6 months into ownership ....

[LongRanger]

Had the Model 3 LR for 6 months now with the odometer showing 5500 miles. Completely bizarre situation that miles are so low, usually I would have done 15-20k in that time - but still the car has done a few longer runs 400 miles ish and lots of local stuff.

Good stuff

• Performance
• Comfort
• Practicality
• Charging
• Running costs
• Audio system
• Towbar
• Brakes
• Steering/Handling (see below)
• Software updates (see below)
• Key fob, iPhone App controls, Service booking app-based
• Glass roof - once you have a mesh screen fitted at the front, without the mesh it’s too much on sunny days, with it it’s perfect for all weathers

Average stuff

• Wind noise through front tops of windows
• Ride quality could have been tuned better for UK roads, it is great in some situations then shows quite a lot of naivety in others. Overall it’s better than I expected but Tesla suspensions designers need to do more homework.
• Car steers perfectly straight but wheel is off by a slight amount, Tesla say it’s not but it is, if you are sensitive to this sort of thing then it’s a bit annoying.
• There’s a point at which the chassis runs out of talent quite severely, but by this stage you ar going so quick that it’s unsurprising with a heavy car on a setup that is not designed to be BMW M2 competition. Some Ohlins coilovers would really help I’m sure.

Bad stuff

• Boot seal leaks a bit
• Autopilot / right fender camera has failed, got a mobile service visit
• Couple of annoying rattles but roads near home are awful
• Layout change to display screen - I really don’t need a massive car display distracting me and at the expense of using all that lovely screen for better/larger Nav info. Really poor update from earlier in the year, it affects how the car feels to own and live with. 1/10.
• Over-sensitive warning bongs - nanny state.
• Wipers - awful.

Overall the car is excellent, especially through a company scheme - it’s been a great experience so far but there is room for improvement with overall build quality and software engineering, and Tesla really need to visit the UK to find out what our roads and weather means for driving and safety (WIPERS). This ain’t California y’all.

 

[Mattallica]

Warning bongs can be disabled as far as I’ve been told.

The wipers? What is your issue with them? Noisy? Too fast/slow? Auto-wipers not working well?

 

[interbear]

I share many of your observations. I‘m 18 months in and generally delighted with my Model 3. Like you have done much fewer miles in that period, about 10k.

The single biggest bug bear for me over that period is wind noise. A car this price should have better soundproofing. All of my previous cars were better in this respect.

More recently, I agree that the new screen layout is a real annoyance. It was fine before, I much preferred the narrower view for car / AP info and wider view for nav etc. Should be user selectable.

Personally I’ve never had a problem with the auto wipers, they work fine for me and it rains quite often here in south Wales.

 

[AnthonyLR]

Your assessment sounds fair. I love my M3 after 12 months of ownership. I hope to own it for a decade (though hope to send it out to work for me as a Robotaxi one day). I just washed my car and I find it weird that the door seals still let dirt inside the doors so I have to clean the low down bits inside the car with the doors open. Seals should work better.

 

[browellm]

There’s a point at which the chassis runs out of talent quite severely, but by this stage you are going so quick that it’s unsurprising with a heavy car on a setup that is not designed to be BMW M2 competition. Some Ohlins coilovers would really help I’m sure.

This is an excellent observation. I've only got a few hundred miles under my belt to compare. I have found myself harumphing at the way the car's low speed chassis control (amazing) quickly goes south but then you realise you just hit three figure speeds on an empty B road and have no idea how you got there . With a normal ICE, you have all that farting, parping, huffing and puffing which mentally prepares you for the drop off.

 

[HenryT]

This is an excellent observation. I've only got a few hundred miles under my belt to compare. I have found myself harumphing at the way the car's low speed chassis control (amazing) quickly goes south but then you realise you just hit three figure speeds on an empty B road and have no idea how you got there . With a normal ICE, you have all that farting, parping, huffing and puffing which mentally prepares you for the drop off.

Perhaps you and LongRanger are making a case for a M3P next time round. I wonder how that would fare in the same circumstances?

 

[browellm]

Perhaps you and LongRanger are making a case for a M3P next time round. I wonder how that would fare in the same circumstances?

LR is the right car for 98% of my driving.

 

[pgkevet]

There’s a point at which the chassis runs out of talent quite severely, but by this stage you ar going so quick that it’s unsurprising with a heavy car on a setup that is not designed to be BMW M2 competition. Some Ohlins coilovers would really help I’m sure.

That's a scary statement. Hopefully you're not anywhere near my bit of Wales.

 

[Mr Miserable]

I'm over 18 months ownership now and yet I still haven't mastered the indicators.
It's roundabouts that seem to be the problem.
Sometimes they don't cancel, and sometimes they don't indicate - when changing from right signal to left when approaching the exit.
I've never had this problem with any other car, and I've owned a few. (including a VW with trafficators! What an truly awful car that was!)

 

[Dilly]

Your assessment sounds fair. I love my M3 after 12 months of ownership. I hope to own it for a decade (though hope to send it out to work for me as a Robotaxi one day). I just washed my car and I find it weird that the door seals still let dirt inside the doors so I have to clean the low down bits inside the car with the doors open. Seals should work better.

Note to self: check door seals. Not an easy task. Ours doesn’t do enough miles to get dirty.

 

[GRiLLA]

Wipers - awful.

Have you used any coatings on your windscreen by any chance?

 

[Adopado]

Warning bongs can be disabled as far as I’ve been told.

The wipers? What is your issue with them? Noisy? Too fast/slow? Auto-wipers not working well?

You can’t silence all the bongs. The M3 auto wipers have a bit of a reputation! Long time back they were dodgy but software updates mean that they now work pretty well on auto for me... but some people still have issues... I only have auto wiper issues when it’s dark and on unlit roads... so sometimes resort to manual (voice commands work for this but only in LTE connectivity areas.)

 

[AnthonyLR]

You can’t silence all the bongs. The M3 auto wipers have a bit of a reputation! Long time back they were dodgy but software updates mean that they now work pretty well on auto for me... but some people still have issues... I only have auto wiper issues when it’s dark and on unlit roads... so sometimes resort to manual (voice commands work for this but only in LTE connectivity areas.)

My wipers sometimes decide it's raining when it is clearly not and hasn't for weeks

 

[SR-Plus]

I'm over 18 months ownership now and yet I still haven't mastered the indicators.
It's roundabouts that seem to be the problem.
Sometimes they don't cancel, and sometimes they don't indicate - when changing from right signal to left when approaching the exit.
I've never had this problem with any other car, and I've owned a few. (including a VW with trafficators! What an truly awful car that was!)

You can cancel the indicator by pressing down on the stalk in the same direction.

Just to add, I find the auto headlights way too sensitive, turning on even in bright daylight. And turning them off is only temporary as it resets on the next journey.

 

[Mrklaw]

Is the screen supposed to auto dim? Wasn’t night, just a dark car park that triggered my lights but the screen was blinding

 

[MrBadger]

Is the screen supposed to auto dim? Wasn’t night, just a dark car park that triggered my lights but the screen was blinding

Its time based

 

[Yev000]

Sound proofing is better in the 21 models.

Boot seal leaks - didn't get them on both of my cars
None of my cameras failed, but happens I suppose.

Agree on the software update, it's pants. The only positive is that the satnav turn points are displayed in the car bit if someone is using full screen for something else - IMO they should always be there.

I only use wipers on manual with any of my cars. Rainex and manual.

 

[Mrklaw]

What kind of full screen pushed turn instructions to the car part? Was thinking that yesterday - if you have the half music screen scrolled up, the car is often way too close to the turn instructions so if you’re travelling east you get almost no warning from the map because it’s covered by the turn list. Should push the car to the left so it’s centred in the ‘free’ space of the map

 

[adsheff]

• There’s a point at which the chassis runs out of talent quite severely,

What does this even mean? I think you've been watching too much top gear!

 

[LongRanger]

It means that the car is too quick for its suspension on B roads. It’s not set up to be able to monster these kinds of roads and it shows a real lack of composure beyond a certain point, it’s a very sudden change and tells me the suspension folks at Tesla had a choice to make given how the car behaves at lower speeds I.e. excellent. There is always a trade-off.

My old Clio 172 cup on custom KW coilys would always reward harder driving on B roads, it just got better and better as it got pushed harder - but I was younger and more foolish then.

Oh, and I don’t watch Top Gear, not since the Tiff Needell days anyway.