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Bought a Tesla Model 3 Performance variant in Dubai: My quick review

21st August 2024, 12:09 by Ananth Iyer

The performance is so good that you will be grinning every time you drive this car!

BHPian sahilkhurana recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

1. Prologue

I have been in Dubai for three years and have been driving a Kia K8, which I bought in October 2021 when the industry was still facing supply issues due to COVID. The selection of cars available at that time was limited, and I went with the KIA K8 (3.5L NA V6). I was fortunate enough to get the last one available in stock. It has been a great car for my family, and it has served us excellently. But I had been looking for something more capable and fun to drive for three to four months. Here’s how things unfolded in this quest:

2. Research/Decision Making

I had been longing to add a fun-to-drive car to my garage and had shortlisted the below options

a. Toyota Supra

It’s an excellent value-for-money sports car. I had always admired the looks of the MK5 Supra. Further, I am no Toyota purist some of whom hate its BMW origin. It’s pretty competitively priced here in UAE at around 220K AED (around 60K USD; at par with US pricing) for the highest trim.

Positives:

Engine: The 3.0L I6 Turbo B58 engine (382 BHP) is a gem. It is a fast and reliable workhorse and powers so many important cars for BMW.
Suspension: The suspension setup is on the softer side and offers a decent balance between ride and handling
Desirability: Would be a dream come true to own a 2 Door/Seat Sports car
Price: UAE Pricing is at par with the US and no mark-up to pay
Looks: I love the looks - nothing at this price comes close.

Negatives:

Limited visibility from the driver's seat. The window line is also high and you sit pretty low which limits visibility.
Practicality (2-seater only) - Can use it as a daily driver for office commutes but taking the family (wifey and daughter) is not possible.
Rear wheel drive only - It is a bit tail-happy to the extent that it might be a concern.
Practicality was the only major negative that was stopping me from buying the Supra. I was trying to find something equally powerful but more practical and easy to live with.

b. BMW Z4

It is Supra’s cousin but the drivetrain on offer here in UAE is different.

Positives:

Convertible: It’s a convertible and hence you can roll down the roof if the weather permits - which only is the case for 2-3 months during the year.
Visibility: Better visibility and seating position than Supra

Negatives:

Price: BMWs are excessively over-priced in the UAE market. Z4 comes with a smaller 2.0L engine but is priced significantly higher than Supra at ~300K AED.
Engine: Underpowered compared to Supra (lower trim available in UAE)

c. BMW M240i

It is powered by the same B58 engine as Supra.

Positives:

Better visibility and seating position than Supra. It also has a rear bench and is hence more practical than the Supra/Z4.

Negatives:

Overpriced: M240i does have an all-wheel drive system but is still steeply priced at ~300K AED, which is a significant premium over its US pricing.
Looks: I somehow don’t like the boxy new grill design.

d. Audi RS3

It is an amazing car and the 5-cylinder turbo engine is a gem.

Positives:

Engine: A unique 5-cylinder turbo engine with ~400 BHP is enough to propel RS3 from 0 to 100 Km/hr in 3.8s. It has a throaty note as well which makes it pretty unique
Rare: This car is not as common as the BMWs or for that matter Supra.
Practical: It has a rear bench and a normal sedan-like driving position - can daily without any compromises

Negatives:

Price: In the US as well, it is priced higher than Supra and it reflects in UAE pricing as well. You need to shelve out 300K AED for this bad boy which is steep.

e. Tesla Model 3 Performance

This was a surprise last-minute/wildcard entry. I was split between the Audi RS3 for its practicality and the Toyota Supra for its value-for-money pricing. I could not convince myself to shelve 300K AED kind of money and the practicality of Supra to daily drive was a fear that I had. When I stumbled upon the live launch event of the Model 3 performance, I could not stop myself from instantly booking it. It was priced at around 220K AED (same as Supra) and can easily seat 4-5 people. The visibility and technology were second to none and performance was best among all cars that I had considered so far (0-100 Km/hr in 3.1s). It seemed like a no-brainer - the only constraint being the requirement of constantly recharging the battery - Since I had moved to an independent rented house a while back, I had the flexibility of installing a home charger and hence, decided to take the plunge.

I booked a Grey (dark) exterior (8000 AED premium color option) with Black interiors (Standard option, I didn’t want a white interior car).

3. Sales Experience

The buying experience is just like buying a phone from Amazon. You get immediate confirmation of the booking amount and are given an estimated delivery date which in my case was May-June 2024. I got a call from my sales advisor the next morning again restating the delivery date and how things are a bit uncertain since this is a new launch and they don’t know when inventory etc. will arrive.

I was hopeful that since I had bought within the first hour of launch, I would have my car sent in the first batch itself. I joined an online forum as well where people were tracking their delivery dates etc. It seems that May-June was the most aggressive delivery date window - some people booked on launch day and were handed an August delivery timeline.

Then started the phase of infinite refreshes on Tesla App to get a definite delivery date. I also called my service advisor to check but it looked like they didn’t have an update. It became clear from online conversations etc. that delivery dates are very fluid and keep on changing. Also, it doesn’t have much relationship to the booking date which is counterintuitive. I think Tesla has a demand forecasting model and batches are mostly produced based on it rather than actual bookings. When the deliveries started in UAE, it became clear that only White and Black exterior cars were being produced and initial batches had white interiors only. As both interior and exterior options chosen by me were different, it was clear that I was in for a long and uncertain wait. Still, my delivery date estimate stayed “May-June”

In the meantime, people had started posting the yard pictures of the various external colors and I realized that it was best to go with contract interior and exterior colors. So black exterior with white interior or white exterior with black interior were 2 good options. Since my original spec of Grey exterior with black interior was not being produced and I had a change of heart, I decided to change my booking to “White exterior with Black interior”. Within 1 hour of updating this in the app on a Sunday, I was assigned a VIN - Voila!

4. Pre-Delivery

I got a call from the sales advisor confirming the VIN and how I need to make full payment for them to bring the car from the yard and deliver it. I wanted to inspect the car myself first and then make the full payment. Tesla UAE doesn’t offer inspections before full payment; nevertheless, the sales advisor took down this request and got back to me a couple of days after discussing it with their management. They wanted ~20% payment post which they will arrange the car for viewing.

I paid them immediately and then they were expected to bring in the car in a couple of days. I didn’t hear back from them and I called my sales advisor. She was still not committed and was citing delays at the port. I was a bit skeptical but waited for a day or two. When things didn’t move and phone calls to my sales advisor were unfruitful, I decided to visit them and discuss with them in person. I met my Sales advisor and she was as unhelpful as before. I asked to meet her manager and was met by their operations/delivery in charge. He was understanding when I told him that I needed a firm date or some real visibility on what was causing the holdup. He didn’t share too many details on the cause, but he committed to bringing my car in for viewing in 3 days.

They kept up with this promise and the car was ready for viewing in the morning when I reached their center on Wednesday. The car looked perfect and I could not spot any physical issues/panel gaps etc. I thoroughly checked the car and gave them a go-ahead for registration.

I was required to transfer the remaining amount. Delivery also needs to be scheduled in the app and since Tesla UAE has limited delivery slots, one might have to wait for 4-6 days for the delivery. Luckily, they have an option of complimentary doorstep delivery and you get 24 hours to report any issues or accept the car condition. It appeared that they could deliver the car in 2 days via this channel (post-registration etc.) and I happily accepted.

5. Big Day

I had 2 days before the car was supposed to be delivered and I had been in touch with an installation company to install Tesla Wall Connector

The car does come with a bundled charger but the wall connector is more powerful and faster. Here in UAE, 11 kW is the maximum spec it supports. I scheduled installation on Thursday and it was completed professionally. I was looking forward to the next day when the car was expected to be delivered.

I got contacted by the trailer driver around noon and the car was delivered to me around 2 pm. All of us were pretty thrilled about it and it was pretty convenient to have the car delivered to us. I began inspecting the car and wifey and daughter prepared for the mandatory pooja. I had been reading the manual for some time now and acquired knowledge came in handy. First observations when I was backing the car into my garage, steering felt extremely heavy at slow speeds. Second observation, regenerative braking was strong; Too strong which caught me a bit off guard.

6. Exterior

I just love the looks of it. While all Teslas look similar, I still like the design language of Tesla. I think they know how to make a good-looking car. The car has an understated design. I like the stance which is slightly lower than a regular Model 3 and gives Model 3 performance a great poise.

It is a heavy car and tips the scale at 1851 Kg. It is 4.7m long and 1.43m high.

At the rear, we have a carbon fiber spoiler, a different fascia than regular with a beefier diffuser and ludicrous badge. Not a very big fan of rear-end design but the diffuser looks amazing.

Forged performance 20” wheels with Pirelli P Zero (Tesla Specific) tires look quite good and perfectly fit the wheel well.

It has 2 cameras at the front windshield, 1 camera at the rear, and a camera on each side in the door pillars and front fenders. Footage from all these cameras is continuously being recorded to a USB drive which is a nice and handy feature.