Model 3 Test Drive
Discussion
Thought id add my quick views on the Model 3 I test drove yesterday. The Tesla showroom and the salesman experience was one of the best Ive had. The salesman was more akin to someone in the Iphone shop. Very relaxed and no pressure whatsoever.
The drive of the 3 was very good. I had the performance model and jesus is it quick. I dont think id find a car that you could make such quick progress with.
Interior trim was a bit cheap. It had fake wood on the dash which looked a bit crap and the trim around the centre console was plastiky.
Tech was impressive though tad annoying that everything is via the screen.
I think I could be tempted to buy one merly on the performance though would test drive a Polestar and Merc Eqc before.
The drive of the 3 was very good. I had the performance model and jesus is it quick. I dont think id find a car that you could make such quick progress with.
Interior trim was a bit cheap. It had fake wood on the dash which looked a bit crap and the trim around the centre console was plastiky.
Tech was impressive though tad annoying that everything is via the screen.
I think I could be tempted to buy one merly on the performance though would test drive a Polestar and Merc Eqc before.
Frimley111R said:
The interior is either ultra modern and minimalist or ultra basic, depending on how you look at it. I liked it initially because it felt so ultra modern and now I'm not so sure....
It is ultra modern and minimalist.I now wear a black polo neck jumper and frameless spectacles when I drive mine. I cut quite a dash in my clutter-free appliance.
NDA said:
It is ultra modern and minimalist.
I now wear a black polo neck jumper and frameless spectacles when I drive mine. I cut quite a dash in my clutter-free appliance.
The Saab 900 look!I now wear a black polo neck jumper and frameless spectacles when I drive mine. I cut quite a dash in my clutter-free appliance.
Are you sure the wood is real is felt tinny and plastic to me. The drive of the car would still sway it for me it is a very good car and bloody fast!
wjwren said:
NDA said:
It is ultra modern and minimalist.
I now wear a black polo neck jumper and frameless spectacles when I drive mine. I cut quite a dash in my clutter-free appliance.
The Saab 900 look!I now wear a black polo neck jumper and frameless spectacles when I drive mine. I cut quite a dash in my clutter-free appliance.
Are you sure the wood is real is felt tinny and plastic to me. The drive of the car would still sway it for me it is a very good car and bloody fast!
It's a great car - I'm a convert. It just does what it says on the tin.
I ordered the white seats, part of that choice was that wood reminded me of 1980s Ford Ghia cars….
The minimalist look was strange at first but I really like it now.
Not disappointed at all with the car, just wish Tesla would put right some of the niggle faults especially on the sat nav side of things…
The minimalist look was strange at first but I really like it now.
Not disappointed at all with the car, just wish Tesla would put right some of the niggle faults especially on the sat nav side of things…
Are there still issues with paint and panel gaps as per few years ago? Also do they still use merc switch gear - the gear selector is the same as my Merc. But to be honest there isn't much switchgear it is very minimal!
Agree on the acceleration!
What do most people do lease them? The residuals seem very good on them.
Agree on the acceleration!
What do most people do lease them? The residuals seem very good on them.
wjwren said:
Are there still issues with paint and panel gaps as per few years ago? Also do they still use merc switch gear - the gear selector is the same as my Merc. But to be honest there isn't much switchgear it is very minimal!
Agree on the acceleration!
What do most people do lease them? The residuals seem very good on them.
The paint on my 2018 is far better looking (more shine and less “orange peel” than that on most Mercedes I’ve seen. My car’s body panels all line up nicely - no issues. Agree on the acceleration!
What do most people do lease them? The residuals seem very good on them.
All that said, build quality consistency has been a Tesla weak point, so it’s worth paying attention if you order one.
It’s a fantastic daily driver, IMO.
Frimley111R said:
steveatesh said:
...., just wish Tesla would put right some of the niggle faults especially on the sat nav side of things…
What is up with the nav?I use the voice guidance a lot, so when it says “take the third exit” but it should have been the bloody second exit it has caused me some stress. Now I have to check just in case.
Simple things like a return journey would be useful for planning charging too rather than having to select a nearby street to my house and then the waypoint of where I want to go.
Discussed a lot on the forums, the nav could do with some TLC by Tesla I believe.
You need to have a slightly different mindset if thinking about buying your first Tesla. Most things are different compared to other manufacturers - the buying process, the collecting proccess, the no haggling over price and the way you even contact Tesla for things like servicing or faults.
Personally, I like the way its done.
The interior comments I get too but the minimal look will keep the car looking more modern going forward. As an example, my C63 AMG is just 3 years old and it has a CD player in it! That alone makes it look very dated and I threw away all my CDs years and years ago.
I don't need x3 buttons in it just to move the mirrors which I'll probably only do once or a extra stalk behind the steeering wheel to adjust it, again which I'll probably only do once.
Also remember, I can't think of any other manufacturer who constantly updates their cars and adds new things so quick, and its done on my drive with me just tapping a button twice on my phone.
The update over the Xmas period has added loads of new things including blind spot indicators - these sort of things that have been added over my 2 years of ownership would usually be optional, paid for extras on other cars and couldn't be retrofitted later on - and they are all free.
Is it perfect, of course not but no car I've had has been.
Personally, I like the way its done.
The interior comments I get too but the minimal look will keep the car looking more modern going forward. As an example, my C63 AMG is just 3 years old and it has a CD player in it! That alone makes it look very dated and I threw away all my CDs years and years ago.
I don't need x3 buttons in it just to move the mirrors which I'll probably only do once or a extra stalk behind the steeering wheel to adjust it, again which I'll probably only do once.
Also remember, I can't think of any other manufacturer who constantly updates their cars and adds new things so quick, and its done on my drive with me just tapping a button twice on my phone.
The update over the Xmas period has added loads of new things including blind spot indicators - these sort of things that have been added over my 2 years of ownership would usually be optional, paid for extras on other cars and couldn't be retrofitted later on - and they are all free.
Is it perfect, of course not but no car I've had has been.
A lot of people say “the tech is impressive” when they look at a Tesla. Depends what your definition of “impressive” is.
There’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. They’ve only just added blind spot view which shows the view from the side camera when indicating. Great in theory - but they’ve put in on part of the screen that you can’t see because it’s obscured by your arms holding the wheel. The irony - blind spot view in a blind spot.
No proper surround view.
Voice commands don’t work when watching YouTube etc which means it’s impossible to open the glovebox as the only way to do it without voice commands is via a menu…which you can’t get to because you’re watching YouTube.
Speed limit sign recognition is very bad especially through roadworks.
Auto wipers are the worst I’ve ever had on any car.
The latest interface is, in my opinion, poor. For instance there is no longer a way of quickly tapping an icon to switch on demister - it’s now on a menu. The speed display is getting less prominent on every major software release. They seem to be making more space on the screen to add apps that you can’t use when driving anyway. The space allocated for maps was reduced to allow more space to show things like images of wheelie bins and traffic lights. I have a windscreen for that.
The audio, in my opinion, even the so-called ‘immersive’ version is nothing to write home about.
Autopilot - ie traffic aware cruise control and steering is just the same as in any other car of that class. There is no simple speed limiter like my 6 year old E Class had.
Obviously Tesla make a big thing of Full Self Driving. It is currently of limited use in the UK and I think costs £6500.
The PDI seems to consist of “it’s got 4 wheels - good to go”. Yes they’ll fix anything you find after delivery which you need to allocate your time to sort,
It’s not all bad.
I think it is still the most efficient EV. The supercharger network is brilliant if you will make use of it but do remember they’ve already started opening it up to other manufacturers in other countries.
The new ability to view cameras on the car remotely is great.
It drives and handles very well.
It has fart noises.
I’ll be looking at something like the Kia EV6 when I replace my Model 3.
There’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. They’ve only just added blind spot view which shows the view from the side camera when indicating. Great in theory - but they’ve put in on part of the screen that you can’t see because it’s obscured by your arms holding the wheel. The irony - blind spot view in a blind spot.
No proper surround view.
Voice commands don’t work when watching YouTube etc which means it’s impossible to open the glovebox as the only way to do it without voice commands is via a menu…which you can’t get to because you’re watching YouTube.
Speed limit sign recognition is very bad especially through roadworks.
Auto wipers are the worst I’ve ever had on any car.
The latest interface is, in my opinion, poor. For instance there is no longer a way of quickly tapping an icon to switch on demister - it’s now on a menu. The speed display is getting less prominent on every major software release. They seem to be making more space on the screen to add apps that you can’t use when driving anyway. The space allocated for maps was reduced to allow more space to show things like images of wheelie bins and traffic lights. I have a windscreen for that.
The audio, in my opinion, even the so-called ‘immersive’ version is nothing to write home about.
Autopilot - ie traffic aware cruise control and steering is just the same as in any other car of that class. There is no simple speed limiter like my 6 year old E Class had.
Obviously Tesla make a big thing of Full Self Driving. It is currently of limited use in the UK and I think costs £6500.
The PDI seems to consist of “it’s got 4 wheels - good to go”. Yes they’ll fix anything you find after delivery which you need to allocate your time to sort,
It’s not all bad.
I think it is still the most efficient EV. The supercharger network is brilliant if you will make use of it but do remember they’ve already started opening it up to other manufacturers in other countries.
The new ability to view cameras on the car remotely is great.
It drives and handles very well.
It has fart noises.
I’ll be looking at something like the Kia EV6 when I replace my Model 3.
Up_north pretty much nails it.
‘Adding new features” - most cars, certainly at 50k and above, have a lot of what Tesla are adding. The late to the party blind spot camera is a camera view turned on by the indicator, it’s not a warning of a car in your blind spot regardless of what you’re doing, so a flashing light on the door mirror like everyone else does is actually more intelligent. They’ve only just added waypoints to the nav, name another car that didn’t have them.
The latest release really does highlight that Tesla don’t make cars but games computers that drive. Prioritising the toy box on the dash over screen demisters and even windscreen wipers tells you everything you need to know, but if you do want more, they’ve rolled out a light show to attract 10 year olds rather than adaptive headlights, or even a simple cornering light capability.on the indicator. The new model S brags about gaming performance similar to ps5/Xbox etc, there are a thousand subtle things on our BMW that point to it being for drivers compared to our Tesla.
As an EV it’s cheap as depreciation is currently low and I get free supercharging as I’ve so many referral miles, I also make money from them, but I’d be very surprised if I ever bought another.
‘Adding new features” - most cars, certainly at 50k and above, have a lot of what Tesla are adding. The late to the party blind spot camera is a camera view turned on by the indicator, it’s not a warning of a car in your blind spot regardless of what you’re doing, so a flashing light on the door mirror like everyone else does is actually more intelligent. They’ve only just added waypoints to the nav, name another car that didn’t have them.
The latest release really does highlight that Tesla don’t make cars but games computers that drive. Prioritising the toy box on the dash over screen demisters and even windscreen wipers tells you everything you need to know, but if you do want more, they’ve rolled out a light show to attract 10 year olds rather than adaptive headlights, or even a simple cornering light capability.on the indicator. The new model S brags about gaming performance similar to ps5/Xbox etc, there are a thousand subtle things on our BMW that point to it being for drivers compared to our Tesla.
As an EV it’s cheap as depreciation is currently low and I get free supercharging as I’ve so many referral miles, I also make money from them, but I’d be very surprised if I ever bought another.
Heres Johnny said:
.
The latest release really does highlight that Tesla don’t make cars but games computers that drive. Prioritising the toy box on the dash over screen demisters and even windscreen wipers tells you everything you need to know, but if you do want more, they’ve rolled out a light show to attract 10 year olds rather than adaptive headlights, or even a simple cornering light capability.on the indicator. The new model S brags about gaming performance similar to ps5/Xbox etc, there are a thousand subtle things on our BMW that point to it being for drivers compared to our Tesla.
As an EV it’s cheap as depreciation is currently low and I get free supercharging as I’ve so many referral miles, I also make money from them, but I’d be very surprised if I ever bought another.
This. I’ll start by saying I love the M3LR but the recent update was not designed by people who drive….. I simply can not understand what problem they were trying to solve by hiding secondary controls such as heated seats, demists, and driver profiles behind menus. What was a single press thing has become 2 presses and eyes away from the road for longer.The latest release really does highlight that Tesla don’t make cars but games computers that drive. Prioritising the toy box on the dash over screen demisters and even windscreen wipers tells you everything you need to know, but if you do want more, they’ve rolled out a light show to attract 10 year olds rather than adaptive headlights, or even a simple cornering light capability.on the indicator. The new model S brags about gaming performance similar to ps5/Xbox etc, there are a thousand subtle things on our BMW that point to it being for drivers compared to our Tesla.
As an EV it’s cheap as depreciation is currently low and I get free supercharging as I’ve so many referral miles, I also make money from them, but I’d be very surprised if I ever bought another.
I still have not worked out WTF they were thinking when they tied the air con to the heated seats…. When I put the air con on the seats turn on too meaning I then have to manually switch them off, again distraction when driving.
It’s one thing Apple going for minimalist form over function on your iPhone screen but quite another when a car makers does it. Absolute hell on the FB opener forums….. I hope Tesla respond to feedback but somehow I don’t think so.
Replacing important buttons on the main screen with the entertainment buttons such as theatre or fart button is one of the stupidest decisions I have ever seen for software releases.
f
king idiots….. 
Gassing Station | Tesla | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff