Is Tesla Model 3 Worth The Money 50,000

May 03, 2020 at 6:08pm ET

We are finally at the point that many Tesla Model 3 owners have had their cars for two years or more. This also means some owners have put quite a few miles on their car. While most Model 3 buyers seemed pretty impressed with their purchase early on, opinions can change over time.

YouTube influencer and Tesla owner Andy Slye is one of a handful of Tesla fans who's proven he's more than willing to speak up if there are issues with his car, even if it means other fans will harass him for it. At InsideEVs, we feel it's necessary to be objective and honest since it often encourages Tesla to make improvements.

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With that said, we can tell you that Slye adores his Model 3. If he had to do it all over again, he'd buy the car without a doubt. However, that doesn't mean the journey has been free of problems or concerns. You can be enamored by something and still wish for improvements.

Slye takes us through the two-year journey with his Model 3. He talks about the good and the bad. Check out the brief video above, as well as the written report below. Then, scroll down to the comment section and let us know how your Tesla Model 3 has treated you.

Video Description via Andy Slye on YouTube:

Tesla Model 3 After 2 Years: What It's REALLY Like

Tesla Model 3 review after 2 years and 50,000 miles!

I've driven my Tesla Model 3 over 50,000 miles which means I have no more new vehicle warranty so I'm here to show you what Model 3 ownership has really been like and if it's actually worth the $50,000 I paid for it. The 2-year mark for owning a Model 3 is significant because that's when one of the biggest concerns of owning a Tesla comes into play: Service & Maintenance. Tesla doesn't require service intervals for the Model 3, but in the manual, they do recommend some service. Here's all the service & maintenance I've had done to my Model 3 in its first 2 years (all covered for free under the warranty & fixed by a Tesla Mobile Ranger at my location). My driver's door handle wasn't closing as quickly as it should have been. My windshield wiper was making a clicking noise. My cellular LTE data stopped working. My driver's door was making a clicking noise. I get free tire rotations from a local shop in my city. All of those were minor repairs that cost $0, and none of them prevented me from actually driving the car safely from point A to point B so the core driving reliability of my Model 3 has been pretty much perfect. Once I hit the 2-year mark I figured I would go ahead and do the recommended service because I plan to own my Model 3 as long as possible. I scheduled a service checkup within a few taps in my Tesla app, and they quoted me $600. But since this is all just recommended and not actually required, I requested only the brake caliper and brake fluid service which ended up being $390. After factoring in my $30 air filter replacement, the total I've spent on maintenance comes to about - wait for it - $420.

Charging the car is a big difference when switching from an ICE. I've never run out of battery or been stranded, and about 90% of the charging happens at home overnight while I sleep when electricity is very cheap. My off-peak home charging rate is about 7 cents per kWh, and since 90% of my miles traveled were done by charging at home that's about 46,800 miles. My Model 3's lifetime average efficiency is 244 Wh/mile, and if we consider a 90% wall to wheels efficiency, my home charging cost comes to about $900. After adding in my total Supercharging cost of $54 that comes to less than $1,000 spent to drive over 50,000 miles in my Tesla Model 3. The cost to drive a Tesla Model 3 is way cheaper and more convenient than any gasoline vehicle.

I recently made a video about the things I dislike about my Model 3, but the beauty is Tesla can fix a lot of those nit-picky complaints through a free software update, which they've provided plenty of those since I got my Model 3. A big one came out around the holidays that gave Model 3 owners more sophisticated voice commands. Tesla's software updates have given my car fart mode, new games, and entertainment apps like YouTube and Netflix which are a game-changer when Supercharging. My car has become 10% quicker, and my driving efficiency has improved from things like the "Hold" feature. Tesla also improved the Model 3's motor efficiency and based on the Tesla Stats app, my estimated range is now 329 miles. That means after 2 years and 50,000 miles my Model 3's estimated range has increased. That crushes any argument that the batter will need to be replaced any time soon due to degradation. Other cool features have also been added like Smart Summon which lets the car drive to me in a parking lot, along with Sentry Mode which records security footage from the car's cameras and lets me view the footage directly from the touch screen display. Autopilot is constantly improving and getting better. This dynamic improvement cannot be found on any other car. The Model 3 is an amazing vehicle and an even more enjoyable piece of technology. It's truly a giant gadget that brings so much joy and convenience to me while also improving the environment ever so slightly by making me never need, nor want, a gas car ever again.