Considering a Tesla Model 3 for wife...would like informed opinions

[Clint Beastwood]

I have to admit, I almost picked up one of the $49/month fiat 500e's because it was super fun, but 80 mile range... not so great :| other than the short range, that was an incredible city car. Electric smart car was kinda fun too.

 

[jeffreylyon]

The manner in which the body of a Tesla is assembled is so unconventional and poorly thought out that you cannot do repairs easily.

Mass producing anything is a challenge. Mass producing something as complicated as a car is a massive challenge. Big auto manufacturers have lots of experience designing things that can be build well and efficiently. Telsa is still learning and is still on the back foot. There are plenty of videos of Tesla-certified mechanics explaining the differences between the Signature cars (first 1000 (?) of a model) and the current production models; there are a shocking number of improvements made over the lifecycle of each of their cars with the Signature models being absolute dumpster fires.

I don't care if Musk is an evil genius douchbag or a god, I just wanted a well designed and built, reliable commuter car, not a dumpster fire or something that's iteratively better than a dumpster fire. I passed on the BWM i3 because of its looks and that the ICE range-extender was typically unreliable. I passed on the Audi and Jaguars because I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a commuter. I passed on the Chevys (Chevies?) because they felt like a Chevy, good or bad. My Leaf feels like a modern Nissan; well built and soulless. So far, so good.

I'd guess that you'd find more people *really* happy with their Tesla than those that are *really* happy with their Leaf and more people that are *really* pissed at their Tesla than those pissed at their Leaf. I'm happy with my Leaf. My FiST is better at everything except stop and go commuting.

 

[karp]

I was tooling around in my new car a couple nights ago, testing out launch control at a stoplight and a really cool looking orange Stinger GT came up and blew my doors off. It looked seriously fast as he left me in his dust.

 

[jeff]

I was tooling around in my new car a couple nights ago, testing out launch control at a stoplight and a really cool looking orange Stinger GT came up and blew my doors off. It looked seriously fast as he left me in his dust.

Yeah they look cool and are quick. My wife and I were discussing Stingers as well. There's one with 10,000 miles on ebay right now, the top GT2 AWD model, for $34999...new it was $52000. Geez that is appealing.

 

[Ford ST]

I'm thinking about getting one in several years but I'll probably just get the 4 cylinder turbo with all-wheel drive with the light and sound package.
It would be for my Wife the twin turbocharged v6 would be nice, but the extra cost and consumables are just not necessary.



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[Dpro]

Good points here.

I'm a whole 2 days into my research into Tesla. I just never really gave them any attention before. But people are super passionate about this. I'm surprised at the 2 camps that have formed around all things Tesla, I'm noticing this:

CAMP HATE TESLA
* Teslas are junk
* Elon Musk is the Antichrist
* Tesla is a culture club of tree hugging elitists
* They'll never take my gasoline!
* It's a fad don't give in
* Making a Tesla actually damages the earth more than making/driving a gas car
* That 22 year old kid with a Tesla on YouTube really bothers me
* Maybe I am a little jealous?

CAMP LOVE TESLA
* We are saving the earth
* Just look at how amazing these cars are - you can't deny it
* The future is here, be willing to move out of the dinosaur age (literally - their remains = our gasoline)
* Elon Musk is Tony Stark
* Look at me, I'm 22 years old and I'm a little mini Elon Musk
* Maybe I am a little full of myself?

I'm in neither...like I said I'm new to all of this. There is no denying that Musk is charismatic, he's got people ordering cars in droves who haven't even seen or driven the car in person. At the same time the cons are real.

I'm in neither camp...I'm just looking for the best car for $40-$50k for my wife. I'll always do my own wrenching and enjoy rowing the gears on my Fiesta and old Hondas. Buying a Tesla for me would be a purely objective decision, one made because it's the best car for the money all things considered. But is it? I don't know.

lol that is funny. I do not think Elon is the anti christ personally. I happen to like what he is doing with SpaceX . I do think he is a little on the eccentric over the top I want to be another Steve Jobs side of things and not to say Steve Jobs did not have his own faults. Both men are indeed briliant at marketing . Elon’s biggest problem is he goes off half cocked sometimes. Jobs while being and ass was more so calculated he did not make major gaffs publicly like Elon tends to do.
Tesla does indeed have its crew of I am saving the earth but nearly as bad as Prius owners lol they take the cake in that department.
I am all for alternative fuels as well. ....but electric is not the answer its a stop gap. The amount of energy it takes to make the batteries and the amount of waste they wind uo creating at the end is a major issue getting brushed under the rug under the guise of being zero emission.
Fact is standard fuel emission levels are lower than they have ever been and companies like Mazda are making huge inroads in that department. Now relaxing laws that car makers have already agreed to for the sake of the political far right is not helping. lol thats another subject unto to itself.
Oh and actually yes Teslas are pretty poorly built just ask anyone in the clear bra , ceramic coat, wrap business. So many of the Fiberglass body panels are warped its crazy.
In the end these are observations I am making. I do not feel you are singling anyone out I am just looking at it all.
I would not buy one nor would I advise a friend to and yes I have friends that have bought them. lol

 

[Dpro]

Yeah they look cool and are quick. My wife and I were discussing Stingers as well. There's one with 10,000 miles on ebay right now, the top GT2 AWD model, for $34999...new it was $52000. Geez that is appealing.

If you get a Stinger sell it after 100k. Hyundai aka KIA are good cars to 100k after that much like BMW’s they start breaking . I had a friend that owned a Hyundai from 9k on . He just traded it in on a Toyota after 173k with the last 73k being fix this fix that right down the road.

 

[Ford ST]

My mom has a 2014 Hyundai sonata that was a rental car it's at a hundred thousand miles now and its been very reliable.
I worked with someone that had a Kia mid-2000s it was at almost 300,000 miles.
I think it really just depends.


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[Alkoran]

Food for thought: We have multiple report of rockers and wheel well paint chips/rust because of the sand/salt we apply on the road here. Many of the reviews you see/watch on the internet doesn't touch the long-term reliability/issues deep enough I think. So if you get a Teslas, better apply some protective film in these areas or you might get some issues down the line.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

lol that is funny. I do not think Elon is the anti christ personally. I happen to like what he is doing with SpaceX . I do think he is a little on the eccentric over the top I want to be another Steve Jobs side of things and not to say Steve Jobs did not have his own faults. Both men are indeed briliant at marketing . Elon’s biggest problem is he goes off half cocked sometimes. Jobs while being and ass was more so calculated he did not make major gaffs publicly like Elon tends to do.
Tesla does indeed have its crew of I am saving the earth but nearly as bad as Prius owners lol they take the cake in that department.
I am all for alternative fuels as well. ....but electric is not the answer its a stop gap. The amount of energy it takes to make the batteries and the amount of waste they wind uo creating at the end is a major issue getting brushed under the rug under the guise of being zero emission.
Fact is standard fuel emission levels are lower than they have ever been and companies like Mazda are making huge inroads in that department. Now relaxing laws that car makers have already agreed to for the sake of the political far right is not helping. lol thats another subject unto to itself.
Oh and actually yes Teslas are pretty poorly built just ask anyone in the clear bra , ceramic coat, wrap business. So many of the Fiberglass body panels are warped its crazy.
In the end these are observations I am making. I do not feel you are singling anyone out I am just looking at it all.
I would not buy one nor would I advise a friend to and yes I have friends that have bought them. lol

the parallels between musk and jobs are definitely there. Remember jobs was a lot different before they booted him from Apple, much more focused when he came back. Jobs was an incredibly intense person to meet in real life. I can totally see Elon getting a little wacky, leaving Tesla for a bit to hash out a side project then coming back with better focus.

 

[Woods247]

The only reason people buy a Tesla is to be seen in a Tesla. Otherwise they’d buy a Leaf, Bolt, i3 or better yet, Prius hybrid. If you want a classy $40k car that’s reliable, buy a Lexus.

 

[TheBlackFist]

My wife and I are both turning 47 this month. She's been driving various kid haulers (we have 4 kids) for most of our 23 years of marriage, but now with 2 kids gone and a third leaving soon the time has come to dump the minivan. We've had a Honda minivan since 2003, that's 16 years. My thing has always been when the time comes she picks whatever she wants up to the price of $50k. So we've been casually looking at a few vehicles over the last year or so with plans to buy in the next year or two. We kinda figured we'd get an SUV or sedan...Mazda CX-9 or CX-5 were high on the list, Accord sport 2.0 or Acura RDX were all possibilities. Maybe even a Ford Explorer Any of those fully loaded gets up around $40-45k.

In the last few months I've read a bit on electric cars. I've never been a fan, just not interested, but what I keep hearing is "buy an electric for daily use/short trips and keep a gas powered car for longer trips". The eliminates the charging issues for the most part. Advantages of electric cars (specifically Tesla), we all know - tech tech tech, torque/hp, low maintenance costs (no fluids, belts, etc.).

Anyhow this still never caught my interest until I realized I can get a Model S Performance for $49k out the door after incentives. So for just a few grand more than the options above I get what many are calling the best car to be made in the last few decades. 320 mile range, 0-60 in 3.2 seconds, plus all the tech (which if you haven't looked into it, it's pretty insanely good), plus resale value is excellent. Keep the Honda Odyssey for long trips - it's bulletproof and is only worth about $4k anyway...and buy a Tesla for the other 11 months of the year.

I don't believe electric cars can or will ever fully replace gas powered ones, but in some ways they are simply far superior. I'm looking at this from a purely practical viewpoint - until now I've never cared much for them, I'm not a Testa fanboy, but when I look at what I can get for around $50k I see this as one of the very best options. I'm kind of shocked but that's where I'm at.

Anyhow I'd love opinions if you've been researching the same or have experienced or owned a Tesla.

I've rented one a few times cause I love them, but havent been quite ready to pull the trigger. Elon will probably announce in January or February the new battery tech and the million mile solid state battery. I'm hoping to save up enough for the 3 motor cyber truck by the time it comes out. The only issues with 3 I have had was the panels dont always line up on all the models, but with the way the cybertruck is designed with exoskeleton it shouldn't be much an issue. I'd be happy with duel motor 4.5 to 60 in cybertruck but want the 500+ mile range of trimotor. The 3 will be fine for daily driving for errands and work just not for a long trips. I dont own one but have rented the s 3 times and the 3 once. I think they're amazing. I'll settle for a 500+ mile range but if they ever get to 800 to 1k mile range for reasonable price they will take over the world with gas except maybe people hauling big loads long distance.

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[Pablo Pistoffo]

One of the guys I autocross with brought his Model 3 Performance out to a couple of events this summer. He always did really well, and continued to do so in the 3. I did a couple ride-alongs, and it was hilarious- it felt like I was sitting in front of a big screen watching somebody with headphones play Forza, except the couch kept moving around under me.

 

[slopoke]

Maybe the Mustang Mach-E?

https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/2021/

 

[Remi]

The only reason people buy a Tesla is to be seen in a Tesla. Otherwise they’d buy a Leaf, Bolt, i3 or better yet, Prius hybrid. If you want a classy $40k car that’s reliable, buy a Lexus.

I respectfully disagree. Tesla has built a massive charging network that is unavailable to Leafs, Bolts, i3s or any other PHEV. Aside from paying for the badge, I believe Tesla's greatest advantage is its charging network.

 

[Ford ST]

I respectfully disagree. Tesla has built a massive charging network that is unavailable to Leafs, Bolts, i3s or any other PHEV. Aside from paying for the badge, I believe Tesla's greatest advantage is its charging network.

It just depends on where you live he is in the Southeast like me not nearly as many charging station as the West coast. You're more likely how to find charging stations where I live at Walmarts and public buildings that have gotten grants. I can honestly say I have never seen a single Tesla charging station where I live, and I drive a route job. I'm sure there's one somewhere hidden in a alleyway

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[Remi]

It just depends on where you live he is in the Southeast like me not nearly as many charging station as the West coast. You're more likely how to find charging stations where I live at Walmarts and public buildings that have gotten grants. I can honestly say I have never seen a single Tesla charging station where I live, and I drive a route job. I'm sure there's one somewhere hidden in a alleyway

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They're definitely out there, we don't see them much because we're not looking for them. I live in Miami, and we are flooded with Teslas down here. I live on a short street, less than 15 houses total, and two of my neighbors have Model 3s.
The superchargers I've seen are normally hidden in malls and off the turnpike.

 

[Ford ST]

They're definitely out there, we don't see them much because we're not looking for them. I live in Miami, and we are flooded with Teslas down here. I live on a short street, less than 15 houses total, and two of my neighbors have Model 3s.
The superchargers I've seen are normally hidden in malls and off the turnpike.

In Miami I believe it. I live in NC. I found 5 sites within a 100 miles. 1 within 30 minutes of me.

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[jeff]

The only reason people buy a Tesla is to be seen in a Tesla. Otherwise they’d buy a Leaf, Bolt, i3 or better yet, Prius hybrid. If you want a classy $40k car that’s reliable, buy a Lexus.

This may be the case with many, as I alluded to earlier, but not everyone, and certainly not me. I've never given them a second glance until 2 days ago when I realized they were within my price range. Then I started doing comparisons. It has nothing to do with the badge for me - like I said earlier it's about what is the best way to spend my money.

I'm definitely not going to not buy one because of a label people might put on me...that's their problem. To me it would be no different from buying a Chevy or a Lexus - it's about what I think is best for my needs, not the badge. Heck I drive a Ford Fiesta, and I could have bought pretty much any car I wanted instead but I bought this because I liked it. Many people I know make fun of me but I don't drive it for them or because of what they think. A Tesla would be the same. I wouldn't be driving it to get anyone's attention or approval, I'd drive it because it was what I decided was best for my needs.

Having said that, I'm 2 days into researching now and I'm leaning away from Tesla because of some objective reasons that have nothing to do with the pomp that some associate with the brand.

 

[TheBlackFist]

This may be the case with many, as I alluded to earlier, but not everyone, and certainly not me. I've never given them a second glance until 2 days ago when I realized they were within my price range. Then I started doing comparisons. It has nothing to do with the badge for me - like I said earlier it's about what is the best way to spend my money.

I'm definitely not going to not buy one because of a label people might put on me...that's their problem. To me it would be no different from buying a Chevy or a Lexus - it's about what I think is best for my needs, not the badge. Heck I drive a Ford Fiesta, and I could have bought pretty much any car I wanted instead but I bought this because I liked it. Many people I know make fun of me but I don't drive it for them or because of what they think. A Tesla would be the same. I wouldn't be driving it to get anyone's attention or approval, I'd drive it because it was what I decided was best for my needs.

Having said that, I'm 2 days into researching now and I'm leaning away from Tesla because of some objective reasons that have nothing to do with the pomp that some associate with the brand.

Still interested in your reasons too either way

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