"Tesla": The word that will get you a better Mercedes lease.

[Curious George]

Just don't see the advantages. Don't ICE vehicles use up more gas quicker if you drive above a certain speed, use your heater or air conditioning and/or pull a trailer? I will share that running late for work one day I also ran out of gas a few blocks from work because I thought I could make it there and didn't want to go out of my way to a gas station (embarrasing nonetheless and really made me late). Don't know about you but after we've driven a few hours we're ready to hit the bathroom and grab lunch or dinner on our trips. We'll plug in at a supercharger and move the car before we usually even get to finish our meal.

Range loss: Oh yes, gas cars lose some too, but we don't hear anyone talking about it as the fill up is so fast (2-3 minutes) and there are so many gas stations everywhere. Every 10-20 miles on highways and every few miles in cities. Moreover, heating, the biggest range killer in electric cars, is kinda free in gas cars as they recirculate the engine waste heat, not burn KWhs to produce.
George is curious, if Tesla Model 3 uses a heat pump to make heating more efficient.

Both AAA and consumer reports issued warnings on winter range loss (50% is what they said) for electric cars last year after Model 3 sales took off and complaints picked up. Don't remember seeing such warnings for gas cars.
Consumer Reports Study Mirrors AAA's - Tesla Model 3 & Nissan Leaf Range Drops by About 50% In Cold Weather Operation | Torque News

And with really long ranges in many ICE cars today, a 20% range loss won't be noticed by most, unless someone is so low income that buying little more gas hurts the wallet too much. Here are some of the longest range cars today.
https://www.cars.com/articles/top-10-vehicles-with-the-longest-driving-range-1420698377103/
1. 2018 Jaguar XF 20d: 731 miles (42 mpg highway, 17.4-gallon tank)
2. 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid: 729 miles (46 mpg highway, 15.85-gallon tank)
3. 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: 713 miles (45 mpg highway, 15.85-gallon tank)
4. (Tie) 2017 GMC Yukon XL, 2018 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2018 Chevrolet Suburban: 713 miles (23 mpg highway, 31.0-gallon tank)
7. 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Blue: 702 miles (59 mpg highway, 11.9-gallon tank)
8. 2018 Chevrolet Cruze diesel sedan: 702 miles (52 mpg highway, 13.5-gallon tank)
9. 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid: 696 miles (47 mpg highway, 14.8-gallon tank)
10.2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE: 689 miles (53 mpg highway, 13.0-gallon tank)


Don't get me wrong here! I am just noting some of the cons that no one else will mention here. As OP is coming from a gas car, OP must evaluate if these limitations matter to him. If he is a road tripper, he should check out the super charger maps also to see if they cover his usual routes. Here, I even made a flow chart to help the OP A lot depends on people's life style and what they see as compromises.

 

[Curious George]

Im so not happy and regret selling my Tesla

Why did you sell your Tesla? Or was that a joke or something ?

 

[outdoors]

For the TLDR's. Please stop now.

I have had issues, but still love the car. Many of the posters I see in this thread have had some issue, but we come here as a community to share and learn. Not every Tesla owner is here. Read all the problems you want here. It helps us learn and be informed. Every brand of every product that has a group associated with it will be more critical of the brand. Those members tend to care about it more than others from the outside looking in.

I was at a Dairy Queen with my 3 and a guy in an Escalade says while walking up to me. Do you love it? I said. It? My wife here I love very much. No the car. I said sure do. Turns out he ordered an S. Are you on the forums? What are the forums......? I just wanted a cool car that went fast and I could warm up in my garage every morning. Us forum members are maybe like 3-5% as a guess, and many of us can't or don't have the time to be super active. As in love or hate our car with a daily commentary. Want information. This is the place. Gobs and gobs of people that do crazy stuff and have fun while doing it. All with a Tesla.

Take your test drive. I should have said that in the beginning. I have about a 90% close rate on people that have driven my car. As others may have known I have provided over 80 un assisted test drives. Many overnight with my car to complete strangers. One of the first 3's in Michigan from a non Tesla employee. Driving the car is what one really needs to figure it all out. Preferably overnight or over a weekend.

Defend what I love. I will beg for no C class for you. Buy it. Own it. You will love it. Come take my car for a couple days.

 

[RubberToe]

A couple points here.

I actually calculated out the cost of leasing two Mercedes, versus buying a Tesla. If you look back at my few post, you will see a thread where I asked opinions regarding the resale value of a Tesla 3 in 6 years.

Assuming that the Model 3 with 90,000 miles is sold for $10,000 in 10 years, and a Mercedes is leased twice for $625 a month, and assuming subsidy, fuel, charger installation, insurance, etc., I calculate that the Tesla would save me about $379.75 a month in costs. If I charge 50% at work (which is likely), I will save $412.61 a month. That number is not lost on me.

While we are planning your near term future, Tesla solar panels will cut your "gas" purchases for the Model 3 to $0.00. Plug that into the spreadsheet.

RT

 

[Curious George]

Just don't see the advantages. Don't ICE vehicles use up more gas quicker if you drive above a certain speed, use your heater or air conditioning and/or pull a trailer? I will share that running late for work one day I also ran out of gas a few blocks from work because I thought I could make it there and didn't want to go out of my way to a gas station (embarrasing nonetheless and really made me late). Don't know about you but after we've driven a few hours we're ready to hit the bathroom and grab lunch or dinner on our trips. We'll plug in at a supercharger and move the car before we usually even get to finish our meal.

During the weekday while around home if I'm been running errands and wasn't fully charged when I left home (usually only charge a maybe twice week) and find myself low it's easy to quickly charge for 60-100 miles if you need. Really not a problem.

Yes, I heard even with 0% financing, Jaguar hasn't sold many cars in the U.S. so now are trying to attract anyone who is considering a Tesla a "sweeter" deal in their mind. Might get a few takers but don't think many.

Range loss: Oh yes, gas cars lose some too, but we don't hear anyone talking about it as the fill up is so fast (2-3 minutes) and there are so many gas stations everywhere. Every 10-20 miles on highways and every few miles in cities. Moreover, heating, the biggest range killer in electric cars, is kinda free in gas cars as they recirculate the engine waste heat, not burn KWhs to produce.
George is curious, if Tesla Model 3 uses a heat pump to make heating more efficient.

Both AAA and consumer reports issued warnings on winter range loss (50% is what they said) for electric cars last year after Model 3 sales took off and complaints picked up. Don't remember seeing such warnings for gas cars.
Consumer Reports Study Mirrors AAA's - Tesla Model 3 & Nissan Leaf Range Drops by About 50% In Cold Weather Operation | Torque News

And with really long ranges in many ICE cars today, a 20% range loss won't be noticed by most, unless someone is so low income that buying little more gas hurts the wallet too much. Here are some of the longest range cars today.
https://www.cars.com/articles/top-10-vehicles-with-the-longest-driving-range-1420698377103/
1. 2018 Jaguar XF 20d: 731 miles (42 mpg highway, 17.4-gallon tank)
2. 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid: 729 miles (46 mpg highway, 15.85-gallon tank)
3. 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: 713 miles (45 mpg highway, 15.85-gallon tank)
4. (Tie) 2017 GMC Yukon XL, 2018 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2018 Chevrolet Suburban: 713 miles (23 mpg highway, 31.0-gallon tank)
7. 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Blue: 702 miles (59 mpg highway, 11.9-gallon tank)
8. 2018 Chevrolet Cruze diesel sedan: 702 miles (52 mpg highway, 13.5-gallon tank)
9. 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid: 696 miles (47 mpg highway, 14.8-gallon tank)
10.2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE: 689 miles (53 mpg highway, 13.0-gallon tank)

Don't get me wrong here! I am just noting some of the cons that no one else will mention here. As OP is coming from a gas car, OP must evaluate if these limitations matter to him. If he is a road tripper, he should check out the super charger maps also to see if they cover his usual routes. Here, I even made a flow chart to help the OP A lot depends on people's life style and what they see as compromises.

 

[zhu-]

All cars have their problems. Including my previous two Mercedes leases.

2012 C63 Coupe - all system motors (steering wheel, seats, sunroof) occasionally will stop working when temperatures outside are above 90F. If turning at a sharp angle with the pano open, it makes very loud scary sounds like the glass cracked.

2016 C300 - wind noise (warranty replacement of windshield and front side mirrors), brake rotor clearance issue causing pebbles to get stuck inside (known issue that had rotor and pads replaced under warranty). 3 recalls in first two years, after getting these recalls done in a single service appointment my car basically came back as if it aged 5 years with creaks and rattles everywhere inside.

2019 Model 3 - only real service was a cracked brake pad which caused screeching when braking in reverse - was fixed under warranty. Some smaller things too which might've been fixed with software updates. IE subwoofer not working below 35F. Windows sometimes drops down if trying to one-press close and requires manual holding to close.

 

[Big-T]

I have been driving a C Class Mercedes since 1997. I get a new one about every three years. I have leased 6 Mercedes C class sedans in a row..............I told him I was growing bored with my C Class sedan, and was considering switching to a Tesla. Long story short: He offered me a C300 coupe for about the same price. (I must pay $1,000 cap reduction though.)

So, I am going to pass on purchasing a Tesla. Maybe in three years the company will get its act together. However, I do thank Tesla for getting me a bad ass C300 Coupe.

So you went from a C class to .....a C class? Hey whatever makes you happy.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

See you in my rear view mirror. Also the word Tesla, got me a better car.

 

[zhu-]

So you went from a C class to .....a C class? Hey whatever makes you happy.

It's the Non-Tesla equivalent of getting OTA updates

 

[kaffine]

I have had my Tesla 3 for a little over a year and will hit 39k miles this weekend. I have been to the service center 3 times. The first time was due to Tesla noticing an issue with my car and asked me to bring it in so they could fix it, while it was there I had them look at the screen phantom touch issue. They had the car back to me the same day. The other time I was getting random notices that there is a power problem they fixed it on the service drive while I waited the negative battery cable on the 12V battery was loose. The other was the low coolant light would come in first thing in the morning when it was cold they topped the coolant off while I waited.

If you look on forums all you see is negative as those that don't have issues don't post. I also used to work as a mechanic that will really mess with your opinion of cars. 40 hours a week all I saw was cars that had some issue with them.

I will say Tesla makes great cars but they aren't for everyone.

 

[75Shappyt]

I didn't know anything about Tesla, when I got my car, saw it in two moves and the actors talked about the car, this was 2 years ago, stop at a Tesla show room, it was love at first sight, bought a new 2017 MS 75, with EAP. on the spot. Didn't even test drive one, I never looked back, by far the best car I have even owned, I didn't lease it either,

 

[boriszima]

This was a good thread to read. Let’s what when OP comes back after a test drive. Many of us here have given test drives which results in sales or at least “my next car will be Tesla/Electric”. Why change if one is happy with his current car? Many of my friends just buy the same car over and over again? Why? They are familiar with controls and love it.

 

[RubberToe]

Why did you sell your Tesla? Or was that a joke or something ?

I was quoting someone from the I-pace forum who bought an I-Pace and was regretting it.

RT

 

[wws]

Here's 157,000 Mercedes problems. You must be new to forums.

MBWorld.org Forums

Including mine - which is in there somewhere... At 105k well-maintained miles, mine needed $14k in engine repairs (if done by the MB dealership), though I could have saved a few $k at an independent shop. That was after several other engine and transmission issues that I did have fixed. Traded the car in for my Model 3 rather than fixing it. Don't miss the MB at all.

 

[Petrocelli]

OK. Did the test drive. Two things happened:

1. The drive was amazing. The car really accelerates flawlessly and is, as many here claim, fun to drive. It's lower and smaller than a Mercedes. I drove it in autopilot, and I could see how that could be great during a morning commute. (Although it did freak me out a little.)

2. On the way to the dealer, I pushed the button to open the sunroof on my Mercedes, and was getting ready to crank some Kendrick Lamar. The sunroof, which I had repaired two weeks ago, wouldn't open. (I swear I am not making this up.) After 12 years of Catholic schooling, I am convinced this was a sign from God to quit screwing up his/her planet.

Bottom line: ordering a Tesla in November.

Sincere thanks to all who contributed to this thread! (Even to the guy/gal who called me FUDster.)

Regards to all,

Petrocelli

 

[Rsandy]

The original poster's high income and preference for leases raises some fundamental questions about how Teslas are different than ICE cars, including luxury brands such as Mercedes. Leasing a new car every three years makes sense when your time is valuable and you don't want any hassles or delays caused by break downs. Th three-year cycle also helps you keep up with the latest car technology. In the case of Mercedes the leases includes maintenance. I had a friend who told me that he leases a new car every three years so that he won't be locked into old technology. He had a Jeep Grand Cherokee at the time. I told him he was locking himself into obsolete technology the day he bought the car.

How is Tesla different so that the leasing a new Tesla every three years (or at all for that matter) doesn't make sense?

One way is Tesla is different is that it is designed to last a long time. The battery pack on the Model 3 is supposed to be good for 500,000 miles and electric motors good for 1,000,000 miles. Almost all of the parts on ICE cars that start to break down after three years simply don't exist on a Tesla. Second, the Tesla is constantly improving after it has been delivered. It would take me pages to describe the improvements in my 2016 Model S and 2018 Model 3. A third difference is there is no maintenance to speak off. The Model 3 doesn't have a maintenance schedule. One example is that the brakes won't need new pads. The air filters are good two years, the AC coolant for six years. Isn't no need for maintenance better than free maintenance?

It is just old thinking to assume that you should keep to the pattern of leasing a new car every three years.

As for the reliability of Teslas, anecdotes aren't worth much. Instead of relying on either Forums, satisfaction ratings, or even surveys, e.g. Consumer Reports, I would look up news stories on the reliability of Teslas with very high mileage. That gets to the design of the cars. If a car can get to 300,000 miles without needing substantial repairs that speaks volumes about it having a rock solid design.

 

[wws]

In Tesla’s case it’s been all hot and minimal crazy for me.

I named my Model 3 "Tiffany". Sounded like a good name for a red-head...

 

[Plug-n-Play]

OK. Did the test drive. Two things happened:

1. The drive was amazing. The car really accelerates flawlessly and is, as many here claim, fun to drive. It's lower and smaller than a Mercedes. I drove it in autopilot, and I could see how that could be great during a morning commute. (Although it did freak me out a little.)

2. On the way to the dealer, I pushed the button to open the sunroof on my Mercedes, and was getting ready to crank some Kendrick Lamar. The sunroof, which I had repaired two weeks ago, wouldn't open. (I swear I am not making this up.) After 12 years of Catholic schooling, I am convinced this was a sign from God to quit screwing up his/her planet.

Bottom line: ordering a Tesla in November.

Sincere thanks to all who contributed to this thread! (Even to the guy/gal who called me FUDster.)

Regards to all,

Petrocelli

Welcome to the future

 

[TaoJones]

OK. Did the test drive. Two things happened:

1. The drive was amazing. The car really accelerates flawlessly and is, as many here claim, fun to drive. It's lower and smaller than a Mercedes. I drove it in autopilot, and I could see how that could be great during a morning commute. (Although it did freak me out a little.)

2. On the way to the dealer, I pushed the button to open the sunroof on my Mercedes, and was getting ready to crank some Kendrick Lamar. The sunroof, which I had repaired two weeks ago, wouldn't open. (I swear I am not making this up.) After 12 years of Catholic schooling, I am convinced this was a sign from God to quit screwing up his/her planet.

Bottom line: ordering a Tesla in November.

Sincere thanks to all who contributed to this thread! (Even to the guy/gal who called me FUDster.)

Regards to all,

Petrocelli

Ya done good.

Consider joining one or more Tesla owners clubs in your area.

Get to know the manager of the best Tesla Service Center in your area. Note this may not be the closest SvC.

Enjoy the ride.

 

[focher]

Almost every single person who gets any of the Tesla models came from another brand. Yet, Tesla has the highest customer satisfaction of any car manufacturer. We've all had Mercedes', Audis, Cadillacs, Infinitis, Lexus', and any other luxury brand or even top of the line average brand.

Find me someone who would trade their Tesla back in for one of those cars. If you find someone, then get their reasons. Because I honestly couldn't help someone pondering a Tesla versus another car. I just can't relate.