|
Back in Jan 2023, I bought a new Model 3 Performance with FSD.
The car itself is awesome. Very reliable and the performance is spectacular.
I drive it on average, 30,000 miles a year for work alone.
I bought it because I have a long commute and work long hours. The tech with FSD and all is much safer. In collisions, these cars are about as safe as you can get, too.
Now compared to my F150 SCREW FX4 2.7L EcoBoost or even my 5th Gen, it saved me around $600 a month in gas vs charging my 3P from home.
What I did not expect was being the performance, those Pirelli P Zero's being complete trash and the tire size being ridiculously low profile (235-35-20) making the car extra vulnerable to damage from bumps, road debris and potholes.
Nashville after the last 2 years of snow, has potholes everywhere and every time they patch them, after a good rain, they open back up and even more appear.
I went though numerous tires and ended up bending wheels because those tires were too low profile and the rubber/sidewalls were too soft.
I ended up upsizing them on HRE wheels to get the rubber wide enough to protect the wheels and have more sidewall to be able to absorb potholes and bumps better.
To that point, all the gas saving I got was eat up in replacement tires and wheels.
I thought I was good after finally finding a tire and size combo to handle the terrible roads around here and then one morning about 5:15am coming home in the dark, I came around the curve on I440 headed east and there was a whole semi retread I could not avoid and hit it dead center. (Nashville truckers and pickup trucks that haul, let crap fly out of their bed/trailers, blow retreads and do not report their road hazards to be cleaned up, so there is always crap in the roads.)
I felt the impact (these M3P sit low) and the car raised up from the tire rolling underneath.
All of the sudden, warnings pop up on the screen and then my screen turns off.
I pull over, front bumper damage, cover from under bumper to battery pack torn off, battery pack ruptured and leaking coolant and the coolant pump burned out because once the screen turned off, I couldn't shut off the car. So the coolant pump ran and made horrible noises until it killed itself. (Then various screws, coolant hoses, etc., and a driver side blinker were also damaged according to Tesla.)
I towed it to Tesla and they got back to me -- over $17k in damage! Battery alone was $10,750.00 without labor. All from a semi retread... Never in my life have I seen such expensive damage from road debris!
So the car when I bought it was $64k + $15k FSD + tax title and license plate. Add one cracked windshield replaced and the retread damage, that's over $19k. I won't count all the tires and wheels, but the current replacement set is around $4,500. $23,500.00+ Just to keep the car on the road here in TN since Jan 2023!
So my point here is, if you buy a EV thinking it's going to save you money in gas, it might not work out that way for you.
The Performance Model 3/Y is a bad idea for any city with bad / rough roads. Get a Long Range AWD Y that comes with tires that have way more sidewall and sits higher!
If you're used to driving cars that sit higher or trucks, you better watch out for debris in the road because just a semi retread that most cars and about every truck would clear, caused over $17k in damage!
I have a 2024 Model Y Performance and the same issue with tires. At 5k miles, I already have a bulged sidewall and the tire is separating and leaking air. I have a new tire on order for it.
And before anyone blames me for the weaknesses in these Tesla EV's -- just realize I have been driving since I was 16 and I'm going on 50. I have never had a collision involving another car. I have lived in TN my whole life and through may winters where the salt and rain has eat up the roads. I have dodged just about everything you can think of, ladders, 2 wheel dollies from a beer truck, bricks, a tree stump fallen off a truck, etc., and past vehicles sat high enough or were built strong enough that semi retreads did not damage my vehicles, etc.
The Model 3 and specifically, the performances models do not make good daily drivers in cities that do not keep the roads clean, clear of obstructions and have potholes and major bumps.
FWIW... I still love my Teslas and plan to buy a X and S Plaid sometime after the refresh.
Just sharing my experience with the 3P and YP.
I won't waste my time responding to any blame game BS.
|