Questions about purchasing a 2024 Model Y

[Abe Rodriguez]

My wife and I are in a market for a new vehicle for her, not sure if we want to go full EV or a Hybrid version vehicle, but Tesla is a manufacture in the circle of consideration. I have a window tint, wrap, paint protection business and since 2012 when I starting seeing the TESLA in our shop, have been interested in the brand. I have talked to about 12 Tesla owners about ownership. With Tesla recently being in the news with problems charging in the cold, I have one toe in the water at this time. The vehicles have come along way but the over all quality of the vehicle is really lacking that of other manufacture's. I have been told to wait wait until they come out with the bigger battery. Just looking for honest feedback from purest on the TESLA brand and those who went back to a traditional ICE vehicle (internal combustion engine). Thanks.

 

[jkdman123]

You have to ask yourself what exactly is your interest in BEVs and Tesla in particular. BEVs are a pretty big paradigm shift, some negative, some positive. As far as BEVs go, my personal opinion is Tesla is king, especially if you think you're gonna travel in it. I have a LOT of criticisms of Musk, but he did a few things right; he built the supercharger network and he built a battery big enough that it should work for the vast majority of drivers given their average usage.

That being said, you have to be willing to accept a few things if you get a BEV;
-It's new tech and hasn't really matured. As I said, the paradigms of BEVs are greatly different than ICE cars. Lower range on the highway/higher in the city which is the exact opposite of ICE cars. Energy density of even a long-range battery is not as great as the energy density of gasoline. Since the battery runs everything in the car, everything can affect your range; heat, AC, lights, etc. Temp and rain have a much more negative effect than on an ICE car. It's basically a computer on wheels and computers hang up sometimes. You may see errors and issues that you wouldn't see on an ICE car, even an advanced one.

-Trips will require more thought and planning. Not a ton more, but gas stations are ubiquitous. Unless you're driving waaaay off the beaten path, you never worry about finding a gas station, or if there's gonna be a long wait to fill up. That's not the case with a BEV.

-Because he sank so much money into the supercharger network and battery development, and the low price point (if you're talking about the M3, but it pretty much applies to all models), the build quality, ride, and overall luxuriousness for what you pay is lacking and will be for quite a while. He has zero incentive to put money into improving either one of these because he's outselling the competition by leaps and bounds as it is.

-Since Elon is trying to put as many cars on the road as he possibly can, this means there aren't too many spare parts. You get in an accident, you could be waiting a long time to get your car fixed. It's one of my biggest fears.

Positives to owning a Tesla (some of these apply to BEVs in general but some don't):
-Eliminates the need to go to the gas station unless on a road trip. This is one of the quieter advantages but doesn't really get trumpeted too much.
-Good for the environment. Even if your electricity source isn't the cleanest, all the major LEGIT studies show that BEVs have less carbon footprint over their lifetimes. If you have solar, you could be driving for free.

-Pretty fun cars to drive. The novelty of an electric car with a big battery still blows me away as a Gen Xer who never envisioned that such a thing would be possible and that I'd own one.

-A million and one accessories so that you can trick your car out any number of ways.

-Tesla service gets a bad rap and a lot of times they deserve it. but that's a wash to me because one Honda dealership is not like another so there will always be a quality spread. The positive is that at least they have a TON more experience with the ins and outs of BEVs than other manufacturers who are just getting into the game. People are under the impression that if they get a Mustang Mach-E (such a dumb name. Sheesh!) that they can just whip on down to the local Ford dealership to get it fixed. This is wrong. Given the low number of other BEVs in a given market, Ford does not have too many BEV techs just sitting around waiting for Mach-Es to come in. Yes, they might have some people who are dual trained, but how much experience on BEVs do you think they have compared to the average Tesla tech? It's not even close. And their spare part inventory is probably as bad or worse than Teslas given that nobody is churning out BEVs in Tesla numbers, so why would they have a bunch of spare parts lying around tying up money?

-While their software quality has declined in the last few years in my opinion, they are still absolutely killing other makers when it comes to over the air updates. You may see bugs crop up here and there, but I'd be willing to bet that they make fixes and roll them out WAY faster than others. Just recently the Mach-E had a problem where if an update wasn't installed successfully it bricked the car.

 

[zoomer0056]

I have been told to wait wait until they come out with the bigger battery.

If you've spent any time here reading, you'll see a culture of waiting for the next new thing. It's been comical as people wait for the new golden hinges to come out. Tesla is continuously improving and new things come about all the time and new things are coming. So ... dong wait for a big battery. Actually thus is the first I've heard of waiting for a battery. I've uoj like it, buy it!.

 

[Sephiroth]

Since it’s your wife’s car, ask her if she’s willing to change her routine and thinking with her new car. She has to learn how to drive it, how to charge it, and generally learn her car.

 

[Skavatar]

if you have a garage and keep your vehicles in the garage, you'll have no issues charging.

 

[Abe Rodriguez]

You have to ask yourself what exactly is your interest in BEVs and Tesla in particular. BEVs are a pretty big paradigm shift, some negative, some positive. As far as BEVs go, my personal opinion is Tesla is king, especially if you think you're gonna travel in it. I have a LOT of criticisms of Musk, but he did a few things right; he built the supercharger network and he built a battery big enough that it should work for the vast majority of drivers given their average usage.

That being said, you have to be willing to accept a few things if you get a BEV;
-It's new tech and hasn't really matured. As I said, the paradigms of BEVs are greatly different than ICE cars. Lower range on the highway/higher in the city which is the exact opposite of ICE cars. Energy density of even a long-range battery is not as great as the energy density of gasoline. Since the battery runs everything in the car, everything can affect your range; heat, AC, lights, etc. Temp and rain have a much more negative effect than on an ICE car. It's basically a computer on wheels and computers hang up sometimes. You may see errors and issues that you wouldn't see on an ICE car, even an advanced one.

-Trips will require more thought and planning. Not a ton more, but gas stations are ubiquitous. Unless you're driving waaaay off the beaten path, you never worry about finding a gas station, or if there's gonna be a long wait to fill up. That's not the case with a BEV.

-Because he sank so much money into the supercharger network and battery development, and the low price point (if you're talking about the M3, but it pretty much applies to all models), the build quality, ride, and overall luxuriousness for what you pay is lacking and will be for quite a while. He has zero incentive to put money into improving either one of these because he's outselling the competition by leaps and bounds as it is.

-Since Elon is trying to put as many cars on the road as he possibly can, this means there aren't too many spare parts. You get in an accident, you could be waiting a long time to get your car fixed. It's one of my biggest fears.

Positives to owning a Tesla (some of these apply to BEVs in general but some don't):
-Eliminates the need to go to the gas station unless on a road trip. This is one of the quieter advantages but doesn't really get trumpeted too much.
-Good for the environment. Even if your electricity source isn't the cleanest, all the major LEGIT studies show that BEVs have less carbon footprint over their lifetimes. If you have solar, you could be driving for free.

-Pretty fun cars to drive. The novelty of an electric car with a big battery still blows me away as a Gen Xer who never envisioned that such a thing would be possible and that I'd own one.

-A million and one accessories so that you can trick your car out any number of ways.

-Tesla service gets a bad rap and a lot of times they deserve it. but that's a wash to me because one Honda dealership is not like another so there will always be a quality spread. The positive is that at least they have a TON more experience with the ins and outs of BEVs than other manufacturers who are just getting into the game. People are under the impression that if they get a Mustang Mach-E (such a dumb name. Sheesh!) that they can just whip on down to the local Ford dealership to get it fixed. This is wrong. Given the low number of other BEVs in a given market, Ford does not have too many BEV techs just sitting around waiting for Mach-Es to come in. Yes, they might have some people who are dual trained, but how much experience on BEVs do you think they have compared to the average Tesla tech? It's not even close. And their spare part inventory is probably as bad or worse than Teslas given that nobody is churning out BEVs in Tesla numbers, so why would they have a bunch of spare parts lying around tying up money?

-While their software quality has declined in the last few years in my opinion, they are still absolutely killing other makers when it comes to over the air updates. You may see bugs crop up here and there, but I'd be willing to bet that they make fixes and roll them out WAY faster than others. Just recently the Mach-E had a problem where if an update wasn't installed successfully it bricked the car.

some good information here. I appreciate you sharing this information. Do you also own a ICE vehicle?

 

[jkdman123]

some good information here. I appreciate you sharing this information. Do you also own a ICE vehicle?

Yes. And my son has a hybrid.

 

[David99]

Not sure what advice you are looking for. This is a Tesla community so the answers will be a bit biased. I have been driving EVs for over 10 years. 3 Teslas and a total of over 500k miles all electric across the US in all weather conditions. For more reasons than I can list here, I will never go back to gas.

Let's try to break the answer down a little. If you want the 'best vehicle' you can get, you have to make a list of things that are most important to you and then decide. It could be gas, it could be electric. But it depends on your situation and what you want and need. Is there a higher quality made car than Tesla? Of course! How much do you want to spend, though. The build quality and ride quality of an electric BMW or Mercedes is probably better, but you are paying for it. Don't use the experience of Tesla owners who have cars from the early years as a reference. A 2024 Model Y is heaps better than anything Tesla made in the beginning. My first Tesla was a 2014. Big improvement to my new Y now.

If you want to go electric, then Tesla is no doubt a top choice. But they are not as far ahead as they used to be. There are many excellent EVs from different brands. But again, there are a few things you need to figure out. For example, I drive long distance across the country. I have no home charging on the road. I depends entirely on public charging. That is where Tesla is by far the best. The supercharger network is absolutely awesome and the alternative simply sucks. So for me, only Tesla is an option.

One word about the recent news report about charging issues in the cold. Please just think for a moment. Teslas have been on the road in large numbers for over 10 years. They have been doing just fine through all these winters. Norway, a country with very long cold winters, has over 40% EVs on the road and approx 90% of all new car sales are EVs. There is no general problem with charging EVs in the winter. If there was, we would have heard about it 10 years ago. The news picks up whatever they can that gets clicks and portrays it in a way that gets people to talk about it. News is in the business to get your attention. It is not about information or education. A gas car is 50 times more likely to catch on fire than an EV, yet every EV fire is reported on in the news. Thousands of gas car burn without anyone blinking an eye. No news outlet is reporting that in extreme cold, many gas cars won't start when their starter battery is too cold. Because it's boring. Anything negative about EVs is automatically newsworthy, especially when Teslas are involved.

So here is my recommendation, buy a Nissan Rogue and be happy. Want better quality? Porsche Macan! Prefer a sedan? BMW 5 series. I used to try to be pro EV when people asked. These days, I couldn't care less what people buy. 10 years ago, people were laughing at Teslas. Last year the Model Y was one of the best selling vehicles globally. Not best selling EVs, best selling out of all. People get it, and those who don't, I have no desire to convert.

 

[Abe Rodriguez]

Since it’s your wife’s car, ask her if she’s willing to change her routine and thinking with her new car. She has to learn how to drive it, how to charge it, and generally learn her car.

That is the hard sell been married for 38 years, and living in the northeast where we do have some cold weather, she has concerns that her safety would be at risk just sitting there innocently waiting for a charging station, or while charging. There is nothing to do. Of course I am concerned with her safety and anyone else just waiting to charge back up and get back on the road. These are valid concerns that I think most people don't think about and especially men.

 

[Abe Rodriguez]

Not sure what advice you are looking for. This is a Tesla community so the answers will be a bit biased. I have been driving EVs for over 10 years. 3 Teslas and a total of over 500k miles all electric across the US in all weather conditions. For more reasons than I can list here, I will never go back to gas.

Let's try to break the answer down a little. If you want the 'best vehicle' you can get, you have to make a list of things that are most important to you and then decide. It could be gas, it could be electric. But it depends on your situation and what you want and need. Is there a higher quality made car than Tesla? Of course! How much do you want to spend, though. The build quality and ride quality of an electric BMW or Mercedes is probably better, but you are paying for it. Don't use the experience of Tesla owners who have cars from the early years as a reference. A 2024 Model Y is heaps better than anything Tesla made in the beginning. My first Tesla was a 2014. Big improvement to my new Y now.

If you want to go electric, then Tesla is no doubt a top choice. But they are not as far ahead as they used to be. There are many excellent EVs from different brands. But again, there are a few things you need to figure out. For example, I drive long distance across the country. I have no home charging on the road. I depends entirely on public charging. That is where Tesla is by far the best. The supercharger network is absolutely awesome and the alternative simply sucks. So for me, only Tesla is an option.

One word about the recent news report about charging issues in the cold. Please just think for a moment. Teslas have been on the road in large numbers for over 10 years. They have been doing just fine through all these winters. Norway, a country with very long cold winters, has over 40% EVs on the road and approx 90% of all new car sales are EVs. There is no general problem with charging EVs in the winter. If there was, we would have heard about it 10 years ago. The news picks up whatever they can that gets clicks and portrays it in a way that gets people to talk about it. News is in the business to get your attention. It is not about information or education. A gas car is 50 times more likely to catch on fire than an EV, yet every EV fire is reported on in the news. Thousands of gas car burn without anyone blinking an eye. No news outlet is reporting that in extreme cold, many gas cars won't start when their starter battery is too cold. Because it's boring. Anything negative about EVs is automatically newsworthy, especially when Teslas are involved.

So here is my recommendation, buy a Nissan Rogue and be happy. Want better quality? Porsche Macan! Prefer a sedan? BMW 5 series. I used to try to be pro EV when people asked. These days, I couldn't care less what people buy. 10 years ago, people were laughing at Teslas. Last year the Model Y was one of the best selling vehicles globally. Not best selling EVs, best selling out of all. People get it, and those who don't, I have no desire to convert.

Hey I like Nissan products. lol.. You are correct, Tesla's have been around a long time and this is the first time I have ever hear about there being issues in the cold with charging related issues. I have the great perspective from being a business owner in the world of auto tinting and we see about 3,200 cars a year and I get to see what's working for average consumers, and talking to them about how they like their vehicles. We get to see, feel and touch without leaving our window tint shop. Thank you.

 

[Abe Rodriguez]

if you have a garage and keep your vehicles in the garage, you'll have no issues charging.

yes, we will have a charger in our garage and in our business.

 

[Jerryr]

I’ve owned EVs since 2015. We currently own 2 2023 Model Ys and a Ford F150 Lightning EV. The only ICE vehicle we own is. Ford F-450 Dually diesel beast that is only used to tow our 5th wheel. If there was a Truck that could comfortably tow a 15,000 lb 5th week RV we would own it.

The second Model Ywas purchased for my wife to replace her 2015 Lexus hybrid that we gave to our adult daughter.

I hate gas cars.

 

[David99]

Hey I like Nissan products. lol.. You are correct, Tesla's have been around a long time and this is the first time I have ever hear about there being issues in the cold with charging related issues. I have the great perspective from being a business owner in the world of auto tinting and we see about 3,200 cars a year and I get to see what's working for average consumers, and talking to them about how they like their vehicles. We get to see, feel and touch without leaving our window tint shop. Thank you.

I wasn't being sarcastic about the recommendations I gave. I have driven the cars I recommended and I think they are excellent options.

But I was also serious about get what makes you happy. Buying a car is discussed based on comparing specs and numbers, but the decision is ore often than not made from a deeper emotional place. A car is your second home, it is a statement to the people around you, it is the treat you give yourself for being successful, it is a status symbol, it is about feeling good driving it. Just watch car ads. They are appealing to emotions. The voice over lists a few technical aspects, but those are just thrown in to keep the rational part of your brain happy. Half of the cars I see on the road are bought from an emotional motivation. They are not efficient, they are not practical, they are not economically wise. People buy them because they like them. And I will admit, when I test drive a Tesla for the first time, I was in love within seconds and ordered one. After 10 years I still love getting into my new Y every time. I have driven many excellent gas car. They are great, but just isn't the same happiness. They feel like Flintstone cars to me.

 

[David99]

I hate gas cars.

+1

 

[jkdman123]

That is the hard sell been married for 38 years, and living in the northeast where we do have some cold weather, she has concerns that her safety would be at risk just sitting there innocently waiting for a charging station, or while charging. There is nothing to do. Of course I am concerned with her safety and anyone else just waiting to charge back up and get back on the road. These are valid concerns that I think most people don't think about and especially men.

Is she planning on doing road trips? If not, then all of your charging is gonna be at home. And a lot of the supercharger stations are near a restaurant or something so it's not like she would be out in the middle of nowhere all alone when charging. And you can see on the screen in the car or on the app how many spots there are at any supercharger and how many are in use. So if one is full and there's a wait, you can look for another one close by that isn't so busy.

As for the cold weather, that's mostly media garbage. These cars have been in Norway and Sweden for years with no real problems. ICE cars will have troubles in below zero weather, too, so the cold weather really shouldn't be much of a concern, especially if you will have a home charger.

 

[dcfas]

We purchased a Model 3 last April. Didn’t want to wait for several mores years to pull the trigger on a BEV. I looked at the Chevy Bolt, Ford Mustang Mach E, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 along with the Teslas. At the time the only car among those options that was immediately available for the price being advertised was the Tesla. There were reservations only for the others; nothing was available except the top trims. We also have a Tesla service center near where we live, which made the decision to go with Tesla easier.

Regarding driving experience it’s the fastest and sportiest ride I’ve ever owned. It’s comfortable, always heated or cooled when you want it, and has a really good sound system. When we need to make a quick errand or take the car out in the evening we always choose it over our 2018 Honda (which we also like).

I find the tech almost amazing. The cameras, app, nav, systems screen all seem impressive to me.

I don’t think it’s perfect, however. My main issues are the stiffness in the suspension and the wind noise. Both I would say are detractors from the quality of the vehicle. The Autopilot system, while impressive, is also incredibly annoying due to recent changes, in essence, forced upon Tesla by the NHTSA.

At the price of the Model Y and 3 currently it seems to me the Tesla is an incredible value. Perhaps less for the Model X and S. But if you get one you’ll likely feel like many other owners here- no more gas cars. You must be prepared for a bit of a learning curve, however.

Good luck in your decision.