Bought this gorgeous thing yesterday and was wondering if y'all got any Tesla insider tips or something useful for a noob? :)
I think mine auto does it now when I added home to the navigation.
Off the top of my mind: - always use the navigator & trust it for the route/traffic - get premium connectivity - switch to % instead of km/miles - try to arrive at superchargers with low battery, especially for longer trips - download apps that give you the position of all other charging points, like "nextcharge" - And finally, just enjoy your very fast & very quiet car!
Navigate to superchargers to it preconditions the battery for the fastest charge rate.
True but it's not intuitive for a new driver
Why don't they add a precondition button. It would make it so much easier.
Pre-conditioning puts the battery in a warmup routine, this is similar what the Plaid feature does. It uses energy to do so, the entire mission of the Model 3 and Y are to be efficient.
It's also bad for the battery health. Heat and high/over-charge is their #1 killer.
Its good for moving ions fast tho..
Agreed, if performance is paramount then it will be at a cost. This is also why batteries tend to last longer when they are charged on level 2 regularly, instead of DC Fast charging. The degradation of the battery is significantly greater is you primarily use supercharging to charge your vehicle.
It wouldn’t for the average User. Most people don’t Even know their car preconditions the battery at all.
Most people have no idea how their cars work, and they have no interest in learning that.
Really? It tells you when you arrive at the supercharger that preconditioning the battery allows for a faster charge.
Ya and a check engine light says check your engine but people still don’t give a damn
Ok then.
“Does it have a reverse camera?” - has owned their car for a couple months now.
I don’t know either, and I’m afraid to ask.
You can schedule to precondition the battery via the Tesla app.
It automatically does this.
Only when you navigate to super chargers. When you want to charge anywhere else it will not do it.
Preconditioning is only really necessary for supercharging, unless it's very very cold out.
Also, you don't need to navigate to a supercharger directly in most use cases. For long trips just put in your final destination, the car plans your supercharger stops for you.
If you didn't like the plan, there's apps like ABRP that you can use to manually plan it out, but for the casual road trip just trusting the Tesla navigation should be fine
There are different fast charges than Teslas but it only preconditions when navigating to a super charger. But it would definitely be helpful for every fast charger.
True enough. I hadn’t thought about that. That would be a good upgrade function.
My wife didn't know and I told her it warms up the battery to charge faster and I don't know how to do it manually
Whats the reason you recommend premium connectivity?
I canceled it, used the automation feature from my phone to always turn on the hotspot when it connects to the car and therefore always have WiFi in the car. The only downside is that I have to manually turn the WiFi on when I get in the car.
You have a more than valid substitute, but it's only when you're in the car. Iirc you can't see the cameras remotely without premium connectivity and I tend to check them often.
I don’t use the premium connectivity either. I use to use the hotspot from my iphone but that stressed me out after a while. My phone contract includes multi sims and I can connect up to 10 devices with my contact. I installed a 4g Stick in my car that uses that. A mini usb hub in the glove box, Tesla Stick in it for sentry mode and an extension usb wire that goes up the right A pillar that’s where I placed the stick. Before I leave my apartment, I open the Tesla app so it wakes the car up. By the time I get in the car, the stick is powered up and the Tesla computer connected to the WiFi already. So then I’m ready to go
Why do you need Wifi in the car? Superchargers have Wifi sometimes right?
For Spotify, tunein etc while driving. Also, at least here in Germany, very few superchargers have WiFi.
Oh, so if you hotspot you can use the Spotify app on the car? I thought that was only if you pay for premium. I just use it through bluetooth though
Yes, of course. I can use anything, Netflix, Spotify, twitch etc, doesn’t matter if you use WiFi or premium connectivity.
The only thing you don’t get without premium connectivity is access to the camera via the app and visualization of traffic/satellite view of the map. Navigation is the same though, including real time traffic adjustments, it just doesn’t show it visually.
Oh, nice! Good way to save some money. I’ve been just using Bluetooth and don’t mind it but might have to try the hotspot
…and trust it for the route/traffic.
“Haha, stupid navigation taking us through this traffic jam. I know a side road, and look, there’s barely anyone on it!”
Aaaaaand now we are not moving at all.
Trust the navigation. It can see far more than you can.
This, 100 times this.
One time it told me to get off the highway, through country roads, and I was like "naaa it'll be good".
He already knew about a huge accident that happened 15km in front of me and I got stuck there for a couple hours (the last exit before the accident was the one he wanted me to take)
Traffic display is one reason I keep the premium connection.
Whatever he/she said he. I didn’t change to % on the dash, but supercharging only under 20%. Trust the navigation and indication of range. It’s scary, but ultimately reliable When going to another charger that the car doesn’t recognise as such, make it navigate to a nearby super charger it does recognise so it starts preparing the battery for charging.
The % on arrival is very very accurate, I often use the energy menu where you can see the value with decimals for higher precision.
One time I got to the supercharger with 2,3%, kinda scary especially considering 9/12 stalls were ICED
☝️
He asked for tips, I gave mine
I’m agreeing with all
Why would you switch to %? Km/miles is much more useful.
Would you prefer your cell phone tell you how many minutes are left in it's charge? Probably not, because you understand that certain apps might drain the battery faster, making it unreliable. Same with the car - unexpected issues like headwinds, rain on the road surface, elevation changes, climate settings, etc can render the estimate unreliable.
I find the % more precise, but in the end it's just personal preference.
The distance is more useful imo but yeah to each their own.
Curbs are the enemy
245/45/R18 tires are your friend.
skill issue
The enemy of your enemy is my friend or something like that
How is that a Tesla thing? Seems like a general driving thing 🤷🏽♂️
The rims stick out every so slightly from the tire sidewall, considerably raising the chances your wheels are going to get scraped instead of the tire Sidewall absorbing the hit.
so true, my friend drove corolla for 15 years , never stretch, never curb problem. she hit twice already, and door dent :p
Yep. My only experience in a Tesla was I rented one for a few days and curbed a wheel. Had to pay about 250.00 for repairs. The rims do stick out further than the sidewall.
Not when you drive a truck. I'll hop any curb in my taco and f350 but gotta turn that option off in my brain when driving my model 3.
You've got a Tesla?
I've kerbed my alloys three times in 6 months, previously once in 20 years. Low profile tyres on rims that protrude so the first thing that touches a kerb is the rim. There's a company selling clip-in anti-kerbing trims for Teslas. But yes clearly it's not a Tesla issue, it's the driver. /s.
Also, if you're new to Tesla, don't think the thing will drive itself. The default 'autopilot' will cheerfully run red lights. It will cruise to a halt behind a queue, then restart when the car in front moves. The auto wipers are seriously annoying.
On the plus side, it's extremely efficient and very comfortable to drive; just don't believe the Tesla acolytes that say they're perfect, because they aren't. But it's a nice car.
FSD loves curves.
Yeah, if you look around practically every car has rim damage.
Tires last just fine if you don't smash on the pedal every chance you get. Precondition with the car plugged in. Installing tint will help make it feel less like a fish bowl driving around in bright sunlight.
Safe to say most will learn the hard way when it comes to the tires lol
I got a Tesla to smash the pedal
No problem with that, but the amount of "my tires never last" threads on Reddit is alarming, seems like people don't correlate the two.
Change the oil every 3,000 miles.
Don’t forget to add gas when low
Full synthetic right?
If you use full synthetic you can go a solid 5k miles. Are you an amateur?
Yes, and don’t forget to flush the brake fluid every 17,500 miles 😂
Tint your windows ASAP
If you live in a warm/sunny state, pay extra for ceramic… IR heat blocking really works wonders
I have the LLumar Nano-ceramic IRX on every single window including the windshield and sunroof.
Heat rejection, UV protection and glare reduction. Plus it looks great!!
Just curious, why? Is it just a visual thing?
This may just be an anomaly, but I had two cars (1 was tinted, 1 wasn’t). The leather degraded so much quicker on the car with no tint. Ever since then I tint my cars almost immediately.
Ceramic tint will also reduce the heat inside the vehicle requiring less air condition and saving battery.
Seconding the ceramic tint. My husband didn’t want anything too dark so we got a 70% ceramic tint on all the windows, even the front windshield. It cuts way down on heat but isn’t so dark as to hamper vision at night.
It turns into a greenhouse where I live.
Voice command “open butthole” opens the charge port.
there’s no way
When you go through a car wash put it in car wash mode…otherwise your beautiful car will smell like feet.
lol we always fight with throwing it into neutral. It’s embarrassing
Last time I went through I put it in neutral after about 5 attempts. My car came to rest on the exact spot that shuts down the entire line. They had to knock on my window to say put it back in drive and go a little further in…then try to put it in neutral again. 🤣
Glad I’m not the only one
Why is that?
Vents stay open and trap water
Thank you, Oh Boy…
That being said, you’ll still need to replace your air filter at some point as water inadvertently ends up getting in there be it from rain or car washes or whatever. If you spray some foaming coil cleaner into the vent opening, it eliminates the smell pretty effectively.
Don’t go through a car wash if you have a performance…
Don’t even go thru a car wash unless you want to mess up the cheap Tesla paint
So how do you wish it? At home every time?
This link is maintained by /r/AutoDetailing and has a great beginner's guide. Since I live in an apartment I just stick to pre-wash at the self service station then a rinseless wash with a bucket. I go at night so I don't get kicked out for hogging up the stall with my bucket
Pressure washer with foam cannon, chemical guys soap, two bucket method, a few scrubbing mits, and a leaf blower to dry it off.
I use McGuires waterless wash with microfiber cloths. Only use water if really soiled.
INSTALL MUD FLAPS! They are a must have. $25 on Temu, or $79+ elsewhere. Easy to install.
Most useful tip for an absolute Tesla beginner would be this, in my opinion:
if you’re driving and need to do something, literally anything that involves distracting you from the road ahead, like touching the screen and scrolling through the menus, you should first try to do whatever you’re trying to do with the voice commands.
The car is very smart and can do most of the things just with voice input.
Don't bother complaining about the auto wipers, it's a very well known issue. (and your wipers will go back to auto if you use EAP or FSD).
Also don't really watch your range/battery percentage until you have drove it like a week or more, when they are brand new they are still like calibrating the battery so it does strange things with the battery percentage.
oh beware of curbs, those rims are magnets for them... ! If it tells you to stop when parking, stop.
To avoid range anxiety on long distance trips, look at the energy graph 'trip' tab from time to time.
It shows a graph which compares your predicted energy usage V's your actual usage.
Whilst it's fairly easy to keep your actual usage on track with the predicted usage by sticking to the speed limit, if you are using too much, you'll be able to tell early enough to either slow down or add an extra charging stop well before you actually need it.
If you do this, you'll have zero range anxiety.
Fun story, during a recent ~250 mile long trip, the navigator originally set a stop at a supercharger about 175 miles in. Mid-trip, it rerouted me so that I would stop at 0 superchargers and I would arrive at my destination with 1% charge. Good thing I noticed, otherwise that would’ve fucked me over big time.
Pro tip, add your next stop after your destination, so it knows you have more places to go, not just that first destination. On trips, I end up making the whole itinerary from home and back into one route, tweaking the stops along the way
I prefer to just use the navigator, the estimate on it works very well. But sure, looking at the energy graph from time to time can help.
Agreed, it does work well. But my reply was to help a newbie overcome any possible range anxiety they might have.
Plus, most people have no idea how to make sense of what the energy graph is trying to tell you so they ignore it.
If you care about your paint in any capacity, then PPF on front bumper is a must. If I could do it again I would have got PPF on the side skirts as well. Tesla paint melts off the car in my experience with rock chips.
You are going to want one of these
1) When you put in a service ticket, that estimate they send won’t be charged if the problem is covered under warranty.
2) There is a button on the charger handle to activate your charge port.
Ppf on the front and hood. Mud flaps/guards on all 4 corners
It can fart
If you're using the Mobile Charger for home charging AND if you're going to travel often, then buy another Mobile Charger so you know that one will always be in the car.
Don’t loan it to anyone
To engage the parking brake, press the button on the stock twice and on the second one, hold it just a little longer and you’ll hear a click. Also, to open the charge port, press the microphone button on the steering wheel and use the command: “Open Butthole” (not even joking)
Drive safe and remain in control at all times
These websites - Bookmark them in your Tesla Browser and see which one you like best.
https://www.fullscreentesla.com/
https://members.abettertheater.com/
Now you can have fullscreen (or half screen) apps running like Waze, google maps, Amazon prime / heaps of others - that Tesla don't offer.
It's like a mini App store for your Tesla (does some nifty fullscreen trick through your YouTube)
There is a sub trunk in the trunk ! I had the car 3-4 weeks and couldn't figure out why I had one extra piece left over from the mat set I bought.
Keep glass cleaner in the frunk for road trips
Pro tips: it’s either within spec, or it’s totaled.
Really make sure you're sealing/waxing the paint regularly, because Tesla uses shitty soft clearcoat that's extremely susceptible to damage from hard water or insects. The paint is also super thin so paint correction is a real pain.
Always park next to another Tesla.
Mini Rule #1…
Don't put regular gas in it, they are premium only.
Look into one or the other... Coating(minimal protection), ppf(actual protection)
yeah, read the manual. it's actually a good read.
Oh, and Google search voice commands. Because I am a 14-year-old boy at heart, my favorite is "open butt hole." This opens the charge port. There are other good ones like "fold mirrors". I also liked setting a speed speed button so the left steering wheel knob controls the fan speed.
Red Teslas are the best 🔥🔥🔥
Based on the posts here. The first time you let your better half drive the car, they will either wreck it or curb the wheels!
It goes Bing when the light turns green.
inside tips… em… return it… lol j/k
Learn what battery you have and charge to what it suggest.
Make sure you know auto pilot and fsd are 2 different things .
Definitely use no touch car wash if you can and get touch up paint for all the rock chips that will come ha. Definitely charge at home instead of fast charging because of cost savings.
Start saving for tires
Drive with normal acceleration in Chill mode and the tires will be fine. Daily launches in Standard mode... start saving for tires.
Share your Google maps destination location to Tesla app on phone and it automatically starts navigation on the car screen.
Buy all weather mats. Refer a friend with your referral code. Use the credit to buy acceleration boost. Zoom zoom
Get good windshield insurance coverage. They are notoriously thin and break easily. One replacement in a year, then I had 2 replaced within a week. One week! Then, two months later, a good sized chip, but it was fixable and located down low so it's not too distracting.
Tire rotations!
If you pull P whilst turning you can perform a handbrake skid.
Press the button on the left stalk for wipers, then press the left toggle wheel right to increase wiper pace or left to decrease it. You’ll see the menu pop up on the screen as you press the stalk button but it’s much easier to use the scroll button than using the touchscreen all the time.
Gorgeous, I have the same color. I'd say be mindful of your charging habits, avoid fast charging unless you're roadtripping and generally try to rely on home charging as much as you can. Also, keep it at 80-90% for your charging limit. I just got mine around two months ago and I've already put over 3,000 miles, I love it!
avoiding fast charging is a myth from the early days of tesla
Don't trust autopilot!
Start shopping for tires. Your first set will not last as long as you think.
I got 31K out of the Primacy MX4 (2021). Just got a set of Hankook Ion Evo AS!
Leave your charge level on % vice miles. It will save you from false range anxiety
Smash the go pedal (when safe to do so).
Haha. My advice was to be careful about speeding. But I like yours also.
Is this the default blue metallic color?
If your in a state that allows the driving score beta don’t follow to close and done let the head on collision bing sound happen to often as your premium will sky rocket.
Get rid of the ugly Aero wheel covers!! Either just have naked alloys, with nut covers and centre caps, or get some nicer wheel covers from Aliexpress or Amazon.
Watch out for Honda drivers… 😎
Oh yay congratulations now the next best thing you can do is read the manual and then when you’re finished, read it again. You will find features you didn’t know existed and get so much more out of your car. The manual is on your cars screen and on the Tesla app in the service section. Enjoy your ride!
Please. Get a sunroof shade and shade for windshield. It's a fishbowl and as far as everyone knows we have a big bright ball in the sky that becomes extremely fucking hot it becomes unbearable to even sit in your seat without burning your thighs. Florida resident speaking here.
Turn off sentry mode if you’re not using it. It can chew through your battery.
Buy all weather mats from Costco/Amazon, keeps your car clean without the over inflated Tesla pricing :)
tint them windows cant be driving in a fish bowl 🥴
Buy these ASAP
Taruimoo Backseat Air Vent Cover Grilles Protector Rear Seat Air Condition Outlet Air Flow Vent Protection Covers Compatible with Tesla Model 3 Model Y (2 Pack)
Unless you want a stone or bead or marble or whatever else rolling into your under sear floor vent and causing a permanent rattle in your car or a $500-$1000 Tesla repair.
Can't believe they haven't fixed this - such a design fault, you can buy plastic covers but they can break from feet/shoes etc. The Velcro ones work best 👌
2 months after I got mine I had the roof blacked out and insulated.
Get your teeth whitened because you'll have a huge grin as you drive it.
Source: Me. Still grinning 5 years into ownership.
Get a Radar detector
Swipe down (or across) from the navigation bar.
If you're at home, it will set your NAV to work. If you're not at home, it will set your NAV to home.
Make sure u get a new usb for cameras that’s not Tesla branded . I got hit last night and found out the thing was corrupted so no footage
All you need to know about battery health preservation
Don’t park directly next to someone at the superchargers, unless it’s absolutely necessary!
Curtains gets tons of compliments. $70 on Amazon.
Press safety and scroll to the bottom to POWER OFF When at home in garage especially. This stops phantom drain.
Jawoll ein Leipziger! Grüße^
Vielen Dank 😊
Check out the teslausb project. Raspberry pi acting as a usb for saving recordings and automates transfer to a local nas via wifi. Can also enable wifi AP on the raspberry pi to view recordings while in the car from your phone. Installation/setup is pretty straight forward.
Also, set up teslamate.
ABC. Always be charging ✊🏾
I went to a Tesla aftermarket shop and bought a tray for the center console to put little items like coins or Chapstick in. I also got the car ceramic coded so that wash drying is a breeze. Finally, I got a sunglass holder that is custom-made to fit between the two visorsand does not get in the way of the drivers field of vision. Congratulations on your new ride. Welcome to the club.
Yeah life tip: Please don't go around pretending everything revolves around your $28k car, society already has to deal with vegans.
Enjoy your car, be extra careful with curbs but if you get a few curb rashes don't worry about them :) Get all accessories beforehand and if you own a home and want to set up a charger do it now
Something to protect the paint is essential (at least in the front). Unless they’ve improved it, Tesla had the thinnest, most brittle paint in the whole automotive industry
You got Leipzig plates? Are those real?
PPF your beauty. I wish I'd done mine before life's little accidents 😔
What was the otd price on this one?
Tesla paint is super soft. Ppf front and side lower panels to prevent rock chips as much as possible.
Shiny!
Every week on my Tesla podcast I have a “Pro Tip of the Week” segment. An intrepid listener has collected most (or maybe even all) of those into a website: https://www.teslaprotips.com
Congrats on your Model 3!
Tge car is wide. Make extra room on passenger side until you get used to it.
Get some rim covers to avoid damaging your he rim edge https://tessories.uk/product/model-3-hurricane-hubcaps/
Hankook tires are not good in ice and snow switch to Michelin Cross climate 2
The wheel base is longer than a usual car. Watch for curbs when turning.
A secret tip: you can share the location from google maps directly to your car
Check out Ride the Lightning podcast. So much useful information on those episodes.
Never put the car through an automated car wash. Wash by hand only. Take it through the TransFagarasan Road and test your car like a pro.
Apart from making the Mustang boys at the light look bad put in chill mode and enjoy it. Ps. if you haven’t done it already let someone see the light show feature and I’m sure they’ll be amazed and probably want one too
FSD works and is great at “assisting” you to drive if you learn how to use it. People will say it doesn’t. Give it a solid shot and judge for yourself.
Nice!, looks like the new Prius
Read the manual. Really.
😂 watch out for the upper control arm
Hope you don’t have to replace the battery!!!
Simply enjoy it every time again when you start driving.
Best accessory ever is probably a Screen Swivel Mount https://a.co/d/8IFR3dV
Turn on all funny modes. Whoopie cushion especially.
All I have to say is. Congrats!!!!!!!!
Just drop it off directly with dealer - undertake preventative maintenance by replacing every single part with something made by Toyota.
when using AP, use the stalk like 14 times. I just recently discovered it…
Mine is the same color, it’s absolutely gorgeous!
My big tip is, if you live somewhere sunny, there’s a sunshade you can get from Tesla that clips into the interior roof to provide you some shade while still letting you see the sky. It’s nice.
Tip #2: don’t sweat the range. Don’t try to track it, don’t try to predict it, don’t worry about it. For any sort of normal daily driving, just plug it in at home. Obviously road trips require superchargers, but normally you can just ignore the battery entirely, and you’ll be a happy driver.
Bend over when you look at kbb value
Tips? Get gap insurance…
Bought 23 rwd too yesterday ;)
Greetings from 🇦🇹, neighbor!
As people said, trust in the range indications, but dont drive 200 on the Autobahn or that indication will be way off 🙈
For long distances, sometimes the Navi might guide you to older, slower and more expensive SuCs for some reason. If youre unfamiliar about the area you drive, sometimes a check doesnt hurt. From Vienna to Salzburg e.g., it keeps guiding me to St. Valentin (125kW@41ct/kWh) instead of Asten (250kW@35ct/kWh)…
If you need a better charger than the (included?) Schuko model from Tesla, look into a Juice Booster. In 🇦🇹 its subsidized rather heavily, idk about 🇩🇪. But unless in AT, you need to apply for any government grants in advance. I could just buy the booster and send the bill, that doesnt work in DE as far as I know. I use mine regularly and charged at small rural farmstays, at beach houses, at hotels which were unequipped with wallboxes, but happily let me access their CEE or Schuko plugs.
Dont drive like a maniac or you will burn though tires. Nothing wrong with sprinting away from standstill sometimes, but dont do it 100 times a day. Increased tire wear on EVs is an urban legend, fueled by how most EV drivers are driving.
If you didnt do so yet, get a recording drive for Sentry and Dashcam. I‘m using a Samsung T7 Shield SSD that I got for cheap, but any USB stick should do really. I got the SSD because in an emergency, I can always unplug it and use for my laptop, which is nice.
You will most likely not use your brakes a lot, but keep an eye on them. The previous owner of my M3LR neglected his discs to the point where they had to be changed due to rust. Sometimes when you go fast, deliverately brake with the pedal rather than recuperating, or hold both pedals at medium speeds (50-80) for a few seconds to scrape off rust buildup…
Get the sexy buttons. They give you so many options it’s unreal. You can do so much. Like autopilot can auto reengage after so many seconds of a lane change etc precondition battery. They are kinda pricey. Also get ceramic tint if you go that route.
I got the yoke 👌 good luck!! It’s a sweet machine 😁
.
A secret tip is it you park in a garage, you can have the mirrors auto fold closed when you arrive at your home. Press and hold the fold mirror button when at home and a new button appears to + add location. Click it and it'll make it fold pulling up to driveway and can park easier if you are worried about clipping mirrors going in garage.