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Whoomp there it is !!!
- Thread starter TEG
- Start date
Little meet-up of local owners at the computer history museum supercharger site this morning:
Major likes so far:
#1: Drives like a dream
#2: Super comfortable
#3: Everything just "fits" right in the interior
#4: Really enjoying the audio quality
#5: Usual EV great things like instant power and helpful regen.
#6: Exterior panel gaps and alignments seem excellent. (There were concerns with the really early cars, but mine seems vastly improved.)
#7: Overall construction seems excellent. No squeaks, rattles, tracks straight, & quiet power / braking.
Minor annoyances:
#1: Although the "phone as key" seems improved since I borrowed an earlier car a while back, it still isn't perfect. I find myself standing by the car sometimes waiting for it to "wake up" and recognize either my phone, or even holding the card key to the pillar. I push the door handle but still have to wait. I have always been able to get in, but sometimes it is 5-10 seconds before the car will let me in.
#2: Sometimes the screen inside is slow to wake up. I get in and see a black screen. I push the brake pedal, steering buttons, and on the touchscreen and after a few moments I see a T logo and then the screen comes back from hibernate/sleep/whatever it was doing.
The above 2 combine to make it a little hard to just "jump in and go". There is a little bit of patience factor in having the car ready to go.
#3: I wish the sound system would resume playing from my USB flash drive when the power goes back on. It frequently seems to switch back to trying to play music from my iPhone instead.
#4: The PRDN label on the shift lever sticks up a bit. I think others reported this too. It is perhaps just some minor adhesive alignment thing, perhaps easily fixed, but I don't plan to mess with it, and will just mention it to Tesla whenever the car is in for service for any other reason.
#5: When I inspected the car at delivery I noticed what looked like some scratches/gouges on the chart port cover flap. I mentioned it to the delivery people and they took the car to the back and when it was brought back they said it was just some "glue residue", but it looks to me like someone may have buffed it down with some kind of sander (steel wool?) that left some scratch marks:
The engineering in this car is excellent. The mechanical build quality is excellent. Some of the delivery care could maybe use a little more improvement.
#1: Drives like a dream
#2: Super comfortable
#3: Everything just "fits" right in the interior
#4: Really enjoying the audio quality
#5: Usual EV great things like instant power and helpful regen.
#6: Exterior panel gaps and alignments seem excellent. (There were concerns with the really early cars, but mine seems vastly improved.)
#7: Overall construction seems excellent. No squeaks, rattles, tracks straight, & quiet power / braking.
Minor annoyances:
#1: Although the "phone as key" seems improved since I borrowed an earlier car a while back, it still isn't perfect. I find myself standing by the car sometimes waiting for it to "wake up" and recognize either my phone, or even holding the card key to the pillar. I push the door handle but still have to wait. I have always been able to get in, but sometimes it is 5-10 seconds before the car will let me in.
#2: Sometimes the screen inside is slow to wake up. I get in and see a black screen. I push the brake pedal, steering buttons, and on the touchscreen and after a few moments I see a T logo and then the screen comes back from hibernate/sleep/whatever it was doing.
The above 2 combine to make it a little hard to just "jump in and go". There is a little bit of patience factor in having the car ready to go.
#3: I wish the sound system would resume playing from my USB flash drive when the power goes back on. It frequently seems to switch back to trying to play music from my iPhone instead.
#4: The PRDN label on the shift lever sticks up a bit. I think others reported this too. It is perhaps just some minor adhesive alignment thing, perhaps easily fixed, but I don't plan to mess with it, and will just mention it to Tesla whenever the car is in for service for any other reason.
#5: When I inspected the car at delivery I noticed what looked like some scratches/gouges on the chart port cover flap. I mentioned it to the delivery people and they took the car to the back and when it was brought back they said it was just some "glue residue", but it looks to me like someone may have buffed it down with some kind of sander (steel wool?) that left some scratch marks:
The engineering in this car is excellent. The mechanical build quality is excellent. Some of the delivery care could maybe use a little more improvement.
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You could crowd fund an upgrade account so I can trade it on on a P-AWD...
Fantastic, your first Telsa as you approach 20,000 posts.... I'm looking forward to your second Tesla .... the Model Z when you hit 40,000 posts!
Well done though seriously.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
By the way, not that anyone asked, but some of you may be wondering why I was comparing my old IS300 to the Model 3 when I had been driving a LEAF for a while.
Well, I really needed carpool stickers in 2011, and wanted to stop burning gas, so had also bought a new LEAF in 2011. It became my main commuter car from 2011-2017, but I held on to the IS300 for longer "road trips". The LEAF's limited range had it end up just being a local use only "commuter appliance".
The LEAF has also been reliable, and my daughter has now taken it over. I don't bother to compare the LEAF, or mention any past love for it because the battery degradation on it has been such a disappointment. It is like a 50 mile range EV now. Nissan had made all these bold claims in 2010 that the battery was some fantastic chemistry that didn't need thermal management and could stand full charging, high temps, and frequent quick charging. The reality turned out to be a lot worse than their hype.
In hindsight, I should have leased that LEAF and dumped it after a few years.
Not only has the Model 3 outdone everything on the IS300, it has also outdone the LEAF on every metric as well... So, it has replaced 2 cars for me.
Well, I really needed carpool stickers in 2011, and wanted to stop burning gas, so had also bought a new LEAF in 2011. It became my main commuter car from 2011-2017, but I held on to the IS300 for longer "road trips". The LEAF's limited range had it end up just being a local use only "commuter appliance".
The LEAF has also been reliable, and my daughter has now taken it over. I don't bother to compare the LEAF, or mention any past love for it because the battery degradation on it has been such a disappointment. It is like a 50 mile range EV now. Nissan had made all these bold claims in 2010 that the battery was some fantastic chemistry that didn't need thermal management and could stand full charging, high temps, and frequent quick charging. The reality turned out to be a lot worse than their hype.
In hindsight, I should have leased that LEAF and dumped it after a few years.
Not only has the Model 3 outdone everything on the IS300, it has also outdone the LEAF on every metric as well... So, it has replaced 2 cars for me.
That was exactly my experience with my Leaf - appalling battery degradation. The rest of the car worked perfectly, but 65 mile range is a real limiter.
So glad to be driving an EV that works like a real car now and can be driven anywhere I want.
Congrats TEG!! You waited a long time for this!!!
Go take a road trip and Enjoy!!
Go take a road trip and Enjoy!!
I will be passing through SLO on June 16th and 18th...
Heading up north (Portland, etc.) in August...
FWIW, I have those same 3 issues. Sometimes toggling bluetooth off/on on my phone helps getting in the car (#1), but it's annoying as is #2. #2 doesn't stop you from driving the car unless you want the backup cam.
#4 - I found that if you press squeeze the PRND "label" down hard, it seems to make it fit better.
I still love my Leaf, although it’s funny that I used to think it was really quick and torquey off the line, and now, after the M3, it feels relatively lethargic (though still WAY better than the rental Prius that the SC had me in for the last 10 days).
If Nissan is able to bring their $2.8k reconditioned battery replacements to North America, the already good value proposition of a used Leaf will improve significantly.
If Nissan is able to bring their $2.8k reconditioned battery replacements to North America, the already good value proposition of a used Leaf will improve significantly.
Well for those following along - two of my original concerns have solved themselves.
First, I got used to the different kind of turn signal stalk in about 2 weeks. Now I am used to the 2 stage springy mechanism and am comfortable with lane changes, and rarely leave the blinkers on by mistake anymore.
Second, my 18" tires have gotten quieter as they broke in. No longer are they bothering me on the freeway. Wind noise and tire noise is "just OK", but at least it is OK now.
I just got back from a weekend road trip to LA and the car was flawless / exemplary. The trip planning with suggestions on supercharger stops and times there was spot-on and optimized my trip. I spent some time driving hilly roads in the Santa Monica hills (like old Mullholand, old Topanga Canyon, etc. ) and had a blast zig-zagging around with lots of elevation changes that the Model 3 just absorbed without any complaints. I can see why they don't give you a temp gauge for battery or motor... It seems not to have any issue with heat during hard driving. (Well, I did it on a mild day, so it wasn't a desert heat stress test, but it worked well so far.)
First, I got used to the different kind of turn signal stalk in about 2 weeks. Now I am used to the 2 stage springy mechanism and am comfortable with lane changes, and rarely leave the blinkers on by mistake anymore.
Second, my 18" tires have gotten quieter as they broke in. No longer are they bothering me on the freeway. Wind noise and tire noise is "just OK", but at least it is OK now.
I just got back from a weekend road trip to LA and the car was flawless / exemplary. The trip planning with suggestions on supercharger stops and times there was spot-on and optimized my trip. I spent some time driving hilly roads in the Santa Monica hills (like old Mullholand, old Topanga Canyon, etc. ) and had a blast zig-zagging around with lots of elevation changes that the Model 3 just absorbed without any complaints. I can see why they don't give you a temp gauge for battery or motor... It seems not to have any issue with heat during hard driving. (Well, I did it on a mild day, so it wasn't a desert heat stress test, but it worked well so far.)
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17 mile drive on the way towards LA:
(Aero covers back on for the long drive)
(Aero covers back on for the long drive)
