I have a 3 reservation (Feb-Apr) but I am also considering an S. Setting aside price, those of you that own both cars and have had the 3 long enough to be past the honeymoon period (I know this may not have happened yet), I would like to hear your recommendation as to which Tesla would be best to purchase. I currently own a Bolt and and Genesis but I have owned Mercedes (C class), Porsche (Boxer & 911), BMW (3 series) to name a few. While ride and handling are important to me, so are other factors like reliability, ease of use (great UI), ease of entry/exit, quality of finish, comfort on long drives, acceleration, durability of materials and quality, ease of parking, and visibility to name a few. The basic question is given all of the various factors which car would you recommend buying and why?
Pros I see for the S is that they have been building it for a while and have had an opportunity to work out most of the bugs and the UI seems better from what I have seen and read. The biggest negative is that the technology may be dated in comparison to the 3. As a former software developer/engineer (retired) nether car appears to have adequate technology or computer power to meet the needs of level 5 autonomy so it may be a moot point. I have test driven an S but not a 3 so I can't personally compare the two yet. I have seen the 3 but not up close and personal. I keep seeing S owners talk about how responsive the screen is on the 3 making me think the S must be very bad in comparison. The smaller and more nimble aspects of the 3 are appealing but having to constantly look at the screen and page through levels of menus seems to be poor UI design. I also appears to be lacking some of the information displayed on the S that I liked. For example the Bolt gives you constant data and feedback on battery usage and what you may be doing that is inefficient. I don't see much information on the 3 display in comparison. I really like the view the S gives you of your surroundings and distance to nearby objects. I like the birdseye view on the Bolt as it really helps when parking in tight spots.
Hopefully, you can address the various issues as you have experienced them and provide some guidance.
Pros I see for the S is that they have been building it for a while and have had an opportunity to work out most of the bugs and the UI seems better from what I have seen and read. The biggest negative is that the technology may be dated in comparison to the 3. As a former software developer/engineer (retired) nether car appears to have adequate technology or computer power to meet the needs of level 5 autonomy so it may be a moot point. I have test driven an S but not a 3 so I can't personally compare the two yet. I have seen the 3 but not up close and personal. I keep seeing S owners talk about how responsive the screen is on the 3 making me think the S must be very bad in comparison. The smaller and more nimble aspects of the 3 are appealing but having to constantly look at the screen and page through levels of menus seems to be poor UI design. I also appears to be lacking some of the information displayed on the S that I liked. For example the Bolt gives you constant data and feedback on battery usage and what you may be doing that is inefficient. I don't see much information on the 3 display in comparison. I really like the view the S gives you of your surroundings and distance to nearby objects. I like the birdseye view on the Bolt as it really helps when parking in tight spots.
Hopefully, you can address the various issues as you have experienced them and provide some guidance.