# Impressions from a new owner



## K-MTG (Sep 22, 2017)

A friend of mine who has a relative that works at Tesla took delivery of his 3 last week (VIN 800s).

*Build Quality*:
It's nearly perfect!! The panel alignments are perfect, everything is sturdy and clean, the seals are also pretty good...but still slightly bent in the top corners of windows, not really a big deal. Much better than 57xx Model X...and this car is in the 800s!!!
The seats don't have any wrinkles, and they aren't any rattles!

*Space*
The car has a lot of space! The trunk is huge, rear legroom and headroom is not as much as the 6-seater X but still really good. The center counsel is awesome!!

*The Screen*
Coming from the X, it will still take some getting use to. The U.I doesn't seem entirely finished as certain tasks are still not-intuitive but it is still responsive. I still prefer the X/S screen layout but this is still pretty good. Also, it seems that they need to fix the auto-brighness.

*Autopilot*
He was told not to turn it on till the car reaches 200 miles for calibration.

*Mobile App*
It wasn't really working properly on his Android device...so he had to use the key card. Kept on getting connection errors and phone key didn't work.

*The Drive*
Handling is pretty good, steering is nice...it is almost as good as my X. 

*Delivery Experience*
Tesla made him sign an NDA so he isn't letting me post any pics or videos...I begged him! He was told not to let any media or 3rd party gain access to the car. He was told not to take the 3 into any shop for tinting/wash or something like that and not to valet the car.
Also, he said the delivery process was smooth but the reps didn't have any answers to the questions he was asking...probably since the car was so new.
I am not sure why Tesla is so worried regarding this...the car is nearly perfect and a lot of people will like it. The early X's were a lot worse...Tesla has nothing to worry about.

I am nearly asleep...ate to much turkey so apologies if something I wrote earlier doesn't make any sense.


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## RCvetter (Sep 13, 2017)

K-MTG said:


> *Autopilot*
> He was told not to turn it on till the car reaches 200 miles for calibration.


The car tells you when it's calibrated - that's when Autopilot becomes available to use. Ours calibrated after about 30 miles. From my understanding, it doesn't often take more than 100 miles and is usually less than that.

It would be helpful if the reps gave the same info across the board, because I've heard of people being told anywhere from 50 to 500 miles.


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

K-MTG said:


> *Delivery Experience*
> Tesla made him sign an NDA so he isn't letting me post any pics or videos...I begged him! He was told not to let any media or 3rd party gain access to the car. He was told not to take the 3 into any shop for tinting/wash or something like that and not to valet the car.
> Also, he said the delivery process was smooth but the reps didn't have any answers to the questions he was asking...probably since the car was so new.
> I am not sure why Tesla is so worried regarding this...the car is nearly perfect and a lot of people will like it. The early X's were a lot worse...Tesla has nothing to worry about.
> .


Thanks for all this info! Glad your friend found the car satisfactory!

FWIW, after the well-meaning but inaccurate reviews from the likes of OCDetailing, I can see why Tesla doesn't want any third party access to the car especially when the firmware is still being finalized. The comments about don't valet or take to a tint shop seem very targeted towards addressing the fallout from that video.

I agree with you 100% though, Tesla has nothing to worry about as this car is nearly perfect!


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## EVfusion (Mar 10, 2017)

RCvetter said:


> The car tells you when it's calibrated - that's when Autopilot becomes available to use. Ours calibrated after about 30 miles. From my understanding, it doesn't often take more than 100 miles and is usually less than that.
> 
> It would be helpful if the reps gave the same info across the board, because I've heard of people being told anywhere from 50 to 500 miles.


Is calibration purely car dependent, independent of location? If not places with more Model 3s and/or better road markings such as Redwood City may calibrate quicker. That would also imply calibration would become faster as roll-out proceeds. That would also mean some variation in rep advice could be justified depending on location.


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## 3V Pilot (Sep 15, 2017)

The newly posted owners manual states 20-25 miles for AP calibration. Then you have to stop the car, and put it in park before the features will activate. I’m assuming that the delivery people haven’t seen the manual yet or maybe the first cars took longer to calibrate. In any case, 25 miles is not bad.


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## RCvetter (Sep 13, 2017)

Fun_for_the_grandkids said:


> Is calibration purely car dependent, independent of location? If not places with more Model 3s and/or better road markings such as Redwood City may calibrate quicker. That would also imply calibration would become faster as roll-out proceeds. That would also mean some variation in rep advice could be justified depending on location.


It's car dependent. So, number of calibrated cars on the road should not have an effect.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

That’s great to hear about early build quality!

I really just get more crazy, excited, and impatient each day. 

I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when I get “the email”.


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## John Kuzma (Mar 24, 2017)

Rather than starting a new thread, I thought I would add to talk about my impressions after having Blue Steel (VIN 130XX for 24 hours.

Short answer: The car is everything I hoped for and many of the issues raised by earlier reviewers have turned out to be non-issues in my opinion.

Slightly Expanded Answer:

1. Delivery process was very smooth with my spouse and I signing the paperwork, getting a walkthrough from the Delivery Rep and heading out the door in ~ 45 minutes.

2. I have never driven a Tesla or even sat in one before today (I am still staggered by the leap of faith I took with this purchase) although I have closely (my family would say obsessively) followed every preview, first look, and review I could get my hands on. Some of the things I was worried about but really shouldn't have:

a. The screen / touch controls-- We haven't found it to be distracting at all. I suspect it would be more of an issue if the cruise speed control and distance controls on the steering wheel were not functional.

b. Interior -- I'm 6'4 and I found the interior to be both roomy and attractive in a zen-sorta way.

c. Ride Quality - Ride seems quite smooth, maybe they adjusted the suspension by the time Blue Steel hit the production line?

d. Regenerative breaking - I was afraid that there would be a learning curve before I would be able to drive the car without jerking starts and stops. Another non-issue although I think it will get even smoother as I get more experienced.

e. Build Quality - I'm puzzled by the Industry Rep talking about the "horrible" build quality he noted during the Model 3 tear down. The car seems well put together, but I guess that's why I'm not an industry expert.

3. One surprise I did have was when I woke up this morning the Tesla app said I no longer had a vehicle associated with my account. A quick (panicked) call to Tesla service said that they only give access to the app for a day to familiarize new owners and that permanent access will take a week or so. The rep had not told us on delivery, and when I received a check-in from another Tesla Rep they said that this was just an administrative glitch and restored access to the app. I'm curious if I will lose access to the app tomorrow morning. I would've thought the app would be if not bullet-proof at least a little more polished. Regardless, the mixed messages from the Tesla people is a little off-putting.

Overall, it's a wonderful car and I'm delighted to join the Tesla family!

John


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

John Kuzma said:


> Rather than starting a new thread, I thought I would add to talk about my impressions after having Blue Steel (VIN 130XX for 24 hours.
> 
> Short answer: The car is everything I hoped for and many of the issues raised by earlier reviewers have turned out to be non-issues in my opinion.
> 
> ...


#3 sounds strange and inaccurate ...


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## John Kuzma (Mar 24, 2017)

I agree - I can understand glitches, but I find it very unsettling when I get inaccurate and inconsistent information from the supposed subject matter experts. I'll update everyone once I determine if I still have app access tomorrow.


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## John Kuzma (Mar 24, 2017)

Quick update - my iOS app worked fine this morning, so apparently this was just a (hopefully resolved) glitch. Car continues to be awesome.


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