Tesla Model 3 Facebook Group Post Presents Telling Picture of BEV Ownership

One of the members asked what the owners of this BEV wished they knew before purchasing the Model 3. Although this person wanted only one thing, multiple respondents felt they should mention more aspects. To protect their privacy, I’ll stick to what was discussed there, not to their identities.

Some of these things are unique to Teslas, while others can teach everyone about what it feels like to own a BEV. Among the exclusive Tesla experiences, the most prevalent complaint among Model 3 owners was how other drivers seemed to hate them. I am not aware of other BEV drivers reporting the same episodes, such as coal rolling, but 22 people in the group reported such problems. The main post reporting that received 53 likes.

All other complaints relate to Tesla, not to how other people react to the brand. Most people are really mad at the EV maker due to Full Self-Driving (FSD) and the price reduction that helped it beat its quarter delivery record. Nine group members said they wished they knew what a waste of money Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system was. They say it was a rip-off, promising things it never delivered. One of them said he hoped “the FTC nails them on that one and gets us some of our money back.” Ouch…

Regarding the price reduction, it may be positive if the eight people who complained about it wished they could have saved some bucks by making the same purchase. But there is a worse possibility: they may be fuming because they believe they felt fooled, paying way more than they should for their BEVs. If that were the case, these are customers Tesla lost for good. Considering the tone most of the group members used, the first hypothesis is stronger than the second.

Seven people wished they knew the Model 3 windshield wipers were so bad. Although they could be complaining about automatic mode, three other people referred explicitly to that feature, so it seems most commenters are just unhappy with the wipers themselves. One of them was irritated about getting water inside the car if he used the windshield wipers with the washer. One said the “automatic rain sensor wipers” were very bad – not precisely using these words. However, the truth is that the automatic wiper function does not rely on sensors: software replaces them. This is probably why most users hate the feature.

Although there are reports of phantom braking with other carmakers, Tesla leads complaints about that. Steve Wozniak sold his Model S and bought a Lucid Air because of how dangerous the situation was. Six people said they should have known about it before buying their Model 3 units.

A surprising complaint comes from the “sock smell” in the summer or when it rains heavily or for several days. People even shared the steps to prevent the bad smell in the HVAC system: new cabin air filters and an evaporator cleaner. This issue received five complaints, just as Supercharging prices, bad service, and lousy paint.

I have covered paint issues with the Model 3 since August 2019, when Joni Savolainen went public about the problems with his BEV and founded a Facebook group to discuss them. It currently has more than 2,200 members and paint issue cases with all Tesla models. Among the Model 3 owners, one of them advised: “Don't pay extra for a different color option. Get a wrap instead.” That will (luckily) protect whatever the BEV paint is. There are cases in which wrapping the Model 3 removed the paint.

The other things the BEV owners wished they knew about the car were that Elon Musk was such a controversial character, that its door handles freeze shut in the winter, that its upholstery is “cheaply made,” how stiff the suspension is, and how often Tesla changes the interface of the vehicle without warning owners about that. Bear in mind that these are still those things exclusive to the carmaker: complaints about Elon Musk would not make sense in any other company.

Among the Model 3 issues that may not be exclusive to Tesla vehicles, 21 people complained about the range, especially in the winter or after some years. To be quite frank, this also looks like something Tesla owners complain about the most. Edmunds revealed more than once that BEVs made by the American company were among the only ones to fail their official EPA ranges. The only other company to have the same issue was Polestar.

Some owners said they could not reach even 70% of the range they were told their Model 3s would offer. One of them said he would love to know about the added hours to any trip. Another one said heating in the winter made the range drop to half of what it should be. Two women complained they did not know they should have another car for road trips. One of them said she could not go “to awesome hidden, far away secluded mountains” because she would get stranded there. She was also wary of going to Mexico because she would not be able to cross the border again with her Model 3.

Nine other people complained about how noisy the Model 3 is, and four said its tires ended pretty quickly. Although only one person mentioned 12V battery problems, this is a pretty common problem with BEVs. As they do not have alternators, they rely on DC-to-DC converters to feed the 12V batteries. Several vehicles presented similar issues, such as the Lucid Air and the Porsche Taycan.

Learning from other people’s experiences is always wise. Anyone thinking about BEVs or, more specifically, about the Model 3 should read what these guys shared and anticipate if they can live with similar concerns. Most of the guys commenting said they would still buy the entry-level Tesla despite these problems. Either they were also being candid, or they just want to be able to sell these BEVs to someone else when the warranty ends. Good luck to those willing to find out which is the correct answer.