Taking the plunge

[Marsh_UK]

Hi all- this is my first post on the forum. I am going to ask a few questions, so please be kind to me!

When I changed my car two years ago I considered an EV but I decided against it, the lease on that car finishes in March and this time I am going to jump in with both feet and join the EV revolution.

I am going to buy an M3 (As a huge petrolhead it will take me a while to stop associating this with BMW) SR+. First thing I tried to do is book a test drive, so I went onto the Tesla website and thought I had booked a test drive but I have never received a confirmation that I had in fact booked one. After reading the forum this week, it appears to be common. Luckily I know someone with an M3 performance so at least I can look around theirs.

I'm now weighing up the best way to finance and I am waiting for a quote back off lease electric.

What is the sound system like in the SR+? I currently drive a Volvo V90 with an incredible standard setup I am hoping the Tesla system is as good.

 

[freekie]

I have LR version and love it’s sound system. I can hear a friend calling from China clearer in the car than through the phone itself. First time my partner called me it was so weird as it seemed they were sitting in front of me in the car!

 

[MrBadger]

If considering the standard range, or even long range, familiarise yourself with how the range is affected in cold conditions just to make sure that it fits in with your personal scenarios.

 

[Marsh_UK]

If considering the standard range, or even long range, familiarise yourself with how the range is affected in cold conditions just to make sure that it fits in with your personal scenarios.

My commute is 15 miles through a city centre so range wise the SR should be fine. For long journeys I can use my wife’s car.

I would imagine real world range to be around 180 miles in the winter?

 

[Marsh_UK]

I have LR version and love it’s sound system. I can hear a friend calling from China clearer in the car than through the phone itself. First time my partner called me it was so weird as it seemed they were sitting in front of me in the car!

Thanks, I have been spoilt with the sound system in the Volvo

 

[elecTED]

Go for the plunge, even without a test drive, you will not regret it!

The sound system in the SR+ is perfectly good for me (and most people seem to think it’s great) but I’m no music buff.

 

[Adopado]

My commute is 15 miles through a city centre so range wise the SR should be fine. For long journeys I can use my wife’s car.

I would imagine real world range to be around 180 miles in the winter?

The drive is so enjoyable you will be choosing the Telsa even for longer distances unless you are venturing a long way out of Supercharger country! Unless you are driving to a very tight timetable where every minute counts a short stop can actually enhance the experience. The rest of the time you are gaining because so long as you are charging at home you never have to go to a petrol station to fill up.

 

[Marsh_UK]

Has anybody got a competitive PCP price for their model 3? Lease costs are ok but I would like the option to keep the car at the end of the term.

 

[Leilani]

Hi all- this is my first post on the forum. I am going to ask a few questions, so please be kind to me!

When I changed my car two years ago I considered an EV but I decided against it, the lease on that car finishes in March and this time I am going to jump in with both feet and join the EV revolution.

I am going to buy an M3 (As a huge petrolhead it will take me a while to stop associating this with BMW) SR+. First thing I tried to do is book a test drive, so I went onto the Tesla website and thought I had booked a test drive but I have never received a confirmation that I had in fact booked one. After reading the forum this week, it appears to be common. Luckily I know someone with an M3 performance so at least I can look around theirs.

I'm now weighing up the best way to finance and I am waiting for a quote back off lease electric.

What is the sound system like in the SR+? I currently drive a Volvo V90 with an incredible standard setup I am hoping the Tesla system is as good.

Ok, this is my first post too but I have been much helped by the knowledge shared on this forum. Now it's my turn to enlighten someone.....
I took delivery of my SR+ on 03/12. My commute is 100 miles round trip to/fro work. The car has been simply fantastic, I charge up to 90% and ret9with about 30% and that is with the car left in the cold. I removed the aero wheels as soon as my keys were handed over and I keep up with motorway traffic in every sense of the word.......with some mad bursts every now and then. No range anxiety at all.
Am into quality sound systems and I can assure you that the sound system is as good as any cars. The sub is not a "must have" at all.
All the talk about road noise is non-sense. The only thing I find dreadful is the auto wiper performance. I have received the latest update today so I hope that would fix it.

 

[Marsh_UK]

Ok, this is my first post too but I have been much helped by the knowledge shared on this forum. Now it's my turn to enlighten someone.....
I took delivery of my SR+ on 03/12. My commute is 100 miles round trip to/fro work. The car has been simply fantastic, I charge up to 90% and ret9with about 30% and that is with the car left in the cold. I removed the aero wheels as soon as my keys were handed over and I keep up with motorway traffic in every sense of the word.......with some mad bursts every now and then. No range anxiety at all.
Am into quality sound systems and I can assure you that the sound system is as good as any cars. The sub is not a "must have" at all.
All the talk about road noise is non-sense. The only thing I find dreadful is the auto wiper performance. I have received the latest update today so I hope that would fix it.

Awesome! Thanks for the reply.

 

[MrBadger]

All the talk about road noise is non-sense.

Go sit in the back and reassess - its a completely different story to sitting in the front. Even Tesla service admit the car has poor road noise.

 

[elecTED]

I would imagine real world range to be around 180 miles in the winter?

That sounds a little optimistic for winter driving with an SR+. Under favourable winter conditions (starting with full charge, pre-heating cabin and turning down cabin heating and fan, minimal use of AC, dry weather, 5-10C, driving no faster than 70mph, no passengers or heavy loads) you may achieve around 150 miles on a single long trip.

If you like speed and acceleration and a toasty cabin then you could blow the range with just 100 miles of driving in very cold weather with a full load and without doing some of the above.

 

[Radders]

I seem to be getting Alot better in my SR+ than mentioned above.

Once warm I get about 2 miles for every % a bit less for lot of shorter cold journeys

Done long run a couple of days ago 280 miles topped up half way and used about 140% .

This was starting with 100% battery. First leg of journey started out about 5:30 and frosty but preheated cabin and battery while on charge. Some average 50 zones some 70-80mph. Then car sat from 9-3 with sentry running (although only a couple of events) return leg was heavy rain and again mix of average 50 70mph and some local a roads. Not particularly heavy footed on this trip though.

Forgot to add. Only had for 1 month.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Sorry to be late to this thread. The sound system in my M3 LR is probably the very best I've heard in any non-modified production car. Not only that, but Tesla have done something no other manufacturer seems to have been able to do, and make DAB radio work very reliably in our poor signal area. I don't know how they've done it, but none of our previous cars, or hire cars, have been able to reliably receive DAB here, yet the Model 3 seems to do it without a glitch.

Pretty much everything about the interior of the car is extremely well thought out and functions extremely well. Everyone that gets in it comments on how comfortable the seats are.

The downsides are automatic wipers that simply don't work in light rain (a fix is apparently in the pipeline) and manual wiper controls via the touch screen which are, to say the least, a bit challenging to use when driving.

There are some well-publicised scheduled charging problems, too. although not an issue unless seeking to make use of cheap rate electricity tariffs, and even then there are work arounds (there is allegedly a fix in the pipeline for this, too).

There are a few odd clunks from the front suspension on very rough roads, but nothing worse than any other car I've owned. Fit and finish seems at least as good as something like an equivalent model BMW (owned a few BMWs over the years, and they aren't always as good as they are hyped up to be).

Range is incredibly variable, and depends very largely on weather (cold weather is a killer) and driving style (hoof it every where and range will suffer). High speeds on motorways hit range hard, especially in the cold and wet. Moderate speeds on A roads give much greater range as a rule. Noise in the back is higher than some other cars in the class, but the car is so quiet that I think that any noise seems a bit more noticeable.

Build quality is still a bit variable. I have some wind noise coming from the driver's door window that should be fixed soon. There were a couple of very minor paint defects not picked up during PDI, I have a strong suspicion that Tesla don't really PDI new cars in any depth, as there were several minor issues with mine that frankly should have been picked up with even a cursory examination.

Finally, be prepared for dealing with Tesla to be, shall we say, unusual. lack of communication, or even acknowledgement of payment, is completely normal. Get used to using the 'phone a lot to try and find out what's going on, as you sure as hell won't get much in the way of accurate information from either your account page or by email. In fact forget email, as it seems that a lot of the time Tesla just don't bother to read them...

 

[Leilani]

Go sit in the back and reassess - its a completely different story to sitting in the front. Even Tesla service admit the car has poor road noise.

I will sure give that a try and feedback.

 

[VT_EE]

Thanks, I have been spoilt with the sound system in the Volvo

The sound system in the SR+ is not the same as the LR. The LR does sound phenomenal though.

 

[Marsh_UK]

The sound system in the SR+ is not the same as the LR. The LR does sound phenomenal though.

Is the system in the SR + poor though. Most manufactures standard system is terrible to make you upgrade it, which you can’t do with Tesla unless you get the LR.

 

[Adopado]

Is the system in the SR + poor though. Most manufactures standard system is terrible to make you upgrade it, which you can’t do with Tesla unless you get the LR.

The SR+ sound system is most certainly not poor. It sounds great to me anyway! I took my nephew for a drive (aged late 20s) with fresh ears and due to his work situation is used to driving some top spec hire cars. He was impressed with the quality of the sound system and reckoned it compared well to more expensive cars.

 

[Marsh_UK]

Great thanks

 

[Leilani]

Go sit in the back and reassess - its a completely different story to sitting in the front. Even Tesla service admit the car has poor road noise.

Oook, finally got to sit in the back of my car yesterday. The drive was around town and the noise level was quite high. I have decided to do something about it. Wish me luck!