Possible future owner...

[gtae07]

Hello all,

I'm an aircraft systems engineer in the suburbs of Savannah, building an airplane in my garage (seriously!), and joined up to get some perspective on owning/operating a Tesla, and also to ask a few questions.

I'm looking into getting a new car sometime in the next year or so, as my 2003 Focus finally died for good and my 2005 short cab F150 is impractical as a DD in the long term (been driving old cars to save some money). I'm 95% sure I'm going BEV, it's just a question of which one. I've narrowed the list down to most likely a Model 3, Model Y, or the F-150 Lightning (or possibly a Cybertruck if it actually happens in time; all depends on the specs and price). I think the hardest thing to adapt to would be the minimal maintenance--between airplanes and older cars, I'm used to wrenching on things frequently.

Looking forward to some learning...

 

[crashfoot]

Hi and welcome to TMC!

 

[jimmyv65]

Welcome. Like anything....goods and bads. I am 3 months into a model Y and like it very much. Autopilot/Cruise control kinda sucks with the phantom braking. You may want to research that issue. Hopefully software updates will fix that soon.

Do you have specific questions?

 

[gtae07]

Thanks! I do have a few questions I think, but I'll probably put most of them in the vehicle-specific areas.

Mostly I'm just in "lurk and learn" mode right now. Trying to get a feel for what to expect and when the timing might work out right--I'm at least hoping to see some real-world range/price numbers for the F150 and also waiting to see if new batteries (and more range) work their way into the 3/Y. I'm not in a rush to buy yet; my truck is still running and I'm working from home about 40% of the time so not too much commuting to worry about.