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Questions regarding reliability

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I recently posted on the Tesla subreddit about being excited to buy my first Model 3 (LR AWD) to which I got a bunch of happy responses of course, but I also asked for maintenance and reliability information from owners who have had the car for 2+ years. I've gotten a lot of people mentioning they have a lot of issues with their cars, and are generally worried for when the warranty expires.

I decided to come here and ask you forum users as I'm looking for multiple view points. Those of you who use your Model 3 as a daily driver, and have high milage, are you seeing a lot of issues?

Thanks!
 
This is more complex than you might initially expect. The early cars from Tesla historically have been problematic. This certainly includes Model 3. People with the early VIN's are at much higher risk of experiencing issues. Tesla most certainly does make constant changes that typically resolve the known issues over time. At this point, current production appears to be at least average reliability if not better. They are most assuredly not the most reliable vehicles ever made, but a great deal of people have no troubles, my self and my brother included. The truth is cars break, and Tesla being a newer car company isn't immune to fault. I'm a picky individual, and I still think the Model 3/Y is the best daily driver money can buy, all things included.

A great deal of the people complaining about the vehicle are complain about perceived lack of initial build quality, customer service, lack of understanding the vehicle and its intended operation, and not really actual reliability concerns that result in the vehicle not being able to move. Lots of people hold Tesla to a much higher standard than other brands, and a lot of buyers are first time new car buyers, or buying far above the normal price range they typically shop. This means a great deal of buyers are exceptionally picky and can be unreasonable at times, demanding perfection. The car is not perfect, and Tesla certainly occasionally does some unsavory stuff. Overall, it's still absolutely terrific and worth it for the overwhelming majority. If you can tolerate the potability of a minor blemish in a new car, value the performance, and don't drive cross country straight every weekend, Model 3 is absolutely a tremendous vehicle.
 
This is more complex than you might initially expect. The early cars from Tesla historically have been problematic. This certainly includes Model 3. People with the early VIN's are at much higher risk of experiencing issues. Tesla most certainly does make constant changes that typically resolve the known issues over time. At this point, current production appears to be at least average reliability if not better. They are most assuredly not the most reliable vehicles ever made, but a great deal of people have no troubles, my self and my brother included. The truth is cars break, and Tesla being a newer car company isn't immune to fault. I'm a picky individual, and I still think the Model 3/Y is the best daily driver money can buy, all things included.

A great deal of the people complaining about the vehicle are complain about perceived lack of initial build quality, customer service, lack of understanding the vehicle and its intended operation, and not really actual reliability concerns that result in the vehicle not being able to move. Lots of people hold Tesla to a much higher standard than other brands, and a lot of buyers are first time new car buyers, or buying far above the normal price range they typically shop. This means a great deal of buyers are exceptionally picky and can be unreasonable at times, demanding perfection. The car is not perfect, and Tesla certainly occasionally does some unsavory stuff. Overall, it's still absolutely terrific and worth it for the overwhelming majority. If you can tolerate the potability of a minor blemish in a new car, value the performance, and don't drive cross country straight every weekend, Model 3 is absolutely a tremendous vehicle.
I appreciate the response, I've been a walk to work guy here in San Diego and am being moved to deal with COVID in Chicago, which means I will be commuting about 35 miles one way as we'll live outside the city. I do plan on this being my daily driver, I'm talking 350 400 miles a week. It was either a Model 3, a new BMW 3-series, or a GTI. I however have been a strong supporter of Tesla and their ideals to making more sustainable products, and also own stock in Tesla. I was looking forward to buying, but when I heard a few horror stories, even from car and driver, I got a little spooked.
 
400 miles a week is no problem at all. The range is quite reasonable, and its easy to hit ratings when its warm outside. Just be aware very cold weather has a big ding on range, but for the most part its not such a big deal if you have at home charging. Out of your options, Model 3 is a vastly superior vehicle IMO. I've had mine nearly a year, and its still damn exciting to go for a drive where I can thrash it around. I'd like a bit more top end power, and ~400 mile range, otherwise its mostly absolutely wonderful. If you're a car enthusiast, I can't recommend a Model 3 enough. I'd say the AWD model is probably the play for most, and you can get the acceleration boost upgrade for 2K which is a bit more fun.
 
I appreciate the response, I've been a walk to work guy here in San Diego and am being moved to deal with COVID in Chicago, which means I will be commuting about 35 miles one way as we'll live outside the city. I do plan on this being my daily driver, I'm talking 350 400 miles a week. It was either a Model 3, a new BMW 3-series, or a GTI. I however have been a strong supporter of Tesla and their ideals to making more sustainable products, and also own stock in Tesla. I was looking forward to buying, but when I heard a few horror stories, even from car and driver, I got a little spooked.


I drive from temecula to oceanside every day (well I did before covid 19) so I have 22k miles on my dec of 2018 purchased model 3. The only real problem I have had is bad luck with rolling over stuff with my 20 inch tires and damaging rims and tires.
 
I recently posted on the Tesla subreddit about being excited to buy my first Model 3 (LR AWD) to which I got a bunch of happy responses of course, but I also asked for maintenance and reliability information from owners who have had the car for 2+ years. I've gotten a lot of people mentioning they have a lot of issues with their cars, and are generally worried for when the warranty expires.

I decided to come here and ask you forum users as I'm looking for multiple view points. Those of you who use your Model 3 as a daily driver, and have high milage, are you seeing a lot of issues?

Thanks!

We've had our Model 3 since August of 2018. Not one issue in that time at nearly 20K miles. The difference between our 2013 Model S and the 3 was night and day, as the S had all sorts of early car troubles. (Still totally worth buying even then and we have well over 100K miles on it now.)
 
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OP - bet if you went on the BMW or VW forums you'd find people with 3 series or GTIs reporting just as many, if not more problems than here. Got my Model 3 in Nov 2018, almost 20,000 miles. I had a 12volt battery failure. Tesla replaced it no problem. Two weeks later, got the same error. Tesla kept the car for two weeks before diagnosing a faulty harness. While they had my car they gave me a new Model S to drive. Other than that, no issues whatsoever. If something happened to my Model 3, and I had to replace it, it would be with another Model 3, no question about it.

Prior BMW 550i owner, so no stranger to high end cars.

Keith
 
I put at least 500 mi/wk on mine, and am at 55k miles. There have been no unscheduled maintenance or repair calls. (Aside from factory advisories, which have been cheerfully and proactively applied). I’ve broken my second windshield, which is normal for my mileage around here. I can detect no, I mean zero, battery degradation, using Teslafi data. I am so spoiled I am grumpy about having to fill my wiper fluid reservoir. This is a 20 month old car.

‘Nuff said?
 
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I appreciate the response, I've been a walk to work guy here in San Diego and am being moved to deal with COVID in Chicago, which means I will be commuting about 35 miles one way as we'll live outside the city. I do plan on this being my daily driver, I'm talking 350 400 miles a week. It was either a Model 3, a new BMW 3-series, or a GTI. I however have been a strong supporter of Tesla and their ideals to making more sustainable products, and also own stock in Tesla. I was looking forward to buying, but when I heard a few horror stories, even from car and driver, I got a little spooked.

I bought my Tesla 3 with exactly the same use case in mind....35 miles each way to commute to work. As a result of the virus hysteria, I haven't had a chance to actually do that yet. In my 2 months of ownership, I haven't experienced any mechanical issues, but I've only put about 400-500 miles on it. I have observed some fit/finish nits and there is definitely an issue with wind noise at higher speeds. That said, I think a number of people have expectations of "luxury car" quality and fit/finish and you'll see a lot of whining about that. For what you get, I find the shortcomings to be tolerable.

You could always drive it until the warranty is out and then get something else if you don't like it. Life is short...get what you think you'd enjoy driving. At the end of the day, my 3 Performance is significantly faster than the 500hp muscle car I used to drive to work. 300 miles worth of electricity here is about $8. My previous car would need about $60 in premium gas to go the same distance. That savings adds up quickly and it's a lot more fun to drive (minus the missing high performance V8 soundtrack).

Best,
 
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Asking about 2+ year old Model 3's is exactly the wrong question to ask. You might as well be asking about a completely different car. Obviously there are plenty of exceptions, but the early reviews weren't positive.
I stalked this forum for a year before I became confident enough to buy one in Sep '19. Last summer the reviews were improving. As the car entered year 3 of production it seemed like they figured some things out.
I have no regrets about this purchase. It's a fantastic car.
 
My 3 is a production hell car. Other than proactive maintenance the car has been trouble free. The only issue I had was a shuddering steering column. Replaced and trouble free since. Best car I’ve ever owned.
 
My LR AWD is from August of 2018. At delivery it had a couple of paint flaws in the rear drivers side quarter panel, which they resolved (and gave me a Model X100D as a loaner).

Mechanically, it has been flawless. Actually, it’s even better than flawless. My 4.5s 0-60 car is now a 3.7s 0-60 car!

Software wise, there have been some glitches. The most annoying of which has been the backup camera sometimes takes a while to come up. But, the latest software revisions have pretty much taken care of it. That’s the beauty of OTA updates!
 
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I will be at 2 years next month, and have over 51k miles on her to date. Other than getting the HW3 upgrade installed and a replacement front facia after hitting a tire tread kicked up in front of me, my car has NEVER been in the service center. It is still operating perfectly. No issues at all.

I recently posted on the Tesla subreddit about being excited to buy my first Model 3 (LR AWD) to which I got a bunch of happy responses of course, but I also asked for maintenance and reliability information from owners who have had the car for 2+ years. I've gotten a lot of people mentioning they have a lot of issues with their cars, and are generally worried for when the warranty expires.

I decided to come here and ask you forum users as I'm looking for multiple view points. Those of you who use your Model 3 as a daily driver, and have high milage, are you seeing a lot of issues?

Thanks!
 
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I appreciate the response, I've been a walk to work guy here in San Diego and am being moved to deal with COVID in Chicago, which means I will be commuting about 35 miles one way as we'll live outside the city. I do plan on this being my daily driver, I'm talking 350 400 miles a week. It was either a Model 3, a new BMW 3-series, or a GTI. I however have been a strong supporter of Tesla and their ideals to making more sustainable products, and also own stock in Tesla. I was looking forward to buying, but when I heard a few horror stories, even from car and driver, I got a little spooked.

I drive (normallyu) 80 miles a day round trip to my job, and pre covid did this 5 days a week in my model 3P, with no issues other than hitting potholes and having to replace 20 inch rims and tires. Thats a fault of the 20 inch rims, and how heavy the car is, not the car itself.

No other issues (other than things like getting my spoiler installed, etc).

I have 23k miles on my car now, and I have had it since Dec of 2018. I would have had more but have been working from home since Mid march, only driving into "the office" every 7-10 days to take care of things that need to be done in person for my job, vs things I can do remotely.

I am very happy with my car. I also agree with @ZOMGVTEK 's post 1000%

EDIT... didnt realize this was a somewhat bumped thread until I posted this, but congrats OP on taking the leap :)
 
Had my Model 3 coming up a year now, and have found it very reliable.

Haven't had to visit the Tesla Service Center.

I have found no major panel gaps.

The paint seems fine to me, but the Ceramic Pro guys noticed some imperfections which they buffed out before application of the ceramic coating.

I have only had to do a reset of the screen two days ago when it froze on me putting on the A/C
 
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