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Was going to order, now in 2 minds

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I decided yesterday I would place an order for a model 3 today. After spending a couple of hours on the forum I have spotted quite a few problems which are not being fixed so I am now decided whether to go ahead or not. I knew about the possible gaps in the panels and the water getting into the boot but didn’t expect so many issues. Are there any other major issues I need to be aware of besides the ones below?

Phantom braking
Headlights not adjusted properly and blinding drivers.
Auto wipers wiping too often or not often enough.
 
Hi

you don’t here so much about the great things though. Some (like me) have had very few issues. Pickup is weird, and they aren’t particularly bothered about the state of your car on handover. But most seem ok.

with the current refresh I think it’s a great time to buy. Perhaps just be aware of Tesla ‘oddness’.
 
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Hi

you don’t here so much about the great things though. Some (like me) have had very few issues. Pickup is weird, and they aren’t particularly bothered about the state of your car on handover. But most seem ok.

with the current refresh I think it’s a great time to buy. Perhaps just be aware of Tesla ‘oddness’.
Thanks. How do I know if I am getting the refreshed model? I know some have heated steering wheels and some don’t. I will be leasing it and if they have them in stock I won’t know when they were built.
 
I decided yesterday I would place an order for a model 3 today. After spending a couple of hours on the forum I have spotted quite a few problems which are not being fixed so I am now decided whether to go ahead or not. I knew about the possible gaps in the panels and the water getting into the boot but didn’t expect so many issues. Are there any other major issues I need to be aware of besides the ones below?

Phantom braking
Headlights not adjusted properly and blinding drivers.
Auto wipers wiping too often or not often enough.

Morning @Tigermad

Phantom braking - only an issue on Autopilot, it looks from the FSD beta videos in America that it has largely been fixed, when we will see this over here though I’m not sure, could be a while. I find it’s reasonably predictable, passing lorry’s seems to be a real weakness. It still does work well though.

The headlights auto adjustment in the setup screen seems to get them back to where they should be. I won’t lie though, mine did adjust themselves after an update once and I had to do the reset again. That’s once though since August 2019.

Autowipers work fine for me, just as good/bad as other manufacturers now for me tbh. Weren’t great to start with, but improvements along the way have made things work well.

Hope that helps :)
 
If you’re looking for a heated steering wheel (I know I would be!) it might be worth holding off a little while so you get the made in China version. Which all new arrivals should be.

yeh my headlights were set high. Went to a local mot garage and used their equipment to realign. You can do this in the screen. Took 5 mins.
 
@Tigermad welcome. Don't let the niggles voiced here put you off. It's much more common to mention the problems in a Forum setting than to praise. Be informed, balanced and take all into consideration. No car is perfect and granted Tesla do things differently than the usual car makers (some better, some worse) but, for me - I have zero regrets with my 2019 purchase of an M3P . It's fantastic, and always makes me smile :). The only real disappointment has been it spending way too much time just sitting on the driveway these last 12 months.
 
Bearing in mind the mindset you appear to have based on your posts I’ve seen, maybe a Tesla isn’t for you. Something a little more mature might be a better fit.
Was just about to say this.
If your decision to buy a Model 3 can be swayed by auto-wipers (which are indeed rubbish and I don’t use) then maybe this is not quite the right time for you.
Personally, and even with the niggles, mine is THE best car I’ve ever owned and I suspect many more Tesla owners will say exactly the same.
Is the 7 day return thing still an option?
 
We all have our little rants and pet hates.
The car I have now isn’t the car I bought a year ago. Software updates have changed quite a few things mostly for the better. It’s a great fun car to drive and there is much to look forward to
I came from two cars with heated steering wheels and I do suffer cold hands but there is something about the material on this steering wheel. I haven’t missed it not being heated at all.
 
I guess the forum is a good gauge of the various issues with the car and what could go wrong. But most issues are spread across owners with different lives and environments. Some get next to none, and some can rightly claim it’s the worst car they’ve ever owned; largely anecdotal both ways.

That being said, a car is a big purchase. Don’t buy until you’re happy with what you see.

BTW I think it’s a great car.
 
@Tigermad I picked up my car mid-December and had a few cars in the past. No other car puts a smile on my face like my Model 3.
Sure, the occasional phantom braking is scary but it's a software issue that can be fixed and I am convinced it will be. Software bugs or changes can also be annoying, but it doesn't really impact day to day driving for me. Not all bug or changes impact or bother people the same way. On this forum ans others, you hear from people when there is an issue, not when they are happily driving.

Every car is imperfect, but as many have said before me, they remain as bought and don't see the updates a Tesla does.

Anyway, just my 2p worth. I hope you find the right car for you and enjoy driving it!
 
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I decided yesterday I would place an order for a model 3 today. After spending a couple of hours on the forum I have spotted quite a few problems which are not being fixed so I am now decided whether to go ahead or not. I knew about the possible gaps in the panels and the water getting into the boot but didn’t expect so many issues. Are there any other major issues I need to be aware of besides the ones below?

Phantom braking
Headlights not adjusted properly and blinding drivers.
Auto wipers wiping too often or not often enough.
I have had the car for a year now, handover was good, car had a few defects that were noted and fixed on my timescale, build quality was pretty good on mine. panel gaps shouldnt be an issue, nor should water getting into the boot, but you never know. if you get one like that then they will fix it.
Phantom braking - only an issue when in autopilot/TACC? as mentioned, it is predictable and shouldnt put you off, just pay attention whilst driving. (if you envisage doing LOTS of motorway driving in autopilot then this might be an issue)
Headlights - this is seriously not something to worry about. Easy to reset and almost certainly wotn be an issue. Can be easily resolved if it is
Auto wipers - these arent great, but its a minor part. Its easy to manually adjust and its only in set conditions that the auto function isnt great (light Drizzle, Absolute downpour from nothing they might be slow to get up to speed but i think any would.

The refreshed model looks to be a better car than pre refresh. if you get it you will love it and laugh at yourself for worrying about those small details
 
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Thanks everyone. That’s made me feel a lot better. I was fully expecting bugs etc. I’m looking forward to it now. The main scary thing was the braking but I won’t be motorway driving much but will be on dual carriageways to and from work every day. Will just see how it goes. So if I place an order now for a new one under a lease it should be the China one if its not already in the country? I’m not that bothered about the steering wheel but there may be other changes too.
 
FWIW, my car applies the brakes and swerves, whilst sounding the "klaxons of doom" when neither AP or TACC are engaged, so it's very definitely not just an AP or TACC issue. I can even predict a few places where it will do it consistently. My wife stopped driving the car a few months ago now, because she found the false alarms, sudden application of brakes and the false application of corrective steering input too scary. To be fair, we drive on narrow lanes much of the time, and it seems that the car just cannot cope with roads like this without lots of false alarms. Either way, the sudden application os the brakes (as in a full on emergency stop) is not solely a "feature" of AP or TACC, the car can and will do this when being driven without either of those engaged.

Headlight adjustment is something that has been thrown way out of whack by software updates on my car a few times. I've tried the auto-adjustment feature, but this sets the lights too high, and I get flashed a lot, so I keep taking it to the local garage to get the lights aligned properly. So far I've now had the lights re-aligned three times in the space of a year, but it's only a ten minute job, costs me a tenner each time, but would be free at a Tesla SC I'm sure.

Auto wipers seem reasonably OK in daylight, or perhaps with good street lighting, but frankly they often just fail when it's very dark. Unlike every other car with autowipers, Tesla try to use the cameras for rain detection, and this seems not to work well at all when it's very dark. With no manual wiper stalk control, this means using the touch screen in the dark, perhaps in heavy rain, to try and set the wipers to the correct rate. I find that it's safer to pull over and stop to do this at night. Those that rarely drive down very dark and windy lanes may well not feel that the autowiper issue is significant, for me it's got to the stage that I cannot put up with it any longer.
Thanks for the reply. Re the wipers, can’t you touch the end of the signal stalk so it wipes the screen once?
 
Thanks for the reply. Re the wipers, can’t you touch the end of the signal stalk so it wipes the screen once?

Yes, but, as discussed here elsewhere, in a sudden downpour that doesn't help, and means you don't have a free hand to try and operate the touch screen. Pressing the stalk does save having to go through two menus to get to the wiper controls, though, as it pops up the wiper control options on the screen.

If you are right handed, then trying to select the right area on the screen with your left hand, at night, in heavy rain, whilst driving along a dark and windy road, is not as safe and easy as using a conventional wiper stalk, IMHO. I find that sometimes the only safe thing to do at times is stop the car and pull over to set the wipers.
 
Thanks for the reply. Re the wipers, can’t you touch the end of the signal stalk so it wipes the screen once?

Just to echo the above. Forums are there for people to ask questions, and people seldom ask a question about something they dont have an issue with hence one of the reasons why every car forum(not just tesla) seems like an endless stream of problems.

re: Wipers, yup I just press the end of the stalk, it squirts a little bit of water and it wipes a couple of time. Guess I've always tended to avoid the sort of rain especially tailored to the frequency in between wiper settings :)
 
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