# Everytime that drivers get excited about seeing my Model 3...



## PatrickM (Oct 3, 2017)

... I figure it out about 5 seconds after I've driven away. So today I'm driving over to go for a hike with my daughter and someone passes me in another car and they flash me three times quickly and I looked over and they are waving and smiling, and I somehow managed to wave and smile back just about the time that they were passing my back bumper. And it's not just this once that I have totally missed the reason why people are waving out the window at me... it happens more or less every time. The first thought that always crosses my mind is "what? I haven't messed up have I? what did I do wrong?" and then when I see the smile it's always a bit too late.

And all these other people who look at me.. I have gotten used to everything else about the car except that people pay attention to it. I'm still not used to it. So I've determined that even if you give me the coolest car in the world, I'm still too much of a dork to look cool in it.

So, yeah, people who were in the white Honda Honda CRV who passed me by Sam's Club on Harmony flashing and waving in Fort Collins today... sorry I looked confused. I did wave... way too late.


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## goto10 (Mar 15, 2018)

I've had that a lot too. One guy waved his hat out the window while whooping and hollering. The cart guy at Costco gave me a wave and a thumbs up. Kids in my neighborhood will tap their friends on the shoulder and point. It's weird driving a car that's also a celebrity.


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## Joaquin (Jan 15, 2018)

I think people also pay more attention to new cars without plates. I remember when I got my Miata, I got a bunch of "nice car!" comments at the very beginning. Later when I got the plates, not any more interactions.

Let's see how it goes with the Model 3, I'm pretty sure it will turn heads. You know, red is not that visible... right?


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

This is the hardest part of ownership! You’re driving a unicorn and people freak out when they see their first unicorn


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

One day it will be just like seeing another Camry


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## c2c (Sep 19, 2017)

Camry.


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## LUXMAN (Apr 4, 2016)

c2c said:


> Camry.


Thanks. I wasn't sure on the spelling as I never would ever consider one


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## Bokonon (Apr 13, 2017)

PatrickM said:


> So, yeah, people who were in the white Honda Honda CRV who passed me by Sam's Club on Harmony flashing and waving in Fort Collins today... sorry I looked confused. I did wave... way too late.


Soooo I totally thought of this thread today, because I've figured out that, as of last week, there is now a beautiful blue Model 3 that commutes in the opposite direction as I do... and today I basically was the driver in the white CRV. 

I left the office at 5pm on the dot, as I've done for the past three workdays, and sure enough, there it was, traveling in the left lane on the other side of state highway, within a half-mile radius of my other sightings, and easily identifiable from a distance. I quickly rolled down my window flashed my high-beams several times, and triumphantly thrust my left arm out the window with a three-finger salute... !!!... to no effect whatsoever.  Alas, the driver seemed to be laser-focused on the road ahead, with an iron grip on the steering wheel... c'mon man, this is Boston! That's not how we drive here! We're all about inter-car interactions, for better and for worse*.

* Usually the latter. 

Postscript: later, when I was waiting at a stoplight, I texted my dad, a big Tesla fan (former S owner / current X owner / aspiring Roadster owner if TSLA hits $1500 before they take away his license ) who is in town for a visit. He has yet to encounter a Model 3 in person back home in Portland, so we were commiserating over the fact that, by the same token, I have only seen two Model 3s in the wild here in Boston, despite the fact that the Dedham store has delivered hundreds of them over the past few months. Anyway, I text-bragged about my newfound Model 3 commuter-companion... and his matter-of-fact response was: "OK. Parked by one at Home Depot today. Looked great. VIN 4604."


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## Grashelm (Aug 4, 2017)

LUXMAN said:


> One day it will be just like seeing another Camry


^^^^
As the ramp accelerates, you won't have to worry about doe-eyed kiss-ups slobbering over your new ride!!! When it becomes just another mass-produced small sedan and the shiny gee-whiz effect is no more some may be disappointed.....


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## Joaquin (Jan 15, 2018)

Bokonon said:


> and triumphantly thrust my left arm out the window with a three-finger salute... !!!


Hey, I thought nobody else liked the 3-finger salute!

I remember proposing this in reddit several months ago an basically everybody ignored me.


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## Quicksilver (Dec 29, 2016)

Bokonon said:


> Soooo I totally thought of this thread today, because I've figured out that, as of last week, there is now a beautiful blue Model 3 that commutes in the opposite direction as I do... and today I basically was the driver in the white CRV.
> 
> I left the office at 5pm on the dot, as I've done for the past three workdays, and sure enough, there it was, traveling in the left lane on the other side of state highway, within a half-mile radius of my other sightings, and easily identifiable from a distance. I quickly rolled down my window flashed my high-beams several times, and triumphantly thrust my left arm out the window with a three-finger salute... !!!... to no effect whatsoever.  Alas, the driver seemed to be laser-focused on the road ahead, with an iron grip on the steering wheel... c'mon man, this is Boston! That's not how we drive here! We're all about inter-car interactions, for better and for worse*.
> 
> ...


Your comment about Boston personality reminds me of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers! They make me laugh till I cried!  They were such wonderful crazy guys.


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## Bokonon (Apr 13, 2017)

Joaquin said:


> Hey, I thought nobody else liked the 3-finger salute!
> I remember proposing this in reddit several months ago an basically everybody ignored me.


Yeah, same thing happened to me on TMC two years ago. The one response I received was, "Uh, you do know that's a gang sign, right?"


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## Vendacious (Aug 3, 2017)

LUXMAN said:


> One day it will be just like seeing another Camry


Here in Southern California we're not too far from that day. On an average 20 minute commute I see 4-5 Model S, 4-5 Model X, and at least one Model 3. I'm expecting by next year I will be seeing too many Model 3s to count each day.


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## mwoody999 (Apr 22, 2018)

PatrickM said:


> ... I figure it out about 5 seconds after I've driven away. So today I'm driving over to go for a hike with my daughter and someone passes me in another car and they flash me three times quickly and I looked over and they are waving and smiling, and I somehow managed to wave and smile back just about the time that they were passing my back bumper. And it's not just this once that I have totally missed the reason why people are waving out the window at me... it happens more or less every time. The first thought that always crosses my mind is "what? I haven't messed up have I? what did I do wrong?" and then when I see the smile it's always a bit too late.
> 
> And all these other people who look at me.. I have gotten used to everything else about the car except that people pay attention to it. I'm still not used to it. So I've determined that even if you give me the coolest car in the world, I'm still too much of a dork to look cool in it.
> 
> So, yeah, people who were in the white Honda Honda CRV who passed me by Sam's Club on Harmony flashing and waving in Fort Collins today... sorry I looked confused. I did wave... way too late.


You live in FoCo? Me too... Any chance we could take a look at your 3? Will buy you a coffee. Ours was config'd on 4/18...no vin yet.


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## PatrickM (Oct 3, 2017)

mwoody999 said:


> You live in FoCo? Me too... Any chance we could take a look at your 3? Will buy you a coffee. Ours was config'd on 4/18...no vin yet.


Sure. I'd say "any time" except tomorrow is Mother's Day and my wife wouldn't be impressed. But, sure, any time that isn't tomorrow.

Start a conversation in the conversation tab and we can figure out a time and date to meet.


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## Azthrillhouse (Dec 2, 2017)

Bokonon said:


> Yeah, same thing happened to me on TMC two years ago. The one response I received was, "Uh, you do know that's a gang sign, right?"


What about making a "T" for "Tesla" with both hands, like you're calling a timeout? Autopilot will take care of the steering, after all... (I kid, I kid)


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## rareohs (Sep 15, 2017)

Mine gets way less attention than I thought it would to be honest. I live 20min from downtown Portland and in 6 weeks of ownership I’ve literally seen 1 other Model 3, and only one time.

I did valet at a nice hotel this week and the valet guys were pretty stoked about it


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## KarenRei (Jul 27, 2017)

LUXMAN said:


> Thanks. I wasn't sure on the spelling as I never would ever consider one


Fun fact: "Camry" is another in a line of Toyota vehicles named after crowns (Crown, Corolla, Corona, Tiara - and tangentially, Scepter). It comes from the Japanese word for crown, "kanmuri".


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## JeopardE (Mar 24, 2018)

KarenRei said:


> Fun fact: "Camry" is another in a line of Toyota vehicles named after crowns (Crown, Corolla, Corona, Tiara - and tangentially, Scepter). It comes from the Japanese word for crown, "kanmuri".


Really? I thought it was Japanese for "boring".


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

rareohs said:


> Mine gets way less attention than I thought it would to be honest. I live 20min from downtown Portland and in 6 weeks of ownership I've literally seen 1 other Model 3, and only one time.
> 
> I did valet at a nice hotel this week and the valet guys were pretty stoked about it


I took a couple of WA State Ferries this weekend. Both times I pulled up to the ticket booth I was treated extremely courteously in contrast to the usual bored/indifferent/superior treatment I get as a member of the general public by a State worker who has to deal with thousands of people every day. I think they know enough to not comment on the customer's personal vehicle but I do think that people who work day in and day out around running cars appreciate the clean and silent EV's, particularly a Tesla since they are so recognizable as being pure EV.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

I should add that multiple times I heard people say in an excited tone "that's a Model 3" or "that's a Tesla" to their SO after we had walked away from the car but still were within general earshot. The men seemed more clued in as they are often the ones telling their wives they need to go back to check it out. But the wives seem interested enough to go look. This is just a generalization from having seen three or four couples respond that way.


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