My wife and I have had our Model 3 since Christmastime, and we've good advantage of the opportunity to trade back and forth day to day between it and our S85D.
In doing so, we've reached the usual conclusions:
S = smoother, with slightly less intrusive road feel and wind noise
3 = more nimble
3 = able to carry a lot
S = able to carry a lot ... with ease
S = more UI "territory" and more mature UI design
3 = snappier UI hardware, far better nav routing display
Etc.
However, until today, I hadn't taken time to trade cars back-to-back-to-back on the same morning.
Routed a great mix of big straight surface streets and small winding ones, straight-ish freeways and curving on-ramps, high-speed canyon highways and lower-speed mountain roads. (For SFV, CA folks: Valley Vista, Sherman Way, I-405, Sepulveda (in the pass), Mulholland, and Beverly Glen.)
Goal was to see which car was more
enjoyable to drive. Faced with looming decision of keeping (or upgrading) Model S (sensible for road trips) vs. trading "down" to a Model 3, I wanted to see which car I'd prefer as a daily driver.
If the contest proved close, the wise answer would be to stand pat, with my wife and I able to trade off and enjoy the best of both worlds. That's where I'd tentatively come down, aided by sage advice from members of this forum.
Until today.
Driving the same route, back-to-back-to-back, yielded a major surprise:
The contest wasn't close. The contest ... wasn't.
Seems an easy choice to sell the S once 3 AWD becomes available.
Sure, it would be nice to have a (hoped-for) S110D or 120D for travel.
But, probably not at the expense of less delight daily.
And, certainly, not at an incremental cost of $50K (~ $5K/yr add'l depreciation rate). (Would we Turo a 120D for $200+ a day for the two or three weeks of road trips we do each summer? If not, why should we spend an equivalent amount depreciating an S whose only advantages for us fall a fewer weeks a year?)
Just one person's Sunday drive thoughts.
Would welcome yours!