Model 3 pre-2021 owners, would you downgrade the software to what it was when you bought the car if you could?

[Mr. Impatient]

When I bought my 3 3 years ago 3 owners I spoke to raved about how the software updates made the car better and better. This seems to have abruptly stopped more or less at the time when I signed my contract. Every update since has made my car worse to drive than it was before, ranging from mildly annoying to pure radar theft, rendering the autopilot into a nervous wreck, interfering with everything from the windshield wiper via the headlights and even to the HVAC. Every update, except for the recent indicator fix finally making it able to quickly switch from a left to a right turn ( or vice versa ) without having to pause.

Downgrading I would miss the indicator fix, and maybe the window showing the camera view when turning, that's it. If I could, I would switch back without hesitation.
Tesla has turned my 'downgrade' request down though.

What would you do if you could choose?

 

[Gumball]

No way.
Part of the fun are the updates, and for our cars (2014 S and 2019 3) they brought more good then bad things.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

My car started with radar and was always afraid of ghosts - apparently they're metallic. So, for me the only difference with the change to vision is the speed reduction from 90 mph to 85 mph. That's a big deal because 85 mph is the minimum speed on many roads in my area and even when I'm just cruising with the flow, the slightest tap of the pedal now gets me banned from autopilot.

Most of the stupendous failures of the infamous 2021 "Holiday update" have since been corrected, but I still find it infuriating that the map and menus are squeezed way over to the passenger side for a stupid useless cartoon car to dominate the only easily reachable part of the screen.

My defroster and windshield wipers never worked right and haven't changed at all over the years.

The garage door opener always moving to dumber and dumber locations with every update is just insanity. I suspect this is Elon's only remaining role at Tesla. The sociopathy is self-evident.

But I think it's been overwhelmingly more good than bad:

• The new blended regen/brakes make a huge difference in driveability that I appreciate nearly every day.
• My car used to be painfully slow below 80% SOC and dangerously slow below 20% but now it's reasonably peppy down to 80% and totally fine even at 5%.
• The new automatic seat and steering wheel heat is quite nice, as is the automatic turn signal canceling.
• The ability to hide Superchargers was a huge improvement because in California there are so many chargers that the whole map would just be one big blob of red with nothing else visible. All the new Supercharger stats are great too.
• Service Mode is a very welcome addition, as I typically keep cars far beyond warranty and service them myself.
• The new customizable bottom bar icons and scroll wheel functions are useful additions.
• The constant stream of small improvements gives me hope that someday this or that will get a little better - this alone is huge.

 

[Shelburne]

In general, I think software updates have improved my 2020 M3. I experience far less phantom braking than I used to. I love the fact that the directional signals now turn themselves off automatically in almost all situations. Adding Apple Music was a big plus for me. But there are still two areas that need improvement. One is the automatic rain sensing wipers. Just yesterday, a bright and sunny day, my wipers started working on their own, then stopped about 2 minutes later. Conversely, they often don't turn on frequently enough in light rain. The other feature that could use improvement is the way the cameras in the door pillars get blinded. Now that winter is almost on us and the sun is much lower on the horizon, even at mid-day, I get many more notices that one of my cameras is blinded. Perhaps these are problems that can't be improved with a software update, but if they can be, then they should be.

 

[BigNick]

Tesla's best software pre-dated the availability of the Model 3 and was never designed to run on it.

 

[KenC]

When I bought my 3 3 years ago 3 owners I spoke to raved about how the software updates made the car better and better. This seems to have abruptly stopped more or less at the time when I signed my contract. Every update since has made my car worse to drive than it was before, ranging from mildly annoying to pure radar theft, rendering the autopilot into a nervous wreck, interfering with everything from the windshield wiper via the headlights and even to the HVAC. Every update, except for the recent indicator fix finally making it able to quickly switch from a left to a right turn ( or vice versa ) without having to pause.

Downgrading I would miss the indicator fix, and maybe the window showing the camera view when turning, that's it. If I could, I would switch back without hesitation.
Tesla has turned my 'downgrade' request down though.

What would you do if you could choose?

Mine is now 5yrs old, and I haven't documented the changes, but perhaps, the big improvements were earlier. Your experience sounds like an outlier, and you should talk to your service center. It's obvious you have been talking to your service center, so it's hard to say what to do in your shoes. What software version are you on? Do you have HW3?

 

[superflyrolla]

Nope. The car I bought didn't come to a stop with regen braking (one pedal driving), didn't precondition for supercharging which made it super slow in winter (although 2018 supercharging $/kwh was better), acceleration was slower, didn't have Spotify, that's just big changes I can remember.

I'm with you that autopilot and FSD updates are not always improvements.

 

[android04]

I have an April 2018 Model 3 LR RWD. Started off with an extremely basic infotainment software. Didn't have: auto high beams, WiFi connectivity, voice commands, web browser, sentry mode/dashcam, camp mode, keep climate on, driver profiles, Summon, one pedal driving, blended regen breaking, car wash mode, Service Mode (for owners), many apps for music and entertainment services, video games, FSD Beta, and lots of other things that were incremental improvements or that I can't remember at the moment.

I would not go back to it because Tesla had added so many useful features over the last 5.5 years.

 

[jsmay311]

Yep. Radar, radar, radar.

My car started with radar and was always afraid of ghosts - apparently they're metallic. So, for me the only difference with the change to vision is the speed reduction from 90 mph to 85 mph.

Don’t forget also a longer minimum following distance, forced auto-wipers, forced auto-brights, and significantly less capable in rain.

 

[Tha_Ape]

Nah... I have one of the last MYs with radar (and recently got a M3 without). Not a big deal. This is coming from someone who switched their order in May 2021 to "existing inventory" just to ensure I got radar. If you go back far enough in my posts, you'll see how adamant I was about it.

I sat on SW 2022.20.9 (last version before radar turned off) for a good 6mos. skipping update after update. I eventually relented when the added features made up for the loss. I still think it's crappy they turned off radar without even a requirement to acknowledge it. (I knew only because I followed the software updates closely). Some of the updates have legit safety enhancements which, to me, counter the loss of radar. Below are what you'd miss with old software:

2022.24
Blind Spot Camera Display Location Change
Disable Sentry Sounds
Tire Pressure In App
Ability to Uninstall Games

2022.28
Theater Mode

2022.36
Cabin Overheat Protection Settings
Battery Heating Performance
Ability to Unlatch Door from App

2022.40
Interior Sentry Camera
Improved Charging Efficiency
Driver Door Unlock Mode

2022.44
Apple Music
myQ Connected Garage
Zoom Meetings
Mahjong
Always Rainbows
Scheduled Light Show
Auto Turn Signals
Confirm Phone Call Transfer
"Verified" Fart
Fart From App

2023.2
Auto Heated Steering Wheel
Supercharger Prices

2023.6
Added Cards to display
Updated Browser
Service Mode Improvements

2023.12
Ability to change text and speedometer font size
Left Scroll Wheel Customization
Gear Chimes
Favorite Songs
Ability to control wiper speed from scroll wheel

2023.20
Tire Service Mileage
View all cameras from Service Menu

2023.26
Charge on Solar (if you have solar)
Bluetooth Game Controllers
Automatic Headlights with Wipers
Vampire Survivors Game
Added Destination "closing soon" to Nav

2023.32
Improved autopilot visualizations
Improved reverse camera view
Improved camera clarity

2023.38
Faster hazard lights after crash
Predictive charger availability
Multiplayer Vampire Survivors
In-car notice when app requests location
Windows adjust during update

 

[Mr. Impatient]

Nah... I have one of the last MYs with radar (and recently got a M3 without). Not a big deal. This is coming from someone who switched their order in May 2021 to "existing inventory" just to ensure I got radar. If you go back far enough in my posts, you'll see how adamant I was about it.

I sat on SW 2022.20.9 (last version before radar turned off) for a good 6mos. skipping update after update. I eventually relented when the added features made up for the loss. I still think it's crappy they turned off radar without even a requirement to acknowledge it. (I knew only because I followed the software updates closely). Some of the updates have legit safety enhancements which, to me, counter the loss of radar. Below are what you'd miss with old software:

2022.24
Blind Spot Camera Display Location Change
Disable Sentry Sounds
Tire Pressure In App
Ability to Uninstall Games

2022.28
Theater Mode

2022.36
Cabin Overheat Protection Settings
Battery Heating Performance
Ability to Unlatch Door from App

2022.40
Interior Sentry Camera
Improved Charging Efficiency
Driver Door Unlock Mode

2022.44
Apple Music
myQ Connected Garage
Zoom Meetings
Mahjong
Always Rainbows
Scheduled Light Show
Auto Turn Signals
Confirm Phone Call Transfer
"Verified" Fart
Fart From App

2023.2
Auto Heated Steering Wheel
Supercharger Prices

2023.6
Added Cards to display
Updated Browser
Service Mode Improvements

2023.12
Ability to change text and speedometer font size
Left Scroll Wheel Customization
Gear Chimes
Favorite Songs
Ability to control wiper speed from scroll wheel

2023.20
Tire Service Mileage
View all cameras from Service Menu

2023.26
Charge on Solar (if you have solar)
Bluetooth Game Controllers
Automatic Headlights with Wipers
Vampire Survivors Game
Added Destination "closing soon" to Nav

2023.32
Improved autopilot visualizations
Improved reverse camera view
Improved camera clarity

2023.38
Faster hazard lights after crash
Predictive charger availability
Multiplayer Vampire Survivors
In-car notice when app requests location
Windows adjust during update

Funny that more or less none of the features you mention have anything to do with the experience of actually driving the car, but are just toy functions. Well apart from the auto turn off of the indicator which I tried, found semi useless and I therefore disabled. The font size wasn't an issue when I bough my car. It was an issue introduced by the B team which took over @ Tesla when the smart gang cashed in and left. And of course the control of the windshield wipers from the scroll wheel - if you could control them and were not overridden by the autopilot who now, blind as a bat without radar, desperately clinging on to vision impossible, thinks he needs them on a clear day in minus 10C squeaking all over the windshield like a broken cat. I don't mind toy functions, but they were not the reason I bough the car. To me it's all about the driving. I bought an amazingly thought through and well executed vehicle with the potential for real greatness which was then piece by piece reduced into an annoyance generator regarded by Tesla as their property and not as my car.

 

[Mr. Impatient]

I have an April 2018 Model 3 LR RWD. Started off with an extremely basic infotainment software. Didn't have: auto high beams, WiFi connectivity, voice commands, web browser, sentry mode/dashcam, camp mode, keep climate on, driver profiles, Summon, one pedal driving, blended regen breaking, car wash mode, Service Mode (for owners), many apps for music and entertainment services, video games, FSD Beta, and lots of other things that were incremental improvements or that I can't remember at the moment.

I would not go back to it because Tesla had added so many useful features over the last 5.5 years.

Well I guess you were one of the lucky generation, the one which experienced real improvement with every upgrade, until I bought my car.... You even got rear heated seats as a software upgrade, I heard.

 

[Mr. Impatient]

Mine is now 5yrs old, and I haven't documented the changes, but perhaps, the big improvements were earlier. Your experience sounds like an outlier, and you should talk to your service center. It's obvious you have been talking to your service center, so it's hard to say what to do in your shoes. What software version are you on? Do you have HW3?

Honestly I don't know which HW I have. I do know however that I used to be a happy camper and still would be if I could downgrade to whatever version came with the car. It was amazing to watch it work, even on the autobahn with tight orange lanes during roadworks at night in December rains or just cruising along at high speeds , well reasonable battery conscious high speeds, on autopilot. A far cry from the nervous wreck it has become. Maybe if I hadn't experienced the car at it's peak I wouldn't have been as annoyed, but then again If I had test driven it today I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.