I may be opening an absolute can of worms here - the time has come to change cars and a cracking deal for a Tesla Model Y has cropped up.
Does anyone have a Tesla?
Would you recommend one?
How is long term reliability?
(I know Musk is a horrible person but the cars seem ok…..)
Best thing to do is try it. I’ve been in a Tesla and there are aspects of the design that mean I would not wish to own one (single large screen with controls operated through that, plasticky interior, sometimes poor build quality esp US made cars, shape, door handles).
Some love them, and if that’s you then they are apparently very good at what they do.
Customer of mine had a model 3, may still have it but he loved it. Talking to a guy in the supermarket car park he said its the bestvcar he has owned and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one. I do not like Elon or the fact only Tesla can work on them or else they can switch it off, all a bit to Apple for me. Forgot to say he drove between the Dordogne and London but lived in London.
I’m shocked that I have considered one in spite of my dislike of Musk.
Pretty popular round here in 86/37/49
We have friends that have had one (Model Y) for about 4 years now, and they seem satisfied with it. They’ve driven from Ireland to France and back several times with it.
I’ve only ever sat in it as a passenger, so can’t tell you how it handles from a driver perspective. It is nippy, and has a lot of nifty gadgets for the nerds among us, and seems to hug the road pretty well, with a good turning circle in tight places. Personally, I found the front passenger seat too hard, although rear seat was fine.
If their spec was right for us (the SUV ground clearance isn’t much on some versions) the only thing that would really put me off would be the number of incidents where the doors have been unopenable in accidents and the passengers have been burned alive.
I’ve been trapped in a fire once before (burning Tube train) so I’m super cautious about that sort of possibility.
My son had an S (2 years) followed by a 3 (18 months). Lots of niggly build quality issues, together with some bigger problems (usually software and hardware disagreeing) that the service centres were unable to sort out. He would not buy another.
People still own Porsches and Ferdinand Porsche was an actual Nazi and an SS Oberfūhrer as well as designing tanks for the Wehrmacht that were built by slave labour.
Don’t think any of that history would have bothered the tourist in a Porsche Cayenne who was tailgating a little Clio for about 20kms along the Lot Valley this morning.
His son actually started building cars to get generate enough money to get Ferdinand out of prison.
Regarding the Tesla, I’ve a friend who has had a few businesses in the motor trade and has been a fan for over ten years now. In 2016 he convinced Bono to buy a model S and asked me if I wanted to collect it with him from the Tesla distribution centre in Amsterdam, and of course I did.
It was amusing to pitch up and see a row of new cars for collection and one marked out for “Paul Hewsen”.
Anyway we drove it to Ireland through the UK and it was very interesting. It was the first electric car I had driven and it performed very well. The aspect that impressed me most were the Tesla superchargers. They were Musk’s master stroke. Not really relevant now with high speed chargers everywhere.
However, charging with them was free then for the life of those early cars.
Once Tesla knew Bono was interested they had pulled the next car off the production line but it wasn’t top spec, so the one we delivered was replaced in short order with a top spec one.
My pal went on to buy a Model 3 for himself and was pretty satisfied with it, though he thought my i4 was better built. The shut lines on the Model 3 weren’t great and the rear screen cracked for no reason after a few weeks. But that was before they started building the ones destined for Europe in Shanghai. I think the quality may be better now. After a few years he gave it to his partner but she didn’t like it at all. She flogged it and bought a FIAT 500 EV, which, despite its poor range, she loves.
When Bono decided to get rid of his top spec Model S (he didn’t replace it with a Tesla, Musk’s rep maybe?) my pal bought it and it’s his daily runner now.
So he’s been in the motor trade forever and been around Teslas for about ten years and is, I think it’s fair to say, a bit of an expert on them. If there is anything you’d like me to ask him about the Y I’d be happy to do so.
Summing up, I think the technology in Teslas is excellent, way ahead of its time. I was discussing this again with him only couple weeks ago and he made the point that the Model S was launched in 2012, so designed well before that and most manufactures are still trying to catch up.
Personally I think the build quality is still a bit suspect, especially with earlier cars and I don’t like the interiors. We test drove a model Y before buying the i4 but neither my wife nor I liked it. But, at the right price, a Model Y could be a very good proposition .
