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OT posts from Q3 collection and delivery experiences [closing soon]

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My blue LR came with loads of swirls. Don't pay silly money to get it fixed. My local detailer quoted £250 for polish and sealant.
If you can get it fully detailed and corrected for £250 I defo would. I was going to bring up the swirls in mine when it’s back tomorrow but the good old Scottish weather is going to be raining so they won’t be obviously. 🤦🏻‍♂️I’ll take along a LED light to see if I can show them up…..
 
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Dam autocorrect! That should have been set to START charging at 5 mins past midnight.
I can only set for 15 intervals, is it possible to select 5 mins?

still not convinced I am going to get a charge tonight
1. removed the restriction on 12-5 charging from charger
2. opened charger to anytime with no requirement for rfid or other authentification
3. Connect cable to charger and then to car
4. got in car message saying car not connected try another charger.
5 app says the car is connected
6 set start timer to 12:00
7. set limit to 80%
8 left car and locked it
9 screen indicated it was ready to charge

i have managed to manually charge during the day which of course is 6 times the price,

see what happens tonight.

thanks for all the help
 
I can only set for 15 intervals, is it possible to select 5 mins?

still not convinced I am going to get a charge tonight
1. removed the restriction on 12-5 charging from charger
2. opened charger to anytime with no requirement for rfid or other authentification
3. Connect cable to charger and then to car
4. got in car message saying car not connected try another charger.
5 app says the car is connected
6 set start timer to 12:00
7. set limit to 80%
8 left car and locked it
9 screen indicated it was ready to charge

i have managed to manually charge during the day which of course is 6 times the price,

see what happens tonight.

thanks for all the help
It’s now 1:00 am
it is still not charging
the charger end says cable connected
the car says cable connected
the car says can’t charge sue to no power at charger
no schedules set on car
charge anytime set on charger
plug my wife’s car in and it charges
arrrrgh
 
It’s now 1:00 am
it is still not charging
the charger end says cable connected
the car says cable connected
the car says can’t charge sue to no power at charger
no schedules set on car
charge anytime set on charger
plug my wife’s car in and it charges
arrrrgh
The charger says cable plugged in now plug in to car
i have managed to get it charging twice but can’t say how I did it - it took over 30 minutes of plug in and out and timers on off several times.
I think it could be a faulty cable. Cable not locking in at the charger end
 
The charger says cable plugged in now plug in to car
i have managed to get it charging twice but can’t say how I did it - it took over 30 minutes of plug in and out and timers on off several times.
I think it could be a faulty cable. Cable not locking in at the charger end
What charger do you have? There were some issues with Hypervolt's and the latest cars, they will exchange your cable swiftly if so.
 
Have you tried plugging the charger into a different mains socket? If you still have problems then it might be the mobile charger...
How do I plug a 7kw in to a different socket it is a fully wired charger on its own dedicated circuit.
I think I have it cleared now. Rebooted car several times and tripped and reset the charger circuit.
deleted my charger app and switched to ev app then joined that to the car and set smart charge on the ev app. Seems to recognise that the car is now connected to power but is waiting to charge tonight. We will see if all is well tomorrow morning.
 
What charger do you have? There were some issues with Hypervolt's and the latest cars, they will exchange your cable swiftly if so.
Alfen but I think it is sorted now after a car and charger reboot. Several times!!
What charger do you have? There were some issues with Hypervolt's and the latest cars, they will exchange your cable swiftly if so.
 
Ev.energy app seems to work well now after several charger and car reboots.
Also had fun trying to get a fast charge at ev.box in village this afternoon but once I realised my credit card was what I had to tap on the rfid button. Even though the charge was free!
using their website I was getting nowhere
 
Collected Wattson from Brent Cross yesterday! Got there a bit early, just before 10am with all of our suitcases and bags in hand. Once we arrived there was a sea of Tesla Model 3’s with a load of washers going around all of the cars. Luckily the rain staved off and we had a cold, but very sunny autumnal morning. Good for checking the car over! I also remembered to bring a microfibre cloth that really helped me separate the dirt from the scratches.



As we arrived, there was only around one person arriving every 5 mins, but that soon ramped up by the time we left. Given there were sooooo many cars onsite (100-200 easy), I asked how many they were getting through in a day - around 110+ per day at the moment. Mental!

In all of 2 seconds the car was handed over, just signed on an iPad and as soon as I did, the car appeared in my app along with my 1000 SuC miles.



Another rep then escorted us to my car and then we saw it, in all of its deep blue beauty. My god it looks good. I was coming from a Lapiz blue 2018 Golf R, which really sets the benchmark for a good blue colour, and this looks as nice, but a much darker blue. The rep then asked if we would just like to be left too it, congratulated us sincerely and to drive away when we’re done or come and see them if there are any issues.



I got my full geek on, got out my iPad and pencil and worked through a checklist. Happy to report, no major issues! The paint quality was actually spot on. Zero panel gaps, interior was perfect. Where it fell down a bit was some bits of the windscreen weren’t perfectly clean, but nothing the aforementioned microfibre cloth wouldn’t clean. I then had 3 paint dings; one on the front next to the Tesla logo that looked like a contaminant (pollen) had got onto the pain whilst drying, one on the rear again next to the Tesla logo that was a small paint chip and then on the passenger side C pillar/rear haunch there was surface level scratching (some of which came off after a re-clean). The Tesla advisor helped me book a service appointment there and then and get good pictures through my app, agreeing that they were all issues. One thing that is an annoyance is the blue car in the app and on the display doesn’t match the car IRL at all, hope they can fix that.

Car had 8 miles on the odo on collection.



So, after those thorough checks and me going through and setting up the car how I like it, we set off to much giddiness on a 180mi trip up north for a wedding and to see the family. Stopping to charge for a brief moment at Northampton (remember to check in at the hotel!) before instead moving onto the new installation at Rugby as they had a services and we were starving. Charged to 90% (est. 322mi) in about 30 mins, which is incredible. By the time we’d had lunch and ‘serviced’ ourselves, the car was ready and waiting for us. So many Tesla’s rolling through, so nice to see! In fact, so many EV’s in general, all stalls were full. Over the whole trip we beat the range estimate by around 15-20%, which is awesome. What is also awesome is that there are free chargers at the hotel we are staying at, so a free ‘tank’ of fuel - that’s new!



Acceleration is also intoxicating, the instant feel is something massively new. The Golf R was fast, but it required the DSG (also one of the fastest gear boxes behind Porsche’s PDK) to kick down and then pile you forwards at an intoxicating speed. The Tesla, well, it just f***s off, as Jeremy would say. It’s a whole new feeling of speed. I really, really want to try out acceleration boost, but I know I won’t want refund it… 😂



I also cannot get over how quiet it is, we could have whisper conversations in the cabin. The ride is gorgeous, but still trying to get the driving position into the sweet spot (Easy Entry mode makes me feel like Bond hahah). Compared to the Golf on its 19” Pretoria’s, it’s luxury. Both sound and ride are like being on a cloud. The sound system is also incredible, like genuinely another level. I’m an audio head, so fiddled with it relentlessly and put on some key tracks, has to be said the drum drop in ‘In the air tonight’ sounded unbelievable with the full immersion turned on.



Autopilot took some ‘learning’ as to how it likes to be driven. In the same way I needed to learn how the Golf R’s Adaptive Cruise Control system used to work (radar) and what would trigger it to phantom break, slow down and it’s limitations - I also need to learn this for autopilot (AP). For example, for whatever reason AP would just not register that my hands were on the wheel, no matter how I held it. Took some working out that it’s actually looking for mild resistance to its input. So, I finally relaxed into my normal driving position, hands on the bottom of the wheel applying a constant resistance against the cars input and then didn’t have a problem again. I like that it gives lorry’s a wide birth, but did have to take over 3 times on our 180mi motorway only trip (M1/M6) due to it getting too close to comfort. We also had possibly the worst drivers on the road that day, about 4 times weaving into our lanes, at one point literally pulling into me and I had to sharply get into lane 3 or pulling out of junctions, seriously like what was it - like they all teamed up to go out that day?

I did have 2 phantom breaking events that were not fun. One I was pulling back into the middle land infront of a van (3 car lengths) and the car decided to phantom brake - not fun - I have a feeling it was because there was a lorry in lane 1 it didn’t like. The second wasn’t pleasant at all, I think it thought a car was going to pull out of a junction when it wasn’t and slammed on the brakes. It also flung up a collision warning on the car in front of us (again about 3 car lengths, no where near or was ever going to be a collision) turning off the road at a junction.

I used to have the same issue with the ACC system on the Golf R too, but I grew to learn what would trigger it or what it wouldn’t like, so I’d know when to rest my foot on the accelerator to override it. The Golf’s forward collision warning would also go off for similar reasons, so again grew to learn how it works and it’s shortcomings.

Overall though autopilot really does take that extra leap over ACC/DAP systems, it was so nice just to keep consciously aware of the driving environment around the car (as normal) but not actually have to input into the car, just make sure it’s functioning correctly. It really does take a lot of strain out of driving.



The car shipped on 2021.3.106.5 but had the 2021.32.21 update downloaded and ready to install when I got in it for the first time at BC on collection, so they must have been connected to Wi-Fi at some point. I did the update once we reached out hotel, which was really nice as it enabled the ‘tap to change from %’age and mileage’ option. Once it was done another update is waiting to download when connected to Wi-Fi, but not sure which one it is.

Although not yet sure how to enable pin to drive, a quick Google and look through the owners manual turned up a blank, was hoping it was in a software update that I hadn’t received.



I have played with some funny things in the car in the toy box. My partner loved the whoopie cushion, but was mortified when I was playing with the boombox 😂



I’m not sure what else to add now, I just love everything about the car and it’s miles above the R in all aspects, which I love. It’s a soft and serene vehicle when you want it to be, but a wild animal in a tap of your foot. The ultimate daily (and dare I say GT? Not quite, maybe that’s the Model S) and fun machine to clock up the miles with!

9663CA1A-F061-4414-A91F-DBDDE5498DFA.jpeg
 
Collected Wattson from Brent Cross yesterday! Got there a bit early, just before 10am with all of our suitcases and bags in hand. Once we arrived there was a sea of Tesla Model 3’s with a load of washers going around all of the cars. Luckily the rain staved off and we had a cold, but very sunny autumnal morning. Good for checking the car over! I also remembered to bring a microfibre cloth that really helped me separate the dirt from the scratches.



As we arrived, there was only around one person arriving every 5 mins, but that soon ramped up by the time we left. Given there were sooooo many cars onsite (100-200 easy), I asked how many they were getting through in a day - around 110+ per day at the moment. Mental!

In all of 2 seconds the car was handed over, just signed on an iPad and as soon as I did, the car appeared in my app along with my 1000 SuC miles.



Another rep then escorted us to my car and then we saw it, in all of its deep blue beauty. My god it looks good. I was coming from a Lapiz blue 2018 Golf R, which really sets the benchmark for a good blue colour, and this looks as nice, but a much darker blue. The rep then asked if we would just like to be left too it, congratulated us sincerely and to drive away when we’re done or come and see them if there are any issues.



I got my full geek on, got out my iPad and pencil and worked through a checklist. Happy to report, no major issues! The paint quality was actually spot on. Zero panel gaps, interior was perfect. Where it fell down a bit was some bits of the windscreen weren’t perfectly clean, but nothing the aforementioned microfibre cloth wouldn’t clean. I then had 3 paint dings; one on the front next to the Tesla logo that looked like a contaminant (pollen) had got onto the pain whilst drying, one on the rear again next to the Tesla logo that was a small paint chip and then on the passenger side C pillar/rear haunch there was surface level scratching (some of which came off after a re-clean). The Tesla advisor helped me book a service appointment there and then and get good pictures through my app, agreeing that they were all issues. One thing that is an annoyance is the blue car in the app and on the display doesn’t match the car IRL at all, hope they can fix that.

Car had 8 miles on the odo on collection.



So, after those thorough checks and me going through and setting up the car how I like it, we set off to much giddiness on a 180mi trip up north for a wedding and to see the family. Stopping to charge for a brief moment at Northampton (remember to check in at the hotel!) before instead moving onto the new installation at Rugby as they had a services and we were starving. Charged to 90% (est. 322mi) in about 30 mins, which is incredible. By the time we’d had lunch and ‘serviced’ ourselves, the car was ready and waiting for us. So many Tesla’s rolling through, so nice to see! In fact, so many EV’s in general, all stalls were full. Over the whole trip we beat the range estimate by around 15-20%, which is awesome. What is also awesome is that there are free chargers at the hotel we are staying at, so a free ‘tank’ of fuel - that’s new!



Acceleration is also intoxicating, the instant feel is something massively new. The Golf R was fast, but it required the DSG (also one of the fastest gear boxes behind Porsche’s PDK) to kick down and then pile you forwards at an intoxicating speed. The Tesla, well, it just f***s off, as Jeremy would say. It’s a whole new feeling of speed. I really, really want to try out acceleration boost, but I know I won’t want refund it… 😂



I also cannot get over how quiet it is, we could have whisper conversations in the cabin. The ride is gorgeous, but still trying to get the driving position into the sweet spot (Easy Entry mode makes me feel like Bond hahah). Compared to the Golf on its 19” Pretoria’s, it’s luxury. Both sound and ride are like being on a cloud. The sound system is also incredible, like genuinely another level. I’m an audio head, so fiddled with it relentlessly and put on some key tracks, has to be said the drum drop in ‘In the air tonight’ sounded unbelievable with the full immersion turned on.



Autopilot took some ‘learning’ as to how it likes to be driven. In the same way I needed to learn how the Golf R’s Adaptive Cruise Control system used to work (radar) and what would trigger it to phantom break, slow down and it’s limitations - I also need to learn this for autopilot (AP). For example, for whatever reason AP would just not register that my hands were on the wheel, no matter how I held it. Took some working out that it’s actually looking for mild resistance to its input. So, I finally relaxed into my normal driving position, hands on the bottom of the wheel applying a constant resistance against the cars input and then didn’t have a problem again. I like that it gives lorry’s a wide birth, but did have to take over 3 times on our 180mi motorway only trip (M1/M6) due to it getting too close to comfort. We also had possibly the worst drivers on the road that day, about 4 times weaving into our lanes, at one point literally pulling into me and I had to sharply get into lane 3 or pulling out of junctions, seriously like what was it - like they all teamed up to go out that day?

I did have 2 phantom breaking events that were not fun. One I was pulling back into the middle land infront of a van (3 car lengths) and the car decided to phantom brake - not fun - I have a feeling it was because there was a lorry in lane 1 it didn’t like. The second wasn’t pleasant at all, I think it thought a car was going to pull out of a junction when it wasn’t and slammed on the brakes. It also flung up a collision warning on the car in front of us (again about 3 car lengths, no where near or was ever going to be a collision) turning off the road at a junction.

I used to have the same issue with the ACC system on the Golf R too, but I grew to learn what would trigger it or what it wouldn’t like, so I’d know when to rest my foot on the accelerator to override it. The Golf’s forward collision warning would also go off for similar reasons, so again grew to learn how it works and it’s shortcomings.

Overall though autopilot really does take that extra leap over ACC/DAP systems, it was so nice just to keep consciously aware of the driving environment around the car (as normal) but not actually have to input into the car, just make sure it’s functioning correctly. It really does take a lot of strain out of driving.



The car shipped on 2021.3.106.5 but had the 2021.32.21 update downloaded and ready to install when I got in it for the first time at BC on collection, so they must have been connected to Wi-Fi at some point. I did the update once we reached out hotel, which was really nice as it enabled the ‘tap to change from %’age and mileage’ option. Once it was done another update is waiting to download when connected to Wi-Fi, but not sure which one it is.

Although not yet sure how to enable pin to drive, a quick Google and look through the owners manual turned up a blank, was hoping it was in a software update that I hadn’t received.



I have played with some funny things in the car in the toy box. My partner loved the whoopie cushion, but was mortified when I was playing with the boombox 😂



I’m not sure what else to add now, I just love everything about the car and it’s miles above the R in all aspects, which I love. It’s a soft and serene vehicle when you want it to be, but a wild animal in a tap of your foot. The ultimate daily (and dare I say GT? Not quite, maybe that’s the Model S) and fun machine to clock up the miles with!

View attachment 716179
Congrats and enjoy! Looks great, not at all jealous whilst sat waiting for Noivember to hurry up!
 
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Collected Wattson from Brent Cross yesterday! Got there a bit early, just before 10am with all of our suitcases and bags in hand. Once we arrived there was a sea of Tesla Model 3’s with a load of washers going around all of the cars. Luckily the rain staved off and we had a cold, but very sunny autumnal morning. Good for checking the car over! I also remembered to bring a microfibre cloth that really helped me separate the dirt from the scratches.



As we arrived, there was only around one person arriving every 5 mins, but that soon ramped up by the time we left. Given there were sooooo many cars onsite (100-200 easy), I asked how many they were getting through in a day - around 110+ per day at the moment. Mental!

In all of 2 seconds the car was handed over, just signed on an iPad and as soon as I did, the car appeared in my app along with my 1000 SuC miles.



Another rep then escorted us to my car and then we saw it, in all of its deep blue beauty. My god it looks good. I was coming from a Lapiz blue 2018 Golf R, which really sets the benchmark for a good blue colour, and this looks as nice, but a much darker blue. The rep then asked if we would just like to be left too it, congratulated us sincerely and to drive away when we’re done or come and see them if there are any issues.



I got my full geek on, got out my iPad and pencil and worked through a checklist. Happy to report, no major issues! The paint quality was actually spot on. Zero panel gaps, interior was perfect. Where it fell down a bit was some bits of the windscreen weren’t perfectly clean, but nothing the aforementioned microfibre cloth wouldn’t clean. I then had 3 paint dings; one on the front next to the Tesla logo that looked like a contaminant (pollen) had got onto the pain whilst drying, one on the rear again next to the Tesla logo that was a small paint chip and then on the passenger side C pillar/rear haunch there was surface level scratching (some of which came off after a re-clean). The Tesla advisor helped me book a service appointment there and then and get good pictures through my app, agreeing that they were all issues. One thing that is an annoyance is the blue car in the app and on the display doesn’t match the car IRL at all, hope they can fix that.

Car had 8 miles on the odo on collection.



So, after those thorough checks and me going through and setting up the car how I like it, we set off to much giddiness on a 180mi trip up north for a wedding and to see the family. Stopping to charge for a brief moment at Northampton (remember to check in at the hotel!) before instead moving onto the new installation at Rugby as they had a services and we were starving. Charged to 90% (est. 322mi) in about 30 mins, which is incredible. By the time we’d had lunch and ‘serviced’ ourselves, the car was ready and waiting for us. So many Tesla’s rolling through, so nice to see! In fact, so many EV’s in general, all stalls were full. Over the whole trip we beat the range estimate by around 15-20%, which is awesome. What is also awesome is that there are free chargers at the hotel we are staying at, so a free ‘tank’ of fuel - that’s new!



Acceleration is also intoxicating, the instant feel is something massively new. The Golf R was fast, but it required the DSG (also one of the fastest gear boxes behind Porsche’s PDK) to kick down and then pile you forwards at an intoxicating speed. The Tesla, well, it just f***s off, as Jeremy would say. It’s a whole new feeling of speed. I really, really want to try out acceleration boost, but I know I won’t want refund it… 😂



I also cannot get over how quiet it is, we could have whisper conversations in the cabin. The ride is gorgeous, but still trying to get the driving position into the sweet spot (Easy Entry mode makes me feel like Bond hahah). Compared to the Golf on its 19” Pretoria’s, it’s luxury. Both sound and ride are like being on a cloud. The sound system is also incredible, like genuinely another level. I’m an audio head, so fiddled with it relentlessly and put on some key tracks, has to be said the drum drop in ‘In the air tonight’ sounded unbelievable with the full immersion turned on.



Autopilot took some ‘learning’ as to how it likes to be driven. In the same way I needed to learn how the Golf R’s Adaptive Cruise Control system used to work (radar) and what would trigger it to phantom break, slow down and it’s limitations - I also need to learn this for autopilot (AP). For example, for whatever reason AP would just not register that my hands were on the wheel, no matter how I held it. Took some working out that it’s actually looking for mild resistance to its input. So, I finally relaxed into my normal driving position, hands on the bottom of the wheel applying a constant resistance against the cars input and then didn’t have a problem again. I like that it gives lorry’s a wide birth, but did have to take over 3 times on our 180mi motorway only trip (M1/M6) due to it getting too close to comfort. We also had possibly the worst drivers on the road that day, about 4 times weaving into our lanes, at one point literally pulling into me and I had to sharply get into lane 3 or pulling out of junctions, seriously like what was it - like they all teamed up to go out that day?

I did have 2 phantom breaking events that were not fun. One I was pulling back into the middle land infront of a van (3 car lengths) and the car decided to phantom brake - not fun - I have a feeling it was because there was a lorry in lane 1 it didn’t like. The second wasn’t pleasant at all, I think it thought a car was going to pull out of a junction when it wasn’t and slammed on the brakes. It also flung up a collision warning on the car in front of us (again about 3 car lengths, no where near or was ever going to be a collision) turning off the road at a junction.

I used to have the same issue with the ACC system on the Golf R too, but I grew to learn what would trigger it or what it wouldn’t like, so I’d know when to rest my foot on the accelerator to override it. The Golf’s forward collision warning would also go off for similar reasons, so again grew to learn how it works and it’s shortcomings.

Overall though autopilot really does take that extra leap over ACC/DAP systems, it was so nice just to keep consciously aware of the driving environment around the car (as normal) but not actually have to input into the car, just make sure it’s functioning correctly. It really does take a lot of strain out of driving.



The car shipped on 2021.3.106.5 but had the 2021.32.21 update downloaded and ready to install when I got in it for the first time at BC on collection, so they must have been connected to Wi-Fi at some point. I did the update once we reached out hotel, which was really nice as it enabled the ‘tap to change from %’age and mileage’ option. Once it was done another update is waiting to download when connected to Wi-Fi, but not sure which one it is.

Although not yet sure how to enable pin to drive, a quick Google and look through the owners manual turned up a blank, was hoping it was in a software update that I hadn’t received.



I have played with some funny things in the car in the toy box. My partner loved the whoopie cushion, but was mortified when I was playing with the boombox 😂



I’m not sure what else to add now, I just love everything about the car and it’s miles above the R in all aspects, which I love. It’s a soft and serene vehicle when you want it to be, but a wild animal in a tap of your foot. The ultimate daily (and dare I say GT? Not quite, maybe that’s the Model S) and fun machine to clock up the miles with!

View attachment 716179
Blue does look good every time I see it. I've got a MSM on order, considering a swap to Blue...
 
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What charger do you have? There were some issues with Hypervolt's and the latest cars, they will exchange your cable swiftly if so.
Alfen but I think
Collected Wattson from Brent Cross yesterday! Got there a bit early, just before 10am with all of our suitcases and bags in hand. Once we arrived there was a sea of Tesla Model 3’s with a load of washers going around all of the cars. Luckily the rain staved off and we had a cold, but very sunny autumnal morning. Good for checking the car over! I also remembered to bring a microfibre cloth that really helped me separate the dirt from the scratches.
great write up. I love my blue too definitely the best colour. I too have had a few phantom breaking and feel I am starting to be able to predict them. No sign of a softwear update for me yet!! But I can’t find anywhere outside my house that it can find the WiFi. So have to connect to my phones hotspot which is far from ideal.
 
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Got my first home charge last night. And it looks like it will work again tonight. The Alfen charger seems to be the issue and needs to be turned off and back on when things go haywire!! I already have all the required wiring so has anyone had a charger replaced and if so what do you recommend?
 
Collected Wattson from Brent Cross yesterday! Got there a bit early, just before 10am with all of our suitcases and bags in hand. Once we arrived there was a sea of Tesla Model 3’s with a load of washers going around all of the cars. Luckily the rain staved off and we had a cold, but very sunny autumnal morning. Good for checking the car over! I also remembered to bring a microfibre cloth that really helped me separate the dirt from the scratches.



As we arrived, there was only around one person arriving every 5 mins, but that soon ramped up by the time we left. Given there were sooooo many cars onsite (100-200 easy), I asked how many they were getting through in a day - around 110+ per day at the moment. Mental!

In all of 2 seconds the car was handed over, just signed on an iPad and as soon as I did, the car appeared in my app along with my 1000 SuC miles.



Another rep then escorted us to my car and then we saw it, in all of its deep blue beauty. My god it looks good. I was coming from a Lapiz blue 2018 Golf R, which really sets the benchmark for a good blue colour, and this looks as nice, but a much darker blue. The rep then asked if we would just like to be left too it, congratulated us sincerely and to drive away when we’re done or come and see them if there are any issues.



I got my full geek on, got out my iPad and pencil and worked through a checklist. Happy to report, no major issues! The paint quality was actually spot on. Zero panel gaps, interior was perfect. Where it fell down a bit was some bits of the windscreen weren’t perfectly clean, but nothing the aforementioned microfibre cloth wouldn’t clean. I then had 3 paint dings; one on the front next to the Tesla logo that looked like a contaminant (pollen) had got onto the pain whilst drying, one on the rear again next to the Tesla logo that was a small paint chip and then on the passenger side C pillar/rear haunch there was surface level scratching (some of which came off after a re-clean). The Tesla advisor helped me book a service appointment there and then and get good pictures through my app, agreeing that they were all issues. One thing that is an annoyance is the blue car in the app and on the display doesn’t match the car IRL at all, hope they can fix that.

Car had 8 miles on the odo on collection.



So, after those thorough checks and me going through and setting up the car how I like it, we set off to much giddiness on a 180mi trip up north for a wedding and to see the family. Stopping to charge for a brief moment at Northampton (remember to check in at the hotel!) before instead moving onto the new installation at Rugby as they had a services and we were starving. Charged to 90% (est. 322mi) in about 30 mins, which is incredible. By the time we’d had lunch and ‘serviced’ ourselves, the car was ready and waiting for us. So many Tesla’s rolling through, so nice to see! In fact, so many EV’s in general, all stalls were full. Over the whole trip we beat the range estimate by around 15-20%, which is awesome. What is also awesome is that there are free chargers at the hotel we are staying at, so a free ‘tank’ of fuel - that’s new!



Acceleration is also intoxicating, the instant feel is something massively new. The Golf R was fast, but it required the DSG (also one of the fastest gear boxes behind Porsche’s PDK) to kick down and then pile you forwards at an intoxicating speed. The Tesla, well, it just f***s off, as Jeremy would say. It’s a whole new feeling of speed. I really, really want to try out acceleration boost, but I know I won’t want refund it… 😂



I also cannot get over how quiet it is, we could have whisper conversations in the cabin. The ride is gorgeous, but still trying to get the driving position into the sweet spot (Easy Entry mode makes me feel like Bond hahah). Compared to the Golf on its 19” Pretoria’s, it’s luxury. Both sound and ride are like being on a cloud. The sound system is also incredible, like genuinely another level. I’m an audio head, so fiddled with it relentlessly and put on some key tracks, has to be said the drum drop in ‘In the air tonight’ sounded unbelievable with the full immersion turned on.



Autopilot took some ‘learning’ as to how it likes to be driven. In the same way I needed to learn how the Golf R’s Adaptive Cruise Control system used to work (radar) and what would trigger it to phantom break, slow down and it’s limitations - I also need to learn this for autopilot (AP). For example, for whatever reason AP would just not register that my hands were on the wheel, no matter how I held it. Took some working out that it’s actually looking for mild resistance to its input. So, I finally relaxed into my normal driving position, hands on the bottom of the wheel applying a constant resistance against the cars input and then didn’t have a problem again. I like that it gives lorry’s a wide birth, but did have to take over 3 times on our 180mi motorway only trip (M1/M6) due to it getting too close to comfort. We also had possibly the worst drivers on the road that day, about 4 times weaving into our lanes, at one point literally pulling into me and I had to sharply get into lane 3 or pulling out of junctions, seriously like what was it - like they all teamed up to go out that day?

I did have 2 phantom breaking events that were not fun. One I was pulling back into the middle land infront of a van (3 car lengths) and the car decided to phantom brake - not fun - I have a feeling it was because there was a lorry in lane 1 it didn’t like. The second wasn’t pleasant at all, I think it thought a car was going to pull out of a junction when it wasn’t and slammed on the brakes. It also flung up a collision warning on the car in front of us (again about 3 car lengths, no where near or was ever going to be a collision) turning off the road at a junction.

I used to have the same issue with the ACC system on the Golf R too, but I grew to learn what would trigger it or what it wouldn’t like, so I’d know when to rest my foot on the accelerator to override it. The Golf’s forward collision warning would also go off for similar reasons, so again grew to learn how it works and it’s shortcomings.

Overall though autopilot really does take that extra leap over ACC/DAP systems, it was so nice just to keep consciously aware of the driving environment around the car (as normal) but not actually have to input into the car, just make sure it’s functioning correctly. It really does take a lot of strain out of driving.



The car shipped on 2021.3.106.5 but had the 2021.32.21 update downloaded and ready to install when I got in it for the first time at BC on collection, so they must have been connected to Wi-Fi at some point. I did the update once we reached out hotel, which was really nice as it enabled the ‘tap to change from %’age and mileage’ option. Once it was done another update is waiting to download when connected to Wi-Fi, but not sure which one it is.

Although not yet sure how to enable pin to drive, a quick Google and look through the owners manual turned up a blank, was hoping it was in a software update that I hadn’t received.



I have played with some funny things in the car in the toy box. My partner loved the whoopie cushion, but was mortified when I was playing with the boombox 😂



I’m not sure what else to add now, I just love everything about the car and it’s miles above the R in all aspects, which I love. It’s a soft and serene vehicle when you want it to be, but a wild animal in a tap of your foot. The ultimate daily (and dare I say GT? Not quite, maybe that’s the Model S) and fun machine to clock up the miles with!

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Glad you've finally got your car and there's no major issues. The update will probably be a map update, I had one after my car did the software update. Pin to drive should be under Safety & Security?
 
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