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Comment by adoxyz | Hacker News Reader

I have a 2018 Tesla Model 3. It has been the absolute best car I've ever owned. But it will be my last and only Tesla.

A Model 3 built today has less features, costs more, and performs worse than my 2018 Model 3.

The Autopilot/FSD nonsense has soured me off the Tesla brand.

I will admit though, that the competition, even today is lacking compared to my 2018 Model 3, but I'm hoping Rivian pulls through and WV has got some nice stuff coming as well. I'm in no hurry though, I think my current EV can easily last another 5-10 years, so I'm optimistic.

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>A Model 3 built today has less features

I have a 2021 TM3 and I don't think it has.

- heatpump for one makes a major difference

- LFP battery is great (available only in SR+)

- powered lift trunk

- double pane front windows

- wireless charging trays (a simple thing, but very nice)

- USB-C ports (and the drive can be mounted in the locked glove box)

- Ryzen CPU

- matrix headlights (not sure if this is true in US)

- outer (pedestrian awareness) speaker

- magnetic sun visor clips

- depending on location, the build quality is also much better now

I'm surely forgetting/not aware about more changes.

And that's not counting the many improvements that came in software updates, which of course you now have as well, but they were not in your car when you bought it in 2018. E.g. sentry mode.

Inflation is global, so you should also consider the fact that you bought it at the right time. The other companies you mentioned also have to fight with inflation, Tesla is not the only one.

As for me I tried a Model 3 once and it didn't feel as comfortable as my 15 year old BMW 3 with beige leather seats, and somehow I expect improved comfort over what I already have.

>A Model 3 built today has less features, costs more, and performs worse than my 2018 Model 3.

Don't you think this was typical of car manufacturers during the chip shortage? Higher prices but lacking simple features.

Most car manufacturers had to deal with chip and part shortages. The way many of them handled it was delivering a car without features and offering to add the feature back when it's in stock free of charge or gave discounts for not including the feature.

The way Tesla handled it was piss poor. Removing USS 6 months before they had a solution. Delivering a half-baked solution that is less trustworthy than not having it all. And it's par for the course. Smart Summon hasn't had an update since 2019 and is a joke. Auto park is useless for most cases. If Tesla had come out and said "Look, supply chain is fucked, we're shipping without these features, but we'll add them back in the future" I don't think many people would be pissed. But them trying to frame it as a positive and better alternative, when it clearly isn't, is just annoying at this point.

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