Rented a Model 3 RWD from Hertz

[robg]

Hertz seems to offer a really good deal on these; was cheaper than almost every other option they had. The car is setup with a Hertz account that allows you to supercharge (they bill you back for any charges incurred). Since this was in SoCal, there were plenty of places to charge.

The good:
Car itself was well suited to LA traffic as expected. Suspension is a bit bouncy but overall comfortable seats, armrests and ride. Great storage in the center console. Wireless phone charging is well located and worked well. Great acceleration even in the base model. Supercharging is so easy and seamless.

Some annoyances (some are specific to it being a rental)
-Oddest one: It appears that you can no longer select the amount of regen;atleast on this model. Not sure why they felt the need to remove that option. You could still customize steering weight, accelerator responsiveness and creep/hold.
-Passenger side seat control fell off (could still use it by manipulating the pins it attached to)
-Passenger side window lowered automatically when getting out (presumably to facilitate better sealing due to frameless windows), but didn't go back up all the way. To shut it, I had to get back in, with both doors shut and then use the drivers window controls to make it go all the way back up. Likely the car thought there was an obstruction but weird that it wouldn't let you raise the window with the passenger door open.
-Efficiency wasn't great; seemed to average about 3mi/kwh meaning the range was less than 200 miles. I believe its supposed to get 4mi/kwh. Not like I was driving very fast in LA traffic either.
-Glovebox was locked with a PIN that Hertz had set. I never bothered to call them to get it but it was just annoying.
-Exterior door handles are annoying to use
-Screen UI is a mixed bag. They seem to randomly use grey text to a) indicate a feature that is not available or selected b) Just for fun even in cases where the option is selectable
-If your passenger is adjusting the vents, or looking at radio stations it blocks the map. Unfortunatley, this is a trend that is becoming more and more common as cars rely on screen based controls for everything.
-Have to use the card key to get into the car; no phone as key with a rental. Also, the car would randomly insist that the key card be placed near the cupholders - but sometimes it was ok without it there. On a related note, I couldn't use the bathroom at the supercharging station i visited since you can only get the pin code via the Tesla app (which you can't setup if you dont own the car).
-The combination of black fake leather with the glass roof means that the car gets extremely hot when parked. Really needs ventilated seats.

Overall:
I'd never buy one due to Musk, but also, after renting one for a week, I liked it less on its own merits as well. Too much cost cutting/cheapness and too much reliance on the screen.

[JST]

Lol on the passenger seat controls; that’s been an issue for five years! It was a problem with my 2018; how have they not fixed that yet??

[FC]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. It only solidifies my opinion.

[John V]

Originally Posted by JST

Lol on the passenger seat controls; that’s been an issue for five years! It was a problem with my 2018; how have they not fixed that yet??

Are you seriously asking that question? :lol

I would definitely take a rental model3 if given the opportunity. It's one of those cars that is kind of astonishing in short doses but loses its luster fast.

[robg]

Originally Posted by John V

Are you seriously asking that question? :lol

I would definitely take a rental model3 if given the opportunity. It's one of those cars that is kind of astonishing in short doses but loses its luster fast.

Exactly- its a great rental car...though I'm not sure its built well enough to withstand the rigors of rental car use. The Hertz agent even made a comment about it --he said "These Teslas...there's something not right about the way they're built".