[Almuliman]

At least it still has stalks. Test drove a new Model 3 on a lark the other day and while I found it quick (of course) and perfectly comfortable, having the turn signals activate with buttons—what. the. actual. f***—on the steering wheel is an absolute deal breaker*.

Not only are both "buttons" ("pushable areas"?) on the left spoke of the steering wheel, they're also haptic controls, so there's no way to hit them by feel. I missed them literally 75-80% of the time, and while I'm sure that'll get better with time that's completely unacceptable and creates an unsafe condition**

*: Other things get close, but that's the final straw. Or the first straw. Whatever: No stalks, no sale.
**: Just one of at least a few I can think of with Teslas (see also FSD (neither Full, nor Self); Chronically Misaligned Headlights).

[gilberjj]

EVs make great commuters. Instant acceleration, quiet and efficient operation. You never have to go to the gas station again... Lots of pluses.

I have ridden in several Teslas and I get their appeal. I personally detest operating everything through a screen (I hope the auto market unwinds this trend, but I'm doubtful).

For those suggesting a Rav4 or Prius... gross. The driving experiences couldn't be more different, in a bad way. Toyotas are numb and awful to drive.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by x622

I'm going to surprise everyone and say good job OP.

I too don't care for Teslas and probably would of steered them towards a used Tesla that's already taken the depreciation hit, but otherwise have already arrived at the same conclusion.

I personally wouldn't of spent ~51-52k on a Tesla myself but for NPCs or people who don't know about cars they're great. As others have highlighted, normal people think they're "premium" but anyone who's actually driven/owned one knows this is not the case. The acceleration is really something compared to all the putt-putt cars everyone else mentioned, and I'm not sure if I or even they could be swayed by going with a double-poverty tier hyundia/kia EV, especially with their edict of no "basic bitch" cars.

Only other thing on that price bracket worth a damn is a used SQ5 that has had the rocker arms fixed or has an extended warranty. B9 SQ5/S4 EA839s have issues if you look into it, and frankly I think the overall TCO would be worse than the Tesla even factoring all the depreciation that tesla is gonna see.

I invite other members to give a better recommendation in the sub 55k bracket all in that fits well. I like the Prius prime too, it's a sick little mileage dumpster. If I had to drive a billion miles every day or commute that would be my #1 choice.

Nailed it.

Yeah, I mean they really don't care about cars and would never in a million years appreciate the driving dynamics of a BMW or any other more finely tuned German machine. Not what they were looking for. They don't need a zillion features either. The simplicity of the design and interior is perfectly fine for them.

I did actually suggest a used Tesla to lower the price a bit, but they wanted a new car. Price cuts brought it within reason of their price range, and $5k on the hood for in stock models sealed the deal. They're happy so far. Only a few minor issues found as far as the build quality.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

They spent 17 years with a Toyota, how a car drives dynamically is not on their list of concerns. Trust me on this.

Exactly.

[BIGW0RM]

I hate EV's.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by kyriian

I am more surprised they didn't go back to another one... Toyota owners I know, especially non car people ones, always go back to Toyota or Lexus just because its familiar and everyone in their inner circle all have one.

To be fair, SOME Toyotas are a different breed and drives equally well as any BMW, judging by the way the OP's description of the buyer of the car though, I'd assume that 17 year old Toyota is not one of those.

They had a 2006/7 RAV4 V6. I did actually suggest a RAV4 Prime, but they wanted to move on from Toyota. They had bought their RAV4 fresh out of college, and had been driving it since new all these years. Wanted something a bit higher up the rung.

[P1]

You couldn't have bought a more vanilla/boring vehicle than the Tesla. And $48K for that basic of a car is insane.

[dreamingat30fps]

Congrats! Don't listen to the EV haters on here. Frankly they should be ashamed to call themselves "car" enthusiasts.

Perfect commuter car, especially if they can charge at home, probably never go back to ICE.

[Schn3ll]

My wife had a Mach E GT Performance for 3 months. Hated it. All related to EV specific and Ford issues/reliability. I called around to Toyota dealers and someone had just dropped out of a RAV4 Prime XSE Premium on the way from Japan. We only had to wait 2 weeks, and they ran a $6,500 off lease special so we did that and then immediately did a buyout so we got the car for $47k OTD. Not bad and she loves it.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Congrats! Don't listen to the EV haters on here. Frankly they should be ashamed to call themselves "car" enthusiasts.

Perfect commuter car, especially if they can charge at home, probably never go back to ICE.

Yer funny.

[Davil]

Originally Posted by whofelt

I’d rather have a Prius, nice price though.

I rather a nice pair of walking shoes.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by P1

You couldn't have bought a more vanilla/boring vehicle than the Tesla. And $48K for that basic of a car is insane.

Not our car. The family member loves it so far. Working out great for them.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by Schn3ll

My wife had a Mach E GT Performance for 3 months. Hated it. All related to EV specific and Ford issues/reliability. I called around to Toyota dealers and someone had just dropped out of a RAV4 Prime XSE Premium on the way from Japan. We only had to wait 2 weeks, and they ran a $6,500 off lease special so we did that and then immediately did a buyout so we got the car for $47k OTD. Not bad and she loves it.

When the Mach-E came out, they were literally everywhere around here in the D.C. suburbs, but very quickly disappeared. I think people unloaded them just about as quickly as they bought them. Yeah, Ford reliability issues, recalls, software issues, and the complete lack of reliable public fast charging other than for Tesla's would be huge downsides.

So how do you both like the RAV4 Prime, and how long have you had it for? I have a colleague that's considering one. From what I've read, I've heard it makes the numbers but really isn't that good to drive as far as steering, handling, braking, etc. Kinda par for the course for the RAV4 though. I have a 2007 RAV4 V6 (my older car, bought back from folks, kids learning to drive on it) that's the same DNA. Good numbers but pretty awful driving demeanor.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Yer funny.

I find the EV derangement syndrome funny. Just replace EV or Tesla with corolla or any other car and it's pretty hilarious how upset people get about a car.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Congrats! Don't listen to the EV haters on here. Frankly they should be ashamed to call themselves "car" enthusiasts.

Perfect commuter car, especially if they can charge at home, probably never go back to ICE.

I saw a few of your posts in the big EV thread, probably about a hundred pages back now, but meant to ask you why you'd pick your Model 3 over your other vehicles in a SHTF scenario if you could only pick/use/keep one vehicle or something? At least in my vision of a SHTF type situation, the power grid is down. How would you charge?

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I saw a few of your posts in the big EV thread, probably about a hundred pages back now, but meant to ask you why you'd pick your Model 3 over your other vehicles in a SHTF scenario if you could only pick/use/keep one vehicle or something? At least in my vision of a SHTF type situation, the power grid is down. How would you charge?

I don't remember the post but for me there are 2 SHTF scenarios.

SHTF #1 = Financially I can only afford 1 car. In that case my Model 3 is the most enjoyable car 90% of the time. In that case I would imagine I would also just be living here in FL and I don't really go anywhere that my Model 3 can't go on a normal charge. I LOVE never having to go to the gas station and I personally love all the tech. Lots of traffic and straight roads so acceleration and torque is everything. Low to zero maintenance to worry about also.

SHTF #2 = End of the world zombie apocalypse shit I would take my F350 no question. Reasons should be obvious. That being said I'm not the type who gets all excited about end of the world scenarios. Frankly I rather the bombs land on my head than live like in the walking dead.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I don't remember the post but for me there are 2 SHTF scenarios.

SHTF #1 = Financially I can only afford 1 car. In that case my Model 3 is the most enjoyable car 90% of the time. In that case I would imagine I would also just be living here in FL and I don't really go anywhere that my Model 3 can't go on a normal charge. I LOVE never having to go to the gas station and I personally love all the tech. Lots of traffic and straight roads so acceleration and torque is everything. Low to zero maintenance to worry about also.

SHTF #2 = End of the world zombie apocalypse shit I would take my F350 no question. Reasons should be obvious. That being said I'm not the type who gets all excited about end of the world scenarios. Frankly I rather the bombs land on my head than live like in the walking dead.

Yeah I figured just different definitions of SHTF. I was thinking more along the lines of #2, and I would be keeping my Suburban (or your F350) no question also. I was going to ask you in that big thread, but didn't have time to get to the computer for a few days, and it was so far back I just gave up.

I must be one of the rare and weird people out there that fully understands every last negative aspect of EV's including even various agendas for them out in the world, yet at the end of the day can still objectively consider one based on merit.

[Schn3ll]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

When the Mach-E came out, they were literally everywhere around here in the D.C. suburbs, but very quickly disappeared. I think people unloaded them just about as quickly as they bought them. Yeah, Ford reliability issues, recalls, software issues, and the complete lack of reliable public fast charging other than for Tesla's would be huge downsides.

So how do you both like the RAV4 Prime, and how long have you had it for? I have a colleague that's considering one. From what I've read, I've heard it makes the numbers but really isn't that good to drive as far as steering, handling, braking, etc. Kinda par for the course for the RAV4 though. I have a 2007 RAV4 V6 (my older car, bought back from folks, kids learning to drive on it) that's the same DNA. Good numbers but pretty awful driving demeanor.

Yeah the Mach E is a joke, just like virtually all of these first gen EV's.

The Rav4 Prime is great, have 5k miles on it in 5 months - it's a family SUV not a sports car so yeah it's not the most exciting driver. I have a 911 for my fun drives.

It has every luxury feature you could want in a car, and relaxing / easy to drive long distances and average 50+mpg - would be higher but my wife uses the whole 40 miles EV range before she even gets to work so about 1/2 the time the engine is running. If you have a short commute, 80+mpg is possible.

It's definitely better than the older Rav4 but driving dynamics are not on the Toyota priority list, it's a car that doesn't depreciate, never breaks and is extremely efficient. It's all 99% of people need and more. It's surprisingly quick though, 0-60 for the Prime is about 5.5 seconds.