Tesla Model 3 = Most Loved Car In USA — New Consumer Reports Owner Survey

For many years, Consumer Reports has conducted surveys of car owners. A key metric it uncovers is how satisfied owners are with their cars.

The Tesla Model S rose in stature after its introduction for taking the top spot in this competition — for becoming the most loved car according to these surveys of car owners. It then won that award year after year for a few years.

Hot news off the press (and found on Twitter thanks to Earl of Frunkpuppy) is that the Tesla Model 3 is now the most loved car in the USA according to these owner surveys.

Side note: If you have a Tesla Model 3, Model S, or Model X on the way (and the order was in before February 3), but you didn’t use a referral code for 6 months of free Supercharging (or 9 months if you didn’t test drive the car), then you can still use my referral code — http://ts.la/tomasz7234 — on the Tesla webpage where you ordered the car.

If you’re in Europe and have already placed your order without a referral code, you can send an email to buildmy3EMEA@tesla.com with the word “Referral” in the subject line to get one added. Just put your name, contact information, reservation number (starts with RN), and the referral code you’d like to use in the body of the email. (Thanks to Paul for discovering that.)

The Model 3’s overall score is 92, which ties it with the Porsche 911, but the decimal points are presumably in favor of the Model 3 since Consumer Reports puts it at the top of the pile.

Naturally, there are potential issues with surveys like this. For example, if owners put a lot of money and emotion into a car, they may be more inclined to say they’re satisfied with it. On the flip side, though, some of them could be more easily disappointed and upset with any issues that pop up — expectations could be too high. We know that many Model 3 buyers stretched to buy a Model 3, and for many others, even if it wasn’t a difficult financial stretch, it was at least the most expensive car they’d ever bought (often, the most expensive by far). What that means in terms of this survey is uncertain, but it’s something to consider.

In any case, you can’t claim that the Model 3 taking the #1 spot is bad news, and you can’t really claim any longer that the Model 3 is plagued with problems that are irritating owners if it turns out Model 3 owners are the people happiest with their cars. In other words, those claims and assumptions appear to be nonsense. Well, I guess some anti-Tesla fanatics are quite capable of living in a fantasyland indefinitely and will probably keep coming up with all kinds of twisted rationales for their biases. But come on — are those really people?

As this second tweet from Earl shows, the Model 3 is actually a full 5 points ahead of the next best car in its class, the Kia Stinger.

Being the safest car on the market, being the quickest car available at or near its price, and having all the normal tech and fun benefits of a Tesla, it’s actually hard to imagine the Model 3 not coming in at the top of the charts. It is the full package at a much more affordable price than the Model S.

How can Tesla critics spin this one to make the news look bad?

Who cares?

Note that aside from the Model 3 coming in at #1 and the Model S at #5, the Chevy Bolt came in at #8 overall, which means three electric cars landed in the top 8.

An online Consumer Reports article about the rankings is here.