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Our Model 3, 2 years later

Will you be keeping your model 3 until it dies on you?


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Great writeup. Got my 3 Feb 2019 so it was a bit less expensive although I opted for the FSD. If Tesla will support a battery upgrade capability after 10 years +/-, then I'll definitely keep this vehicle. Hopefully in 10 years the battery technology will be cheaper, lighter, range improved and safer. Maybe by then owning a car will be unrealistic ... who knows !!
 
Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.
Great report. I had a Volt first year out and dealer recommended that I should lease it as he felt they’d get cheaper. He was right. Chevy dropped the price 5K.
 
Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.
Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.


You expressed disappointment with the mileage degradation and further reasoned that anything less than 200 would make the car good for nothing beyond local driving. Then you indicated that had you waited, you could have gotten a standard range model for 20K less which implies you would have found a 200 mile range acceptable.

I paid $75K for my '17 MS which was rated originally at 230, but has degraded after 13K miles to about 210 and like you, I don't really get 210 measured miles either. Though I don't travel much, I do find it limiting. It seems, with the charger network, I can usually get to my destination but have very little charge to "sightsee" and still get back to another charger enroute home. This is the only reason I would trade my car. I would do it now since they trumpet 400 miles now, but mindful of experiences like yours, I fear obsolescence with all the scuttlebutt about a "million mile battery".
 
Good 2-yr report!

I always tell people, it's a "luxury" driving experience, not a luxury sitting experience. If they want that, they can buy a Rolls or a Kia, etc. Lots of other manufacturers can offer you a luxury sitting experience, but only Tesla can make a luxury driving experience attainable by the masses.

Having said that, I'm surprised Tesla doesn't offer a premium seat package with vented seats, and a heated steering wheel. That would get them alot closer to a luxury sitting experience.
 
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I bought my Tesla in 2018 and it’s nearly 2 years old I voted to get a new Tesla at the end of the warranty because of the improvements in battery life and, let’s face it I like height tech stuff!

I love my Tesla. The range is dropped from 309 miles to 296 miles due to software upgrades and the fact that I took off the aero wheels. I noticed about an 8 mile drop when I took them off. This goes along with the 3 to 4% Advantage that the Aero wheels are reported to give.
 
I'm envious of the range stories here. I've had my M3 Performance for about 10 months. When i bought it Tesla was selling the Performance as having 315 miles range. I have carefully documented my actual range vs the displayed range, and done every possible thing I can do to boost range and eliminate drains. I drive in chill mode like a grandma, never use A/C or heat, turn off all offline software data monitoring, keep the tires precisely at recommended pressure, and plot it all against temperature and time. And: the MAXimum range I ever got was about 270 miles equivalent. (I calculate it by dividing the miles driven by the percentage battery used, to get a "miles per percent" number and multiplying that by 100.) On the average I get much more like 170 to 230. The best mileage I ever got was after the Track mode update, which allows you to completely turn off regenerative braking. My old RAV4EV had this and it was a blast. You effectively accelerate to speed and let it coast, and because of the high inertia and low rolling friction the car can go very far and fast at speed without using any juice. I've read the new Porsche Taycan will have this mode. STILL the best equivalent range I got even then was 270miles. I've been to the dealer and showed them my rather lengthy detailed spreadsheet several times and all they do is check the battery and say its fine. (note that they are not allowed to tell you the actual capacity of the battery)
Don't get me wrong, I love this car, but the fact that I have to use about 20-30% more electricity to go the same distance as any of the other 6 EV's I've had really bugs me. I'm thinking of filing a lemon law complaint. Any advice?



Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.
 
I think that OP will find that the initial battery decline is the worst, and it should settle out and only slowly decline from here.
I'm envious of the range stories here. I've had my M3 Performance for about 10 months. When i bought it Tesla was selling the Performance as having 315 miles range. I have carefully documented my actual range vs the displayed range, and done every possible thing I can do to boost range and eliminate drains. I drive in chill mode like a grandma, never use A/C or heat, turn off all offline software data monitoring, keep the tires precisely at recommended pressure, and plot it all against temperature and time. And: the MAXimum range I ever got was about 270 miles equivalent. (I calculate it by dividing the miles driven by the percentage battery used, to get a "miles per percent" number and multiplying that by 100.) On the average I get much more like 170 to 230. The best mileage I ever got was after the Track mode update, which allows you to completely turn off regenerative braking. My old RAV4EV had this and it was a blast. You effectively accelerate to speed and let it coast, and because of the high inertia and low rolling friction the car can go very far and fast at speed without using any juice. I've read the new Porsche Taycan will have this mode. STILL the best equivalent range I got even then was 270miles. I've been to the dealer and showed them my rather lengthy detailed spreadsheet several times and all they do is check the battery and say its fine. (note that they are not allowed to tell you the actual capacity of the battery)
Don't get me wrong, I love this car, but the fact that I have to use about 20-30% more electricity to go the same distance as any of the other 6 EV's I've had really bugs me. I'm thinking of filing a lemon law complaint. Any advice?
What does drive like a grandma mean? My grandma was like a bat out of hell. Zoom...

When did Tesla ever advertise the M3 Performance as having a 315 mile range? Currently, a Model 3 Performance is listed as having a 299 mile range.

I think this will explain your increased power usage.
My Model 3 LR RWD 18 Aero will used 247wh/mi at 65mph.
A Performance LR M3 with 18" wheels uses 263wh/mi at 65mph.
Your Model 3 LR Performance 20" will use 293wh/mi at 65mph.

You asked why it takes %20-30 more electricity than any of your 6 other EV's. That's probably why. I don't know what your previous EVs were, but compared with a M3 LR RWD, Having an extra motor costs you 6%. And the larger tires cost you about 11.5%
 
In two months I will have had mine for 2 years. My original plan was to dump it at the end of the battery/drive unit warranty but I'm not so sure now.

Concerning power usage my Dual Motor non performance uses around 270 Wh/Mile 18 inch PS4S with aero covers removed AC set to 74 when it's 93 F outside.

Last two big drives I made were 91 miles but used 102 rated miles.
 
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My report is a tad better. I am now at 28 months and 42,000 miles. When I first got the car it charged to 310. On my last trip Sunday it charged to 310. So I could argue the range is the same as when I bought it. I did have to replace tires early at 31,000 miles. And for the record I will go back to the OEM tires as I lost nearly 8% in range with The newer tires. They are not marked as an eco tire.

I too had three minor trim repairs all handled easily in Rangers visits.

We are still very happy with the car and have no plans to replace.
 
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The Sentry mode is bit of a battery hog. I left it on while parked in a hotel parking lot a full day (our conference meetings were in the hotel), and found, to my dismay, that Sentry cost me about 2 miles of range per hr.

After I had lost about 50 miles of range the first day, I turned it off remotely. The second day the range loss was negligible. That taught me to limit the use of the Sentry mode to only those areas where I really needed it (and is probably why Tesla allows you to program it not not operate at your home or work place, where the car might be sitting relatively safe for long peroids of time.)
 
My oonly big gripe is having to go to the touchscreen for the wipers and than having to push twice to get them going. At night in a sudden downpour it can be truly hazardous. Would love to see them on the steering wheel and operate at the first touch.[/QUOTE]

You know you can activate a single wiper sweep from the stalk by pushing the end in?? I have a RH drive so it is my left stalk - not sure if it is the same with US cars. That said, I agree. The auto wipers are not as good as on my old 2008 Ford SMax, which seems a pretty low bar.
 
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Thx for your review. I agree with many of the things you mentioned. I also have owned my lrm3 over 2 years, since June 10, 2018. I waited over 2 years to get the car and well worth it. I love the car more than ever.

In addition to what you mentioned, I love the more aggressive regen braking, the hold function, voice commands, fact that SW updates give new and significant features often and are not just bug fixes (do not believe any other car manufacturer does that). I use Autopilot almost every time I drive... not perfect yet but I still love it. Use summon a lot to move car on my driveway and also to adjust my parking so I don’t hit those bumpers in parking space and whenever drivers wall me in and don’t have space to open door without scratching cars parked on both sides of me. The clean sleek interior is awesome and is like looking at a room that is uncluttered. Plus, it is sooo easy to clean and dust. I live in a dusty, windy area and absolutely hate cleaning grills, knobs, buttons. My seats are perfect still and I have parked my car outside ever since I have had it since I don’t have space for garage storage right now.

The items I wish I had are a auto lift gate for trunk and frunk; apparently it is important but not that important because I would have already paid for the after market options to Automate both of those. I do wish I had the hatch back style....as I just don’t like trunks.

One thing I don’t quite agree with. ... I knew from the get go that if you adopt early..that you would see the price of the car go down. I am not actually at all upset with the fact that if you ordered later, the car price came down. I saved my money for over 2 years to help me afford the lrm3 and have 0 regrets. tesla is a very new car manufacturer and we bought the 3 (their “car meant for the masses” on the early side. There are just some things that are expected when you adopt something on the early side of the life cycle curve of a product. For those people who complained about the price decrease, I would just recommend you don’t buy a product in its early life cycle phase. It is a choice and I don’t think it is a fair complaint. It was a lot of money for me to spend and I have never spent so much on a car....but I made my choice and as I said...no regrets.... and the car reminds me of it every time I get in it and drive. I was never a person to ever ever say I loved a car or cared that much about bragging about my car....until this car!

My future plans: I will have the lrm3 paid off in another 3 years, plan to go one year without car payment and then am gonna look at what the model 3 is like then. I kept my last car almost 11 years, but am interested in replacing my model 3 because I am looking forwards to what will be new in next 4 years. I would like to see the 3 with the same hatch back style as the Y. I prefer the 3 as I like smaller cars. I like the Cybertruck but it is too big.


Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.
 
And I didn’t even name half of the things I love.... moving to an all EV family and doing something significant to help with our environment issues (we do many of the things others may do..& this is just another step further), my phone as my key, controlling things with the app, DOG mode!!!, supercharging network, not having to visit stinky gas stations nor supporting gas which is only as cheap as it is with tremendous subsidies esp. in the US, charging at home, almost no maintenance, and I could go on....

Thx for your review. I agree with many of the things you mentioned. I also have owned my lrm3 over 2 years, since June 10, 2018. I waited over 2 years to get the car and well worth it. I love the car more than ever.

In addition to what you mentioned, I love the more aggressive regen braking, the hold function, voice commands, fact that SW updates give new and significant features often and are not just bug fixes (do not believe any other car manufacturer does that). I use Autopilot almost every time I drive... not perfect yet but I still love it. Use summon a lot to move car on my driveway and also to adjust my parking so I don’t hit those bumpers in parking space and whenever drivers wall me in and don’t have space to open door without scratching cars parked on both sides of me. The clean sleek interior is awesome and is like looking at a room that is uncluttered. Plus, it is sooo easy to clean and dust. I live in a dusty, windy area and absolutely hate cleaning grills, knobs, buttons. My seats are perfect still and I have parked my car outside ever since I have had it since I don’t have space for garage storage right now.

The items I wish I had are a auto lift gate for trunk and frunk; apparently it is important but not that important because I would have already paid for the after market options to Automate both of those. I do wish I had the hatch back style....as I just don’t like trunks.

One thing I don’t quite agree with. ... I knew from the get go that if you adopt early..that you would see the price of the car go down. I am not actually at all upset with the fact that if you ordered later, the car price came down. I saved my money for over 2 years to help me afford the lrm3 and have 0 regrets. tesla is a very new car manufacturer and we bought the 3 (their “car meant for the masses” on the early side. There are just some things that are expected when you adopt something on the early side of the life cycle curve of a product. For those people who complained about the price decrease, I would just recommend you don’t buy a product in its early life cycle phase. It is a choice and I don’t think it is a fair complaint. It was a lot of money for me to spend and I have never spent so much on a car....but I made my choice and as I said...no regrets.... and the car reminds me of it every time I get in it and drive. I was never a person to ever ever say I loved a car or cared that much about bragging about my car....until this car!

My future plans: I will have the lrm3 paid off in another 3 years, plan to go one year without car payment and then am gonna look at what the model 3 is like then. I kept my last car almost 11 years, but am interested in replacing my model 3 because I am looking forwards to what will be new in next 4 years. I would like to see the 3 with the same hatch back style as the Y. I prefer the 3 as I like smaller cars. I like the Cybertruck but it is too big.
Thx for your review. I agree with many of the things you mentioned. I also have owned my lrm3 over 2 years, since June 10, 2018. I waited over 2 years to get the car and well worth it. I love the car more than ever.

In addition to what you mentioned, I love the more aggressive regen braking, the hold function, voice commands, fact that SW updates give new and significant features often and are not just bug fixes (do not believe any other car manufacturer does that). I use Autopilot almost every time I drive... not perfect yet but I still love it. Use summon a lot to move car on my driveway and also to adjust my parking so I don’t hit those bumpers in parking space and whenever drivers wall me in and don’t have space to open door without scratching cars parked on both sides of me. The clean sleek interior is awesome and is like looking at a room that is uncluttered. Plus, it is sooo easy to clean and dust. I live in a dusty, windy area and absolutely hate cleaning grills, knobs, buttons. My seats are perfect still and I have parked my car outside ever since I have had it since I don’t have space for garage storage right now.

The items I wish I had are a auto lift gate for trunk and frunk; apparently it is important but not that important because I would have already paid for the after market options to Automate both of those. I do wish I had the hatch back style....as I just don’t like trunks.

One thing I don’t quite agree with. ... I knew from the get go that if you adopt early..that you would see the price of the car go down. I am not actually at all upset with the fact that if you ordered later, the car price came down. I saved my money for over 2 years to help me afford the lrm3 and have 0 regrets. tesla is a very new car manufacturer and we bought the 3 (their “car meant for the masses” on the early side. There are just some things that are expected when you adopt something on the early side of the life cycle curve of a product. For those people who complained about the price decrease, I would just recommend you don’t buy a product in its early life cycle phase. It is a choice and I don’t think it is a fair complaint. It was a lot of money for me to spend and I have never spent so much on a car....but I made my choice and as I said...no regrets.... and the car reminds me of it every time I get in it and drive. I was never a person to ever ever say I loved a car or cared that much about bragging about my car....until this car!

My future plans: I will have the lrm3 paid off in another 3 years, plan to go one year without car payment and then am gonna look at what the model 3 is like then. I kept my last car almost 11 years, but am interested in replacing my model 3 because I am looking forwards to what will be new in next 4 years. I would like to see the 3 with the same hatch back style as the Y. I prefer the 3 as I like smaller cars. I like the Cybertruck but it is too big.
 
...or use voice command for wipers...
My oonly big gripe is having to go to the touchscreen for the wipers and than having to push twice to get them going. At night in a sudden downpour it can be truly hazardous. Would love to see them on the steering wheel and operate at the first touch.

You know you can activate a single wiper sweep from the stalk by pushing the end in?? I have a RH drive so it is my left stalk - not sure if it is the same with US cars. That said, I agree. The auto wipers are not as good as on my old 2008 Ford SMax, which seems a pretty low bar.[/QUOTE]
My oonly big gripe is having to go to the touchscreen for the wipers and than having to push twice to get them going. At night in a sudden downpour it can be truly hazardous. Would love to see them on the steering wheel and operate at the first touch.

You know you can activate a single wiper sweep from the stalk by pushing the end in?? I have a RH drive so it is my left stalk - not sure if it is the same with US cars. That said, I agree. The auto wipers are not as good as on my old 2008 Ford SMax, which seems a pretty low bar.[/QUOTE]
 
Thought I'd share our review of our car after 2 years. It is a bit lengthy and I was ranting at some parts but let me know what you guys think. I'm also curious what you guys are doing with your Model 3s down the road.

PURCHASE DATE/DELIVERY DATE: 7/14/2018

TOTAL MILES: ~21,000 miles

MILES YEAR 1: ~14,800 miles

MILES YEAR 2: ~6,200 miles (a work vehicle, and COVID just made driving that much less neccessary)


Back in January 2018, we placed our deposit on a brand new long range Tesla Model 3 RWD. At the time we expected to be waiting for at least a year before we received the vehicle, as there was a long wait-list that had placed orders before us. In June 2018, we actually began to look at used Tesla Model S’s in the area and while on a test drive, received a call from Tesla stating our Model 3 was ready for pickup. We were ecstatic and eagerly awaiting to drive it home. It ended up being about another 3 weeks before we actually were able to do so but it was worth the wait. We picked it up on July 14th, 2018 and haven’t looked back since. In the two years since picking it up, we’ve had our ups and downs. Is this vehicle still as good as the day we drove it home? Does it have issues? How has the battery range done in the Vegas heat? All of these questions will be answered and more as we go over our long term review of our Model 3. This is ‘Our 2018 Tesla Model 3, 2 Years Later.’

Battery / Range
So this is probably the most asked question we get when others ask about the car. When we picked it up, it had a stated range of I believe 310 miles as it was the long range version. Since we bought ours, they have now released the standard range, AWD, and performance….all with different ranges. To make it even harder to gauge this question, Tesla has released different software updates over time that change the stated range. The stated range from Tesla I believe is now 322 miles for the long range model 3.

Now when you charge a Tesla, you are only supposed to charge to 80-90% of the total capacity each day. Some say 80%, others say 90%. Tesla claims 90% helps make the battery last longer. You are also supposed to drain the battery all the way down and then fully charge the battery every once in awhile. We personally have been charging to 90% almost every night, with the exception being when I have to leave the car at work. We have drained the battery on purpose to 10% and then fully charged on 2 different occasions.

At this point, at 90% charged, the range stated shows 272 miles. If you do your calculations, that means at 100% charge, the car has roughly 302 miles of range. So depending on if you look at the original 310 or the newer 322 miles expected range, the car has lost roughly 8-20 miles of range in 2 years.

Furthermore, it seems that the range depletes quicker than when we first bought the vehicle. When we first picked it up, with the A/C running, I would be able to go to work and home and have roughly 20 miles of range lost (actual driving 14 miles). Today if I do the same, I lose about 42 miles of range. But, I must say I also use Sentry mode now which didn’t exist when I first had the vehicle. The point I’m trying to make is the battery seems to deplete quicker than when we first bought the car.

We told ourselves that we are going to keep this car until it completely dies on us. The experts state that the majority of your battery loss will occur within the first year of use. But let’s say that we continue to lose ~20 miles of range every 2 years. By the time this car is 10 years old (2028), the range is expected to be around 222 miles which means around 200 miles at 90% charging. Although that would be good for around town, I don’t know if it would be adequate for trips unless the EV charging options are far better than they are today.

INITIAL BATTERY VERDICT: We were amazed at how efficient and accurate the range was to true life use. At 310 miles stated range, we usually got pretty close to that.

LONG TERM BATTERY VERDICT: Slightly disappointed in the lost range and decrease in efficiency over time. Hopefully it slows as the car ages.

Quality / Build
As you can see in our running Model 3 log post, we’ve had a few maintenance requirements on our Model 3. The car was delivered with a faulty dash that was bubbled up and replaced for free at the service center. The gear shift lever kept separating and required replacement. The outside mirror trim pieces started to come apart from the car. But was this more than any other vehicle that you buy? I would say no, as none of it restricted the use of the car at all, and was only cosmetic.

Overall, the initial quality of this vehicle was far above what was expected. I know a lot of customers are finding large gaps, bolts missing, or even missing paint on the door hinges. But we didn’t really have any of that to our knowledge. The only glaring quality issue at delivery that was never fixed was the small paint blemish on the rear of trunk that appears to have no clear coat. The service center offered to fix it but we didn’t want to lose the car for weeks for a body shop to mess with the paint. It sort of adds to the character of the car.

Over the two years of using the vehicle, it has seen roughly 21,000 miles. A majority of those miles were actually in year one to include several long road trips to LA and Salt Lake City. All the seats in the vehicle have received their fair use to include two small children in the rear with car seats. None of the seats have ripped or torn. A few wrinkles have appeared on the drivers seat. The comfort level of the driver seat has decreased slightly as the cushion breaks in but nothing to complain about. The driver’s headrest does have a glaring issue however. Where my head sometimes makes contact with the headrest, the “leather” is flaking off. It’s probably due to the oils in my hair or something, but I’ve never had that happen before in a car.

None of the doors or windows have any squeaks or issues preventing their use. The door handles still work great and have never been stuck. I have had a few issues with the key card or my phone not being recognized by the car to unlock. But I think that might have more to do with my cell phone than the car itself.

We have not used the front trunk one time to date. We rarely use the trunk either except sometimes for groceries. I think that we don’t use the front trunk due to leaving hand prints on the hood. It just seems hard to close and isn’t worth the effort. The trunk has proved to be very large and the carpeting is still as good as day one.

The touchscreen has held up great! So far no issues other than an occasional reboot. We have loved the updates adding features such as viewing dash cam on the touchscreen, streaming shows while waiting to pick up the kids, or even playing around with the quirky games and other activities.

Initial Quality Verdict: We were expecting a lot worse based off what others were stating. Maybe we got lucky, but the initial quality Tesla provided was great.

Long Term Quality Verdict: Other than the driver headrest, the car is proving to be a very reliable and high quality vehicle. Hopefully this continues as it ages.

Is this a true ‘Luxury’ vehicle?
This is another question we hear a lot. Most car enthusiasts say the Tesla Model 3 competes with the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C class, and other entry luxury vehicles. For sure the car price is in line, and since you are paying the same, you should expect the same level of quality and luxury. We’ve owned/leased several luxury brand vehicles over the past, to include some that were over the price of the Model 3. In our opinion, this vehicle is at the same level of luxury or even above, and I will explain below.

First, the seats in the Model 3 are amazingly comfortable. It feels like you are floating in your car. Tesla did a great job in designing these seats and keeping costs down. The leather itself appears to hold up (with the exception of my headrest) to use over time, as well as little children.

Second, the driving experience is the best you can find. To sit at a traffic light and see another luxury car pull up next to you just brings a smile to your face. Most other luxury car drivers expect that they will take off at the light and get in front of you to cut you off to make the entrance to that highway. But when that light changes and you are able to leave them behind without hardly an effort, is an amazing feeling (not saying I do this, but knowing I can is just the same). Cornering and braking is also very good and the different levels of driving (comfort, sport, etc.) are able to make your car feel brand new when you change them.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that touchscreen and the lack of buttons. I absolutely hate buttons on a vehicle. Yes, I get why most manufactures use them…they are easy to find and quick to use. But I don’t mind tapping a screen to get all the options show up. The touchscreen is easy to see while driving, and the over the air updates again make the car feel brand new each time you get a new feature. I used to want to get a new vehicle every 2-3 years as I would get bored with them, but I still love this car almost as much as the first day I drove it off the lot. I have the best navigation system available, awesome features such as autopilot and summon, and the lack of instrument clusters and buttons make the inside feel that much better.

Wheels / Tires
We bought just the standard aero wheels with our Model 3 and originally thought we would take them off and get the caps. However, the aero wheels still sit on the vehicle to this day. They actually look good in our opinion and help the efficiency. For the longest time, it almost seemed like the wheels were hard to scuff up on curbs as well. For the first year, I don’t think we managed to scuff up a single wheel. However, in our 2nd year, we have hit two curbs and they seem to scuff up just as easy. The outside rim of the wheel itself shows around the edge of the aero wheel unfortunately and therefore, we have permanent cosmetic damage to two of our wheels.

As far as the tires themselves, we would have gotten about 25,000 to 30,000 miles off the original tires. However, in Feb 2020, we ended up getting a nail in one of the tires. Due to them needing to be replaced within the next year anyways, we decided to just get four brand new tires. Surprisingly enough, the Tesla service center actually was able to do it for the same price as a local tire place.

When the tires are almost brand new, this car just shoots off the line. It has amazing pickup and holds well around corners. But as the tires aged and got closer to needing replacement, they started to slip more and more.

Favorite Feature:
This is a hard one to narrow down to just one favorite feature. There are so many things we love about it. But as I said before, previously wanting a new car every 2-3 years boiled down to getting bored with the vehicle. With the Model 3, the over the air updates bring new features that make the car feel brand new. So our favorite feature is going to be the over the air updates, which for some reason very few manufactures still do to this day.

Worst Feature:
There isn’t very much to dislike about the Model 3. But something that we haven’t discussed yet is the price reductions over time. If we were to have waited about 10-12 months, the standard range would have been available for roughly $20,000 less than what we paid. Its practically the same car with less range, and they even include Autopilot now. This is probably what frustrates us most about our vehicle is Tesla’s ever changing pricing schemes on not only the vehicle trims themselves, but features such as Autopilot and Full Self Driving. We could have almost bought two Model 3s for the price we paid for our one.

Overall Long Term Verdict
As we pass two years of owning the Model 3, how does it compare to the expectations when we first picked it up? To be honest, it has been a wonderful and exciting car to drive and own. There have been the disappointments such as the headrest or price reductions after we purchased. But we need to just keep looking forward. We have two years and/or roughly 29,000 miles of warranty remaining and certainly will be keeping it until the end of the warranty which should be July 2022. The question of how long we keep this car boils down to the simple question of how well it holds up over time. And basing that on the first two years of ownership, shows that we might have this vehicle for the next 10-15 years. But it should be noted, we have a reservation placed already for the Tesla pickup truck whenever they release the standard version.
I'm sitting at 18 months on my model 3 and I agree with all the positives you state, but you missed a few things that I have experienced. I'm retired and have a lot of time on my hands, but I think up places to go so I can enjoy the car and the sound system, better than anything I have in the house.

You didn't talk about Autopilot and that's one of my favorite things. Although I'm retired I own a business and it's a 35 minute ride one way on 3 and 4 lane highway. When I hit the traffic snarls I don't even care because it does all the driving. Bug reports is another great feature. You press the right button and say bug report and describe the problem. I reported a tight turn on the overpass where the car was putting 2 wheels on the center line and there was no car there but still uncomfortable. In 2 weeks it acted differently and nearly centered in the lane.

I put a bug report in that my A/C didn't seem to be cooling enough and it was only 85 outside. I stopped at my son's to watch a soccer game and when I came out the A/C was set to 62, I didn't even know it could go that low. I was having trouble with a camera and sometimes it wouldn't let me change lanes, like the camera was dirty, but it wasn't. It got worse as I was driving to the store, I entered a bug report and it was fixed in 15 minutes while I was driving. Rebooting might have done the same thing, but not sure. Having your car repaired on the fly is the most amazing thing ever. I also bought 2 one pound ankle weights to attach to the steering wheel so I don't get all the nudges about hands on the wheel. I know that's not recommended and I only use it on the highway I'm very familiar with and if there is an 18 wheeler next to me or I'm going into a tight curve I've always got my hands on the wheel but straight away at 80 mph and I'm good. I also had autopilot dodge an 18 wheeler pulling over into my lane. . .so fast I had to look at the video to see what actually happened. I will drive it till it dies and I may go first based on the 300,000 miles they are getting on the batteries.
 
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If Tesla updates the model 3 with newer batteries/design that can cut the weight 500 lbs, and offers a coupe, I will definite be getting a newer 3. Otherwise I will keep the car until Tesla has something better for me (lighter, coupe, no more than $100k. A 2500 lb grand touring roadster with a P3D drivetrain would be my ideal replacement (300 mile range, mid 11s quarter mile).
This is my sentiment, exaclty. I love the EV drive train but so miss a smaller, lighter, sportier, and sexier car. This 4,000 lbs beast does feel a little piggy. A 500lbs weight cut would be a god-send
 
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