Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD

[gmaz]

As there doesn't seem to be many EVs in Readers Cars, I thought I'd add mine. I've been driving a leased Hyundai Kona EV for two years and the end of the lease has come up about the same time as Tesla prices have dropped.

I was on the lookout for a late 2020 or early 2021 model as these have a facelift with useful stuff such as a heatpump and power boot lid. Also, it wouldn't have the often seen "BJ69..." number plate that seems to be on many of the 2019/2020 year models. At least that would stop the wife from driving it. Then one appeared in the PH classifieds at a localish dealer so I went to take a look before they even had pictures up.

A quick test drive later and price negotiation started. The advertised price was 34,500. My opening gambit was 33,500 and after some tense negotiation, we settled at 34,500. Yep, my haggling skills leave much to be desired. Does anyone ever get a dealer car at under the asking price? To be honest I'm OK with the price as it has the £1500 option wheels with 4 brand new Hankook tyres (@ £200 each). It is also well under 20K miles which is good for a 2020 car.

So, on Saturday I will be collecting this




And then spending several hours trying to understand how to work this minimalist interior




I'm a bit less happy about the notorious Tesla bodywork build quality, the gap by the boot hinge is out of alignment by several mm.

Plans are to possibly get the "Acceleration Upgrade" option, that shaves 0.5 secs off the 0-60 time. 4.2 secs down to 3.7 secs for £1500. Is it worth it? Is this a forum where "speed matters"?

Also to get a vinyl stick on front plate to help cleaning the bugs off, ceramic coat it, a few tasteful accessories and then who knows?

[hairy v]

Looks like a good deal - well done!

I've had mine a year and a half and covered 16k miles, I think its great

[gmaz]

Had the car for almost a week now, and found that it has the £6,800 Full Self Driving option added. Neither I or the dealer realised.

On the minus side, one of the side cameras is not working so it is booked into a service centre.

Pretty happy with it other than that. The acceleration is brutal even without the upgrade.

[tgr]

Thanks a lot gmaz, great write up

Don't let the lack of comments fool you into thinking no one's interested

[paradigital]

Front vinyl plate was the first thing I did to mine, closely followed by ditching the plate holder at the rear. Black badges completed the look (I’d have left the chrome ones if the window trim was still chrome on the facelift, but without the window chrome to tie it all together, the chrome badges looked out of place IMO).

Edited by paradigital on Saturday 15th April 06:34

[mikebradford]

I'm intrested in your updates, perfect car for everyday use from my perspective

[austinsmirk]

I’m not knocking it as I’m a lover of ev’s. Had our first in 2017.

Financially how’s it work now when you compare cost of electric v petrol v diesel v petrol hybrid.

I wouldn’t know now what’s the best/ most frugal fuel choice ? I remember back in 2017 lots of public charging was for free !! Not so now of course.

Maybe you’ve solar at home and charge for free ?

[paradigital]

austinsmirk said:

I’m not knocking it as I’m a lover of ev’s. Had our first in 2017.

Financially how’s it work now when you compare cost of electric v petrol v diesel v petrol hybrid.

I wouldn’t know now what’s the best/ most frugal fuel choice ? I remember back in 2017 lots of public charging was for free !! Not so now of course.

Maybe you’ve solar at home and charge for free ?

I can’t answer for the OP, but even if there isn’t enough excess solar generation to charge my car, if I charge at home off-peak (7.5p/kWh) then you are talking around 2.5p/mi (including charging losses). If that was instead during the day from the grid then it’s more like 10p/mi. Public (Supercharging) would be 12p/mi.

Compare that to my slower 440i, and it does around 28-32mpg average, putting it (on super unleaded) at 30p/mi. If that were a diesel, doing double the MPG then it’s still more expensive to fuel than my M3P on public charging. With an EV tariff, it’s still very much in favour of the EV, if your mileage and usage suits.

[NDA]

gmaz said:

Plans are to possibly get the "Acceleration Upgrade" option, that shaves 0.5 secs off the 0-60 time. 4.2 secs down to 3.7 secs for £1500. Is it worth it? Is this a forum where "speed matters"?

I have the same car and have the acceleration upgrade... I would say it's worth it, even though you don't really use the 'party trick' acceleration too often. I had it for a few months before the upgrade and can definitely feel the difference, it's rapid.

As to a poster above asking about cost of fuelling it, it is still considerably cheaper than petrol if you're charging at home. Were I to charge mine from 0 to 100% (which I never do) it would cost £15.84 on my current (more expensive) rate. This compares with £82 to fill my Morgan from empty (for a 250 mile range) or £150 in the Range Rover.... But I'm comparing it to big V8's. I don't know too many performance cars that you can fill for £15, but obviously there'll be a few diesels that sip fuel but don't go very fast.

Public charging is an altogether different story. One of the charging networks is charging 98p kWh which is crazy expensive.

[Rough101]

I might have picked this up wrong, but I thought that non physical upgrades to Teslas like the self driving were only for the first owner, so if you go and try and add more paid for updates there is a risk you lose access to ones the first owner left behind.

A precursor to the likes of BMW leasing you the heated seats for example.

[gmaz]

austinsmirk said:

I’m not knocking it as I’m a lover of ev’s. Had our first in 2017.

Financially how’s it work now when you compare cost of electric v petrol v diesel v petrol hybrid.

I wouldn’t know now what’s the best/ most frugal fuel choice ? I remember back in 2017 lots of public charging was for free !! Not so now of course.

Maybe you’ve solar at home and charge for free ?

Costs are very low at the moment as somehow I managed to maintain the 16.26p/5p peak/low rate on Octopus Go. They have emailed me though and said it is going up from June 2023 to 43p/12p so a 150% increase

I do have solar, but really can only use that for topping up maybe 40 miles on a sunny day. Not something you can depend on.

paradigital said:

Front vinyl plate was the first thing I did to mine, closely followed by ditching the plate holder at the rear.

That red colour look amazing. Can you remember where you ordered your plates from?

Rough101 said:

I might have picked this up wrong, but I thought that non physical upgrades to Teslas like the self driving were only for the first owner, so if you go and try and add more paid for updates there is a risk you lose access to ones the first owner left behind.

A precursor to the likes of BMW leasing you the heated seats for example.

I've heard that mentioned as well, but it stayed on the car when Tesla transferred it to my account. Now that Ford has had hands-free driving OK'ed by the government, perhaps Tesla will put more investment into the UK FSD

Edited by gmaz on Sunday 16th April 10:23

[paradigital]

gmaz said:

paradigital said:

Front vinyl plate was the first thing I did to mine, closely followed by ditching the plate holder at the rear.

That red colour look amazing. Can you remember where you ordered your plates from?

Edited by gmaz on Sunday 16th April 10:23

I’ve just scoured my emails. ProPlates.co.uk.

I had to order red, being the rarer of the colours. It looks great in the sun, a bit dull when it’s overcast though! A good ceramic coating is a must, the paint is pretty soft!

Edited by paradigital on Sunday 16th April 12:01

Edited by paradigital on Sunday 16th April 12:02

[573]

gmaz said:

Had the car for almost a week now, and found that it has the £6,800 Full Self Driving option added. Neither I or the dealer realised.

I bought mine new and didn't spec this option but the car came with it. I have no idea why.

[NDA]

573 said:

gmaz said:

Had the car for almost a week now, and found that it has the £6,800 Full Self Driving option added. Neither I or the dealer realised.

I bought mine new and didn't spec this option but the car came with it. I have no idea why.

Could it be a free trial? I seem to recall mine came with a trial feature.

[Moley RUFC]

I’ve enjoyed my M3P on the whole if a little sterile - probably more an EV thing than a Tesla fault tbf. I’ve just ordered a i4 M50 as a bit of a difference. My Tesla has run fault free for three years which is more than can be said of previous more established car manufacturers that I’ve owned.

Hope you enjoy it!