Watching people making poor car choices

[MXWing]

When the Model 3 is selling like hot cakes and most of the staff has a Tesla Model 3 in the office and in the neighborhood. Its sad to see that “One” family choosing a lesser EV at the same 39K price level before tax credits.

I know they would have buyers remorse from those other EV’s.

I like this confidence and you are right.

I have a Volt and belong to Volt groups and I’m Jackie Chan wtf mind blown mode when I hear stupid *sugar* like:

“Model 3 is triple the cost of a Volt”

Unless it’s 13K, nope.

“The Volt is so discounted”.

And you can pass that discount when it’s time to dump it.

“I can only afford the SR and once every two years I take this trip where the SR would make miserable”.

So you gonna pick a Volt for the other 700+ days?

—

No there is absolutely no reason to get another EV over Tesla in the budget of between 35K-250K

To have high IQ people you have to have low IQ people.

To have savvy people, you need to have non savvy people.

There’s always “that guy” but at the end of the day it’s thankfully their money and not yours.

I always tell people what I know to be the best course of action and I also take my own advices as well.

Objectively and subjectively, the Model 3 dominates every other car in its class by an unassailable margin.

You can always rationalize some thing but you are a fool if you cannot see the entire package.

If I want a hatch badly I’ll look at a Model S.

No one talks about the false positives of rear cross traffic sensors.

And as if the Volt/Bolt has better sensors and a better advanced summon that can drive to you with more reliability than the Model 3 can.

FFS the rationalizations..

I got a Volt and a Model X both in 2016.

One car had the superior safety tools in 2016.

The other car is now better in 2019 while one car hasn’t changed. I wonder who can figure out which car is which?

 

[iMoe]

Be happy it's an EV and not an ICE.

This and many times this.

I'm disappointed when aquantances sink capital into ICE.

 

[MXWing]

Be happy it's an EV and not an ICE.

Logic doesn’t compute to me.

If my kid was supporting his family flipping burgers I don’t rationalize the sub optimal choice by thinking:

“Well at least he’s not dealing drugs”.

Money is fungible, why throw good money at sub optimal goods?

“Get the BEST EV, not just a EV”.

If your budget was 20K and you found a new Volt for under that, I’ll excuse that. But high 20’s into anything else.. smh

Other day my buddy told me he was gonna go matte black chrome delete on his MSM 3. Told him it was suboptimal and he should go satin gunmetal.

He went with satin gunmetal. Friends help friends make good choices.

 

[Mr X]

The sense of superiority many people have on this forum is truly disappointing. That’s part of the reason why I never owned a Harley during my years of riding; I never wanted to be associated with a group of people who thought themselves better than others because of what they chose to ride. Apparently I now find myself in a similar group.

People make their own choices for their own reasons, and we don’t always agree with them. That doesn’t make their choice better or worse than ours, just different.

Tesla's are superior though. Greatest cars on planet earth.


#1 in all categories. That's what makes them superior to other cars. Just the reality of the simulation we live in. Elon wanted his cars to be the best. Him and Tesla achieved that

 

[GreenT]

Tesla's are superior though. Greatest cars on planet earth.


#1 in all categories. That's what makes them superior to other cars. Just the reality of the simulation we live in. Elon wanted his cars to be the best. Him and Tesla achieved that

The car maybe. Until Version 9.
The company is the problem.
Terrible service (if you can find it), awful communications, delivery, a CEO who lacks focus ... (let's close all stores; let's not!)
I got rid of mine and will watch from the sidelines for a few years ...

 

[JulienW]

When the Model 3 is selling like hot cakes and most of the staff has a Tesla Model 3 in the office and in the neighborhood. Its sad to see that “One” family choosing a lesser EV at the same 39K price level before tax credits.

I know they would have buyers remorse from those other EV’s.

While WE all suffer this your post is a classic example of "If I made a choice it MUST be the best and superior choice and any other choice is inferior".

Having said that yes the Model 3 is the best EV, also Red/While is the best color combo and anyone choosing any other has an "inferior" Model 3. Although White/White is only slightly inferior.

 

[Tummy]

I bought a LR RWD Model 3 for my partner, who is a non-car person, when it first came out about 15 months ago. We were replacing a leased 2014 BMW i3 he had been driving for 3 years prior. He recently told me that he missed the i3 and liked it better. It was more spacious, easier to see out, easier to park, had more knee room, more headroom, he liked the orange color, it was much easier to load cargo for Home Depot/garden center runs, he didn’t have to worry about door dings because plastic panels were much more resilient.

I was really sad after spending $62k (with EAP and taxes, before tax credits) that he’s not fully happy and we could have bought a used i3 for much less. Some people just have different priorities and what is obviously better to us might not be for them. He calls my S an old man car, but says it’s far better than the 3 and thought the 3 would be more similar.

 

[ammulder]

I do see your point but you’ve got to consider in the EV world at this price point there is competition, but not much. With so little competition it does become easier to pick an objective best car and not be so superior about it. It kinda just is the best car

I was with you up until the last. The difference is, people’s criteria are different. It may be that for a given set of criteria, you can objectively pick the bast car from this small group. But some people’s criteria are just... different. And the 3 isn’t the best for EVERY set.

I’ve told the CarPlay story a couple times. I hated it because I use the radio a lot, which CarPlay was oblivious to, but the only navigation was via CarPlay, and it took like 5 clicks on the touch screen to get from nav to radio and back. Without CarPlay there would have been a physical hot button for each — 1 press that I could maybe have done by feel/without even looking. The voice control button in the car didn’t invoke Siri even when in CarPlay — you had to pick up and press the button on the phone. That was all horrible UX.

But my wife never used the radio, only podcasts, and doesn’t much use Siri, and LOVED CarPlay. It was all in one place for her and she stayed in the CarPlay UI the whole time.

Same car, same tech, different criteria, vastly different conclusion.

I have a Volt and belong to Volt groups and I’m Jackie Chan wtf mind blown mode when I hear stupid *sugar* like:

“Model 3 is triple the cost of a Volt”

Unless it’s 13K, nope.

“The Volt is so discounted”.

And you can pass that discount when it’s time to dump it.

“I can only afford the SR and once every two years I take this trip where the SR would make miserable”.

So you gonna pick a Volt for the other 700+ days?

—

No there is absolutely no reason to get another EV over Tesla in the budget of between 35K-250K

I’m with you on the first part — bad info leads to bad conclusions and I’m not saying we should let people make decisions on bad information.

But though I rarely seem to disagree with you, I think there are cases where people aren’t looking for what I’m looking for in a car. Plenty of people bought that i3, and while I can’t fathom the shape or tires or acceleration, I know from driving with my wife that not everyone appreciates driving in the same manner that I do. SOME of them must have had a decent reason. Like the example just above.

It’s just our job to make ABSOLUTELY SURE they have a good reason to pick those second-class vehicles.

 

[RedModel3]

I know I did. Once at a campground in Ohio, I pitched my tent and went about putting dinner together when a gaggle of Harley’s thundered in. One of their riders ambled over and took a look at my bike, a BMW R69S, and snickered.
“Does that thing have an engine?” he asked.
“Why yes it does, though it’s true you can hardly hear it. You like your Harley?”
“What’s not to like?”
I could think of a few things. Noise. Vibration. Reliability. But I didn’t think it wise to mention them.
“We ought to have a race,” he said.
“Sure,” I agreed.
“How about to Cincinnati?”
“How about to California?” It was where I was going.
He laughed, got up and returned to his friends. We both knew he’d have his fillings shaken out long before the state line showed up.
Their bikes did sound nice, though.
Robin

POTATOPOTATOPOTATO 'CLINK' (something metal falling off). Repeat. That is the sound of a Harley.

 

[SSedan]

The sense of superiority many people have on this forum is truly disappointing. That’s part of the reason why I never owned a Harley during my years of riding; I never wanted to be associated with a group of people who thought themselves better than others because of what they chose to ride. Apparently I now find myself in a similar group.

People make their own choices for their own reasons, and we don’t always agree with them. That doesn’t make their choice better or worse than ours, just different.

I agree with what you say just not about Harley, too many folks I know here in WI have too Amy major issues with that grossly overpriced product that isn't comfortable or anything else, that.company is all image with nothing to back it up.

Unfortunately, some of it is related to all the FUD in the news. Tesla fires, crashes, long tail pipe, bankruptcy, Elon tweets, etc., Luckily, people (at least in the demographic capable of buying a Tesla) are generally educated, reasonable, and logical and will listen to the facts that refute the FUD. In the last couple of years, about a dozen friends, family, and co-workers have bought Teslas and none have bought non-Teslas (EVs or gas cars). So there is progress.

Thank you for proving the post above yours.

 

[TomB985]

It is a part of human nature for us to have the arrogance that our decisions are the best for everybody, and those that don't choose like us are choosing poorly. I've nothing against Harley Davidson motorcycles, but never found them to be optimal for my use, which is been my logical reason for choosing otherwise. I have some great friends and family members who ride them, but the attitude that seems to exude from most Harley owners regarding the superiority of their machines has always turned me off.

I'm sure if we were to go to a Leaf or other EV forum, we would find threads similar to this. I think the Model 3 is objectively the superior car in the segment, but it's the autopilot that made the decision for me. I've been fighting with a hand disability that's gotten worse over the last couple of years, and steering a car for more than 30 minutes gets uncomfortable at best. If the Leaf, Bolt, or Ford Expedition for that matter, were the best value that steered itself, I would be there. I find myself in an EV because the technology makes my life a lot better. But people who choose differently have their own reasons.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Maybe they wanted blind spot monitoring on the side view mirrors, a traditional dashboard, tactile controls, Apple Car Play, Android Auto, 360° Birdseye view, rear cross traffic alert, heated steering, a hatchback, a different look than a Tesla, or so many other little things that may be different in another car they like.

I’m glad you like your Model 3 and I like mine too, but let’s not get carried away to think that we know what’s best for everyone else.

This. Plus maybe they live in an area with minimal Supercharging for road trips. CCS and Chademo locations outnumber Supercharger locations by at least 10 to 1 where we are and continue to grow much faster than Supercharger network is. An adapter would fix that but it has been awhile in coming.

We lean strongly towards the model 3 for our next purchase but the Leaf Eplus is definetly a contender.

 

[commasign]

The role of the Tesla community is to educate, not convince. Present the facts, fight misinformation. No need to shame people who aren’t ready or interested to make the jump. I have a friend who was thinking Tesla but when he found out it didn’t have a CD player, that was the deal breaker. A family member who drives an average of 10 miles per day said he is waiting until an EV can go 500 miles. We provide the info and present our point of view, but then we move on. It’s just a hobby. No different than when you see a great movie and tell your friends and family about it.

 

[afadeev]

Its sad to see that “One” family choosing a lesser EV at the same 39K price level before tax credits.
I know they would have buyers remorse from those other EV’s.

Tesla's are superior though. Greatest cars on planet earth.
#1 in all categories. That's what makes them superior to other cars. Just the reality of the simulation we live in. Elon wanted his cars to be the best. Him and Tesla achieved that

There is no such as #1 best car for everyone.
Or #1 house, spouse, or career.
No such thing.
Ever.

You don't know what the other person's needs, objectives and motivations are today, tomorrow, or a year down the road.
Don't be a judgmental pr*ck presuming that you know what's best for everyone.

Everyone makes the best choice they can with the information available to them.
If you think someone's choice is sub-optimal, share your data points that might effect the decision, but not the conclusion.
And be prepared to be amazed that they were right, and you had missed something relevant for their situation.

a

 

[dloop]

Logic doesn’t compute to me.

If my kid was supporting his family flipping burgers I don’t rationalize the sub optimal choice by thinking:

“Well at least he’s not dealing drugs”...

Saving the planet is more important than acquiring things...but that's just me.

 

[sammyfan711]

If Elon Musk chimed in on this thread under a fake account to hide his identity he might say:

“Its basically crazy to buy any other car but a Tesla”

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Robotaxi fleet on this thread

 

[tashtibet]

On the Earth Day last month, EV ride & drive event I registered both my EVs model 3 & Bolt. Oh! boy Bolt had a miserable day-there're 7 Tesla & 2 Bolt-no body inquire or want a ride in Bolt EV.
I feel sympathy for people who buy a brand new ICE vehicles.

 

[dloop]

If Elon Musk chimed in on this thread under a fake account to hide his identity he might say:

“Its basically crazy to buy any other car but a Tesla”

He might, but he would also say it's more important buy ANY EV than an ICE.

Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Luddites are alive and well, I can't tell you how many conversations on Tesla start out negative. My usual response is "Why do you believe X?", then just refute the claim with facts. That usually shuts down the negative dialog, then I move it in a positive direction,

Examples:

"You do understand that the lifecycle costs of owning a Model 3 are more cost effective than owning a Honda Civic?" Right?

"You do know that Tesla Model S provides an 8 year unlimited mileage warranty on the battery and powertrain right?"

"You do know that charging in Virginia costs about $10 to go 300 miles"

I am a fan, but also own other electric brands (Zero Motorcycle, Pedego Electric bikes, etc). Not everyone wants a Tesla and that's cool, but I don't blast them with Tesla Elitism Rhetoric, but I do give the Bless Your Heart look my grandmother used to give us at kids growing up in the South, you know the one when you did stupid stuff.

 

[norbert-tx]

Momentum is hard to stop. People are still used to doing it the old way. Maybe they like buying cars at a traditional dealer or are scared of unfamiliar way of buying things. I don't blame them, its an expensive item.