Surfer Asking: Driving Without A Passenger Seat? Will the TM3 Throw a Fit?

[Ctuna]

I can't think of any kind of board that will fit in a roof box . Maybe a small foil board
and anything you carry on the roof will cut the range way down. I guess you can get inflatable SUP's but there low performance . Kind of like sex with a sex doll.
I guess those are bigger than what I thought but it would be a hassle taking them
on and off I think.

 

[golfcart]

I can't think of any kind of board that will fit in a roof box . Maybe a small foil board
and anything you carry on the roof will cut the range way down. I guess you can get inflatable SUP's but there low performance . Kind of like sex with a sex doll.
I guess those are bigger than what I thought but it would be a hassle taking them
on and off I think.

The OP gave dimensions for his board as 7'11" x 19"

My board is 7’11 x 19” so that would not work. I will need to remove the passenger seat or the top half of the passenger seat or cut off the passenger seat headrest.

-Paul

and the roof box I listed was 265 x 72 x 38 cm (8'8" x 28" x 15") and it is made for surfboards. A funboard or thruster would certainly fit in there though a SUP or longboard would not (but those won't fit inside a model 3 interior either).

As far as range goes, where are you really driving fast on Oahu where the range will take a big hit with a roof box? Most of the major arteries are 35-45 mph (Kal hwy or Kam hwy) and you'd be lucky to go much faster than that on H1 in town. Maybe H3 or H1 west of Halawa you'd get up over 55 but even that is highly traffic dependent.

My biggest concern is theft out there. In the decade I lived there I had bikes, surfboards, a set of tools, and many other things stolen. You're unlikely to get shot on Oahu but property theft is rampant. I had bike locks cut at UH and Ala Moana and my car window was smashed while I was surfing at Kaisers. Even had someone just throw my moped into the back of a pickup truck and drive off (at least thats what witnesses said and it disappeared somehow). The luggage box would probably cause people to look at the car and wonder what is inside the box. Might make it a target. At least with sentry mode it seems like you'd get notified if anyone was really f'n with the roof box and have time to get out there before your stuff was gone. And if they are really determined I'd rather they smash the roof box instead of my window.

It isn't a perfect solution, but it may be an "outside the box" solution that works for the OP. Between the box and the racks you're probably out a couple grand. But you'd get to keep your interior as is and easily take passengers with you. Taking the box off and on with 2 people is a really short process, we use one for our snowboarding trips. Finding a place to store it is a headache unfortunately... so that is always a consideration.

 

[derekmw]

Have you considered using a roof box like people do for ski gear? You can lock it so you’ll have some degree of security and the boards won’t be in direct sun. This one, for example, is just over 8.5ft long and 28” wide which should accommodate your board in the bag.

Malibu roof box with surfboard rack on the cover - Premium roof box made of GRP by Mobila

In unserem Shop finden Sie hochwertige Dachboxen in edlem Design. Sie sind Windkanal getestet und Verbrauchs sparend. Für Camping, Wasser- und Wintersport uvm. Qualität seit 1989.

surfbox.de

I’ve lived on Oahu and my wife is from there so I get the concern about theft. But a lockable box that attaches to roof racks is pretty secure, keeps the board out of direct sunlight, and lets you use your car without tearing apart the interior.

Putting it in a black enclosed container would not be good anywhere it is sunny and hot. All the wax will drip off the board by the time you took it out to use it.

 

[golfcart]

Putting it in a black enclosed container would not be good anywhere it is sunny and hot. All the wax will drip off the board by the time you took it out to use it.

So put it in the high gloss white one. (Did anyone commenting actually click the link I provided for these boxes that show the dimensions and available colors?)

The OP is currently leaving it in his car which gets pretty hot too. Sun is no joke in Honolulu. Unless you want to leave the HVAC on all day it is unavoidable to a degree.

 

[chado]

I would seriously consider that 2020 M3P if you're a performance nut and don't require EAP/FSD. I thought about backing out of today's final purchase agreement and losing my $500 deposit to scoop up that 2020 MP3 even though it doesn't have EAP or FSD and just put up with basic AP which works well enough in my wife's new 2023 base M3. But... 1. Save 9k to put up with a 2 second slower 0-60 time, 2. No EAP or FSD, and 3. It wouldn't be ethical to back out of a sales agreement especially with the seller moving overseas tonight so I'm staying the course with the 2018 RWD LR plan for this afternoon.

I noticed this morning that there's a red 2022 M3 for 36k. That's also slightly tempting due to being the new version and having a full warranty in effect.

The AWD LR w FSD and AB has indeed been on the market for at least a month. I don't think it's ever going to sell at 38.5k

EAP comes with parking/summoning/lane change options, and then FSD also includes stop lights and stop signs. If I already bought a 2023 RWD and only had Autopilot, I would only make the switch if I could break even or turn a profit selling the 2023 RWD (because you hopefully got the 7500 tax credit). Otherwise I'm not sure it's worth the $ losses.

I also considered going to the new Y because it would fit my surfboard better, but over 50k after taxes/fees even with the 7500 tax credit is a tough pill to swallow for a car that would be turned into a beach car.

-Paul

That M3P is really tempting, that would mean selling the i3 and giving the 2023 to my wife who is not great with cars, curbs, walls, pillars and me drive the much faster but older 2020 with the slow Atom computer.

 

[chado]

That M3P is really tempting, that would mean selling the i3 and giving the 2023 to my wife who is not great with cars, curbs, walls, pillars and me drive the much faster but older 2020 with the slow Atom computer.

Update - This is exactly what I did, fingers crossed for the 2023

 

[RayK]

This YouTuber just started a series where he's taking a Model 3 apart and seeing what causes error codes to be thrown. Unfortunately, he didn't get to the seats yet, but maybe he will in the next video.

At about 18:40 in the video they remove the passenger seat but don't mention anything about errors until 23:35 when they say that the passenger seatbelt needs to be hacked (since it was removed) using a "2-wire hotwire". Maybe this will be covered in their third video.