Hi all,
I've been an avid reader here for a while, and I'm now seriously considering buying a Model 3, but am finding things a bit frustrating. I live in West Wiltshire, and currently drive a BMW i3, and before that a succession of Toyota Hybrids, the last one being a plug in that I ran for 5 years, so I'm already a pretty confirmed EV person.
I was seriously thinking of buying a VW ID.3, and placed a deposit down several months ago, but having seen the reveal at Frankfurt there are aspects of the design that I'm just not happy with. I've always loved to the look of the Model 3, but on a point of principle I wasn't going to buy an EV that attracted the punitive luxury car VED (really just because I've not paid VED for many years and see no need to start now!).
I'm retired and always buy cars outright, and usually keep them for several years (the i3 will be an exception, as it was always bought as a stop gap car, and is really too small for our needs). Now that the Model 3 SR+ price has come down below the luxury VED threshold (as long as I don't opt for any added cost options), I'm seriously considering buying one.
This is where I'm struggling a bit. The Tesla website seems really difficult to access. We don't have a fast broadband connection, and the Tesla website seems to always just stall, I think because it's trying to load lots of video. I've looked around several other sites, and read some magazine reviews, to try and pin down the exact specification for the SR+ in UK spec, but have found that there are some conflicting specs around and it's not clear what is and is not included in the base model specification.
I'd also really like to see a Model 3 "in the flesh" before committing to ordering. Not too fussed about a test drive, as I drove a Model S whilst on holiday a couple of years ago, so have a pretty good idea of what to expect. It seems that the nearest place I can go to see one is ~70 miles away (Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, I think, although I've not been able to confirm that), which seems a long way to drive just to look at a car to me. Every other new car I've bought I've just had to pop into a nearby dealer to get the specifications, have a look around, etc. It seems that this isn't the way Tesla operates, which is a bit of a nuisance, as a potential customer.
Finally, as well as having a pretty slow broadband connection here, we also have no mobile 'phone coverage. This does cause some difficulties with the Connected Drive system on the i3 not working at home, so would I be right in saying that it's likely to give the same sort of problems with the Model 3, or is it likely that there may be more serious issues if the car cannot connect to the internet for long periods?
If anyone could point me towards a source of accurate, easy to access (i.e. low internet bandwidth!), information on the Model 3, preferably with detailed specifications as to exactly what is and is not included on the SR+ model, then I would be very grateful.
I've been an avid reader here for a while, and I'm now seriously considering buying a Model 3, but am finding things a bit frustrating. I live in West Wiltshire, and currently drive a BMW i3, and before that a succession of Toyota Hybrids, the last one being a plug in that I ran for 5 years, so I'm already a pretty confirmed EV person.
I was seriously thinking of buying a VW ID.3, and placed a deposit down several months ago, but having seen the reveal at Frankfurt there are aspects of the design that I'm just not happy with. I've always loved to the look of the Model 3, but on a point of principle I wasn't going to buy an EV that attracted the punitive luxury car VED (really just because I've not paid VED for many years and see no need to start now!).
I'm retired and always buy cars outright, and usually keep them for several years (the i3 will be an exception, as it was always bought as a stop gap car, and is really too small for our needs). Now that the Model 3 SR+ price has come down below the luxury VED threshold (as long as I don't opt for any added cost options), I'm seriously considering buying one.
This is where I'm struggling a bit. The Tesla website seems really difficult to access. We don't have a fast broadband connection, and the Tesla website seems to always just stall, I think because it's trying to load lots of video. I've looked around several other sites, and read some magazine reviews, to try and pin down the exact specification for the SR+ in UK spec, but have found that there are some conflicting specs around and it's not clear what is and is not included in the base model specification.
I'd also really like to see a Model 3 "in the flesh" before committing to ordering. Not too fussed about a test drive, as I drove a Model S whilst on holiday a couple of years ago, so have a pretty good idea of what to expect. It seems that the nearest place I can go to see one is ~70 miles away (Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, I think, although I've not been able to confirm that), which seems a long way to drive just to look at a car to me. Every other new car I've bought I've just had to pop into a nearby dealer to get the specifications, have a look around, etc. It seems that this isn't the way Tesla operates, which is a bit of a nuisance, as a potential customer.
Finally, as well as having a pretty slow broadband connection here, we also have no mobile 'phone coverage. This does cause some difficulties with the Connected Drive system on the i3 not working at home, so would I be right in saying that it's likely to give the same sort of problems with the Model 3, or is it likely that there may be more serious issues if the car cannot connect to the internet for long periods?
If anyone could point me towards a source of accurate, easy to access (i.e. low internet bandwidth!), information on the Model 3, preferably with detailed specifications as to exactly what is and is not included on the SR+ model, then I would be very grateful.