I'm still surprised there is so little backlash against going through the touchscreen for all the controls. Lack of a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem is such a dealbreaker for me.

Anything that adds more steps to a process is not an improvement. Maybe there is something I am missing.

The other controls that are normally on sticks on the steering column would be annoying at first but I think I might get used to that.

When I first got my Model 3, I couldn't stand the touch screen.

I'm still not a fan. The UI is objectively terrible in many situations. That said, I can honestly say that it's not that big of a deal for me.

Lack of tactile feedback is a big deal though.

But, it's sort of moot. Interactions that require I be looking at the screen and carefully touching icons are typically the kinds of things I'd want to do while parked anyhow. Tinkering with settings, for example, or entering an address for navigation.

A lot of interactions you might do in a "normal" car are also reduced or eliminated. For example, I often need to adjust vents and turn knobs for climate control while driving in my "normal" car. Even though I can tell it to set the air temp to a specific value, it still needs intervention frequently to feel right.

In the Model 3, the climate control just works. If I set it to 70F, it feels like 70F. It's a thing I find myself never even thinking about.

> Lack of a dedicated on/off/volume knob for the soundsystem is such a dealbreaker for me.

The steering wheel has a scroll wheel that can control volume and pause audio. The sound system is never really off though. The car still emits warning sounds through the sound system, for example.

In practice, the scroll wheel thing has worked just fine for me. I've not tried to see what happens when the AM/FM radio is playing; I suspect "pausing" that would either do nothing or mute the audio.

Before getting used to it, the Model 3 seems comically devoid of controls, and it seems ridiculous. But with use, it start to feel totally normal. At least that's my experience.

For what it's worth, I was on the fence about Tesla for ages. I wouldn't have one now if I hadn't inherited it from a family member. I probably wouldn't buy one today, even after having grown to love the Model 3.

That said, I would jump at a much more economical version of the Model 3. One that's just an EV. It doesn't need a glass roof, heated leather seats, folding mirrors, robotic door handles, etc. It just needs to be like the cheapest Kia money can buy, except with a Tesla powertrain.

But this not the grapevine; iirc they generate results from (if not anonymous then atleast not publicly shared) replies to Consumer Reports subscriber survey.

So from the entire pool of CR subscriber base who agree to reply to their annual survey and who self-report to own Teslas, this group both overwhelmingly chooses to report significant number of car issues AND chooses to report great satisfaction?

What is up with this group of people?

I think it's because people who buy a Tesla are fans of Tesla, so the well known reliability issues aren't a problem to them. They aren't buying a Tesla for practical reasons like affordability and reliability, they're buying a Tesla because they want to own a Tesla. It's the same as people who buy poorly made expensive designer clothes and accessories.

Helping move away from petro-powered transportation is a huge incentive for a lot of people. And it's not like Teslas are terrible or have a worse driving experience than other cars.

There is a reason that every single electric car made by anyone is sold far in advance, including non-Teslas where charging on road trips is still a sub par experience.

> Helping move away from petro-powered transportation is a huge incentive for a lot of people.

If somebody was serious about this as their primary motivator, they'd buy a much more reliable / affordable vehicle like the Bolt or Leaf.

satisfaction is subjective, reliability is more objective: "how many times have you needed to get this car serviced in the first N years?"

what's more, the cognitive biases that lead someone to convince themselves they're satisfied with their purchase apply whether speaking to friends or a formal survey

Yeah, it's a reasonable explanation, the people who really gave their money for the cars are the converted/convinced/conned ones. And people hate to shatter their belief in their own sense of judgement.

Note I say it's a reasonable explanation, although I don't want to assert how accurate it is in regards to Tesla owners - someone should do the actual research.