End of ownership review - 14 months with an LR

[MrBadger]

…but I used Navigate on Autopilot a couple of weeks ago, and it was bloody useless I don't lnow whether it was a particular set of circumstances that confused it, but it kept suggesting lane changes which were pointless - i.e. I would've had to have changed lane back again because I would have been on a slower car in a matter of seconds, or it just failed to suggest ones that I needed to make to maintain my speed. Of course, if you actually change lanes yourself you knock it out of AP anyway (but cruise stays on).

Thankfully 1) you can turn speed based lane changes off, 2) we don’t have unconfirmed lane changes here

 

[TM3P1]

The other thing I would add, thinking about it, why does this car have such a terrible turning circle? My Golf's, BMW M3s, even my dads E-class has a smaller turning circle!

 

[Adopado]

The other thing I would add, thinking about it, why does this car have such a terrible turning circle? My Golf's, BMW M3s, even my dads E-class has a smaller turning circle!

I just Googled the BMW M3: 12.2 metres ... Mercedes E Class: 11.6 metres ... Tesla Model 3 11.6 metres ... VW Golf: 10.9 metres

 

[TM3P1]

Must be in my head then, it always seemed to need more space to do a 3 point turn

Just checked your numbers, for my own sanity and it turns out (no pun intended) it depends on what year car you are looking at. So my 2015 M3 had a turning circle of 11.3m, as does my dads 2013 e-class 11.3m, all Golfs have always been 10.9m. You seem to have chosen to cherry pick the model years where the turning circle was greatest

 

[mswlogo]

It’s dumb to own an EV you can’t charge at home. It gets old and expensive.

I agree 320 miles (USA) range is not quite enough, especially where you only use 60% of it (80% down to 20% SOC). That’s the main reason I switched to an S with 400+ miles. I almost never super charge now.

Autopilot works fine here. Use it all the time. Can’t imagine having a car without it. Auto headlight work fine too. Auto wipers still need work.

My guesstimate is my car get equipment of 50mpg. Not bad for full size car that can do 0-69 in 3.1 seconds and tow. And electricity is very expensive where I am. $0.32/kWh.

 

[mswlogo]

Must be in my head then, it always seemed to need more space to do a 3 point turn

Just checked your numbers, for my own sanity and it turns out (no pun intended) it depends on what year car you are looking at. So my 2015 M3 had a turning circle of 11.3m, as does my dads 2013 e-class 11.3m, all Golfs have always been 10.9m. You seem to have chosen to cherry pick the model years where the turning circle was greatest

I don’t think I’d notice the 2.6% difference in turning radius.

 

[rincewind]

The EV choice is increasing, and they are getting better. Tesla have some serious competition on the way from China.

 

[Adopado]

Must be in my head then, it always seemed to need more space to do a 3 point turn

Just checked your numbers, for my own sanity and it turns out (no pun intended) it depends on what year car you are looking at. So my 2015 M3 had a turning circle of 11.3m, as does my dads 2013 e-class 11.3m, all Golfs have always been 10.9m. You seem to have chosen to cherry pick the model years where the turning circle was greatest

I Googled the current models ... you are the one who just picked particular past model years!

 

[DaveW]

When I read a lot of these type of posts, I think consistency with the features/functions is probably the biggest issue.

Auto wipers: most days I don’t notice them, because they work, then what feels fairly randomly, they’ll have a mind of their own and instigate a dry wipe session or pretend drizzle isn’t an issue.

Auto high beam has been fine for me since they fixed them, do agree they were terrible at first.

Even the new park assist needs to be more consistent, some days I think this is pretty neat, then I get other days where it either doesn’t work, or it’s trying to get me to stop 12-15 inches away from a curb when there’s no wall behind me to worry about.

AP has generally been OK for me recently, however I would say I’m a light user of the functionality now, pre-lockdown I’d use it every day on the daily commute, only really engage now when I’m on a fairly quiet motorway.

Having an EV without home charging definitely wouldn’t be as appealing for me tbh, even if the public networks were reliable, the cost would be a put off, post Putin’s actions.

 

[WannabeOwner]

When I read a lot of these type of posts, I think consistency with the features/functions is probably the biggest issue.

I struggle with why Telsa don't just sort these. If these niggles went away the completion would be at a serious disadvantage ... if only from the reduction in negative-PR that chatter about humdrum things that Tesla does badly.

#1 They are hard to fix. Even if that is the case why not just "get it done"
#2 Not a priority? Why not?
#3 Boss says "Not a priority". OK, that one would cause me the most concern, you have to be surrounded by Yes-sayers for that to carry, and when that happens all bets are off. Pretty sure no one told Putin that Ukraine was not the "week or two" that he was assuming ...

 

[spdpsba]

I struggle with why Telsa don't just sort these. If these niggles went away the completion would be at a serious disadvantage ... if only from the reduction in negative-PR that chatter about humdrum things that Tesla does badly.

#1 They are hard to fix. Even if that is the case why not just "get it done"
#2 Not a priority? Why not?
#3 Boss says "Not a priority". OK, that one would cause me the most concern, you have to be surrounded by Yes-sayers for that to carry, and when that happens all bets are off. Pretty sure no one told Putin that Ukraine was not the "week or two" that he was assuming ...

I don’t think TMC forum or Reddit or FB groups are fair representation of the car buying public. People who buy Tesla may have access to some of these groups but not everyone joins a forum even if they happen to be tech savvy. How many 3 series owners are part of the bmw forums - not a lot. The same applies to Rangerovers and other brands. Some of the negative PR in relation to RRs only obvious among RR forum members. But the rich ones who wants a latest RR just goes and gets it rather than reading the forum. The other side of the story is 3 series - though it is labelled as a well sorted car - there is always complaints among bmw forum members regarding the stiff ride and lack of leg space and their sticky auto. But if you want a well sorted car in the 25000£ range people go for a 3 series.

I think the same logic applies to model 3. The forum population is slightly different to people who buy this in real world. I think Tesla’s negative PR is intrinsically linked to Elon than the car model 3/Y

 

[TM3P1]

Quite the contrary, but if that makes you happy

 

[NewbieT]

Tesla’s negative PR is intrinsically linked to Elon than the car model 3/Y

TMC UK seems happy to objective and seems fairly balanced to me. The media - now they all have an agenda of one form or another.

 

[googlepeakoil]

I've got gripes with SO much of the software too.
Auto-wipers = joke! Put the car in cruise-control I am NOT allowed to turn off the wipers! WTF? There's no rain or dirt!
Auto-highbeam = joke!
Emergency braking / warning system. I've had the car beep at me for pedestrians on a narrow pavement several times. These false-negatives are really annoying!
I've had a toll booth identify as a lorry! I've had a lamp-post identify as a pedestrian! When 2 traffic lights are above one another and the car is stationary - they have a dance because the car isn't sure which is which. Maybe they don't have low and high ones (for lorries) in California? Sometimes cars beside me dance and appear and disappear while stationary. The vision is untrustworthy I wouldn't trust it to be "programmed" for UK narrow roads. Don't see self-driving being solved on normal roads.
The DashCam mp4 quality is too low - once tried to read a number-plate of a car going the other way, both of us doing 30mph. Frame-by-frame none were clear. The trees caused too much "detail" that the mp4 was blocks. Why is the Dashcam 4:3 ration not 16:9 - there's nothing in the sky and in the concrete worth recording - sooo stupid of it to record useless areas / waste data! And of course there's a 1 second gap every 60 seconds in a recording.
Is there a warning when the Dashcam is full? No.
There's a car parked on the road on a slight bend at night. EVERY day Tesla beeps harshly at me for not pulling into the right side of the road far in advance of the car (which is stupid as on a bend you don't want to be pulling out early - until you can see round the bend).
I play my tunes off a USB stick. EVERY time I start the car I get a "revolving logo". The stupid software doesn't auto-resume the last folder / track I was playing. So every time I have to go through folders to find the song I'm playing. Such a waste of time - every time! When doing lots of short journeys it's a pain in the arse. I used to listen to audio-books on my old Pioneer mp3 CD player. Given up in this car - it can't resume audio playback. So I'd waste minutes searching a 45 minute track for where I got to. Before the Pioneer would resume every time!
I drove down the M3 to Bournemouth - there was a construction traffic small 10mph speed limit sign in the middle of the central reservation. The small "10" was a good 3metres inside the concrete bollard. "Obviously not for us" as we're in a speed-camera 50 zone. Guess what the stupid car thought the speed was for the next 7 miles? BONG BONG BONG BONG!!!
I have a lightweight - probably 3kg car-seat in the back of the car for my kids. I drive around and it shifts slightly. BEEP BEEP BEEP. Any way to cancel / acknowledge the beep? No. Does it stop after 5, 10, 100 beeps? NO! So there I am driving along arm behind me wobbling the child seat to stop it beeping - cursing myself for not putting the seatbelt in the latch for a child that's not even there!!! I put my rucksack in the driver passenger seat. Same problem. 5 wobbles later and it might have stopped - otherwise I have to push it onto the floor where I now can't reach stuff I might want (snacks, water bottle, etc).
In my Dec2021 USA build refreshed car I like to keep the keycard in the cup-holder when I get in the car - there it won't slide between the gaps in the seats! The stupid car wants me to wave it around in the area 10cm behind the card-holder, under the arm-rest. A right pain in the **** to attempt to dislocate my shoulder by waving it there before placing it back in the cup-holder! After I've done the pin to drive is it any quicker than a key to start a car - NO it's slower! Why not extend the range to the cup-holder / have a slot where it can go there and not slide between the seats?
The fact stuff moves around the display after each update - another cruel joke by Elon. That time they got rid of pretty much everything I regularly use 2 christmas's ago (rear demister, front demister, the trip miles)! Joke! Took them 3-9 months for them to admit the mistake and return the functionality.
But blah blah the drive train is amazing - leaving people at the lights - brilliant. The efficiency. Wonderful! The annoying things! Aghhhh!!! Soooo annoying!!! Really wish someone in Tesla could read this!

 

[Adopado]

I've got gripes with SO much of the software too.
Auto-wipers = joke! Put the car in cruise-control I am NOT allowed to turn off the wipers! WTF?

Take a breath … you can switch off the wipers with cruise control on.

 

[googlepeakoil]

Take a breath … you can switch off the wipers with cruise control on.

They wouldn't turn off for me. I push the lever to off, they change back to speed "I" and wipe a dry screen every 5 seconds. This is cruise control going down a motorway at 70mph. They wipe because you're in cruise control and the car wants to be clearing the screen - morning sun is confusing it, or some dirt spec.
There's about 20 other issues that are still issues after 2 years, "not" solved by the continuous software updates that make the car better (and sometimes) worse.

 

[Adopado]

They wouldn't turn off for me. I push the lever to off, they change back to speed "I" and wipe a dry screen every 5 seconds. This is cruise control going down a motorway at 70mph. They wipe because you're in cruise control and the car wants to be clearing the screen - morning sun is confusing it, or some dirt spec.
There's about 20 other issues that are still issues after 2 years, "not" solved by the continuous software updates that make the car better (and sometimes) worse.

I never even noticed! I rarely have wiper issues during the daylight. (Though I certainly noticed when autopilot bailed when I had occasion to switch wipers off.)

 

[colt033]

This is a pretty accurate review. The wipers, lights and autopilot are crap. I’ve found the car fun to drive but the brutal depreciation makes it a non-viable option when I change. I don’t mind wasting a bit of money on a new car either but the overall cost of owning a Tesla means you have to want one and they’re really not that special.

 

[FastLaneJB]

As someone that likes to set fire to money by exiting PCP deals early also, I fully share your point of view that you only live once and if you enjoy cars it can be worth it.

As I enjoy cars, I’ve zero interest in the cost of the fuel / electric that it takes to move the car. I also don’t do massive amounts of personal miles and for work I’ll get 45p a mile which covers pretty much any type of car / engine just fine in my books. I’m already paying for a set amount of depreciation on the car in the PCP deal anyway so the mileage that adds makes no difference there onto the car as it’s already factored in.

I enjoy my wife’s Tesla Model 3 Performance a lot. Is it perfect? No but I still enjoy driving it. It’s a bit of a switch as I used to be the fast car owner and she drove the family car but to be fair she’s got the fast one at the moment and I’ve got the family vehicle in a Discovery 5. Having an electric and ICE seems the best of both worlds at the moment, on a massive long trip we’d never take the Tesla to be honest because of the hassle but for most journeys that fall into its range it’s great.

I do find PHEV interesting as it’s maybe the best of both worlds but also it’s quite compromised. Harry’s Garage had a review of the Range Rover P510e which I’d been eyeing up. 50 miles real world on electric but it’s a massive battery and he was getting something like 1.2 miles per kWh which is awful. It means it’s not really saving you money at all on fuel. It’s merely not having to go to fuel stations as often and probably mostly for company car drivers to get a lower benefit in kind. Add in that on all of these if you use electric only the power output is pretty low so they aren’t all that quick without the ICE kicking in. Feels like you’d just be better served saving some money and getting the D350 which is exactly the conclusion he also comes to.

Always in the back of my mind that before they force ICE cars off the road I’ll start to be limits on where I can drive an ICE though as in city centres in some parts of the UK. Still OK with the Euro 6d engine as mine is just a bit over a year old but feels it’s coming.

Of course sooner or later more tax is coming to electric vehicles. Fuel has a massive tax component that I’m sure without would make an ICE car far cheaper than those using mostly public chargers. As less ICE’s end on the road some kind of tax will come to electric vehicles to plug the governments loss of income there. Just a matter of time really.

 

[SO16]

So, barely drive it and don’t home charge.

Literally the two biggest advantages of owning an EV.

Yeah, I wouldn’t own one either in that scenario.