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Why I won't buy a Tesla (as of today) even though they are amazing. I rented a model Y, and the ride, fit, finish, comfort, speed, venting is super cool, char

Why I won't buy a Tesla (as of today) even though they are amazing. I rented a model Y, and the ride, fit, finish, comfort, speed, venting is super cool, charging, range, power/speed settings that affect drive experience, all _amazing_ ... but... (no particular order) - Door handles SUCK, open the wrong way and often require TWO hands. (I am not old/feeble) - Unlocking the door SUCKS. You have to tap the key card multiple times, or in an exact spot. - Locking the doors SUCK. You have to either find some obscure tiny lock icon on the touch screen... or just walk away an HOPE it locks. I actually couldn't tell if the car actually locked because it AUTO UNLOCKS when you get near it. - The touch screen SUCKS. While many simple controls were easy enough, and the large screen was nice for navigation, most of it was miserably tedious. Repeat actions should be easy, but it was a constant chore to find and re-find. - The physical controls on the steering wheel (you guessed it) SUCK. They are not labeled, and they are context sensitive so you are required to look at the screen to figure out what they are affecting. But sometimes, it's a tiny spot on the screen that it affects, and you can't see what it is doing. And since it changes what it affects, you can't rely on muscle memory. - Lane controls SUCK. It constantly wines and alerts you, and warns you, and steers back into your lane. I tried multiple times to shut it all off, and I could simply not turn somethings off. (I work in IT, I googled it, there was nothing obviously locked down the rental company) - Price (sucks) Why is lane control seemly required? (my opinion) Because all the car's controls are out of your safe driving line of sight. Without this I think most Teslas would be in persistent minor/major accidents. The bad so far outweighs the good... I hope they either allow disabling the babysitting features or make a simpler car without them. Add real physical buttons. Put a _real_ dashboard that you can see without getting distracted.

kylecordes 4y ago
I've had a Model 3 since 2018. You can see earlier in the thread that I am not a raging Musk fan, in particular of his public behaviour over the last few years. But a couple of these concerns are may be just because of the short experience renting? Door handles: for the first week or so they seemed awkward, but I've been opening with a single hand ever since. The design is very similar to various exotic sports cars - and not well suited to a midpriced daily driver. Tradeoffs for aero, I think. Unlocking and locking: bad experience on a rental with the card. As an owner, it locks and unlocks based on the phone-key automatically in daily use. I tried the key card a couple of times in the first month to understand how it worked - it's great as a backup key that fits in a wallet. Touchscreen: I've used the touch UI in various brands of recent cars, and find the Tesla experience by far the best. Though I agree another $50 worth of physical buttons for the most commonly used features would be nice. Steering wheel controls: after a few weeks you remember what they do and the physical minimalism is totally fine. Design optimized for owners, at the expense of renters. Lane controls: there are about a dozen switches that control this behavior. It can be incredibly annoying, or no problem at all. Sounds like the defaults nowadays (or what the rental place sets) are awful, since as configured it ensured you won't buy one. Price: they're selling all they can make at the price the market will bear. Would be nice if it was lower. Many industry watchers predict lower prices are all brands in 2023. Fortunately it's a big industry, there are now some great electric cars competing with very different dashboards. I like variety, I'll pick a different one when I am ready to trade in.
- cardiffspaceman 4y ago
  Why would someone buy a car that gave a bad experience when rented, on any point? I would think that "renting bad" would be a huge problem for sales.
  - kylecordes 4y ago
    No idea why; one guess is that it didn't occur to Tesla to worry about test-drivability and rentability yet. Probably hasn't harmed them so far because the brand has a fan following, of people happy to spend a few hours learning these details up front. Could become more of an obstacle for Tesla when there are five brands of really good electric cars, designed to test-drive well, available for immediate purchase at dealers.
  - kortilla 4y ago
    Because tons of people buy cars without renting them. I can think of maybe one acquaintance that did that. Renting is nearly as superficial as a test drive and pales in comparison to reading reviews from professional reviews and owners.

kylecordes 4y ago

I've had a Model 3 since 2018. You can see earlier in the thread that I am not a raging Musk fan, in particular of his public behaviour over the last few years. But a couple of these concerns are may be just because of the short experience renting? Door handles: for the first week or so they seemed awkward, but I've been opening with a single hand ever since. The design is very similar to various exotic sports cars - and not well suited to a midpriced daily driver. Tradeoffs for aero, I think. Unlocking and locking: bad experience on a rental with the card. As an owner, it locks and unlocks based on the phone-key automatically in daily use. I tried the key card a couple of times in the first month to understand how it worked - it's great as a backup key that fits in a wallet. Touchscreen: I've used the touch UI in various brands of recent cars, and find the Tesla experience by far the best. Though I agree another $50 worth of physical buttons for the most commonly used features would be nice. Steering wheel controls: after a few weeks you remember what they do and the physical minimalism is totally fine. Design optimized for owners, at the expense of renters. Lane controls: there are about a dozen switches that control this behavior. It can be incredibly annoying, or no problem at all. Sounds like the defaults nowadays (or what the rental place sets) are awful, since as configured it ensured you won't buy one. Price: they're selling all they can make at the price the market will bear. Would be nice if it was lower. Many industry watchers predict lower prices are all brands in 2023. Fortunately it's a big industry, there are now some great electric cars competing with very different dashboards. I like variety, I'll pick a different one when I am ready to trade in.

cardiffspaceman 4y ago
Why would someone buy a car that gave a bad experience when rented, on any point? I would think that "renting bad" would be a huge problem for sales.
- kylecordes 4y ago
  No idea why; one guess is that it didn't occur to Tesla to worry about test-drivability and rentability yet. Probably hasn't harmed them so far because the brand has a fan following, of people happy to spend a few hours learning these details up front. Could become more of an obstacle for Tesla when there are five brands of really good electric cars, designed to test-drive well, available for immediate purchase at dealers.
- kortilla 4y ago
  Because tons of people buy cars without renting them. I can think of maybe one acquaintance that did that. Renting is nearly as superficial as a test drive and pales in comparison to reading reviews from professional reviews and owners.