So I’m going to be honest here, I absolutely intended to update this after 30 days of ownership but I got carried away and now….well, here we are! I have had possession of my Tesla Model 3 for over 2 months now and I am ready to spill the good, the great, the bad and the ugly.

I also got my car wrapped, so my once-red Tesla is now an overbearingly obnoxious hot pink. Pepto pink, Barbie Pink, Mary Kay pink.. whatever, you get the picture and I’ve heard it all. As gorgeous as the Multi-coat red was, it wasn’t totally me so I got it wrapped in a colour that I feel suited me more. (lets not forget the added protection that wraps offer.)

The Great
1. Not. Pumping. Gas
2. Speed – I have never a driven a car that is as fast or powerful as the Tesla Model 3.
3. Handling – the car hugs every twist and turn beautifully and I feel so in control. I love how in tune the handling is and it’s a damn smooth ride.
4. No rattling engine noise.
5. Car is always on so you can jump in and go.
6. Sentry mode is amazing (when it properly works) and gives you peace of mind.
7. Touch screen is super handy and incredibly easy to get used to, a total game charger for car interiors and makes knobs and buttons a thing of the past.
8. The heating/cooling system – I love the air blades and how easy it is to control them and how fast the AC kicks in.
9. The over all body of the car is beautiful.
10. Sound system. Honestly, sound is so incredibly crisp and amazing. I think any audiophile will be incredibly happy with the immersive sound system.
11. The fact your car ONLY gets better with time with all of the updates.
12. Head turner.
13. Smoothest ride of your life.
14. Never having to take it in for maintenance or care about oil changes.
15. All of the USB ports!
16. ALL SEATS ARE HEATED.
17. The amazing view you get from the all-glass roof. It allows so much light in which makes the car seem that much more open
18. How you can set Easy-Entry profiles so it adjusts mirrors, steering wheel and seat height/position automatically for you as you get in and out of your car.
19. How in tune all of the sensors are to cars and objects around you.
20. Not having any instrument panels in front of you allows a nice big and wide view out the windshield.

The Good

1. Full Self Driving – This feature is amazing and ultra handy especially on long highway drives or when you’re tired and less alert. It’s also fantastic when traffic is a tad hectic because it keeps you sane and prevents you from rear ending anyone so that’s pretty coo’.
2. Interior – I really like the overall simplicity of the Tesla Model 3, it’s clean cut, minimalist and has the look and feeling of a high quality car. The seats are easy to clean and as long as you keep a pack of baby wipes on hand, you can keep it pretty darn tidy at all times.
3. Apps and features – One of my favourite things to do with my friends and guests who have never been in a Tesla before, is to show them all of the cool bells and whistles the Model 3 has to offer – like the fireplace, sketch pad, fart sounds and Atari games. Sadly, I never actually really use these features for myself but they are still fun to show off.
4. The Auto-Windshield wipers – I love when it starts to rain, the sensors kick in and turn on the wipers. They also can detect how heavy the rain is and increase their speed accordingly. Pretty handy in my opinion and it is fairly accurate, too.
5. How easy it is to just plug in at night and have a “full gas tank” essentially every day. I love getting into my car every morning and knowing I don’t have to hit up any gas stations or check for prices. Only time I ever have to think about charging is when I go on long road trips or somewhat long round trips – whenever that happens, I just have to look up destination / Superchargers in that area.
6. Self-Parking and ease-of-use cameras – I rarely use the self parking feature but I have tried it out a few times and I have to say it’s especially handy for those who struggle to reverse-park into spaces. It takes all the guess work out for you and literally parks itself. The extra large screen displaying the back up camera also helps to back in and out of spaces as well, especially since it displays the distance between your car and whatever object you’re near. I have a short driveway so I have to back up close to my garage door – I always make sure I am no more or less than 30cm from my garage door so this feature is super handy.
7. Being able to educate others and share my excitement – Everywhere I go I have people stopping me to ask about my car – sometimes they are interested in purchasing one, sometimes they are just car enthusiasts or maybe they are just misinformed about EV’s. Either way, I love being able to share my knowledge and excitement about my car with others – It’s also a warming feeling knowing that they are always considering a Tesla in the future at the end of the conversation 😉
   
   

The Bad & The Ugly

1. Range Anxiety – So I have to say, range anxiety is a real thing and I have experienced it myself a couple times now. Having the Long Range, I get 499 Km’s out of the battery. However, it’s closer to 300. Once you take into consideration that any heating / Ac, seat warming, music and speed – you’ll find your Km’s will drop much faster. Any speed over 120km/hr will drain your battery faster and there are also more variables like temperature, wind, rain, etc. I made it home after a round trip from Barrie to Kitchener, with 7% battery left. Talk about stressful! Just make sure to charge to 100% if you’re travelling far or making round trips more than 250 km, take weather into consideration and check out http://www.abetterrouteplanner.com to make sure you can make it and find best routes to take where there are accessible chargers.
2. The build quality – Although this doesn’t necessary bother me as much, I have read about many many others having a plethora of issues with their Model 3s – whether it’s paint flaws, panel gaps, unsealed windows and leaky headlights – I haven’t had anything horrible come up except a slight paint flaw and the glass top roof is a tad misaligned but nothing has been a deal breaker.
3. SLACKER RADIO – Yeah, I like having a bunch of stations available and being able to always listen to clear-quality music.. what I DON’T like? You can never go back so if you skipped back on a song or want to listen to it again, you can’t. Also – if you search for a song, you most likely won’t find it.. if you want to listen to a specific artist or playlist? Can’t do that either – it will play a song here and there from the artist you searched for but you mainly get a bunch of crap you don’t care for. I wish Spotify was built in, instead…
4. Interior quality in some spots – I have owned 5 cars now, and I have never broken or damaged any of them. So far? My driver seat material is wrinkled in some areas and I guess I got into my car too rough and I pulled the interior trim off the frame so there’s a gap and I can’t clip it back into place and the fabric from the front seat ripped from the plastic base somehow too.. For a car that I baby, that’s odd and a little soul crushing.
5. How sensitive the accident prevention is – I’ll be driving and there will be cars stopped ahead at a stop sign or red light, if I am not slowing down as much as my car would like, it flashes the other car in a red colour and sends out an alert sound which is often startling..even if there is no imminent threat.
6. Auto Pilot / Full self driving flaws – Everyone knows that the FSD capabilities are still in the works, but I have had a near accident now from it not detecting any of the construction barriers – and along a certain stretch of highway, it drops down to 30km from the 110-120km I usually travel… so it’s rather alarming when your car drops nearly 100km in speed out of no where. It will only get better with time, though!
7. Price of repairs and wait times – Although I have never had to make a claim or get anything fixed, I definitely dread it ever happening. With my luck I don’t doubt something awful happening to my baby… but from other Tesla groups, I am definitely learning any body repair is going to cost me limbs and also keep my car out of commission for several weeks.
8. The fact some assholes have Tesla hatred – this fact is incredibly sad but also incredibly real. There are some real jerks out there who have nothing better to do than be a jealous A-hole. My buddy owns a Tesla and got on video (Thank you Sentry Mode!) a man keying his car intentionally in a parking garage. Also, some people just want to smash windows because they can. It sucks, don’t do it.
9. People think you’re rich – Ever since I got my Tesla, everyone seems to think I have all this money… Model 3 is the cheapest version and I was financially strict with myself to save for the down payment and the monthly payment. I factor in the fact I don’t have to pay for oil changes, transmission fluid, other maintenance or gas. It’s probably one of the most financially sound decisions someone can make to be honest. Simplify yo’ lives.
10. Sometimes the screen crashes, which sucks – There have been 2 occasions now where my screen kinda crapped itself. I’ll be driving down the highway then out of no where my music turns off and the entire main console screen goes black. Why does this suck? You can’t control anything. Wipers, music, HVAC, seats, steering wheel, mirrors, you can’t see or use GPS, use seat warmers or see your speed. When this happens, just pull over and push in both buttons on your steering wheel and hold them, this reboots your system. A tad bit of an inconvenience but still fixes the issue. Again, I’ve only had it happen twice within the first week of ownership.
11. The damn piano-finish console. The centre console is this beautiful glossy black plastic which looks really really nice when clean – but unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to keep the surface scratch and smudge free. Finger prints everywhere, hundreds of tiny little scratches all over…. Your best bet is to go on Amazon and order a Kenriko console wrap and do a DIY protective cover on it. Best $25 spent.
12. The goddamn door buttons. I have to tell literally every person how to get in and out of my car. Usually people can figure out how to get in, but it’s the getting out that is the issue. It wouldn’t be so bad if it had a better symbol to show where the button is.. or if using the emergency release hatch didn’t potentially damage your door and sound off a bunch of alerts…. I’ve only had that happen once, thankfully. I feel Tesla should look into sending all owners free stickers with the car door open symbol on it so they can just tack ’em onto the button so maybe it will be even a little easier for others’ to figure out.

I will be sure to update this if more come to mind, but for now that is my
“2 months into ownership” pros and cons list.

Despite the Cons, this is still hands down the best car I have ever driven or owned. I still love it and highly recommend this car to anyone.