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As an owner for 5+ years, the cars show well but pretty quickly become a pain in the ass. They'll get eclipsed by other electric car manufacturers real quick.

As an owner for 5+ years, the cars show well but pretty quickly become a pain in the ass. They'll get eclipsed by other electric car manufacturers real quick. Edit: more specifically, the parts break and they are difficult to replace. The battery degrades. They stopped providing maps to the vehicle unless I'm willing to spend several hundred dollars to replace the media console, they've told me I'm covered by a recall/warranty but have been unable to schedule the appointment.

rootusrootus 4y ago
> As an owner for 5+ years, the cars show well but pretty quickly become a pain in the ass. I agree. As a former owner. They are fun to show. But there are real annoyances. In the case of the Model 3 in particular, I quickly tired of the door handles. The psychotic windshield wipers. No CarPlay. The smartphone unlocking which worked most of the time until just that moment when your hands were full. It became a chore to live with. But dear god was it fast (I had the Performance trim). Not enough. I need my daily driver to not be a PITA. I'm very interested in what the competition is doing. Ford one-upped the Model Y by putting that knob on the display and then adding another display in front of the driver. Most of the competitive EVs have real interiors, for that matter. All of them have CarPlay. Porsche made a legit sports car. The future looks bright!
- bredren 4y ago
  Given your experiences, I'm curious about your and parent's feedback on the following: * What are your current top alternative make / models? * If you have some you're tracking, which make / models are you most anticipating?
  - carbadtraingood 4y ago
    Ford lighting is currently my next vehicle, but we have a need for a truck specifically (we have forest land we work on conserving). I'm keeping an eye on Kia, VW, Hyundai right now. But I expect other manufacturers will catch up.
  - sorenjan 4y ago
    Look at Polestar, VW, Kia, and Hyundai. Hyundai released their Ioniq 6 today.
    - bredren 4y ago
      Thanks for this. I checked out a YT video about Ioniq 6 and was interested enough to look for the official page. (that matte black one looks pretty cool) [1] But oof, the web site is just terrible. I can't imagine the effort that went into that car and then have it be paired with what they've come up with there. I hope that competition rises to the level of Tesla on the product presentation / ordering side as well. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGlmdcS8bZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGlmdcS8bZU
- lostmsu 4y ago
  > The psychotic windshield wipers Until the windshield wipers are solved, I would not expect the FSD. SotA deep learning models are not good enough to control that function yet.
Denzel 4y ago
Ok? As a Model 3 owner for 3+ years the car shows well and has been rock solid this whole time. > Parts break difficult to replace I think I had a set of squeaky control arms that Tesla replaced under warranty in less than a week, free of charge. I don’t remember because it was such a nonissue. Side swiped by another driver; dented my fender, bumper, smashed the headlight. Their insurance took fault, Tesla certified body shop gave estimate and fixed in less than a week (from the time dropped off). > The battery degrades Knew this going in. What battery doesn’t? Still comfortably road-tripping and camping with the family in my car. > They stopped providing maps Huh? I receive updates every time my car updates which is often. I’m guessing you’re talking the an older Model S. > Recall/warranty and unable to schedule appointment I’ve scheduled 5+ appointments with Tesla service center or mobile service through the app. Never been an issue. On top of all that, my car is worth more now than it was when I bought it. Everyone in my family that drives the car loves it. The car turns heads and generates questions on the daily for 3+ years now. My young daughter’s friends still lose their mind when she gets picked up in the Model 3. It’s almost like owning a supercar without the price tag or the inconvenience. So I guess different people have different experiences. But this is the first car I’ve ever wanted to drive until it dies. Oh, and FSD certainly IS NOT worth it. And I doubt it will be anytime soon. :)
- carbadtraingood 4y ago
  Yeah, I have an older model S. It could be my model just doesn't get the care that newer ones do, and my experience reflects an "early mover" experience. But I've had to replace door handles, sensors, memory, windshield, and a bunch of other stuff due to defects. The car stutters on the road at 50-55 mph, but is fine above that. It was awesome in 2015. It's a pain in the ass in 2022.
  - Denzel 4y ago
    True, 2015 Teslas are much different (read: worse in some ways) than 2018 Teslas. That’s why I waited for them to improve the technology haha. Been following them since the Roadster’s R&D. I remember having to convince everybody back then that electric cars were going to be viable soon - no one believed Tesla could do it back then. Crazy how things have gone since.

rootusrootus 4y ago

> As an owner for 5+ years, the cars show well but pretty quickly become a pain in the ass. I agree. As a former owner. They are fun to show. But there are real annoyances. In the case of the Model 3 in particular, I quickly tired of the door handles. The psychotic windshield wipers. No CarPlay. The smartphone unlocking which worked most of the time until just that moment when your hands were full. It became a chore to live with. But dear god was it fast (I had the Performance trim). Not enough. I need my daily driver to not be a PITA. I'm very interested in what the competition is doing. Ford one-upped the Model Y by putting that knob on the display and then adding another display in front of the driver. Most of the competitive EVs have real interiors, for that matter. All of them have CarPlay. Porsche made a legit sports car. The future looks bright!

bredren 4y ago
Given your experiences, I'm curious about your and parent's feedback on the following: * What are your current top alternative make / models? * If you have some you're tracking, which make / models are you most anticipating?
- carbadtraingood 4y ago
  Ford lighting is currently my next vehicle, but we have a need for a truck specifically (we have forest land we work on conserving). I'm keeping an eye on Kia, VW, Hyundai right now. But I expect other manufacturers will catch up.
- sorenjan 4y ago
  Look at Polestar, VW, Kia, and Hyundai. Hyundai released their Ioniq 6 today.
  - bredren 4y ago
    Thanks for this. I checked out a YT video about Ioniq 6 and was interested enough to look for the official page. (that matte black one looks pretty cool) [1] But oof, the web site is just terrible. I can't imagine the effort that went into that car and then have it be paired with what they've come up with there. I hope that competition rises to the level of Tesla on the product presentation / ordering side as well. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGlmdcS8bZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGlmdcS8bZU
lostmsu 4y ago
> The psychotic windshield wipers Until the windshield wipers are solved, I would not expect the FSD. SotA deep learning models are not good enough to control that function yet.

Denzel 4y ago

Ok? As a Model 3 owner for 3+ years the car shows well and has been rock solid this whole time. > Parts break difficult to replace I think I had a set of squeaky control arms that Tesla replaced under warranty in less than a week, free of charge. I don’t remember because it was such a nonissue. Side swiped by another driver; dented my fender, bumper, smashed the headlight. Their insurance took fault, Tesla certified body shop gave estimate and fixed in less than a week (from the time dropped off). > The battery degrades Knew this going in. What battery doesn’t? Still comfortably road-tripping and camping with the family in my car. > They stopped providing maps Huh? I receive updates every time my car updates which is often. I’m guessing you’re talking the an older Model S. > Recall/warranty and unable to schedule appointment I’ve scheduled 5+ appointments with Tesla service center or mobile service through the app. Never been an issue. On top of all that, my car is worth more now than it was when I bought it. Everyone in my family that drives the car loves it. The car turns heads and generates questions on the daily for 3+ years now. My young daughter’s friends still lose their mind when she gets picked up in the Model 3. It’s almost like owning a supercar without the price tag or the inconvenience. So I guess different people have different experiences. But this is the first car I’ve ever wanted to drive until it dies. Oh, and FSD certainly IS NOT worth it. And I doubt it will be anytime soon. :)

carbadtraingood 4y ago
Yeah, I have an older model S. It could be my model just doesn't get the care that newer ones do, and my experience reflects an "early mover" experience. But I've had to replace door handles, sensors, memory, windshield, and a bunch of other stuff due to defects. The car stutters on the road at 50-55 mph, but is fine above that. It was awesome in 2015. It's a pain in the ass in 2022.
- Denzel 4y ago
  True, 2015 Teslas are much different (read: worse in some ways) than 2018 Teslas. That’s why I waited for them to improve the technology haha. Been following them since the Roadster’s R&D. I remember having to convince everybody back then that electric cars were going to be viable soon - no one believed Tesla could do it back then. Crazy how things have gone since.