Model 3 UK orders.
Discussion
“In the UK, Tesla has collaborated with Direct Line Car Insurance”
https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/support/insuremytesla
https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/support/insuremytesla
Smiljan said:
Who are you with Jim
Churchill. More here I think. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I used a comparison site and Churchill came out dramatically cheaper than everybody. I couldn't go ahead with the policy as the site was struggling with entering my mods (rear tint to factory spec and de-chrome). So I rang them directly, explained the situation and they confirmed that neither affected the premium, and then proceeded to quote me nearly double.
When I pointed out the online quote, he checked it, and then announced they could do it for that, £395, M3P 57yrs no points/claims and a bucket load of no claims.
When I pointed out the online quote, he checked it, and then announced they could do it for that, £395, M3P 57yrs no points/claims and a bucket load of no claims.
Well looks like Direct Line are coming out cheapest for me at £700. Old git, clean licence leafy suburb decent postcode for a SR+ which is find and comparable to my current Golf R.
Today was test drive day, I was given a brand new long range dual motor with the white interior which is the lowest spec they had, I was after a SR+ drive ideally. They do have new performance models too if you fancy a test drive.
The check in was done on the phone, just driving licence photo and sign to say I'd accept speeding fines etc... if accrued.
The Tesla chap showed me around quickly and answered all of my many questions and sent me on my way for as he put it around 40 minute test drive.
I then proceeded to lurch back and forth from the slightly tight parking spot inside their showroom area not wanting to hit any of the lovely plant pots they have scattered around. To make it worse the tyres were nicely squeeling on the white painted floor so really probably looked a bit ungraceful from the outside.
Anyway on with the drive, the performance (not that I thrashed it) seemed comparable to my current Golf R. The instant torque feeling much the same as any EV is an improvement from a badly selected gear on my car but I don't think it was particularly any quicker in gear so to speak.
Climbing in was a shock, I wasn't expecting the seating position to be so low and once adjusted the awful looking steering wheel is actually a nice chunky pleasant thing to steer with.
The center screen, to me looked slightly angled away from the driver even though I know it's not and was quite bad for picking up glare from what little sun we had this morning. The speed readout as mentioned many times really isn't an issue as it's located very near to your eyeline and dead easy to read.
The rest of the touchscreen experience wasn't so good and I'd imagine you need to spend a lot more time that 45 minutes to really get comfortable with using it on the road. At initial glance it seem over complicated and fussy in design although it's nice to have the large nav and camera displays.
On the move it's relaxing, quiet even at motorway speeds and seems to corner well although the steering is overly heavy artificially similar to having the Golf steering in sport mode. I didn't have any issues with wind noise or really tyre noise coming in the cabin and the interior was lovely and quiet bar one rattle from the rear trim somewhere which could be just a seatbelt rattling or similar. I wasn't blown away with the driving experience though and surprisingly stepping back into my Golf afterwards didn't make it feel at all out of date or obsolete.
Quality seemed excellent to me, materials are actually very good quality inside and I didn't see anything of concern walking around the car afterwards. The frunk was unlined bare plastic but the Tesla chap tells me the new ones coming through will have some sort of non slip surface in the frunk.
Moving back to the actual driving, I'm surprised myself how underwhelming it was and I didn't come back buzzing wanting to buy one immediately like I thought I might. In a way this has been a good experience as now I can wait a while and ponder and mull it over again.
The only other thing that really stood out to me was the rear seats, for a full sized adult I just can't see them being comfortable. There's plenty of leg room even behind my driving position but my knees were really high up as the floor is so close to the seat base and I can see this being a problem on long journeys. If you don't carry passengers often no problem but if you regularly ferry about teenage kids or adults its certainly a compromise.
In summary it seems to be a great EV and has lots going for it in the charging network, app etc... but it just didn't grab me like the Model S did when I first drove that. The acceleration and ease of that acceleration is impressive but it's just not something you'd really use to its full that often.
It's not a no but it's certainly something to think about whether to buy one or not, that has been the biggest surprise to me. I thought I'd be home and straight to the order page
Today was test drive day, I was given a brand new long range dual motor with the white interior which is the lowest spec they had, I was after a SR+ drive ideally. They do have new performance models too if you fancy a test drive.
The check in was done on the phone, just driving licence photo and sign to say I'd accept speeding fines etc... if accrued.
The Tesla chap showed me around quickly and answered all of my many questions and sent me on my way for as he put it around 40 minute test drive.
I then proceeded to lurch back and forth from the slightly tight parking spot inside their showroom area not wanting to hit any of the lovely plant pots they have scattered around. To make it worse the tyres were nicely squeeling on the white painted floor so really probably looked a bit ungraceful from the outside.
Anyway on with the drive, the performance (not that I thrashed it) seemed comparable to my current Golf R. The instant torque feeling much the same as any EV is an improvement from a badly selected gear on my car but I don't think it was particularly any quicker in gear so to speak.
Climbing in was a shock, I wasn't expecting the seating position to be so low and once adjusted the awful looking steering wheel is actually a nice chunky pleasant thing to steer with.
The center screen, to me looked slightly angled away from the driver even though I know it's not and was quite bad for picking up glare from what little sun we had this morning. The speed readout as mentioned many times really isn't an issue as it's located very near to your eyeline and dead easy to read.
The rest of the touchscreen experience wasn't so good and I'd imagine you need to spend a lot more time that 45 minutes to really get comfortable with using it on the road. At initial glance it seem over complicated and fussy in design although it's nice to have the large nav and camera displays.
On the move it's relaxing, quiet even at motorway speeds and seems to corner well although the steering is overly heavy artificially similar to having the Golf steering in sport mode. I didn't have any issues with wind noise or really tyre noise coming in the cabin and the interior was lovely and quiet bar one rattle from the rear trim somewhere which could be just a seatbelt rattling or similar. I wasn't blown away with the driving experience though and surprisingly stepping back into my Golf afterwards didn't make it feel at all out of date or obsolete.
Quality seemed excellent to me, materials are actually very good quality inside and I didn't see anything of concern walking around the car afterwards. The frunk was unlined bare plastic but the Tesla chap tells me the new ones coming through will have some sort of non slip surface in the frunk.
Moving back to the actual driving, I'm surprised myself how underwhelming it was and I didn't come back buzzing wanting to buy one immediately like I thought I might. In a way this has been a good experience as now I can wait a while and ponder and mull it over again.
The only other thing that really stood out to me was the rear seats, for a full sized adult I just can't see them being comfortable. There's plenty of leg room even behind my driving position but my knees were really high up as the floor is so close to the seat base and I can see this being a problem on long journeys. If you don't carry passengers often no problem but if you regularly ferry about teenage kids or adults its certainly a compromise.
In summary it seems to be a great EV and has lots going for it in the charging network, app etc... but it just didn't grab me like the Model S did when I first drove that. The acceleration and ease of that acceleration is impressive but it's just not something you'd really use to its full that often.
It's not a no but it's certainly something to think about whether to buy one or not, that has been the biggest surprise to me. I thought I'd be home and straight to the order page
Edited by Smiljan on Tuesday 20th October 13:40
I'll certainly be thinking about that JJ, the other thing I found odd that I forgot to mention was the roof.
Once inside and driving I barely noticed it has a giant glass roof, it was a bit overcast here today and the roof is heavily tinted but from the driving position the view was like that in a car with a sunroof. Might be different from the back seats on a lovely clear blue sky day.
Once inside and driving I barely noticed it has a giant glass roof, it was a bit overcast here today and the roof is heavily tinted but from the driving position the view was like that in a car with a sunroof. Might be different from the back seats on a lovely clear blue sky day.
Smiljan said:
Anyway on with the drive, the performance (not that I thrashed it) seemed comparable to my current Golf R. The instant torque feeling much the same as any EV is an improvement from a badly selected gear on my car but I don't think it was particularly any quicker in gear so to speak.
Stupid question probably, but you did check if it had the performance boost? The other selection would be 'sport' rather than 'standard'. Performance boost brings the LR very close to the Performance.Smiljan said:
Climbing in was a shock, I wasn't expecting the seating position to be so low and once adjusted the awful looking steering wheel is actually a nice chunky pleasant thing to steer with.
Even at the lowest seating position, it's still higher than my last 3-series, but there's plenty of adjustment in the Model 3 seats as I'm sure you found out.Smiljan said:
On the move it's relaxing, quiet even at motorway speeds and seems to corner well although the steering is overly heavy artificially similar to having the Golf steering in sport mode.
Did you try the different steering weight settings?Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Tuesday 20th October 14:22
No didn’t get time really and didn’t want to play with the screen while driving.
Just observations, I’m sure some of those things could be tweaked through the setting once I’d got familiar with it.
Still worthwhile taking a test drive before jumping in at the deep end with the cash. The more I think about it today, the more I’m less keen on going for it
Just another snippet from the Tesla rep, if you get a trade in value you get 7 days to apply it to your order. Once you put down the £100 deposit they then honour that trade in price for 60 days to get you to the delivery which is pretty damn good. Next batch coming in Nov apparently then another batch in Dec all of which he assures me will be the updated Model 3's.
Just observations, I’m sure some of those things could be tweaked through the setting once I’d got familiar with it.
Still worthwhile taking a test drive before jumping in at the deep end with the cash. The more I think about it today, the more I’m less keen on going for it
Just another snippet from the Tesla rep, if you get a trade in value you get 7 days to apply it to your order. Once you put down the £100 deposit they then honour that trade in price for 60 days to get you to the delivery which is pretty damn good. Next batch coming in Nov apparently then another batch in Dec all of which he assures me will be the updated Model 3's.
Edited by Smiljan on Tuesday 20th October 15:38
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