I took delivery of a Model 3 LR AWD yesterday. Identified none of the faults you did. But the centre console will be getting a matt wrap, as fingerprints and scratches on it are a known weakness.I was at a meeting in MK today which finished early so I popped into the Tesla store there. I have an M3 on order (LR AWD). I took a test drive before ordering but, as with all test drives, it rushed past. So, I wanted to sit in the 3 for a little while and get a bit more acquainted. I walked away a bit disappointed...
The car on display was a LHD Euro market model. There was no RHD Model 3 there. I don't know how long it had been in the showroom (only 12 miles on the clock so no road use), but:
On the positive side:
- The state of the interior was awful. There were bits of trim falling off the B pillar (I could see all the wires hidden behind it), the black plastic trim on the centre console was covered in fingerprints, had scratches in many places and was slightly misaligned. The seats (white) were looking pretty soiled, the mucket trims were badly scratched and scuffed, and the underneath of the front seats were pretty chewed up - presumably from people sitting in the rear. Now I appreciate that it probably gets lots of people jumping in and out to try it for size etc - but I was pretty disappointed in its state nonetheless.
- The driver's door was misaligned. It wouldn't close properly without a really good shove and it dropped visibly when it was opened.
- I wanted to try out the bluetooth pairing but despite being there about 30-40 mins, there was NO ONE from Tesla in the store. It was like the Marie Celeste. Maybe that explains why the interior of the 3 was in such a state - no TLC for the display models.
- I paid a bit more attention to the interior than on the test drive. It's certainly not bad, but I was definitely thinking closer to "Renault" rather than "Audi". Getting back into my 2010 Audi TT to drive home, my impressions were confirmed - the Audi just feels more meaty - nicer door closing thunk, softer-touch surfaces, less flex when pushing on interior panels, ... that sort of thing. I'm not saying that the Tesla is bad - just a bit disappointing for a £50k car.
So, I'm still in the tent, but I can't help feeling a bit down by the experience. I'm looking for re-assurance!
- The tech really is nice. Very intuitive UI. I'm sure I'll adapt very well to it.
- The seats feel very comfy.
- It does look nice (even though it was the grey - not personally my favourite colour).
- Audio quality from the sound system was excellent.
- There weren't many other people browsing - mostly mums getting dragged in by their kids to sit in the "cool" car and play with the tech (maybe this helps to explain the state of the interior). All the kids without exception were really excited about the 3 - I couldn't imagine them being the same with a BMW etc. The car definitely projects a different image.
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Not re-assured...
- Thread starter pdk42
- Start date
I was at a meeting in MK today which finished early so I popped into the Tesla store there. I have an M3 on order (LR AWD). I took a test drive before ordering but, as with all test drives, it rushed past. So, I wanted to sit in the 3 for a little while and get a bit more acquainted. I walked away a bit disappointed...
The car on display was a LHD Euro market model. There was no RHD Model 3 there. I don't know how long it had been in the showroom (only 12 miles on the clock so no road use), but:
On the positive side:
- The state of the interior was awful. There were bits of trim falling off the B pillar (I could see all the wires hidden behind it), the black plastic trim on the centre console was covered in fingerprints, had scratches in many places and was slightly misaligned. The seats (white) were looking pretty soiled, the mucket trims were badly scratched and scuffed, and the underneath of the front seats were pretty chewed up - presumably from people sitting in the rear. Now I appreciate that it probably gets lots of people jumping in and out to try it for size etc - but I was pretty disappointed in its state nonetheless.
- The driver's door was misaligned. It wouldn't close properly without a really good shove and it dropped visibly when it was opened.
- I wanted to try out the bluetooth pairing but despite being there about 30-40 mins, there was NO ONE from Tesla in the store. It was like the Marie Celeste. Maybe that explains why the interior of the 3 was in such a state - no TLC for the display models.
- I paid a bit more attention to the interior than on the test drive. It's certainly not bad, but I was definitely thinking closer to "Renault" rather than "Audi". Getting back into my 2010 Audi TT to drive home, my impressions were confirmed - the Audi just feels more meaty - nicer door closing thunk, softer-touch surfaces, less flex when pushing on interior panels, ... that sort of thing. I'm not saying that the Tesla is bad - just a bit disappointing for a £50k car.
So, I'm still in the tent, but I can't help feeling a bit down by the experience. I'm looking for re-assurance!
- The tech really is nice. Very intuitive UI. I'm sure I'll adapt very well to it.
- The seats feel very comfy.
- It does look nice (even though it was the grey - not personally my favourite colour).
- Audio quality from the sound system was excellent.
- There weren't many other people browsing - mostly mums getting dragged in by their kids to sit in the "cool" car and play with the tech (maybe this helps to explain the state of the interior). All the kids without exception were really excited about the 3 - I couldn't imagine them being the same with a BMW etc. The car definitely projects a different image.
I get what your saying. got a P100D Model S, and the interior is not the same finish as say... my Volvo XC90, but the tech does make up for it in a lot of ways.
So how are first impressions? Still feeling like the right choice? What is it replacing?
I saw no defects at handover other than a little scrape on the rough plastic at the back of the driver's seat, so visible only to a rear passenger, and utterly trivial. However I then took the car straight to a guy in Edinburgh for a (4 layer) ceramic coating treatment, and won't get it back until Monday night (sigh!). The guy gave the paint the once over (to assess need for paint correction) and said it seemed pretty good, not totally perfect but considerably better than the Mazda MX5 that had been in before me.
I will know more next week.
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