Tesla Model 3 Opinions

[Efthreeoh]

Big screen TV. The cost cutting is obvious.

[10"]

Originally Posted by turboawdfanatic

I LOVED my 335i. Was my favorite car that I’ve owned the past 23 yrs and was worried I’d miss my 6spd. I sold it and just took delivery of my performance model 3. I wasn’t a fan of the screen when it was first revealed and didn’t care much for the model 3. But when the Performance version was announced it caught my attention as I was looking to replace my 335i with something faster and AWD. The performance model 3 just started coming out but has already shown to hold its own not only in the 1/4 but on the road course and auto-x. Will eventually do an depth comparison after getting more seat time. But for now here’s a crappy pic after taking delivery.

Sorry for your loss, man.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by P1et

Teslas have cheap looking interiors, period.

Because some people equate "quality" with lots of knobs and wheels to spin and push....

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

Because some people equate "quality" with lots of knobs and wheels to spin and push....

Quality is something being built well and ergonomics is having it function intuitively.

The tesla has neither.

[turboawdfanatic]

Originally Posted by 10"

Sorry for your loss, man.

Thank you. Seeing everything in the rear view helps to deal with my loss of the 3rd pedal.

[Efthreeoh]

Just had my first ride in one. Not sure I could get used to the TV screen; I get why its there based on the MMI to control all the functions. But the thing is damned quick and seems to ride like a sport package E90. Build quality seemed decent enough, he took delivery 2 weeks ago. Pretty impressive over all. Still not an EV for the masses based on price. I can see BMW now having trouble selling the gas-fueled 3-series.

[Caffeine Powered]

I'll never own an electric car. Sure, they're quick, but you can't leave Milwaukee at 8am Tuesday and arrive in Seattle at 4pm Thursday. That's 28 hours behind the wheel, have two good nights of sleep and decent meal breaks.

Sure, they work fine for urban driving, but I have better things to do than wait for the battery to charge.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by Caffeine Powered

I'll never own an electric car. Sure, they're quick, but you can't leave Milwaukee at 8am Tuesday and arrive in Seattle at 4pm Thursday. That's 28 hours behind the wheel, have two good nights of sleep and decent meal breaks.

Sure, they work fine for urban driving, but I have better things to do than wait for the battery to charge.

Well and find a place to charge. You are tethered to charging stations along major interstates and some places have decent amenities and some do not. Gas stations are much more plentiful, allowing you to stop when you’re ready to stop, not because there isn’t another gas station around (in most cases).

[RichM50d]

I’m confused. I read somewhere (probably on here), that the Tesla model 3 has outsold the BMW 3 Series by about 10 times, however, after a week in the US, I saw ONE! So where are all these cars then?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by RichM50d

I’m confused. I read somewhere (probably on here), that the Tesla model 3 has outsold the BMW 3 Series by about 10 times, however, after a week in the US, I saw ONE! So where are all these cars then?

It's a really big country first off. Secondly, head over to Silicon Valley you'll find most of them there. Third, Tesla 3's have been in full-rate production less than a full year and have delivered 80,000 cars in a population of 350M residents with 250M cars already existing. You're lucky you saw one.

[wdb]

Also bear in mind that Tesla is still backfilling pre-orders. They're literally "selling" every car they build. Comparing "sales" figures among the Model 3 and any other vehicle right now is disingenuous at best. (My eco-friends do not like to hear me saying this.)

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by wdb

Also bear in mind that Tesla is still backfilling pre-orders. They're literally "selling" every car they build. Comparing "sales" figures among the Model 3 and any other vehicle right now is disingenuous at best. (My eco-friends do not like to hear me saying this.)

It's a slow morning here, so I decided to look at sales numbers. It's no secret that 4-door sedans have greatly fallen out of favor in the US market. The 3-series in the USA in 2105 sold 140,609 units by 2017 only 59,499 were counted as sales. For the same time period, Audi and MB C-class have stayed relatively constant with a slight downward trend.

I think the Tesla has a limited market because of it's price and market trends. We'll see. I'm not sure Tesla will ever sell a $35,000 example. Outside of the tech, it's an expensive car for what you get. Just for calibration, the Chevy Bolt as dropped in sales a bit month-over-month from 2017 to 2018. I'd like to know the cancellation rate of all those 400K manufacturing slot pre-orders. It'd be interesting to see how many of those slots were people expecting to buy a $35,000 EV. Since July, the Tesla 3 has been selling on average of 18,000/month. Then, it has to be discovered how the Tesla (non-dealership) infrastructure is going to deal with all those cars post-delivery; failure there, could dampen sales in the long term.

The sales of Tesla 3 vs. the 3-Series starting September 2017 through Sept. 2018 (only data available for the Tesla 3) shows Tesla in total at 80,334 vs. 57,010 3-Series for the same months. So if the Tesla stays in the near-luxury sports sedan market with a $45K - $50K transaction price, I'd expect it to sell in numbers similar to the competitors in that market space (A4, C-Class, 3-Series), which is 3,000 to 6,000 per month; but it still does have some of the EV downsides, which the market, as a whole, has yet to embrace. For comparison purposes, the Ford Fusion sells on average 17,400 per month.

[PshhhhhMW]

Saw a Tesla 3 with license plate "WTTS4M3" on the freeway this morning. So I'm guessing Want To Trade S for Model 3? Rolled by in my F80 and he slowed down below the speed limit.

[Red Bread]

I read that as Watts for Me.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by PshhhhhMW

Saw a Tesla 3 with license plate "WTTS4M3" on the freeway this morning. So I'm guessing Want To Trade S for Model 3? Rolled by in my F80 and he slowed down below the speed limit.

Originally Posted by Red Bread

I read that as Watts for Me.

Proof that all the good tags are taken. In some places I guess.

[GTIGUY1992]

I'll wait for the Porsche Taycan/Mission E to come out before making any choices. I want to see another OEM's (not half hearted) attempt at an electric first. The Bolt/Volt are pretty good, poorly marketed but still seem to be a car lauded by owners and journalists.

And the i8 is just way too out of my price range hah.

[E90M3velocity]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Just had my first ride in one. Not sure I could get used to the TV screen; I get why its there based on the MMI to control all the functions. But the thing is damned quick and seems to ride like a sport package E90. Build quality seemed decent enough, he took delivery 2 weeks ago. Pretty impressive over all. Still not an EV for the masses based on price. I can see BMW now having trouble selling the gas-fueled 3-series.

Keep that in mind the lack of 3 series sales are from the increase sales of X vehicles and rest of the people buying crossovers and suv's... I highly doubt its from the model 3. Also BMW isn't worried considering how capable the chassis is of a regular 3 series (they race regular e90's at VLN), lets see a model 3 do more than just stop light racing or doing just one lap around a small track.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by E90M3velocity

Keep that in mind the lack of 3 series sales are from the increase sales of X vehicles and rest of the people buying crossovers and suv's... I highly doubt its from the model 3. Also BMW isn't worried considering how capable the chassis is of a regular 3 series (they race regular e90's at VLN), lets see a model 3 do more than just stop light racing or doing just one lap around a small track.

My co-worker who has the Model 3 is an systems engineer, so the tech is most of the game for him. He came out of a Lexus. Keeping in mind that the F3X drives like a Buick now, I think the performance argument is lost on any comparo between the Model 3 and any of the German sports sedans. I thought the Model 3 rode a bit harsh, which is not bothersome for me, but for most people I'd bet it would be an issue; an issue overshadowed by the Musk-Tech.

For me, I just like to drive. None of my 4 cars has a screen in it. I hope I can keep it that way for a while.

[RichM50d]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

It's a really big country first off. Secondly, head over to Silicon Valley you'll find most of them there. Third, Tesla 3's have been in full-rate production less than a full year and have delivered 80,000 cars in a population of 350M residents with 250M cars already existing. You're lucky you saw one.

Obviously it is

But, I saw quite a few new 3 Series on the road, so where are these sales figures coming from, and who is checking them for accuracy?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by RichM50d

Obviously it is

But, I saw quite a few new 3 Series on the road, so where are these sales figures coming from, and who is checking them for accuracy?

The Securities and Exchange Commission.

BMW has sold approximately 1.3M E9X and F30 3-series since September 2005 vs. Tesla's 80,000 Model 3, so go do the math.

[Caffeine Powered]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The Securities and Exchange Commission.

BMW has sold approximately 1.3M E9X and F30 3-series since September 2005 vs. Tesla's 80,000 Model 3, so go do the math.

That averages out to ~92,850 BMW's each of those years. Or 255 a day.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by wdb

Proof that all the good tags are taken.

My favorite is a guy in my town with "NIKOLA" on his Model S.