondering how to coordinate a trip up there and staying a few days .. any suggestions would be great

Thanks

Mike

 

[barmach]

I've had mine for two weeks now, and it has been true love since the start. It has ruined me for other cars. I don't think I could drive anything but a Tesla ever again.

 

[billh13850]

I'm 10 months and a hair under 11,000 miles in on my LR RWD 3, have had my share of glitches but the recent downloads have greatly improved those (as well as improved the wiper function).

Maintenance costs so far: 2 gallons of windshield wiper fluid and 2 rotations / snow tire swaps.

 

[Timbuk2000]

16 months in Model 3 LR RWD. A true joy to drive. I had a Model X before it so I really appreciate the value and quality of the Model 3. Well done Tesla Motors!