I took LR for an extended test drive after actually placing an order. I really enjoyed the drive but I think not providing vital features that are available on $20K cars is just plain arrogant. I recently turned in my leased E class back to Mercedes and I'm having serious doubts about getting a new car without normal blind spot detection, no front parking camera, no rear cross traffic alert, non-run flat tires without spare, no HUD, etc. In addition, insurance costs almost twice compared to a BMW 3 series which I started to consider. I don't drive much anymore and M3 gas savings won't be material for me. I really wanted M3 but I'm not sure now.
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On the fence
- Thread starter berman2921
- Start date
SpriteM3
Member
Cars are subjective like that and ultimately you're the one driving and you are the one to make that decision for yourself.
I understand what you're saying and I feel the same way. I feel like this car should have come with the option for a HUD and blind spot monitoring. I think birds eye view, homelink and a freaking sunglass holder should have been standard.
That being said, after my first test drive I was willing to overlook all of those things because of the tech and instant torque. 3 months in and I have no regrets, best car I've ever driven and I don't ever want to go back to a ICE car.
I understand what you're saying and I feel the same way. I feel like this car should have come with the option for a HUD and blind spot monitoring. I think birds eye view, homelink and a freaking sunglass holder should have been standard.
That being said, after my first test drive I was willing to overlook all of those things because of the tech and instant torque. 3 months in and I have no regrets, best car I've ever driven and I don't ever want to go back to a ICE car.
NpOverspeed
Member
If you are no longer sure about your decision then you should cancel your order and get a refund. I felt the same way about my RDX so I got rid of it and got the Model 3.
There is absolutely nothing in this post that says you are "on the fence".
This post says " I liked how it drives but hated everything else about the car. Insurance costs too much, and it doesnt come with the features I want".
There is nothing " on the fence" here. It sounds like this car is not for you, and thats perfectly fine. I am a big believer in "every car is not for everyone", so I suggest you go take another look at the 3 series you were considering.
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UncertainTimes
Active Member
Shelburne
Member
You write, "In addition, insurance costs almost twice compared to a BMW 3 series which I started to consider." I keep hearing about the high price of insuring a Tesla. I bought our M3LR in September of 2021. I went to my insurance agent beforehand to look into the price. Yes, my insurance went up a few dollars a month but I am now paying $98.16 a month to insure my M3 and a 14 year old Volvo XC70. Granted, I don't have collision on the XC70 but it's book value is less than $4000. And yes, I do live in a rural, low crime area, but still the cost of insurance went up a whopping $8 per month when I turned in my 3 year old Volvo S60 and bought the Tesla. Then, recently, someone backed into my M3, doing $8260 in damage to the front end. The car is in for repairs now at a Tesla authorized collision center where they are required by Tesla to do everything by Tesla's book and use OEM parts. The insurance company has approved the estimate and even offered me a loaner car for the duration, so I can't complain about poor service. I insure the car thru Mapfre. If they offer insurance in your area, you should check them out.
rpiotro
Active Member
Blind spot detection? It shows surrounding traffic on the screen. Besides, if your mirrors were properly set they would do the job. That's what they are for. I did it wrong for my first 35 years of driving.
Front parking camera? It will show you on the screen exactly how far you are from an object. Not the same but effective.
Rear cross traffic alert? Did you bother looking at the screen when backing up?
No run flats? No thanks. You could just get them own your own.
Insurance? Mine went up $156.00 per year compared to my 2014 Q50 hybrid. There must be something else going on there.
No HUD? Personal preference. I find them distracting.
Tesla is a whole new paradigm. Both in design and the sales and service experience. I think you would be happier to stay in your comfort zone.
Any car is a compromise. Just how big of a compromise is up to the individual. For me, the MY and M3 have major drawbacks compared to other EVs that I considered. No Android Auto/Carplay. No HUD. Non-traditional blind spot detection. Limited tactile interfaces. Crappy customer service and repair networks. Iffy build quality. That's a lot of negatives and compromises, especially for a $50k+ vehicle. BUT my need for 300+ mile range, better performance/efficiency, and Supercharging network won out over the negatives of owning a Tesla MY/M3. Being an EV owner for 5 years prior, I knew that these three requirements were more important than the loss of things like Android Auto and HUD. Time will tell if my decision was for the best...to go full on Tesla for all of my vehicles. I'm happy 2 months into ownership and as long as the cars are reliable, I will likely continue to be.
Hopefully, when I'm in the market for a new EV in a few years, there will be a better selection of 300+ mile range EVs to choose from, with less compromises. At least the OP took a test drive, did some cost analysis, and learned that the M3 might not be the car for them. Too many people judge cars on paper specs only.
Hopefully, when I'm in the market for a new EV in a few years, there will be a better selection of 300+ mile range EVs to choose from, with less compromises. At least the OP took a test drive, did some cost analysis, and learned that the M3 might not be the car for them. Too many people judge cars on paper specs only.
If you aren’t in an immediate rush, suggest looking at the Cadillac Lyriq. It has all the premium features you want, with a luxury interior, AND a full electric drivetrain. Really can’t wait to see one in person.
(This is likely the one thing @jjrandorin and I aren’t in full agreement on. He’s a former BMW guy, and I’m from Team Cadillac.)
(This is likely the one thing @jjrandorin and I aren’t in full agreement on. He’s a former BMW guy, and I’m from Team Cadillac.)
Thank you very much for taking your time and replying to my post. Lots of great points! I'm not sure about the getting a refund suggestion though: I thought $250 deposit was non-refundable. EQS, Taycan, and Lyriq are substantially more than I would like to spend at this point.
This is true, but.... We decided to buy my wifes leased X3 M40 as its lease was expiring, rather than order the new iX from BMW and extend this lease. I certainly would not have bought a 1st gen BMW model anything, so I would have leased the iX, and when I asked my wife if she was interested in the iX, she basically said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (lol).
If I could have "driven down to the dealer and left with the car" she probably would have a new model Y. We still might do that next year sometime /shrug. She only really drives around town here (only 6k miles on that car in 3 years!) so it fits the usage mold well, but there also isnt a lot of "gas savings".
I think the lyric is pretty cool looking, actually, but I im not a fan of caddy's in general, and certainly not enough to go through the dealer purchase process again.
MaskedRacerX
Member
Yeah, our insurance actually went __down)__ vs. a 2019 Mustang GT convertible (~$58K MSRP). Our provider doesn't deviate much in terms of vehicles, I've had 20+ cars with them over 20 years, as well as other personal property - I've even done a number of "What if" quotes, and it's always within ~$10, no matter what, Mustang went from $78/month, to the Tesla at $70/month.
I think some insurance company have whacked out data - or lack of data - about EVs, and Tesla, and I suspect some of that has to do with concern (or unknowns) regarding "repairability".
I was in the same boat
I miss tradition blind spot monitoring. Bird eye view camera. Cross traffic alert.
it does help i learned to drive when none of this existed.
But the power train was worth the trade offs. Honestly if the bmws leased as well as they did pre pandemic I would not have picked the Tesla. But I’m very happy I did
I miss tradition blind spot monitoring. Bird eye view camera. Cross traffic alert.
it does help i learned to drive when none of this existed.
But the power train was worth the trade offs. Honestly if the bmws leased as well as they did pre pandemic I would not have picked the Tesla. But I’m very happy I did
We justify our cars, teams, and loves with logic and specs but that really has little to do with it.
Really what this comes down to is who you are and what you want.
Think of an old drunk guy at a bar thinking he is cool. Slow, belching, farting, gasping, stinking.
He spent extra to have a ICE age car (Internal Combustion Engine) but no one notices.
He drives home in his slow, belching, farting, gasping, stinking BMW, MB, Dodge, or Corvette.
For the next 26 years this car will still be burning down their stupid world.
I am not saying that Tesla owners are cool but many at least seem aware of more than specs.
So let's look at the specs you are asking about.
Blind Spot Detection
Tesla has Blind Spot Detection alerts and shows you onscreen cars, bikes, pedestrians, etc.
See Active Safety Features. Mercedes Benz, BMW, etc. are stuck doing little HUD displays with
limited or no graphics. Their concept cars with big onscreen graphics are months or years away.
Side Collision Warning
Tesla again alerts and shows cross traffic in the Active Safety Features. It also includes
Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, Obstacle Aware Acceleration,
Lane Departure Avoidance, etc. Again, MB, BMW, and the rest are showing concepts.
Tires
You can get all kinds of tire on a Tesla. The ones you would not want are loud run flat tires.
The point of a BMW, MB, Dodge, Corvette, etc. is to be as loud as possible so pick a loud vibrating tire.
Insurance
Insurance costs are about the same or lower for a Tesla compared to a comparable BMW, MB, etc.
State Farm seems to have even better rates for Tesla than Tesla's own insurance.
You left out what to me are the most important features.
Safety
Do you want the safest car? Telsa makes the safest cars by far.
Quick
Do you want the quickest car? The comparable old ICE Age BMW's and MB's are so slow 0-60.
Even their promised concept cars are not as fast at the same price-point as a Tesla today.
It is impossible to accelerate on an onramp in a Tesla and not smile.
Updates
BMW, MB, and the rest promise that someday they will be able to do over the air updates.
Two years ago, InsideEVs found that the Model 3 had 124 key updates in the first 2 years.
One day my Model 3's top end went up by 7 mph. Improved 0-60. Improved 0-60 again.
We got Track Mode, Sentry Mode, Dash Cam (x4), Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, arcade games,
and of course Farting.
How many new features has any other car company installed over the air in the history of the world?
None.
Repairs
ICE Age cars have 30,000 parts. A Telsa does not have an Exhaust, Catalytic Converter,
O2 Sensor, Spark Plugs, Rings, Oil Pump, or thousands of other parts.
Dealers
BMW, MB, and the rest force you go to dealers. That's were the old guy at the bar works.
But to me maybe the key thing you said is that the consequences of a gas car aren't "material" to you.
I think that alone says where you are.
Really what this comes down to is who you are and what you want.
Think of an old drunk guy at a bar thinking he is cool. Slow, belching, farting, gasping, stinking.
He spent extra to have a ICE age car (Internal Combustion Engine) but no one notices.
He drives home in his slow, belching, farting, gasping, stinking BMW, MB, Dodge, or Corvette.
For the next 26 years this car will still be burning down their stupid world.
I am not saying that Tesla owners are cool but many at least seem aware of more than specs.
So let's look at the specs you are asking about.
Blind Spot Detection
Tesla has Blind Spot Detection alerts and shows you onscreen cars, bikes, pedestrians, etc.
See Active Safety Features. Mercedes Benz, BMW, etc. are stuck doing little HUD displays with
limited or no graphics. Their concept cars with big onscreen graphics are months or years away.
Side Collision Warning
Tesla again alerts and shows cross traffic in the Active Safety Features. It also includes
Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, Obstacle Aware Acceleration,
Lane Departure Avoidance, etc. Again, MB, BMW, and the rest are showing concepts.
Tires
You can get all kinds of tire on a Tesla. The ones you would not want are loud run flat tires.
The point of a BMW, MB, Dodge, Corvette, etc. is to be as loud as possible so pick a loud vibrating tire.
Insurance
Insurance costs are about the same or lower for a Tesla compared to a comparable BMW, MB, etc.
State Farm seems to have even better rates for Tesla than Tesla's own insurance.
You left out what to me are the most important features.
Safety
Do you want the safest car? Telsa makes the safest cars by far.
Quick
Do you want the quickest car? The comparable old ICE Age BMW's and MB's are so slow 0-60.
Even their promised concept cars are not as fast at the same price-point as a Tesla today.
It is impossible to accelerate on an onramp in a Tesla and not smile.
Updates
BMW, MB, and the rest promise that someday they will be able to do over the air updates.
Two years ago, InsideEVs found that the Model 3 had 124 key updates in the first 2 years.
One day my Model 3's top end went up by 7 mph. Improved 0-60. Improved 0-60 again.
We got Track Mode, Sentry Mode, Dash Cam (x4), Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, arcade games,
and of course Farting.
How many new features has any other car company installed over the air in the history of the world?
None.
Repairs
ICE Age cars have 30,000 parts. A Telsa does not have an Exhaust, Catalytic Converter,
O2 Sensor, Spark Plugs, Rings, Oil Pump, or thousands of other parts.
Dealers
BMW, MB, and the rest force you go to dealers. That's were the old guy at the bar works.
But to me maybe the key thing you said is that the consequences of a gas car aren't "material" to you.
I think that alone says where you are.
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My Mustang had sequential rear turn signals. How come the "advanced" turn signals are not on my Tesla.
These are kind of First World problems that people get hung up on.
Tesla is working towards FSD and is producing their cars with the sensors and technology to go in this direction. Birds Eye sensors do not work as the Tesla sensors are tuned for FSD instead. Buyers have to decide which is more important to them.
Tesla also has World Class safety and crash protection. Would not give up that to buy an Import with birds eye.
Run Flat tires suck for ride quality, performance and price.
These are kind of First World problems that people get hung up on.
Tesla is working towards FSD and is producing their cars with the sensors and technology to go in this direction. Birds Eye sensors do not work as the Tesla sensors are tuned for FSD instead. Buyers have to decide which is more important to them.
Tesla also has World Class safety and crash protection. Would not give up that to buy an Import with birds eye.
Run Flat tires suck for ride quality, performance and price.
There are other EVs now that have these features, and have at least decent range (maybe less than M3LR though).
If you're willing to forgo the supercharger network, and Tesla's EV feature list, go out and test drive a bunch more EVs. You might find just the one for you!
For me the supercharger network and other things make Tesla still tops for an EV for me. I also never owned a fancy ICE car with those features, so that probably helps.
After having an EV for many years, no way do I ever want to go back to ICE for a daily driver, not even if the ICE was loaded with fancier features. A good EV is just so much nicer day-to-day. Just my opinion/experience.Thanks for more thoughtful replies, guys. Most likely, I will give M3 a chance and get it. I can always sell it down the road if I'm unhappy with it. Again, I really really liked how it drives. My insurance co is Geico and I got a $1,600 annual quote for M3 compared to $1k I paid for my much more expensive Mercedes.
As a side note, I ordered M3 in white but now I see that with the latest price bump grey became a standard color too. I will call Tesla tomorrow and ask if I can switch to grey for no fee which I doubt. Is the white multicoat paint somewhat more durable than the grey one?
As a side note, I ordered M3 in white but now I see that with the latest price bump grey became a standard color too. I will call Tesla tomorrow and ask if I can switch to grey for no fee which I doubt. Is the white multicoat paint somewhat more durable than the grey one?
Geico is notorious for overpricing Tesla insurance. I’d suggest (as much of a pain as it is!) maybe shopping around? When I replaced my Cadillac with Model 3, my insurance premium went down about $100/year. That’s with State Farm.
Durability on the paint is the same between colors; no difference there. I have no issue at all with paint on my Model 3 or X. Both have a couple small chips and such but that’s what happens when you drive a car around here. More than happy with the Pearl White. (And yes, I paid extra for it on the Model 3 — by the time we bought the X, it was the “free” color. I just happen to like it.)
Geico is your problem. I'd been with them for 20 years, never had a ticket, over 40, etc. And they wanted almost an extra $1k per year to add my M3. Priced around and found that both Progressive and Travelers were offering about the same price for the same coverage as I was paying Geico before adding the M3. Geico does not want to insure Teslas and more or less wants you to switch if you aren't willing to eat a big increase in premiums.
Same situation with me. I dropped Geico in favor of Progressive and my cost went down significantly.
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