Tesla 3 owners - What do you wish you knew

[ThisInJapanese]

I'm looking at a Tesla 3 Long Range version as a daily drive. What do you wish you knew after buying it that you didn't know today? I have an 40 mile each way commute, so will end up doing around 18k a year in the car. I can charge the car at work for free, so will have very little out goings in terms of fuel.

However, is the EV sales pitch in line with what it's like day to day, would be interesting to hear the thoughts of those who have lived with a Tesla for a while, especially the Model 3.

[kuro68k]

It's a very low down car which can be awkward to get into. I'd try it out first, you may find it's too small for you.

[Andy M]

I'm a Model S owner rather than a 3.

1) I wish I'd have known that Tesla's customer service is appalling, possibly the worst I've encountered;
2) insurance can be difficult to obtain (only two companies would quote for my Model S Performance), and relatively expensive (compared to my M5 Competition);
3) during cold weather there is almost zero regen when the car is cold which can catch you out in braking areas;
4) Tesla windscreens are very prone to chips and cracks;
5) EV owners tend to be a friendly bunch, and you will get waves from Hyundai Ioniq's etc.

My ownership experience hasn't been plain sailing but I really enjoy the car, have placed a deposit on a Cybertruck and will look to buy a Model Y for the family when it's finally released.

[Dave Hedgehog]

40 miles a day will be fine in a SR+

customer service has been fine for me

insurance was cheaper then my AMG at LV

preheat the car to ensure regen on cold mornings

apart from as said being low and the infotainment being old fashioned and not having car play / andriod auto the car has been brilliant


wife has had no problems spending all the money i am saving either

[ThisInJapanese]

Insurance is interesting, I hadn't considered that as an issue. Will have a look into it.

I'm hoping to try one on Saturday, all things being good.

What about range, how close is it to what's advertised? Have you noticed any drop off in the range since owning the cars? That's something that's a concern, I might be drawing too much of a parallel to the battery degradation in mobile phones, but it's a cause for slight concern.

[MOBB]

Range - my Model 3 performance is supposed to do 300 miles or so, this time of the year with my driving it is closer to 200. Fine for me but maybe not others.

If you open the boot when its wet, water pisses from the rear screen into the boot :-(

The visual traffic green/amber/red lines indicating traffic issues are complete lies. The nav however does seem to get the journey time about right.

The non-Tesla charging network is a bit of a joke - I have used it once in MK and it took 3 attempts to find a charger that would work.

Repeated hard-accelerating is actually quite unpleasant, makes me nauseous

Demonstrating the above acceleration will always result in the F word being said by your occupants.

You have to be very careful in car parks etc as people will walk out in front of you, and probably give YOU abuse for it too!

The mirrors do not have blind spot areas on them, bit of a backward step compared to other brands

No apple carplay

The seats do not hold you very well in fast cornering.

Thats what I can think of, the car is wonderful generally

[SWoll]

kuro68k said:

It's a very low down car which can be awkward to get into. I'd try it out first, you may find it's too small for you.

I'm 6.4" and not the most flexible chap in the world and don't struggle at all. Might take getting used to if you're coming from an SUV though I suppose?

My biggest complaints with the car are that I find Autopilot as good as useless other than in traffic jams, the headlights are rubbish and the grey 20" wheels on the performance model have zero rim protection from the tyres so could be easily grazed.

Also, the massive drop off in performance once the battery drops below about 30% SOC is disappointing as still considerable range left (70-80 miles).

[Dave Hedgehog]

SWoll said:

My biggest complaints with the car are that I find Autopilot as good as useless other than in traffic jams, the headlights are rubbish and the grey 20" wheels on the performance model have zero rim protection from the tyres so could be easily grazed.

it might be worth getting your light alignment checked, there are a few cars that have come from the factory that need adjusting

i find the head lights very good and the full beam is excellent


the tyres need to be a lot wider, when mine need replacing i will try to get wider ones to protect the rims

[SWoll]

Dave Hedgehog said:

SWoll said:

My biggest complaints with the car are that I find Autopilot as good as useless other than in traffic jams, the headlights are rubbish and the grey 20" wheels on the performance model have zero rim protection from the tyres so could be easily grazed.

it might be worth getting your light alignment checked, there are a few cars that have come from the factory that need adjusting

i find the head lights very good and the full beam is excellent


the tyres need to be a lot wider, when mine need replacing i will try to get wider ones to protect the rims

Tyres are Tesla specific though so might have other effects if not going OEM with the PS4's? (more noise etc.)

I've come from an Audi with full LED Matrix lights and in comparison find the Tesla lights very disappointing and the auto high beam absolutely useless. Agree they could probably do with an adjust though as the edge of the throw on low beam is very poorly defined whereas on our i3 it's a razor sharp.

[Dave Hedgehog]

SWoll said:

Tyres are Tesla specific though so might have other effects if not going OEM with the PS4's? (more noise etc.)

I've come from an Audi with full LED Matrix lights and in comparison find the Tesla lights very disappointing and the auto high beam absolutely useless. Agree they could probably do with an adjust though as the edge of the throw on low beam is very poorly defined whereas on our i3 it's a razor sharp.

first thing i did was turn of auto high beam

i had lowly bi xenon's on my merc and the M3 lights are defiantly a step up from those \

the merc had only one tyre choice on the supplied size but over sizing the tyre gave a good 10mm of side wall protection to the rim, extra noise wont be an issue

[Zcd1]

Switch the display from miles remaining to % remaining.

Freeway/dual carriageway range is 230-260 miles in warm weather and 200-220 miles in cold weather.

Get a wireless charging pad for your phone that’s fit to the car’s space - very convenient.

Get some nicer/better floor and frunk/trunk mats.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Zcd1 said:

Switch the display from miles remaining to % remaining.

Freeway/dual carriageway range is 230-260 miles in warm weather and 200-220 miles in cold weather.

Get a wireless charging pad for your phone that’s fit to the car’s space - very convenient.

Get some nicer/better floor and frunk/trunk mats.

some good rubber mat kits for circa £25 on amazon

also get the brighter (supported) LEDs for the boot, you cant see crap in the boot with the stock ones

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Thursday 13th February 13:57

[stabilio]

Tesla maybe undersold the feature such as pre-heating/de-icing the cabin/front screen on cold and icy mornings from your phone without even having to go outside. I nearly didn't buy one because it had no heated screen but it is a fantastic feature and never knew about it until a few days after collection.
I imagine this would be quite a pricey 'optional extra' on traditional ICE cars.

[Zcd1]

Dave Hedgehog said:

some good rubber mat kits for circa £25 on amazon

also get the brighter (supported) LEDs for the boot, you cant see crap in the boot with the stock ones

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Thursday 13th February 13:57

I have these: https://www.amazon.com/3D-MAXpider-B07D9GMYG8-Comp...

They're really nice - look good and trap moisture, and don't smell like some rubber mats can.

I haven't changed my cabin/trunk LEDs - I don't really see the need.

Regarding headlights, I had adaptive LED headlights on my previous Audi S6 and I don't see any meaningful difference in performance between those and the Model 3's headlights. Both are excellent, IMO.

[SWoll]

Zcd1 said:

Regarding headlights, I had adaptive LED headlights on my previous Audi S6 and I don't see any meaningful difference in performance between those and the Model 3's headlights. Both are excellent, IMO.

Mine must need adjusting then as not good at all.

The auto high beam system is laughably poor after having matrix lights which can be left on everywhere without dazzling anyone. I've been spoilt obviously.

[p1stonhead]

Does the 3 use google maps for sat nav? I currently use CarPlay and it’s invaluable to me.

I really really don’t want to lose accurate traffic and maps.

Seems like it does in the screenshots I’ve seen?

[Zcd1]

SWoll said:

Mine must need adjusting then as not good at all.

The auto high beam system is laughably poor after having matrix lights which can be left on everywhere without dazzling anyone. I've been spoilt obviously.

Could be just the difference between Euro/GB-spec headlights and US-spec headlights on the Audis. We don't get any of the really cool/advanced headlight systems here because of stupid, outdated US regulations.

[Zcd1]

p1stonhead said:

Does the 3 use google maps for sat nav? I currently use CarPlay and it’s invaluable to me.

I really really don’t want to lose accurate traffic and maps.

Seems like it does in the screenshots I’ve seen?

It does, and they work really well for me here in the U.S.

But I was never a fan of Apple Maps, so....

[Dave Hedgehog]

p1stonhead said:

Does the 3 use google maps for sat nav? I currently use CarPlay and it’s invaluable to me.

I really really don’t want to lose accurate traffic and maps.

it maybe built on google maps but its an old fashioned 2D top down and the maps are very inaccurate, i pass 5 roads daily that have the wrong speed listed, some where changed 2 years ago. One of the roads i pass was permanently closed 3 months ago, its still open on the car, it was shut the day after on waze

I have a swan neck mobile phone holder on the back of my ipad so i can use waze, siri, podcasts etc and just BT audio to the car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvxMb4Qn8ck

[p1stonhead]

Dave Hedgehog said:

it maybe built on google maps but its an old fashioned 2D top down and the maps are very inaccurate, i pass 5 roads that have the wrong speed listed, some where changed 2 years ago. One of the roads was permanently closed 3 months ago, its still open on the car, it was shut the day after on waze

I have a swan neck mobile phone holder on the back of my ipad so i can use waze, siri, podcasts etc and just BT audio to the car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvxMb4Qn8ck

That’s a shame. I think CarPlay is fantastic and hoped functionality would be at least as good if not better.