Blog TMC Member Offers a Review From Behind the Wheel of a Model 3

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]TMC Member Joseph Torbati has had fortunate access to at least two Model 3s at his Fremont, Calif. detailing shop. He’s been reviewing the cars in a series of videos and his latest offers thoughts on the driving experience.

Torbati says the car feels powerful, quick like other Tesla models. He likes the stiffness of the suspension and the steering wheel responsiveness in sports mode.

Torbati also offers his opinion of the overall feel in the cabin – placement of the center screen, steering wheel controls, and use of features like cruise control.

Check out the full video below.[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6_UViEpOg” video_title=”1″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

 

[T34ME]

Simply put, you`re a complete enthusiast and ignore the real situation at hand as well as recent history, hence I disagree.

When "complete enthusiast" is used as a pejorative epithet (like fanboy or fanboi), I will gladly wear that label when being proactive about saving this earth from self imposed destruction. No amount of intimidation, leather, soft touch materials, contrasting stitching, and stainless steel accents will deter me. The real situation at hand and recent history is that it has become abundantly clear that we need to transition away from fossil fuels as a source of power in everyday life. So yes, I am a complete enthusiast and the heritage auto makers have lost the ICE game and are considerably behind in the EV game. I do see a few people driving horse and buggies in Amish country, but that does not that mode of transportation viable or relevant today.

@Phrixotrichus you are now giving me "disagree" on all my posts. Do you have anything positive to say or do you want to dwell on the negative and hide behind a forum rating. Are you a "complete enthusiast" for anything positive?

 

[insaneoctane]

What a load of cobblers.
The auto industry has always moved to less servicing and more reliable cars.
Fuel injection, electronic ignition.
Platinum/iridium spark plugs.
Long life coolants and lubricants, moves from timing belts to timing chains. Etc.

Some of you need to lay off the Tesla kool-aid/conspiracy theories.

Look at the NADA reports and you will see that the Automobile dealers make most of their revenue servicing cars. From 2016 NADA report, the average dealer made over 47% of their gross revenue from the service department (new sales was 28% and used sales was 25%). For luxury dealerships the service department accounts for 59%. I suspect that the dealer network is intimidated by the EV trend, Tesla's direct sales model, and how it might affect these numbers....

 

[Canuck]

The mainstream auto industry is servicing the mainstream, the general public aren't clamouring for EVs, so the mainstream cars companies aren't in a huge rush to develop them. It's really not hard to understand.

Are you sure you weren't an advisor to Blackberry? I find your logic really hard to understand. Then again, in New Zealand it's rare to even see a Tesla, let alone own one. So perhaps no one is clamouring over there. My brother-in-laws never even heard of Tesla when I bought mine and one is a panel beater with his own shop (which you will know what that means but no one else will).

Last time I checked, the only long range, affordable and attractive EV is the Model 3. If you think the general public is not clamouring for it, then I guess we have a different view of "clamouring". Over 400k reservations certainly seems like the general public is clamouring for it to me.

I do agree that no one is clamouring for the Leaf, Bolt, or i3 -- you think that's because of the new generation of spark plugs and fuel injectors, which I find really "hard to understand" to borrow your words.

Just watch the clamouring increase when it's out and on the road and people see it in person. I doubt your great spark plugs and injectors will make much of a difference.

 

[insaneoctane]

Imagine if Tesla didn't literally ANTI-sell the model 3.....

 

[FlyingKiwi]

Look at the NADA reports and you will see that the Automobile dealers make most of their revenue servicing cars. From 2016 NADA report, the average dealer made over 47% of their gross revenue from the service department (new sales was 28% and used sales was 25%). For luxury dealerships the service department accounts for 59%. I suspect that the dealer network is intimidated by the EV trend, Tesla's direct sales model, and how it might affect these numbers....

Dealers... Not manufacturers. Dunno how it is over there but over here all new mainstream cars get free servicing for several years, and once that is over there is no need to go to a dealer.

And looking at The model S service plans it looks like there is plenty of profit to be made servicing EVs.

NZ$800 For a dual motor model S first year service.
Multipoint inspection.
Wheel alignment
Wiper blade replacement
Drive unit oil replacement
Fob battery replacement
Tyre rotation if needed

Parts involved:
wiper blades ~$40
Drive unit oil ~$200 (assuming 5 litres of synthetic oil)
Fob battery $10

$240 in parts/fluids.

Leaving $560 of labour,
I don't see 5+ hours of labour in that lot. 1 hour to do the drive units oil change, 1/2 for an alignment, 1/2 an hour to do wiper blades, fob battery. Multipoint inspection maybe an hour and a half, depends exactly how thorough it is. And 1/2 an hour for the groomer to wash and vacuum the car.

Money for jam.

 

[d21mike]

Since the owner was supposedly in the car filming that video, one would think he would have told Joseph Torbati if he had not purchased it.

I think your second idea is likely correct: if the car had only a few dozen miles on it then EAP and TACC wouldn't be operational yet. When I got my X this year, the DS told me it would take 100 to 150 miles before "the cameras would calibrate" and things would start working (though TACC doesn't use any cameras). In fact they started working in my car in less than 60 miles, if I recall correctly.

I was told the same thing. I picked up my car at Fremont with about 4 miles on it (9/28/17 AP 2.5). I was told by the first person it would be about 100-150 then another person told me about 60-80 miles. In my case it started working at 28 miles. But that was for Auto Steer. Pretty sure TACC worked before that but mot positive. Of course in the settings you have to ENABLE it and agree to the warnings. Which I did right away and when the Steering Wheel show up in grey then I knew I could use it.

 

[FlyingKiwi]

Are you sure you weren't an advisor to Blackberry? I find your logic really hard to understand. Then again, in New Zealand it's rare to even see a Tesla, let alone own one. So perhaps no one is clamouring over there. My brother-in-laws never even heard of Tesla when I bought mine and one is a panel beater with his own shop (which you will know what that means but no one else will).

Strange, there were two Model X in the car park, and a leaf at the free charger when i did some grocery shopping last night, one of them was the one that was on TV news the other night as he's running it as an airport transfer service. And I keep running into display Teslas at the major shopping malls and in the CBD. People aren't unaware of Tesla. I wouldn't call them common, but I see more Teslas than I do supercars. Not surprising your brother in law hasn't heard of them, if he's just a run of the mill repair shop, and particularly if he's not in Auckland. I doubt Tesla even has a body repair facility lined up in NZ yet, and if they do i'd put money on it being the one i'm about to walk past to go get my lunch that specialises in high end cars. Porsche, Mclaren, Aston and Ferraris are common in that shop, There would be maybe 4-6 shops in NZ that I think Tesla would consider adequately skilled & equipped to handle Tesla repairs.

Last time I checked, the only long range, affordable and attractive EV is the Model 3. If you think the general public is not clamouring for it, then I guess we have a different view of "clamouring". Over 400k reservations certainly seems like the general public is clamouring for it to me.

400k reservations, when the wordwide new car market is ~70 Million new vehicles a year. so about 0.5%. Yeah, i guess we do have different definitions of clamouring. And no, in the NZ market the Model 3 at a starting price of ~$65k-$70k (my best guess based on todays exchange rates) isn't particulary affordable.

I do agree that no one is clamouring for the Leaf, Bolt, or i3

The general public isn't, only hard core greenies. Bolt isn't down here, and nobody likes the i3s much, but the Leaf has a hard core following due to cheap (<$20k) used japanese imports.

 

[McRat]

Look at the NADA reports and you will see that the Automobile dealers make most of their revenue servicing cars. From 2016 NADA report, the average dealer made over 47% of their gross revenue from the service department (new sales was 28% and used sales was 25%). For luxury dealerships the service department accounts for 59%. I suspect that the dealer network is intimidated by the EV trend, Tesla's direct sales model, and how it might affect these numbers....

Can you provide the breakdown?
Tires
Glass
Warranty
Collision
Custom additions
Mechanical repair outside of warranty
Routine maintenance

 

[Phrixotrichus]

When "complete enthusiast" is used as a pejorative epithet (like fanboy or fanboi), I will gladly wear that label when being proactive about saving this earth from self imposed destruction. No amount of intimidation, leather, soft touch materials, contrasting stitching, and stainless steel accents will deter me. The real situation at hand and recent history is that it has become abundantly clear that we need to transition away from fossil fuels as a source of power in everyday life. So yes, I am a complete enthusiast and the heritage auto makers have lost the ICE game and are considerably behind in the EV game. I do see a few people driving horse and buggies in Amish country, but that does not that mode of transportation viable or relevant today.

@Phrixotrichus you are now giving me "disagree" on all my posts. Do you have anything positive to say or do you want to dwell on the negative and hide behind a forum rating. Are you a "complete enthusiast" for anything positive?

Imho you're the only one who cares about a forum rating...
And not agreeing with your....ahem...."alternative"...facts is not being negative it's called being realistic. If you ever write something that's based on reality and not just some hippie prayers or pure polemic I'll gladly discuss and not just disagree.

 

[Canuck]

And looking at The model S service plans it looks like there is plenty of profit to be made servicing EVs.

I just had my fourth one done and I can tell you from experience it's not required and a waste of money ($500Can/year I paid). I don't mind having paid for it though since I got to know the service people and it's the only money I've spent on the vehicle other than tires and washer fluid in 4 years.

Service on an ICE is mandatory if you don't want to void your warranty. There's a big difference there -- one has a gun to your head, the other has his hand out.

400k reservations, when the wordwide new car market is ~70 Million new vehicles a year. so about 0.5%. Yeah, i guess we do have different definitions of clamouring.

It's not even out yet and you're comparing it to cars produced per year? That's a good one!

There has never been "clamouring" for any other vehicle like this. Period. No one ever lined up for a car that they had to pay a deposit for first, without seeing first hand, then wait many months for. This is my home town:

Dozens line up for Tesla Model 3 in Vancouver

This is Clamouring with a capital "C"! And it happened all over North America. Not in NZ, of course, but that's not surprising since Tesla is barely known there despite what you claim. I remember explaining to people what Wifi was in NZ when asking for it at hotels, etc. When I'm there next month it will be interesting to see how many Teslas I will see. Perhaps they're all over like you claim -- somehow I doubt it though.

The only thing we can compare it to is the tech industry and a game changer like the iPhone. When it was first introduced in 2007 thousands of people waited outside Apple and AT&T retail stores. But in response, and acting with Blackberry type logic, you would point out how many phones Blackberry was selling at the time, and Apple had only a tiny of fraction of that (just like Tesla today) and you'd say "that's not clamouring". Well look what happens to such logic. It's easily proved to be nonsense.

The EV cat is out of the bag and no one is putting it back despite your best spark plugs and fuel injectors. Just watch.

And no, in the NZ market the Model 3 at a starting price of ~$65k-$70k (my best guess based on todays exchange rates) isn't particulary affordable.

That's the same for all vehicles down there. You don't get discounts on BMW's either based on the exchange rate.

 

[geometro]

I don’t really care about overall demand... I just care about 3 things:

1) reliability;
2) interior furnishings being decent; and
3) delivery day!!!