Model 3 Highland or Secondhand Taycan ST/CT 4S ?

[EGGY41]

Hi All, looking for some advice and benefit of your experience please.

Currently have a Tesla Model 3 LR (sold a Cayman GTS to buy it), owned for 3 years 9 months and a VW ID.3 (don't get me started). Looking to replace the Tesla in the next 3 - 15 months, but it's not essential to.

Use case for the Tesla is around 8k miles pa driving to Northern Italy twice a year, visiting family in the UK, Uni runs (not many more of those left).

I've been driving EV's for 6 years now, BMW i3 before these 2. Wouldn't go back to ICE. So as the title suggests, a Highland or a secondhand Taycan ? I'll try and but the Highland nearly new if possible (Italy trips are in the summer) and I'd prefer to wait to see what the facelift Taycan brings.

Pro's for swapping to a Taycan:

They look great
It'll drive like a Porsche
An estate (I don't do SUV's) would be a bit more practical and I've always liked that fast estate format
I'm not getting any younger and had a lucky escape recently with the old big C.

Cons:

Efficiency
Range
Reliability (having suffered with ID.3 bugs I'm loath to subject myself to more VAG issues)
Running Cost (excluding the depreciation lottery it's going to cost more to run I would expect)
Charging - availability, complexity, cost (compared to Tesla)

I daren't go for a test drive, I'll buy one. Plenty in our area, teasing me. Chap nearby must work for a dealer, he's always cycling through different Taycan's. He's got a Crayon one at the moment, very nice. Appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone from a TM3 to a Taycan. OPC or independent for purchase ? I sold my Cayman to harbour cars, they were great. OPC not so.

I like cars, I enjoy driving, we choose to drive in Europe rather than fly because we prefer the experience and it's better for the environment. My car CV includes a 968CS (the one Leicester restored), 3 2CV's, a 205 GTI (early on) MR2's, Lancia Beta HPE, Alfa 145, various Fords, 3 and 5 series BM's etc, you get the idea.

Thanks in advance

Sponsored

 

[arijaycomet]

Apples to Oranges. But to still answer question best I can:
My model 3 performance was quick and fun to drive. Notably lighter than the Porsche. But suspension tuning too harsh, bouncy, easily upset. What you get in lighter and smaller you lose in ride quality and steering feel.
Software will always be Tesla forte. But the rattles. Noises. Driving a Tesla feels like being inside an old train. Long drives may be easy to charge but I’ll take build quality over efficiency any day.
if you want a Taycan comparison the model S is more apt to challenge you there. But having owned every Tesla even a roadster, it’s a Porsche currently in my garage. Enough said.

 

[Dilpo]

Unless you posted this question to a Tesla forum as well seems like you have made up your mind

 

[4424]

As someone who has owned a Taycan and every Tesla, here is a very short list of pros and cons (I'm sure the Porsche Fanboys will scream at me for this):

Tesa pros:
1. Software is miles ahead of the Taycan software.
2. Autopilot is amazing for long trips and in the future may be awesome for city streets.
3. Charging (which may be changing soon).
4. Better acceleration

Porsche pros:
1. Looks
2. Interior quality
3. better handling
4. possibly better build quality (I haven't seen a highland so I don't know if they improved or not, I imagine they did).

 

[Throb]

As a car/driving enthusiast, I can't imagine ever choosing a Tesla over a Taycan.

 

[EGGY41]

Apples to Oranges. But to still answer question best I can:
My model 3 performance was quick and fun to drive. Notably lighter than the Porsche. But suspension tuning too harsh, bouncy, easily upset. What you get in lighter and smaller you lose in ride quality and steering feel.
Software will always be Tesla forte. But the rattles. Noises. Driving a Tesla feels like being inside an old train. Long drives may be easy to charge but I’ll take build quality over efficiency any day.
if you want a Taycan comparison the model S is more apt to challenge you there. But having owned every Tesla even a roadster, it’s a Porsche currently in my garage. Enough said.

Yeah, I modded mine with KW springs and Mountain Pass Performance camber arms, seemed to improve turn in and it feels "flatter". Apparently the Highland is softer. Potentially the new performance will have a very different suspension set up.

 

[EGGY41]

As a car/driving enthusiast, I can't imagine ever choosing a Tesla over a Taycan.

On the phone to a CPO call centre while they reboot a charger at night in the driving rain and I might disagree. But yeah, as cars they're in a different class, which I guess is what makes it an interesting dilema , you can get a nice GT / sports car (second hand) or a mid size saloon that just works (as an EV) for similar money.

 

[arijaycomet]

But yeah, as cars they're in a different class, which I guess is what makes it an interesting dilema , you can get a nice GT / sports car (second hand) or a mid size saloon that just works (as an EV) for similar money.

There are some pros/cons in both cars case for sure. That said, I have a friend with a newer model 3 that lacks the USS (ultrasonic sensors) and if you've watched any of those YT videos about how inaccurate the parking distances are--well that just got worse. The latest update shows "heat maps" that apparently work equally as poorly.

Decisions like that, or the lack of a traditional rain sensor (Tesla uses the cameras to "Detect rain" but with questionable accuracy) are the little things that add up to make the UX of the Tesla sometimes worse. Does the car's software work better in some places? Sure. But without CarPlay, without stalks on the newer cars (turn signals on a moving steering wheel? really?) -- I think it's hard to look past a lot of the choices Tesla is making.

But as consumers we all win by having options -- so let's hope even more good choices keep filling the lots at dealerships.

 

[Dr Bob]

Pro's for swapping to a Taycan:

They look great
It'll drive like a Porsche
An estate (I don't do SUV's) would be a bit more practical and I've always liked that fast estate format
I'm not getting any younger and had a lucky escape recently with the old big C.

Cons:

Efficiency
Range
Reliability (having suffered with ID.3 bugs I'm loath to subject myself to more VAG issues)
Running Cost (excluding the depreciation lottery it's going to cost more to run I would expect)
Charging - availability, complexity, cost (compared to Tesla)

One Pro missing from your list to be added after "they look great"
- they are great.

I swapped to a Taycan after 3.5 years of an M3 LR and not for one second have I questioned that decision. You list charging as a negative, and it is different but I actually prefer the Taycan for charging.
With the Tesla, I (and I think many others) depended on the super charger network to the point where I rarely stopped on a long run at anything other than a Tesla SC. The trek from the midlands up to Scotland inevitably got me using the Tebay and sometimes Keele services (on the M6). By the summer of '23, these chargers were getting rather full and often there were queues (so many more Teslas appearing). By getting the Taycan, I am now forced to go to non Tesla SCs - but wow, there's lots to choose from and lots of 350kW chargers that charge a lot faster than I ever got on the M3.....and at 30p/kW on the Ionity chargers, its even cheaper than Tesla - although the Ionity charges are as busy as the Tesla ones. Yes, all the other fast chargers are more expensive than the SC's so costs will be higher for long trips.
The speed of charging however is great and I'm often seeing 80+kW going in at 85% SoC which never happened on the M3.
Yes, you do need to get a credit card/Porsche card out and faff for a few mins to start a charge but its not that inconvenient.
People will say that with a Tesla, you can choose any charger - but given the prices, most Teslas get charged at their SCs so the busy ones get busier.

As a summary, I cant do better than Throbs post above.

As a car/driving enthusiast, I can't imagine ever choosing a Tesla over a Taycan.

 

[whitex]

As a car/driving enthusiast, I can't imagine ever choosing a Tesla over a Taycan.

If you were a drag racing car enthusiast, you'd take Model S Plaid over any Taycan all day every day. If you like road tripping in California or along the East Coast, any Tesla is way more practical due to the charging situation (apparently horrible in those locations for non-Teslas). So there are definitely times where Tesla is better.

Tesla makes a great utilitarian EV, intuitive and easy to use. Porsche makes a better handling car, with more luxury options. Depending what you want, different car may be the best choice.

Full disclosure, I switched from a decade of driving Model S'es (4 of them) to a Taycan, no regrets. I don't travel along the east coast or California though. I also couldn't stand the yoke. But I still recommend Teslas to some people, depending on their usecase. I might have bought M3's for my kids, except for the US government dis-incentives to buy Model 3's (extra $7.500 per Model 3 for me to buy them), so got them Corollas instead (perhaps that was their intention with the dis-incentives).

 

[Throb]

If you were a drag racing car enthusiast, you'd take Model S Plaid over any Taycan all day every day.

But I'm not, so no idea what relevance your post has.

If you like road tripping in California or along the East Coast, any Tesla is way more practical due to the charging situation (apparently horrible in those locations for non-Teslas).

Seeing as this is the "UK Forum", and the OP is in the UK, I'm not sure what relevance the charging situation is on the east or west coasts of the U.S.


But, otherwise, cracking post mate.

 

[whitex]

But I'm not, so no idea what relevance your post has.

You didn't say what kind of "car enthusiast" you were. I am not a mind reader. Drag racers call themselves car enthusiasts as well.

 

[whitex]

Seeing as this is the "UK Forum", and the OP is in the UK

Missed that when replying. Not sure the UK situation, I read here the government incentives on Taycans in the UK makes them on of the cheapest cars you can drive, so perhaps it's a no brainer decision.

 

[Throb]

Missed that when replying. Not sure the UK situation, I read here the government incentives on Taycans in the UK makes them on of the cheapest cars you can drive, so perhaps it's a no brainer decision.

The only government incentives that apply to the Taycan are for company cars, and I assume they would apply to the Tesla also.

Either way, the Taycan is certainly far from one of cheapest cars you can buy in the UK.

 

[simcity]

I read here the government incentives on Taycans in the UK makes them on of the cheapest cars you can drive, so perhaps it's a no brainer decision.

Hopefully you had your tongue firmly in your cheek when composing that. Made me chuckle that did. Taycan , Cheap and UK in the one sentence.

Sponsored