Across the past decade, industry disruptor Tesla has been the global automotive success story.
And much of that success has been spearheaded by the affordable Tesla Model 3, more than a million of which have found homes since 2017. But ‘affordable’ is a relative term, and a new one will still set you back just shy of £40k – or nearer £45k for the reassurance of a bigger battery Long Range model.
As our 15 January used buying guide reported, those first cars are now being replaced, so the market is flooded with Model 3s – which is great news for buyers, with prices starting from just £12k.
There’s plenty to choose from, whether you want the standard 252bhp rear-wheel drive model or the loopy 444bhp dual-motor Performance. I decided that 346bhp (and 0-60mph in a shade over 4.0sec) was probably more than enough and a claimed 360-mile range suited me, so I opted for the Long Range AWD.
My car has covered 37,771 miles and, being of 2021 vintage, got a heat pump as standard and was made in China (the timber on the dashboard and doors is the giveaway).
Finished in my favourite colour scheme of Midnight Silver with black pleather interior and attractive silver multispoke 19in wheels, it would retail for around £25k-£28k through Tesla’s Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) scheme, and I picked it up from the Gatwick branch in West Sussex.
“All CPO Teslas undergo a 200-point inspection that goes through all the vitals of the vehicle,” explained sales manager Kul Rajbansh, who ran me through all of the car’s features, pointing out that the tyres on CPO cars must have at least 10,000 miles left on them at the point of sale and there are checks to the cosmetics, interior, battery and brakes.
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What did you end up reselling the car for at the end of the test. The problem with all electric cars (particularly Tesla's where there is a glut) is that the depreciation seems higher than ice cars. Surely that is more significant that the running cost or is that factored in?
Love these real world review but how are losing around 6kwh'ish,7%, overnight. Also far more efficient on the motorway than in town, that's weird too.
You were down on Tesla tyre use yet your high performance model got 35k on the first set, dated over 5 years old, bit harsh.
Pretty good depriciation figures for any car let alone one in this category.