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To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

myteslaexperience.com

381–390 of 593 posts

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#381
I can't feel sorry for this person.

First, luxury cars are known to have more maintenance issues than working class cars. The idea is you should have the means to own a secondary car, or just pay for fixes. To have so many problems within a few weeks is absurd, but this is pretty on brand for Tesla.

I was joking with a Kia salesman the other day, British cars will say mate I haven't gotten my oil change recently, I think I'll take a nap on the side of the road.

Asian cars will endure endless abuse and still run.

You literally get the opposite of what you pay for with cars.

I don't really want to buy a car right now, but I'm going with an Asian econobox if I do. My first car was 15k , which was very fitting for my new 6 figure salary.

I'd say the writer wanted a status symbol, and found it doesn't exactly work as a vehicle.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, the quality of the product should speak for itself. We've got people saying they're unreliable, and we've got people saying they're reliable, and that's true for literally every car manufacturer on the planet, so this doesn't tell us much. Anecdotal stuff aside, there's studies done on these things, thankfully, and Tesla consistently ranks poorly. See for example this one (this is just the first one that popp…

Adding another source: TÜV Report 2025 (in German) In Germany you have to get your car checked every 24 months for its road worthiness (think general doctor checkup but for your car). If it fails, you are not allowed to use it until it's fixed. At the first general inspection after purchase 2-3 years out, 14.2% of all checked Tesla Model 3s had issues. Comparing that to other models that are on record in sufficient n…

> https://www.adac.de/news/tuev-report-2025/

This is about what cars made it through the German TÜV. Not about reliability.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty useful to remind people that buying a tesla is supporting Musk.

My biggest issue with Tesla is not Musk, my biggest issue is owning a car that can be remotely tampered by Tesla and or the US government. On paper I am supposed to live in an allied country but Trump unilateraly decided that USA is at wars with everyone except Israel so I can't expect to be treated with respect by an US company. For this reason I have to remove all commercial ties with US companies and not buy anyth…

> For this reason I have to remove all commercial ties with US companies

Good luck with that!

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#384
post #72

I'm sorry to have to say this, but buying a Tesla in 2024 is a terrible choice - the car is horrible to drive, not to mention customer satisfaction, reliability and ethical concerns. Hyundai and Polestar are way better electric options that are actually enjoyable and comfortable to drive

While I understand the trepidation of supporting an organization whose leader openly makes Nazi salutes, I would not assume that South Korean chaebol leaders or Chinese conglomerate business owners have any better ideals.

Volvo’s owner is a front man for the Chinese government, who are supposedly not averse to ethnic cleansing, as far as I have read.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#385
post #222

I have owned Model S since 2018, now driving my second one (Raven). The first one was just poor manufacturing Tesla has been known for forever. Second one is however the disaster. So many sounds while turning the steering wheel, driving on tiny slopes, braking etc. forced me to convince the service center to replace the suspension, arms & half-shafts (all under warranty). None of these steps helped, service center pr…

The error was to buy a second one after "the first one was just poor manufacturing". I never saw manufacturing quality improve over time from car companies.

This.

After my Nissan car started to have transmission problems that would cost thousands of dollars to fix (among various other small issues), I sold it as quickly as possibly and swore I'll touch the make again.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#386
post #374
post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's literally illegal. In the EU, it's illegal to sell cars that don't have back camera, not beeping if seatbelt not fastened, and not beeping if speed limit is exceeded.

Our new car beeps constantly for unclear reasons and doesn't explain why. It's not helpful and I'd like it to stop.

Try buckling all your back seat belts. Recently US cars are required to annoy you if back seat passengers are not buckled in; many (most?) manufacturers are not putting in weight sensors to see if there are rear seat passengers present; they’re just putting in seat belt buckled sensors.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#387
post #222

I have owned Model S since 2018, now driving my second one (Raven). The first one was just poor manufacturing Tesla has been known for forever. Second one is however the disaster. So many sounds while turning the steering wheel, driving on tiny slopes, braking etc. forced me to convince the service center to replace the suspension, arms & half-shafts (all under warranty). None of these steps helped, service center pr…

The error was to buy a second one after "the first one was just poor manufacturing". I never saw manufacturing quality improve over time from car companies.

Hyundai manufacturing quality has improved over time.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#388

Let's remove Musk from the equation, because you can like or (most probably) hate him, but I own a Tesla and I have the opposite experience. Everything worked out of the box. Just one piece of hardware started to fail (the charger plug making some noise) and they changed it in warranty. First: has the author tried a tesla before buying one? I'd never buy a car without trying it. Because comparing it to a Clio just be…

> but I own a Tesla and I have the opposite experience. Everything worked out of the box.

To paraphrase Chris Rock: should we give Tesla a cookie? "Everything worked out of the box" is what's supposed to happen.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#389

Let's remove Musk from the equation, because you can like or (most probably) hate him, but I own a Tesla and I have the opposite experience. Everything worked out of the box. Just one piece of hardware started to fail (the charger plug making some noise) and they changed it in warranty. First: has the author tried a tesla before buying one? I'd never buy a car without trying it. Because comparing it to a Clio just be…

> Second: when you buy a car, do you ask yourself, how will I fix it in case anything goes wrong? Buying a car in a country where there's no service is a huge no-no.

From middle of Slovakia to Budapest, Hungary is as far as Houston to Austin drive. No border or customs controls. Vehicle insurance issued in one, is valid in both. You only have to spend few euros to buy a vignette (road toll). I don't see your point.

Re: To buy a Tesla Model 3, only to end up in hell

#390
post #278

I've lived in Japan for the past 10 years, where I didn't own a car the entire time. A year ago I moved to a place where a car is more or less needed. I bought a used 2015 kei car for around $2800 cash. It's awesome. There are zero screens, touch or not (not counting the instrument displays). Everything is operated with the old buttons and dials, though the windows are electrically operated. It has a 3.5mm stereo inp…

I resonate with you very much. I recently bought a 1991 Honda Civic for fun and I love it. So simple. So reliable.

My last car in the states was a 1999 chevy prizm, manual transmission. Such a cheap and fun car, though I can't say it was particularly reliable. Still got $500 for it at CarMax, even though the A/C wasn't working and it had a ton of miles on it.
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