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Comment by gibolt | Hacker News Reader

The comments here are extremely negative...

Seems that no one can imagine an owner experience that triumphs their <favorite_brand> in nearly every way.

Tesla may not be for everyone, but those who own one, tend to love the hell out of them.

I think people are naturally going to be biased against Tesla because of all the misleading marketing. Even if the experience on its own is good, it's tainted by the way they (mainly Elon, but not exclusively) chose to sell it.

Also Tesla's go against pretty much everything that most car enthusiasts want. Personally that's why I'm biased against them, I hate having to use a touch screen to open the glove box, I hate having to press a capacitive button to switch on the turn signals, and I hate the attempt to take away the driving experience and control from the driver. Of course for the average person, a lot of those things are pros not cons.

Do you actually hate those things? Or do you just hate the idea of it and think you won’t like it? Unless you’ve opened a Tesla, or rented one for an extended period like a week or two, I’m not sure how you could decide you “hate” something.

A lot of people think they will hate things that Tesla has done because it’s just so different from what they’re used to. But most have never actually experienced it before they form their opinions.

I don't think I have to drive a Tesla to conclude I hate those things, because my experience with pretty much every other product I've used has consistently re-enforced how much I hate them. There is no circumstance in which I would prefer to have to use a touch screen to change my window wiper speed, or seat heater. And I still miss my old manual transmission civic because shifting gears is fun, and because it wouldn't try to cut power in the snow, or keep me in my lane when I am intentionally moving out of it. I don't even use cruise control or lane keep assist, I want to be the one driving.

Pretty well every time I interact with a device that tries to replace some physical controls with a touch screen, or automation or something I think it is a worse experience. Except for Phillips Hue, that is pretty awesome. Although I still have full control.

Still enjoying your Blackberry? Everything you mentioned is an analogy, not direct experience, and generally uninformed.

> Of course for the average person, a lot of those things are pros not cons.

That's a really good point. I often see people on /r/cars shit on Tesla for a bunch of reasons why I love mine.

I assume that happens with other cars, but Teslas are a pretty different in a lot of was so it makes sense that it doesn't jive with some people.

Agreed. I have a Model 3, love it, it's more fun than the BMW m235i that I got several years ago because of the insane "fun" reviews, and the Model 3 lets me put infant car seats in the back, has longer range than the m235i, the model 3 is good for bringing up the entire family to ski at Tahoe, and hasn't needed serious electrical repairs like the BMW.

Nonetheless, I hate Tesla for it's ridiculous marketing. I knew that the "Full self driving" was a lie, I hate all that there middle aged white dudes that seems to worship this car back when I first got it becuase I just want to drive a car not have awkward fawning conversations, and I hate that people believe all of Musk's other obvious BS about cars in tunnels, etc.

But, this car is nice, I have to admit that.

not a car person and I also haven't used a touchscreen based car yet, but yeah I think the lack of haptic controls at least in my mind would make it a lot harder to operate the radio, AC, etc. safely without having to take your eyes off the road. I don't get the appeal of the touchscreen beyond looking fancy.

I thought this would be a problem, but that has not been my experience so far.

I'm far more annoyed with other screens I've used in rental cars that still had physical buttons. If you have to glance at the screen to understand the current state in order to know which button to press, there's little advantage to the physical buttons.

Personal opinion, but my only gripe with Tesla is their low build quality (or at least, last time I checked one out), if I'm going to shell out that much money, I'd rather add a little extra and go with Porsche. But, I'm pretty happy with what they've done for the EV industry as a whole.

I'd say the production quality has gone up but the material quality has pretty much stayed the same.

The interiors are just not very premium. The new S/X have some more modern niceties, but even they have very slimmed down interiors.

A comparable Porsche to any of the Tesla models is a lot more though. Probably 2x as much, if you compare the Taycan to the Model S.

The new Taycan base model is about 80k$ which is roughly 10k more than an S model.

If you buy the base Taycan, you’ll have RWD only, the short-range battery, and be smoked by the comparable Model S from a stoplight. To get a Taycan with comparable features, you’ll need to spend something like $120k.

The build quality is fine. Tesla gets crazy press and gets extra scrutiny whereas others get a pass at this stuff.

Also I don’t why you’re comparing it to a Porsche when this article is about Model 3. There’s no Porsche you can buy for $40k. If you’re comparing it to a Model S or X, they don’t really have the same build quality issues that came up for Model 3 and Y since they’re made at much lower volume and cost much more.

My wife loves hers (Model 3 Performance), warts and all. She loves not having to get gas. Lots of other things, but generally it’s just a car she loves. Very fast, easy to move around in traffic, etc. she’s IoT even a Musk/Tesla fan girl. Just likes the car. I’m less impressed, but for the price it’s a great vehicle. I’m not even slightly surprised by this.

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