Best Used Model 3 for a Commuter Car?

do you have home charging?

do you have charging at work?

You don't need hw4 if you're a good driver. Hw3 will do fine. You get a month fsd trial with used and you can intervene if it does weird stuff. Imo it's more fun driving it than having it drive for you. Try not to rely too much on the tech to drive for you. It needs work with lane changing and following distance for stopping. Feels like it needs to be a little further away for my needs. When there's traffic cones and construction... and no real lines on the ground it starts to act goofy I would get the cheapest one with the lowest miles and no salvage title. 2023+ You don't need awd if you are in the city. If you go in the mountains or rain or snow, just change to all terrain tires If you have enough chargers in your area or you can charge at home then you won't have an issue. Just don't let it go down to below 20%. Keep it around 20-80%. With lfp rwd battery i think it lets you charge 100% once or twice a week without worry I just got my 2023 rwd last Tuesday. Sentry mode is really killing my % so im turning it off when im at home and just use my ring cameras from my home Remember you will be taxed too on the full amount even with trade in.. but other states you don't get taxed on the full amount. Even though my trade in was 23k i still had to pay around $3k for the car even though it was $23.8k The long range one was one i was thinking of getting but that would've been like 28k + 10% tax - $23k trade in... $8k something after taxes And registration That money could be used towards charging, accessories, and going places! Also consider insurance. The lr awd model will cost even more per month than single motor

if you care about FSD and will for sure keep it long term, then i see the extra 8K for the 2024 model as worth it for that plus the other bells and whistles. For strictly commuting (ie dont care about performance or the latest features) the 2023 RWD is a good bang for your buck, still has a ton of life ahead of it

No home charging but free slow charging at work

Yes free slow charging

Is there a very noticeable difference between HW3 and HW4 in FSD?

Oh yeah

True. I feel that when I’m ready for longer commutes 5+ years from now then even the 2024 with HW4 will be outdated anyways. At that point I would just get whatever the latest car is.

The only people that say yes are those with HW4 that feel the need to justify the higher price they paid for new.

If you’re not into FSD the ‘22 AWD LR is the car I would go for

😂

Good to know. I’ll probably only get FSD for a year at most

How come? Better range and acceleration? Is that worth the $5k premium?

Well, if you can charge during work and you have an 8h shift... you are golden. I have a charger at home that I use \~5 times a year. Otherwise, I charge at work with a wall connector.

If I were to buy used now I would get the cheapest model with hw4, but i commute 100 plus miles and FSD is in constant use for me. It kind of varies by each person's use case. If you dont plan to ever use FSD it doesn't really matter what hardware you get.

A little off-topic, but can someone explain why the range on the first image is much lower than usual? I have a Highland myself so I’m just a bit curious but also concerned 😅

Copy and paste all the specs and features into AI and ask AI

Look wise i would go 24 but if you don’t mind, the 22 has more range and faster.

Unless you care about the latest FSD/look that 2024/later model gets you, personally im a fan of the AWD 22. lesser mileage than 24 (not a big diff tbh) but the longer range + acceleration is nice (im a fan of the acceleration haha). Idk how long you plan on owning the car though, but I think it should be fine for a couple of years. I drive a M3 LR/AWD just fine--its not perfect but it does the job for my commute for the past 8 years of owning it. Depends if you live in rainy/snowy areas/if you plan to drive more. Longer mileage means less charging frequency relatively. At the end of the day its all relative, given your needs, the cheapest 23 option would be the way to go because its not "that" big of a difference + saves you that 5k difference from the 24. Personally I still like the AWD/LR haha Edit: overall agree with what labubuking said

No that’s usual for standard, probably you have a long range version

Yeah great point, for my first year I will have a pretty heavy commute but after that I won't buy FSD unless it is a long road trip.

Yes, but for commutes, not a worthwhile one. More importantly the older HW3 cars are locked to an older version of the software that still has max speed control. On the newer HW4 cars we've lost the ability to control the speed our vehicle drives at. Not a joke. For that reason alone, to me, HW3 is superior.

I had both a pre-Highland M3 and a Highland M3 within the last 2 weeks as loaners. The Highlands M3 is way quieter, rides way better, and has a way better sound system. Highland also has ventilated seats (on the loaner trim at least). HW4 is better but that’s already been covered at length. It’s a night and day difference, the difference between me wanting to get out of the loaner as fast as possible and not wanting to give the loaner back. Definitely worth the $8k.

What's the amperage of your work charger?

Hw3 owner with no plan on ever upgrading. Every loaner I’ve had with hw4 is light years ahead of hw3. Hw3 fsd is borderline dangerous and completely unreliable in my area

HW4 is light years ahead of HW3. I have both.

I bought 24M3 last October for the same price. As others mentioned, hw4, better NVH and suspension on the highland should make the additional 5k worth it. Atleast it was for me but I also have a long commute so HW4 was the top priority for me.

i have the 22 LR and it's great. The newer ones feel a little more premium however if fsd is your concern, on most roads in the us the '22 is still great, I've used fsd for 7-8 hr road trips and I've only had to take over maybe once? and that was only because of my own skepticism. Financially, I would suggest you to get something cheaper because insurance on teslas are crazy expensive.

Gray one, the new model is much quieter to ride

Do you live in a cold climate? If so, get a long range. Standard range sucks in the winter.

Might depend on how long you plan to keep the car. The RWD uses an LFP battery that is safe to charge to 100% so you can charge it fully at work and get the same practical range as charging the others to 80%. In theory the LFP battery should last millions of miles. HW4 is an improvement over HW3 if you are using FSD, but the RWD does have advantages

If budget is your focus, get the cheapest car you can’t find.

Let me guess, HW3 owner?

Ty!

Ty!

Also AWD.

Eh depends what you value: I have the 2023 RWD and its plenty fast. Because it has an LFP battery you can charge it to 100% so it has nearly the same daily usable range as the AWD LR charged to 80%. The LR will obviously be better for road tripping since it has 250KW charging vs 170KW. It also has a better sound system (6 extra speakers + subwoofer) but you can easily activate 4 of those speakers on the RWD with a wiring harness kit for 100$ and 1.5 hours of your time. The biggest kicker that most aren't talking about is that you can retrofit the 2024-2026 (highland) shocks and dampers onto the older models for $650 + labor. That will get you 90% of the highland ride quality. Also replacing the original tires with the new OEM ones (Hankook Ion EV AS) will get you 80% of the range + sound improvements of the highland. If you anticipate holding onto the car for a long time get the 2024 RWD model since it also has an LFP (essentially bulletproof) and has HW4. The older models are stuck on FSD V12 and will never be unsupervised capable without a computer upgrade. Plus it sounds like you won't be doing much driving, so the extra range really doesn't matter. In the end if you want a car that "just works" and has all the latest tesla features get the 24 RWD. If you want to save 8k then the 23 RWD is more than sufficient (its an awesome car! Plus you can DIY and get it VERY close to a highland).

I just got one 3 weeks ago and I’m loving it. Will be road tripping this weekend

Do not buy a HW3 car if FSD is important to you or you have a long commute

Not a car owner, I live in NY. But I’ve rented both and it’s so subtle.

Did the HW4 Tesla you rented have FSD v14.2? That’s when it started to get really good.

I’d go 23 AWD LR. More range for less price. FSD on HW4 would be nice but it’s a luxury

Highland.