Tesla Model 3 - V3.0

We’ve added a Shanghai built model 3 basic model to the fleet just over 3 months ago and 12,000 km done now.

I’d just like to add a general experienced irish market opinion, on the current Chinese built model 3 as I think some posters get overly caught up in insignificant details, so here is my opinion.

I genuinely think it’s the best built Tesla ever , and I was waiting to put a few miles on bumpy roads to see if the build quality would hold up.

A few stand out points re the base model.

great price point in Ireland , net of grant.

Much More than adequate acceleration.

more than adequate grip, in standard Rwd , especially relevant after icy spell.

Fantastic ride and handling for Ireland

Top class safety assists, very helpful when tired in bad weather, dark night and heavy but speedy traffic .

brilliant headlights

best car ever for M50 stop start traffic on auto pilot ( helps if you scroll top speed below 30 kmh to stop over eager acceleration/jerkiness)

top class one pedal operation

super efficient on motorway compared to any other BEV I’ve driven

high quality switches, excellent motor operation (seats/windows/sealing)

excellent door action, closing/opening action excellent feel, build and fit and finish , great choice and use of materials.

great seats, great steering wheel (size ,feel ,action) nice pano roof.

brilliant wiper action (mechanically and noise speaking) very important in Ireland, I’d had experience of an original Lexus LS 400 back in the day and believe it or not the spindly wipers put me off long term ownership of an otherwise great car.

super wash wipe and washer water application

However the Tesla Ai for the auto wipers needs slight tweaking, particularly on, initial ON,in very light rain/road spray.

Great dash cams ( caught a great video of a hawk flying away with live pigeon pray in its clawson a back road and struggling to gain altitude right in front of us for about 100 m , we were able to record retrospectively by just beeping the horn after the nice incident)

super high quality granny cable

good sound system

supremely quite and relaxing motorway cruiser , with the rate we’re putting miles on the car I have already priced the replacement cost of the original equipment Pilot sports (€1200) currently, I’d say you could easily ruin the car with the wrong tyres .

Tesla super charging can add 100s Km’s very fast. (Scared the crap outa me, in the freezing weather when it suddenly blew off steam from the front wheel arches during one freezing foggy weather , all normal apparently but I thought it had caught fire and jumped out )

excellent winter range , even in brutal weather, helped in no small part by the heat pump

very helpful phone app and keyless operation, backed up by password to drive security, great phone integration and induction charging x2 phones at a time .

ideally sized car in todays bloated SUV land , feels lithe and pointy, not in any way lardy, a sporty family car.

still a good conversation starter in the business world, seems to hit the sweet spot between professional, but not too flash, ‘tis a great mobile office too.

nice to stick it to the oil industry too after years of gas guzzling ,

In short , one of the best built cars I’ve experienced, regardless of brand , which previously and currently includes the some of , the best of the best luxury brands and high performance cars over the decades.

Thanks for that, agree with most of it, except perhaps for the lights. Main beam I find fine, but neither myself or Tesla seem to be able to get dipped adjustment correct. When you aren't blinding others, the dipped beam is too low to make driving safe when on unlit country roads meeting other traffic. Would like sometime to compare to another car (Mine is a March 2022 RWD)

I think the software and updates are brilliant, they simply work. Contrary to others, I had no problem with my ID.3 either, except for them being too slow to roll out.

Cheers

yeah , the whole point of my review/ post is that Basic is brilliant, and Tesla did a lot of work and irish discounting to squeeze in below the grant threshold.

sure isn’t the same model in the uk £48500 sterling ?which in my mind underpins the value of the irish supplied one at circa €52000 net and will discourage future UK imports.

in retrospect, I wouldn’t go LR , 4wd or performance, and I’ve had a lot of performance ice cars in my time , I find everything about the base model ideal, even after 3 months and 12000 km.

I'm finding that range realistic here in my Model 3 in the colder weather. Aircon uses a lot in Oz also

Sandyford have a UK registered MY RWD you can test drive. I test drove it just before Christmas.

Is it a similar spec/battery etc. to the €53K MY RWD cars that are due here in Feb/Mar ?

Yes exact same car.

I got my MIC Model 3 in September and I'll just echo most of what Bigus had to say above.

Two annoying flaws: the wipers don't come on early enough in drizzle (mentioned by Bigus) and it's impossible to see the door handles (and hard to even feel for them) in the dark (door handles are black and the car is MSM/grey). If they were backlit it would be ideal.

That's about it though - otherwise the car is fantastic, and flawless thus far as far as build quality goes. It will be interesting to see how it ages - both in terms of what Tesla and the competition do next, and in terms of how well it wears as a vehicle.

Haven't had a problem seeing the door handles, but my car is white. But often takes a few goes to find the charging socket in the dark, pity there is no light in there like on other cars..

In the dark, open the door from the app. Not unlock but open or unlatch better said. The door opens few cm and car lights up helping you locate the edge of the door.

Turning circle is not great so parking with the front could be challenging in tight spaces but try rear parking. The cameras provide really good visibility of the surroundings. I've seen better overlays for the predictions and birdview is missing. The self park it is a joke. I put the car in position the only thing should do it is to push back. It manages to mess it up and aborts midway.

The car has its flaws but it is a great machine. I just drove for the last 10 days a rental Tiguan automatic whose price is around the same with the basic 3/Y but not at all in the same league. The config in the picture below for a similar Tiguan with the options to match somehow the basic Tesla with the heated seats, power mirrors and rear camera.