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Tesla Model Y pros and cons

Pros and Cons by Owners / Test Drives

  • profile photo of user Santoroma17 Santoroma17 CA

    Best birthday give I ever got myself 9.8

    owner review of Tesla Model Y Long Range + Boost 2021

    • Performance, just go for a test drive. Absolutely nuts! With the acceleration boost, 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. Instantaneous response, it's really incredible!

    • Storage space, not only is this vehicle huge, you also have a large frunk and a sub trunk.

    • The all glass roof is such a lovely touch that makes the vehicle feel so much larger

    • Phone as a key, works perfectly. You just walk up to the car and get in and go.

    • The cost of maintenance. I have owned my car for 9 months now, 15,000km. I have not spent a single penny on maintenance. I've had to fill up my windshield wiper fluid once, and I just used the bottle I had from my last car.

    • The heat pump, instant heat, instant cold, very powerful, and super efficient. The car's ability to move heat instead of always creating heat creates a much more stable driving experience and range.

    • The app, everything from climate control, windows, locks, it's all in there. You can summon the car, kind of a gimmick at the moment, but I use it when shoveling my driveway or cutting my grass!

    • Convenience, ask the car to take you somewhere, that's it you're done you're on your way. All the charging stops everything it's all figured out for you. 

    • One pedal driving, makes driving so much easier in cities, and it makes me feel more confident while driving because accelerating and decelerating is a much faster transition.

    • The ergonomics, my lord, best seats I've ever sat in. You can drive for 10 hours and it still feels like you're sitting on a cloud. The heated seats are quite powerful on their highest setting and it just feels relaxing.

    • Safety, not only does this car have a crazy amount of active safety measures, the passive safety including how the car feels and handles is impeccable

    • Superchargers, massive selling point!!! The car knows where every supercharger within your range are, how many people are currently charging there, the stations speed, if there are any issues, everything, I've mentioned how good the trip planner is, even with supercharging it has perks, when you're driving to a supercharger, the car will automatically start heating up the battery so that the car can accept a lot of power so you can charge the car quite a bit quicker. Most charging stops for me are only a

    • Autopilot, such a convenience feature, driving isn't hard but all the micro movements the car handles for you. I bought FSD and navigate on autopilot makes long distance driving super easy!

    • Ability to reliably charge from home. My car starts charging at 1:15am every morning. Right when I told it to. Not only does this ensure my car is fully charged when I wake up, but that time is also extremely extremely clean from a power production standpoint so I can do even more to help the environment.

    • Security, Sentry mode, dash cam, pin to drive, pin to open glove box, even dog mode and overheat protection.

    • Running costs, for $7 I can go 500 km. That used to cost me $30..

    • The sound system is amazing, super loud and high quality.

    • Infotainment, built-in youtube, netflix, twitch, built-in web browser, built-in games, everything you could ask for, great if you have kids, or if you just like having fun.

    • Customer service, half the time I have ever needed to interact with customer service, they have driven over an hour to my house to take care of it. The other half of the time I had to drive an hour to the Tesla service center, and they gave me a loaner vehicle. Not sure how common it is but I've never gotten a loaner vehicle before my Tesla, they even gave me the vehicle I asked for which was a nice touch. It was a model X by the way.

    • Range, range is more than I need, it's enough to get you from a to b 90% of the time without stopping. And if you're on a long trip, it's enough where you only really need to stop when you should be stopping anyways. Trip planning accuracy is very good. Slightly conservative when it comes to charging stops which is good for beginners, but if you tell the car where you're going, 90% of the time you will arrive with the percentage it told you you would.

    • The over-the-air updates a always makes your car feel brand new, constant improvements and constant new features.

    • Cold weather, I live up in Canada, gets pretty cold up here. Depending on how you drive you can see anywhere from a 10% to 30% reduction in range when it's cold. Preheating the vehicle is by far your best friend with that. Because the model y has a heat pump. It can suck the heat out of the battery.


      So in the winter I tell the car to preheat about half an hour before I leave, the car is perfectly warm and toasty when I get in, and I get much better efficiency. Who wants to drive an ice c

    • FSD/Summon/Elon time, this is very similar to my other point about not expecting something until you see it. There are constant improvements to the car, but sometimes you'll have to wait quite a bit to have a particular feature or fix implemented.


      Sometimes they have a fix within 6 hours to a problem, but other times it takes much longer than initially anticipated.

    • On my model, before they changed it, the piano black interior is not my favorite, did a stealth ppf wrap on all the interior. Piano black should never be in a car!

    • The all glass roof does let in quite a bit of heat in the summer. Highly recommend getting a ceramic tint to block a lot of the heat.

    • Initial quality, had some panel misalignments, had a dent in the front had a dent in the front bumper, they replaced the bumper and realigned the panels for free. These are just attributed to growing pains within the company.

    • Learning curve, this is more of just an EV thing, it's going to take a day or two to get used to one pedal driving, the lack of sound, the insane, these vehicles are such a different Beast, it takes a tiny bit of adopting, but it's all for the better

    • Suspension, it's a little rough. A little A little firm. You can reduce your tire pressure to get a smoother ride, I actually increased my tire pressure to get better efficiency because I don't mind a little bit of a rough ride.

    • You will worry about battery degradation, dont... Sometimes if you get the car into a rhythm, and you don't push the car that much, the car will start to lose track of its real range, and because it's conservative you're estimated rated range will start going you're estimated rated range will start going down.


      Usually just using a bigger chunk of the battery so that the car can re understand how much capacity the battery has fixes this issue, you're not losing remotely as much range as y

    • There are some updates that a lot of customers have been asking for that have not been implemented. I would recommend not not assuming you're going to get a feature until that feature is actually seen on the vehicle, a good example of this is showing the side fender cameras on the main screen when changing lanes or when you have the blinker on.

    • App and voice commands, they need a little bit of work, a lot of voice commands that I feel like should be in there or not, and a lot of features that should be in the app are not there.

      There is a big update coming for both the car and the app, so they might be in there, but like I said don't assume they are until you see them.


      Changing driving modes using voice commands, opening the glove box, or rolling the windows down all the way from the app are some of the big ones.

    read the entire review

  • See Tech Specs - Tesla Model Y

  • profile photo of user evryan evryan US

    Capable, Reliable, Quiet and Fast! 9.4

    owner review of Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD 2020

    • Cool factor - dog mode, sentry mode, camp mode, upcoming car wash mode (OTA update soon), new/upcoming biohazard HEPA air filtration mode (standard on new 2021 Model Y)… and of course the ability to summon with your dog in the driver seat :)

    • Incredibly accurate battery charge remaining indicator which takes elevation data along your route and current speed into account to ensure range anxiety is gone or at a minimum. 20-30 mile buffer after battery remaining indicator hits 0, just in case you run all the way out and need just a bit more to get to the charger or back home. Even will notify you on the fly to slow down if you are driving too aggressively to make it to your destination.

    • Reliability - Low maintenance and less parts to replace due to wear/tear

    • Luggage Storage and Compartments - very clever luggage storage locations and compartments all over the car including a frunk and under floor sub-trunk in rear cargo area.

    • AWD and FAST! - nuff said

    • Tesla Theater and Arcade - Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Twitch and soon Disney+ (upcoming software update). Also many games including Atari classics like Asteroids and Centipede along with newer games like Fallout Shelter and Cuphead. Also the ability to use the steering wheel and pedals to control games is genius, the kids just can’t get enough of that.

    • Autopilot - The future, go for a test drive as this has to be experienced

    • OTA Updates - Constantly getting new capabilities and UI updates

    • Green - Better for the environment

    • Service - Amazing service staff and capability of mobile service. PS they even gave me a little die cast model 3 last time I was in for a tire change.. was awesome.

    • Safety - Amazing visibility in all directions and safety technology standard, built in dash cam

    • Supercharger Network - Fast, reliable, no interaction required to charge, strategic locations for long distance and interstate travel

    • Comfort - Interior is amazingly well thought out and comfortable, invisible air vents, voice/touchscreen control of all functions

    • Suspension - Now this one is a pro and con, suspension is screwed down so tight, its a bit rough on rough roads but feels like its on rails when taking corners. 

    • Suspension could use a little fine tuning for a more comfy ride on rough/dirt roads

    • 1 or 2 cosmetic delivery defects from manufacturing which were corrected but nothing mechanical

    • No ventilated or massage seats

    • Truly is hard to find more cons, go give one a thorough test drive. Be careful though, it will make you want one really bad!! :)

    • More colors and a few more factory accessories would be cool

    read the entire review

  • profile photo of user RLC RLC US

    My TESLA Model Y 8.8

    owner review of Tesla Model Y Long Range 2021

    • Good looking design

    • Has it's own streaming service (bye bye, Sirius)

    • Dashcam constantly records the environment around you while driving, and can provide evidence in the event of an accident

    • When active, Sentry Mode starts recording anytime someone comes close to your car

    • Quiet

    • Fast acceleration (so fun!)

    • One of the safest vehicles on the road

    • Over The Air (OTA) updates improve the car

    • Autopilot is great and extremely useful on road trips

    • Access to the Tesla community

    • Great range (326 miles)

    • Seats are comfortable and all five are heated

    • Touch screen is easy to use

    • Tons of storage space including the frunk (front trunk) and additional storage bin under the back trunk

    • You can do all sorts of things from the app -- unlock the car, preheat or cool the cabin, start or stop charging, vent the windows, open the frunk or trunk, call for service or roadside assistance, turn sentry mode on or off, etc

    • Dog Mode allows you to keep the air conditioning on while your dog is in the car

    • Plenty of charging options, including the Tesla specific Supercharging network. Comes with an adapter so you are able to charge at J1772 charging stations (ie Chargepoint).

    • Suspension is stiff

    • No interior grab handles above the doors

    read the entire review

  • profile photo of user Ledgund Ledgund GB

    Tesla Model Y LR RHD 8.7

    owner review of Tesla Model Y LR AWD 2022

    • Smooth, fast and precise

    • High tech, very reactive controls

    • Very Safe, both in safety score and experienced driving

    • I can't speak for FSD as it is not available in the UK yet (i've got the software) but the autopilot is superb.

    • Did i mention it's fast

    • Quality construction

    • One pedal driving is the way ahead, i can't stress this too much

    • Cheap to run

    • Very little servicing costs

    • Comfortable to drive

    • Windscreen wiper auto control

    • Could do with Android Auto

    • Could do with ventilated seats

    read the entire review

  • profile photo of user Daniel Daniel US

    Top Technology - Best All Around 6.3

    owner review of Tesla Model Y LR 2021

    • Highest of high tech 

    • Lightning fast

    • Autopilot / FSD 

    • Over the air updates

    • Great range 

    • No motor or transmission 

    • Simple elegance

    • Regenerative breaking

    • Environmentally friendly 

    • Super roomy 

    • Not luxurious - if that matters to you. 

    read the entire review

  • profile photo of user Randy Randy CA

    Tesla Ruined Cars: Model Y Performance is Too Good 3.5

    owner review of Tesla Model Y LR Performance 2020

    • Speed, software, experience (infotainment, never go to gas stations ever - always full at home), service/app, acceleration:g-force

    • I speed too much now!

    read the entire review

  • profile photo of user Choomiechoo Choomiechoo US

    Fun car for daily driving or family road trips! 3

    owner review of Tesla Model Y Long Range 7 Seater 2021

    • Family Friendly

    • Roomy

    • Super Charger Network

    • Quick

    • Reliable

    • Fun to drive

    • Turning Radius a little wide

    • Real world range not as optimistic as EPA

    • Not as quiet inside

    read the entire review

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