Would you get another Model 3?

[SMAlset]

OP, kind of like you in that I haven’t been putting on too many miles and honestly still love driving it as much as when it was delivered. We have an MS should we need more cargo space but honestly haven’t transported anything needing it for a few years now. With software updates (and firmware—I upgraded my EAP to FSD during the $2K sale so Tesla upgraded the car to H3 from 2.5), my AWD LR fits my use.

It’s just my husband and me, although my mom will be moving here and she’ll be with us in our cars, but don’t see need for larger car for more passengers.

Last time we stopped in a Tesla Store a number of months back I did check out the Model Y for the heck of it and will say the driver’s seat I sat in was very comfortable. Not that I find my Model 3 uncomfortable in the slightest but you sit higher up and it was more padded I guess. If you haven’t sat in a Model Y yet, I’d suggest sitting in one to see what you think and whether the changes between the Model 3 and Y are worth it to you.

 

[jjrandorin]

Interesting. I was just talking with a friend two days ago who wanted to learn all about our experience with a 3 since he's thinking of buying one. He said he was quoted 10 months because of chip shortages. I have not independently verified this.

Here is teslas website (qualifier, in the US) tonight (12/12/2021) for Model 3s.

Feb 2022, March 2022, and June 2022 for SR+. I was talking about LR / P, which show Feb / March. I am betting people could actually get them at the latest by those times.

Model Y has longer wait times.

 

[Gimmethecash]

Mine’s only 6 months old, but I’d get another 3 if I had to replace mine now; I don’t intend to buy any more ICE cars unless my circumstances change to a point where it’s not practical (like moving somewhere I can’t charge at home). By the time I’m ready, I expect to have some better options to choose from and we’ll see at that time.

 

[Ptheven]

Nice looking car the Audi. $165k for the RS version...ouch. My fear is the maintenance costs. I used to have an Audi SQ5 and the maintenance was ridiculous. This is why I love my T...I think over the last 2 years I have spent about $200 for really unnecessary things like tire rotation and filter changes! I just cant see Audi dropping income...they will charge BIG for anything. Servicing will be required I'd wager. Anyway, good luck with your choice

Oh god, no, not the E-tron GT. I'm not in that income bracket. I mean the Q4, the Model Y competitor!

Anyway, the e-tron models seem to have a nice sane service expectation: Check the brakes, cabin air filters, wiper blades, etc. No superfluous nonsense.

 

[firstkill]

Oh god, no, not the E-tron GT. I'm not in that income bracket. I mean the Q4, the Model Y competitor!

Anyway, the e-tron models seem to have a nice sane service expectation: Check the brakes, cabin air filters, wiper blades, etc. No superfluous nonsense.

I had one for a rental in Colorado summer. Good interior/build quality but the range and power was lacking compared to a LR/performance variant. It’s a nice car if you don’t need the range

 

[Msjulie]

Some what knee jerk reaction here but it's additive since I've had a Model 3 since essentially day one of availability and had numerous firmware updates over time.

Each time there's a major firmware update, the UI can change radically in some areas, negating muscle memory and providing unnecessary frustration for users. The most recent update has proved to invoke some strong emotions in many folks.

It can appear that the vision of one person demands form over function. To each their own, but as my Tesla becomes less pleasant / more annoying to do simple things for driver and passenger, the thought of buying a new one starts to recede into the rear view.

 

[hgmichna]

I am getting another Model 3 RWD, already ordered. I should get the new one in February and sell my first one.

I'm in Germany, where used car prices are currently going through the roof. The prices for a used Model 3 is particularly good in our neighboring country Denmark for reasons of price differential, German subsidies, and some special Danish customs rule that waives import duty if the car is a half year old and has been driven for at least 6,000 km. The best price one can get for a white Model 3 with black interior and a tow hook, which is exactly my car. So mine will probably go to Denmark. I'll drive it there.

The thought of buying a different type of car has not occurred to me.

 

[HeatproofGenie]

We sold our '18 M3 LR on 12/23 and have a deposit on a new one with a delivery window of 1/4-2/8, so yes I would buy a new one.

Our old LR was the best car we've owned and truly felt revolutionary. Everyone loved to drive or ride in it and chose it preferentially over our '12 4Runner (no surprise). I heard about the crazy used car values and that's why we sold the old 3. Sold our 28k mile M3LR for 47k! So after the 2k CO rebate and hopefully the 8k BBB rebate to buy another will be not much more to net less. Kind of a no brainer.

At the time in late September when I ordered a new M3 LR there weren't many similar competitors that were compelling. I considered the Polestar but was worried about lack of infrastructure for support, maintenance, etc. The Ioniq 5 is very compelling but that wasn't really on the radar at that point and now won't be available for awhile unless one is in the right region and preordered. I did consider an S or a Taycan but that's just more than we wanted to spend or have tied up in a car. So another 3 it was.

I have deposits down on a Rivian R1t, Ford Lightning and a Cybertruck (from a month after launch). This will replace our 4runner and will be the family adventure vehicle to be used for trips, etc. This is what I'm really excited for with the Rivian being the most appealing by far at the moment. This is where we'll spend more so keeping the new M3 cheaper was a priority. Might keep the 4Runner around or not. There is some value in still having an ICE vehicle especially a truck or SUV especially if one camps or skis, mountain bikes in remote areas.

 

[JimShaw]

On December the 6th, I sold my 2019 SR 3. On December the 28th I purchased a 2022 3 Performance

So, my answer is YES

 

[Jeff Davlt]

Right now I’d definitely replace my LR 3 with another. Now in 2-3 years when my kids are that much bigger, I might be forced into a Y or some other not as fun to drive CUV, but I’m holding off as long as possible and hoping something similar to the Rivian R1S is made at a much lower price so we can replace my wife’s Chevy Traverse and finally be ICE free.

 

[holmgang]

if you barely drive and only carry 2, i'd get a sports car like miata or some classic car for the fun.

for everyday transport, i'd get another 3. if the Y was available with 4680 and single casting, i'd get that instead of the 3, as we transport a bunch of stuff.

 

[MG535]

I just got a message that our lease is up next December (yes, 12 months from now). At first, I thought this was really early. But, with cars from any manufacturer taking a long time, and models like the Y taking over a year, I guess it makes sense. So the question is do we lease another 3 LR? What would you do?

Here are a few things about our usage. We don't drive much, we have 4,500 miles on the car in 2 years. This is not due to Covid. We have worked from home for nearly a decade. We find the car fun to drive. 99.9% of the time it is only the 2 of us going someplace.

Thoughts?

Sounds like you leave a lot of money on the table by leasing in this instance. The delta between (A) the totality of your lease payments vs (B) purchase price + TTL + interest - resale value.

I’m not a CPA but you could have purchased the car for your business and received most of the same tax benefits.

Besides you’re just shielding your pretax income from an effective rate of what… mid 20s?

 

[Sporty]

I’d get another M3P. I’m thinking of selling mine and upgrading to the newer model now. The misc improvements are adding up… Heated steering wheel. Powered trunk.

I’d skip FSD this time around thou… I suspect I can always buy it later if it turns into something useful.

 

[Olavxxx]

I’d get another M3P. I’m thinking of selling mine and upgrading to the newer model now. The misc improvements are adding up… Heated steering wheel. Powered trunk.

I’d skip FSD this time around thou… I suspect I can always buy it later if it turns into something useful.

I would wait untill you know more about new battry+ new motor option, also when there is a clear cutoff for the Ryzen MCU.

 

[JimShaw]

I’d get another M3P. I’m thinking of selling mine and upgrading to the newer model now. The misc improvements are adding up… Heated steering wheel. Powered trunk.

I’d skip FSD this time around thou… I suspect I can always buy it later if it turns into something useful.

Exactly what I did

I was a beta tester on my 2019 SR. Sold it for $12,000 more than I paid. Purchased a 2022 3P. Won't get FSD again.

 

[tm1v2]

@jboy210 You should get another 3. With the X or other large vehicle on the way, the 3 is a nice complement. Any trim level of Model 3 is still the most fun to drive EV at its price point (in my opinion).

Only reasons I see for you to not get another 3 are...

• ...if you want to try a very different kind of car, e.g. a sports car.
• ...if you don't want to replace it at all. You two drive so little, I bet you could easily share 1 car, and it would save you a chunk of money. Our Model S was our only car for many years, we didn't have driving commutes either, so it worked well for us.

Now to answer the question in the title: I would absolutely get another M3P if I needed to replace mine today, e.g. if it was totaled today. Well, I'd want to test the BMW i4 M50 first if it's available now, but I'm 98% sure I will still prefer the M3P. I already tested and considered the rest of the closest competition (Polestar 2 Performance, Mach-E GT Performance Edition, Model Y dual motor) and chose the M3P. With 2 months of driving the M3P under my belt I love it more than ever, it was absolutely the right choice for me (though the Polestar 2 Performance is still a close 2nd for me).

 

[CarlThompson]

We sold our '18 M3 LR on 12/23 and have a deposit on a new one with a delivery window of 1/4-2/8, so yes I would buy a new one. ... Sold our 28k mile M3LR for 47k!

Your story is exactly the same as mine! I ordered a new AWD and sold my early 2018 LR RWD a few weeks ago for $47,000. I couldn't believe I got that much money back for a 4 year old car!

I also looked at the iPace and considered waiting for the i4, 2022 Polestar 2, Ioniq 5 or EV6 but I figured I like the way the Model 3 drives and now was the right time to sell my old cars so instead of waiting I'm sticking with Tesla. The only one of those other cars that really tempted me to wait was the i4 because I like BMW's interiors and build quality and it sounds like it will at least be in the same ballpark efficiency wise.

 

[Sporty]

I would wait untill you know more about new battry+ new motor option, also when there is a clear cutoff for the Ryzen MCU.

I’ll start searching to threads to see if I can find the speculation around these thing. Is there a particular event these things are normally announced at? I recall with mcu2/3 they silently started shipping the new version and then announced it.

 

[jboy210]

I’ll start searching to threads to see if I can find the speculation around these thing. Is there a particular event these things are normally announced at? I recall with mcu2/3 they silently started shipping the new version and then announced it.

My experience says there is no event or announcement for feature upgrades. You just see people posting about it.

For example, I ordered my Model X in Dec 2017 and picked it up in May 2018. In the middle of March 2018, they replaced MCU1 with MCU 2. This upgraded the processor from a 16 bit rather slow processor that could not run the browser, took 5 seconds to so that start drawing a route on nav, and was in general unresponsive. The new processor was 32 bit and was much faster and responsive. They also increased the RAM in the system. The change occurred somewhere on the production line with no announcement. Maybe Tuesday cars had MCU1 and on Wednesday they started installing MCU2.

Today, if you want to upgrade your MCU1 to MCU2 I believe the charge is $1000 but might be more.

They also stopped the interior color combination I originally selected in April and changed me to beige with black, which I think looks better.

I think these changes are purposely done silently to prevent the Osborne Effect of people waiting for the new version which can cause a bad slump in sales.

 

[tm1v2]

I’ll start searching to threads to see if I can find the speculation around these thing. Is there a particular event these things are normally announced at? I recall with mcu2/3 they silently started shipping the new version and then announced it.

Fremont is building Model 3s with Ryzen MCU now. Tesla has been known to overlap old and new parts for a while before completely phasing out the old, but I think if you order now you're highly likely to get a car with MCU3. If your sales advisor promises MCU3 on an order placed now and it shows up with MCU2 then reject it at delivery time.

(Rejecting a car is your own decision of course, nothing directly to do with any sales advisor promises, but from a practical and moral perspective I would wait until either a sales person or the product page promises your order will include a new feature, before planning to reject a car without it.)

As for drivetrain upgrades, the only thing known to be coming soon is a new rear drive unit for M3P in Europe, presumably in cars built in Shanghai and/or Berlin. Unknown what effect it will have on efficiency or performance, and unknown when Fremont might start building USA / North American market cars with it.

I've not seen any significant battery upgrades for Model 3 known to be coming soon, besides the recent well-known change of SR+/RWD moving to LFP, and the typical battery supplier churn as Tesla expands to more factories, more sales markets, and ever higher volumes. Probably the Model 3 will switch to structural packs with 4680 cells someday, but that looks a long ways away. Tesla is still struggling to ramp up production of those cells and there are several other Tesla models ahead of the 3 in line for them I believe. (Semi, Cybertruck, Y, Roadster, maybe an S Plaid+ still...)