I’ve also had my car for about a month now. 90% of which, I’ve been driving around with a cracked passenger window - it felt like having a brand new iPhone and dropping it after day one and having to look at a cracked screen every time.
But I can say that today it’s FINALLY BEEN FIXED! Wholly moly, you honestly wouldn’t believe that having a fixed window would make it feel like a new car but it does - we can finally open the door and my partner no longer has to climb over the centre console!
That brings me to Tesla service experience. Overall, fantastic. Booked in via the app. Shortly after, got the appointment details. Had to wait a few weeks for the part to arrive but that was to be expected - not like they have spare glass hanging around. When the appointment came up, got plenty of notifications, a call, etc. about it so overall felt up to date with what was going on. They booked a chauffeur to a destination of my choice since it was going to take a few hours (and to be honest, I could’ve just hung out at the service centre with my laptop for a few hours but opted for the mall instead). One thing to note: I parked the car up, then went inside and waited about 20 mins for someone wearing a Tesla top to walk past. When they finally did, I asked to “check in” and they said oh no you just drive in, park, no need to leave the key, then leave - they have a geofence where it knows the car has arrived and it’s automatically put into service mode after parked so I clearly missed that in the info leading up to it. I then got plenty of notifications on my app when the car was ready (which only took a few hours). In the app messages they tell you the PIN to Drive number so you rock up, open up, put the PIN in and then drive. The PIN disappears after that. Overall, great experience (oh and they replaced the glass for free).
Back to the overall ownership experience.
Charging: I park in a residential block and have those podpoint charger thingys. So far, I haven’t paid a cent for the charging because when I plugged in, it just started charging….to be safe, I’m putting the money aside if the property manager ever pulls me up!
That being said, it’s kinda bad because now I’m not doing any efficiency driving whatsoever. I definitely put my foot down far too often and am genuinely worried about burning through my tires before 10K miles. Total KWH input = 336, total mileage 655.
Acceleration boost. The car was fast before. Now it’s REALLY FAST. Biggest difference is: off the mark - you can feel a marked difference in the instant power. Feels more like a M3 because prior to the boost, it would have an every so slight lag when you put the foot down. Going from 20-60 is also just wow. It feels like a rocket and you can hear the whine of the motor much more (which I happen to really like).
Handling: I feel is good. Not M3 good, naturally, but definitely can hold it’s own under heavy lateral forces. Traction control is also phenomenal (which, when you put your foot down on wet roads you really gain an appreciation for how well it can put the power down - it’s like they’ve been in the traction game for multiple decades - it’s effortless). It probably helps with the Pilot Sports but I’m sure the Hankook’s don’t feel much different.
Suspension: honestly, I love the way it feels 95% of the time. I like that it feels sporty-firm. And there’s definitely still a softness over even speed bumps that I didn’t feel in the test drive. I also feel that it’s softening up even after a few hundred miles. The 5% is obviously those pot holes on both sides of the roads - you know the ones - where it’s like pothole left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right in quick succession. It definitely bobbles around uncomfortably. Good thing is, even in London, there’s not thaaat many of those super bad roads that have these. Overall, super happy with the ride.
A few other bits:
Sound system is bomb - when it’s just me I really do blast it and it’s siiick no matter the volume.
Never had an issue with auto wipers - turns on at the time I would have. I turn off auto high beam when dark and on autopilot - turns off for the trip (so going on and off AP it keeps the same settings). I don’t do too much motorway driving which is the only time I put it on. Speaking of, when I am on the motorway, I love to sit in the leftmost lane, somewhere between the lorries, put on the AP and just chill - honestly just feels so nice to relax (while staying alert enough).
Oh, today I got picked up from the service centre in an early Fremont build M3 that’s clearly done thousands of miles…… Jeeeeez! That thing is a rattling machine! It felt so cheap and yuck. The driver was amazing, and he still loves driving it - but man what a HUGE difference in build quality. Also, am I bloody happy that I didn’t buy the M3. No offence to M3 owners, they’re great
driving machines (i.e. for the driving enthusiast), but as a passenger in the back, and I’m guessing in the front as well... it wasn’t that great to be honest. The big bar that goes between the glass roof almost defeats the glass roof itself and I think being a bit higher, even as a driver, is better for 90% of your regular driving. Maybe I’m being biased (actually, I definitely am) but it really feels that the Y is the better overall package. I’m so glad my partner convinced me to get it (and let’s be real, did I even have a choice?
).
That’s about it - there’s plenty of others points (all good) but for those future owners out there, you will NOT be disappointed.
Ooooh, I almost forgot -
are we jealous of the 2 new colours out of Berlin? I must admit, that Quicksilver looks siiiiick! How it’s like dark on various surfaces/angles but blindingly shiny on others - dang, I will probably look enviously when they’re eventually on these shores.