What to buy? SR? LR AWD? Used ?

[MikeR55]

Hi everyone- happy to have found this forum. I'm finally pulling the trigger on the 3 and now trying to decide which one.

I like the idea of longer range as I do make trips up to my cabin in the mountains, about 120 miles each way- plus going up is an hour of the car climbing to 8000 ft so will need that extra range.

AWD would be nice but not needed as I am in LA and avoid the mountains when it's snow- and I really don't care that its faster from 0 to 60 it's already plenty fast enough!

Full Self Driving was fun to play with in the rental- but if I go AWD probably won't get that. Which then makes me thing- SR and full driving?

Or do I go used- LR RWD with Self Driving and make sure the math makes sense since I won't get the tax rebate savings.

I really do like the connected audio with Slacker and soon to be Spotify which takes me back to the LR AWD as this has the premium.

Would love to hear what you think of your cars and the features you like and hate and wish you got or didn't spend extra on.

 

[TexasGator]

Hi
Welcome - the fun begins

you mentioned a rental (Turo I assume?) did you take it up to the cabin? If not, this may be a good idea to test out with a LR RWD to see roughly how much consumption to expect. Not sure what speeds you drive to the cabin, but an 8000ft elevation increase may rule out the SR, as it's a 220 mile car (SR+ is 240 mi) in good conditions. speed, headwinds, rain, and cold all eat into range. Assuming you can also charge at the cabin for the way back (even 110V helps, although in winter it may not be enough but you mention you dont go up in the snow).

As an example - we have a Performance 3 with the 20 inch wheels, summer tires, bigger brakes etc. EPA rating is 310 mi (ha!) Realistically it has roughly 270 mile range, at 90 mph its ~ 200 mi range in good weather. Here's a good table of expected range for the various models vs. speed: Tesla Range Table - Teslike.com

My daughter drove it from north Ft. Worth to Childress (~ 205 mi). There is a roughly 2500 ft elevation change (and headwinds sometimes), along with 75 mph speed limit in places. Temp was in the 60s. Luckily I told her to take it easy and keep an eye on the energy consumption graph to make sure she had enough range to make it - she ended up having to slow down to ~ 60 mph for the last 50 miles and made it with 10mi left.

If you get a new car, autopilot is standard. If you get a used car, and want autopilot, get one with EAP (enhanced auto pilot) it adds the enhanced summon, parking, and navigate on autopilot along with AP. those features got lumped with FSD when AP became standard - so unless you see yourself using them, then FSD not worth the higher price now IMO

other options - some folks prefer the white interior, others complain about glare or stains.

Had the car for 11 months, 13k miles. It's a fantastic car!

 

[Tam]

...SR and full driving...

Range is King!

Of course, human is adaptable and can work with what we have like SR but if I can afford the range, I'll pay for it!

...used- LR RWD with Self Driving...

If you can't afford new then sure, used is the way to go.

I am addicted to technology so it would irritate me if I drive one without the ability to do at least Auto Lane Change which requires an old EAP or new FSD).

 

[MikeR55]

I did like the auto lane change- but that's an extra $6,000 now for the full self driving I believe.

 

[MikeR55]

Hi
Welcome - the fun begins

you mentioned a rental (Turo I assume?) did you take it up to the cabin? If not, this may be a good idea to test out with a LR RWD to see roughly how much consumption to expect. Not sure what speeds you drive to the cabin, but an 8000ft elevation increase may rule out the SR, as it's a 220 mile car (SR+ is 240 mi) in good conditions. speed, headwinds, rain, and cold all eat into range. Assuming you can also charge at the cabin for the way back (even 110V helps, although in winter it may not be enough but you mention you dont go up in the snow).

I did take it to the cabin, nice hot day though- it burned 70 miles of battery to go 30 miles up the mountain. So I figure if you add in cold and wind to that I would need maybe 180 miles to go the 110 to 120 miles? There are quite a few superchargers on the way (about 15 min out of the way) Although I would rather not deal with those.

I will be putting in a 220 or 240 line at my cabin- not only for myself but for renters with Teslas as there are no other charging places on the mountain and it's a 4 season resort town.

 

[eustachio]

More range is always better, especially if you ever go on even longer trips.

Was in your position a few months back and moved away from considering SR+ to LR. You can always add FSD later, you can't upgrade a battery.

 

[groovidad]

I purchased LR/DM because of the “unexpected “. Would I move off island? Would I change jobs requiring me to drive further? Would I sell to someone that wanted the options? Would I regret not purchasing the max options? In the end, I got the most practical based upon the “unknowns”. I have never looked back. Always better to have and not need, than to need, and not have.

 

[Brentt]

We have 45K on our M3 LR Rear wheel drive. The extra range allows us to take longer trips, which you will definitely want to do, plus you can leave the A/C and cabin overheat protection on for hours at a time. You’ll never be sorry you have the extra capacity.

 

[vjason]

+1 for extra battery. You can buy FSD later when Tesla throws an end of quarter sale.

While I don’t make a ton of long trips, it’s nice just to not have to charge every night. When I do decide to go to the beach (~3 hours), it’s nice to know I can make it without stopping (if I want).

 

[SoCalDriver]

I went with the LR RWD. No regrets! No FSD though, tried it and didn’t care for it, especially for the cost.

 

[XLR82XS]

+1 for extra battery. You can buy FSD later when Tesla throws an end of quarter sale.

While I don’t make a ton of long trips, it’s nice just to not have to charge every night. When I do decide to go to the beach (~3 hours), it’s nice to know I can make it without stopping (if I want).

+2. Range is king!

 

[vjason]

Yep.

Surprises non-EV drivers at work quite a bit when they always ask about destination (office) charging and I say I never need it and only charge 2x a week at most.

Many of them think you can’t survive unless you have a plug waiting for you whenever you arrive somewhere. A byproduct of stories about the original Leaf I assume.

+2. Range is king!

 

[Sky-Pilot]

I'll be the odd man out here and maybe I'm just overly frugal, but I chose the SR+ (240). Big Bear is about 100 mile drive for me and I've made the trip several times. If money is no object, then go for the LR AWD W/FSD. You note that your drive is about 120 miles and that you plan to add a 240v charger, I'll touch on that in a minute, so with a SR+, and a charger at your home and cabin, you're covered both ways and you've saved ~$9k. Still, your choice. I drive 70 miles round trip to/from work each day and I find the SR+ more than adequate for all driving situations.

Now for the 240v. You note that you rent your cabin so you want to add a Tesla charger. Why? Not all renters will have a Tesla, some may have a Bolt, or Hyundai, or some other obscure EV. Best would be to install a 14-50 outlet to enable any EV to hook up and charge theirs while enjoying the scenery and you will have saved several hundred on the base 14-50 over the Tesla charger. I made that same decision at home for the same reason. For convenience sake I could have gone with the Tesla charger, but then when I go to sell the house, only Tesla owners would benefit from the charger. The 14-50 opens the benefit up to any EV on the market today. When I added the 14-50, I had the electrician also add another 120v GFI dual outlet, just because you can never have enough outlets.

 

[MikeR55]

Sky-Pilot thanks for this! My commute to Big Bear is from Sherman Oaks area- so seems like not a problem with SR 220 mile car?

I think I'll probably do just a 220 line that any car can plug in to- I need to look into the 14-50 as well!

Where do you charge in Big Bear?

 

[Sky-Pilot]

Sky-Pilot thanks for this! My commute to Big Bear is from Sherman Oaks area- so seems like not a problem with SR 220 mile car?

I think I'll probably do just a 220 line that any car can plug in to- I need to look into the 14-50 as well!

Where do you charge in Big Bear?

They all over the area, even one in Blue Jay. Also, keep in mind that while you're going up 8,000 feet and using power, you're also going to be coming down and gaining some of that lost power. I've made the round trip without plugging in at the destination.

 

[MikeR55]

Right but no actual chargers in Big Bear Lake itself- the one on Blue Jay is actually a private cabin- but looks like it can be rented?

 

[Sky-Pilot]

Right but no actual chargers in Big Bear Lake itself- the one on Blue Jay is actually a private cabin- but looks like it can be rented?

There's one at the Arrowhead Resort and Spa at Lake Arrowhead Village.

 

[jordanair45]

Buy as much battery as you can afford. Buy new. It's built to order. The price differences of new vs used doesn't justify going used IMO, and you get the trial period with buying new...youre stuck with what you get when you buy used.

New and you can always roll the FSD into the loan. FSD is supposed to jump to $7k after today, so I'd say get the order in today if you really want it.

 

[MikeR55]

There's one at the Arrowhead Resort and Spa at Lake Arrowhead Village.

Yeah but that's 20+ miles away- just wondering if you are in Big Bear , and need a charge - where do you go? I guess maybe I do need to get this set up for renters!

 

[BZM3]

Hi everyone- happy to have found this forum. I'm finally pulling the trigger on the 3 and now trying to decide which one.

I like the idea of longer range as I do make trips up to my cabin in the mountains, about 120 miles each way- plus going up is an hour of the car climbing to 8000 ft so will need that extra range.

AWD would be nice but not needed as I am in LA and avoid the mountains when it's snow- and I really don't care that its faster from 0 to 60 it's already plenty fast enough!

Full Self Driving was fun to play with in the rental- but if I go AWD probably won't get that. Which then makes me thing- SR and full driving?

Or do I go used- LR RWD with Self Driving and make sure the math makes sense since I won't get the tax rebate savings.

I really do like the connected audio with Slacker and soon to be Spotify which takes me back to the LR AWD as this has the premium.

Would love to hear what you think of your cars and the features you like and hate and wish you got or didn't spend extra on.

IMHO I would go with the SR RWD.. save a ton of money. You don't seem to need AWD for weather purposes, and while more range is always better, you will easily be able to make that leg on a single charge with miles to spare. FSD is also unnecessary (today). Only useful feature that you will be missing is the lane changing, but that alone is not worth the 6K premium. Premium connectivity will also be available soon as subscirption based service for roughly $100 per year, according to Tesla's website FAQ.