Given the nature of it, apologies for this being my first, and possibly only, message on these forums.
I am both horrified by what I’m reading here, and also grateful to all who’ve made their various contributions. I’ve been struck in particular by the number of people planning to sell their car prematurely or who have had to switch off these aids when they have passengers. And also by the fact that this has been dribbling on for years with seemingly no end in sight.
I’ve been driving Golfs for the last 8 years, with Adaptive Cruise Control which I use extensively. I’ve never once experienced any type of phantom braking. Warning ‘squeals’ about 4 times a year when it takes a dislike to a roadside hedge on a bend, but I think that’s the AEB.
Perhaps the difference is that the VW system is simply designed to ‘match’ the car in front [and to an extent the vehicle in the lane to the right] whereas the Tesla system seems to be trying to be “all things to all people”; trying too hard to monitor this, that and the other on the road towards the Holy Grail of FSD.
Personally I consider a reliable ACC to be essential. I use it on every journey and couldn’t imagine being without it, whether on the Motorway or keeping me within town speed limits. I’d feel sick if I’d spent over £40k on a car and then had to disable any of the systems I’d paid for.
I’ve spent the last month intensively researching, had my Tesla half hour test drive, got my heart set on a Model 3 and had been planning to pay my deposit this week. Not now. Too risky. My Golf’s good for another couple of years so it’s ‘better the devil you know’.
Very sad as I’d love to join the electric revolution and currently Tesla’s the only game in town, given the laughable state of the charging network which every Kia, Hyundai, VW, Audi, Jaguar, BMW etc has to make do with.