I kind of agree with
@TeeEmCee about Tesla cars being crap. If I told you I had bought a car that had its power steering fail at 25k miles, had its rear suspension replaced at 30k miles, it’s entertainment computer replaced around 40k miles as well as a failed door handle and various buttons on the steering wheel and front dash that stopped working and had to be replaced, then told you it was an Audi, most people would say “that car is crap!”.
That car is actually our 2015 Model S which currently has 50k miles on it. And it is crap. Fun as heck to drive, but a reliability PITA. And now that service is going down the tubes, it is becoming painful to get things fixed.
My 3 has been OK in Tesla terms, but probably not acceptable to “normal” people either. The software bugs have been impressive and seemingly endless. One thing gets fixed in an update and some new bug appears to take its place. And these aren’t just little things, the car takes over a minute on a regular basis to fire up the main screen when you get in, and the current no audio bug also suppresses the collision warning, the blinkers, and the autopilot tones until you can stop and power the car off. If you were not a techie, these things would be maddening. And, honestly, when it is 100 degrees outside, and my AC fans won’t turn on until the car wakes up from deep sleep over a minute later, I find that a bit maddening too. (The car doesn’t respond to the app for preconditioning when it is in this deep sleep state). At least the windows roll down.
I do love the cars, but that is because I am a
fan. So I accept the good with the bad and just enjoy the car - they are fun as heck to drive. I fully expect it to cost me an arm and a leg once they are out of warranty. If all the above things had happened to me in another brand’s car, I would just chalk it all up to terrible cars, sell as soon a possible, and not buy another one from that brand. But, for whatever reason, I continue to buy more Teslas instead. Maybe it is that “Fahrvergnügen” that VW tried to coin, but Tesla has actually created.