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Comment by cs702 | Hacker News Reader

My experience with quality as the owner of two Teslas, including a Model 3 purchased within the past year:

* Tesla fit and finish has improved but IMHO isn't yet quite on par with, say, MB and BMW -- e.g., panels and seals don't seem to be as perfectly aligned, and some gaps seem as if they're just a little wider than in those other two brands. However, I much prefer Tesla's interior -- modern, simple, uncluttered. Every other vehicle interior now feels cluttered and last-century to me.

* Tesla reliability has been amazing for me. No regular check-ups or oil changes required! And once the novelty wears off, the vehicles just keep working, and they don't seem to age as much. Our other Tesla is two years old now and its interior still feels brand new. It seems Tesla has chosen materials for the interior that feel "artificial" and "light" but somehow last and last and last without showing any wear and tear.

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My Model 3 is over four years old, still running great, zero maintenance. (I have a lift and rotate the tires myself, so actually zero maintenance money out of pocket cost other than replacing the tires.) Tesla replaced the backup camera for free - they came to me to perform the warranty repair.

My Model Y is two years old, no problems.

Combined mileage between the two vehicles is just shy of 150K.

The fit and finish of my older Model 3 has always just felt a bit better than the Y. I had to fix a weird creaking emanating from the rear hatch of the Y - a loose panel.

My Model 3 is the vehicle I have owned for the longest time and used continually. I haven't even had a desire to look for a new vehicle, which is way outside of my usual car purchasing behavior. (I have owned - and spent way, way too many hours myself on maintenance and repairing ICE vehicles.)

So you seem spend 1000-2000 hours a year driving cars around… thank god I have all this time doing other things

I don‘t understand the downvotes. If you drive more than 10000 km a year with a car you are not only doing yourself a disfavor, you are also a huge liability for society.

The priority should be no travel > walking > biking > transit > car

Why make assumptions about the OP? Maybe he’s a doctor doing house calls or a surgeon driving to the hospital.

Or they just do long road trips once or twice a year

A long trip of 40000 miles? That‘s one long trip

I have roughly the same experience with my Model 3. Fit and finish is acceptable, matching the entry-level luxury vehicles I have owned in the past (vehicles from Acura, BMW, Infiniti, etc.)

The quality of materials is debatable since, for example, Tesla exclusively uses synthetic material and no leather. But as you point out, the durability of these materials seems very good. Even with routine leather care, my previous vehicle with a leather interior showed more significant signs of wear at the same point in its life.

Opposite experience, here. I've never had aesthetic, chassis, or body panel issues, but the M3P has been endless problems:

  - I've gone through three 12v batteries in four years.
  - I've lost 40% of main battery pack capacity in four years (the first chunk of lost range was within a month of purchase).
  - The rear camera randomly loses signal while trying to back up.
  - Wifi Radios are incompatible with Ubiquiti Nano HD radios.
  - Software updates are a fun game of "ok, what won't work after this one?" or "Which critical UI functions did they move to a completely different place this time?"
  - Autopilot has tried to kill me several times: usually with random hard braking for no reason, but once with a completely incorrect and sudden lane divergence.
  - Most recently: the climate control system stopped working entirely a month ago. If I try to turn it on, the car has an electrical fault and I can't drive. So, I get to sweat profusely while waiting for a timeframe I can afford to be without the vehicle for the week+ it will be at the service center.

panels and seals are not as perfectly aligned, and some gaps seem as if they're just a little wider than in those other two brands.

I see this complaint a lot, but I've never understood how serious it is. Is it purely an aesthetic thing or does it actually effect the the longevity or road worthiness of the car in any way?

My Acura had some slightly misaligned panels and they never contributed any perceptible issue to the road worthiness of that car during my ~15 years of ownership. There were some interior rattles over time, but I've never had a car that didn't eventually develop some rattles.

I have not observed any panel misalignment on my Model 3.

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