EV enthusiast bids goodbye to Tesla for good and explains why he's made the jump

The Tesla Model X was supposed to be the upgrade, but instead it became the final straw that pushed one longtime EV fan straight into an Audi e-tron GT.

In a candid Reddit post, the former Tesla owner laid out a journey that many electric car fans will find uncomfortably familiar.

This wasn’t a Tesla hater complaining for the sake of clicks either.

He’s an industry insider who’s worked with Lucid and Rivian and genuinely wanted Tesla to win him over, but it just didn’t happen.

SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

He owned three separate Tesla vehicles

His Tesla story began innocently enough with a leased 2020 Model 3 Standard Range, followed by a 2024 Model 3 Performance with only 8,000 miles on the clock.

On paper, the Performance model checked plenty of boxes: blistering speed, solid HW4 hardware, and all the tech Tesla is famous for.

But reality crept in fast.

Build quality issues, wrong tires installed by the dealer, and a steering column adjustment didn’t inspire confidence.

More importantly, the Model 3 simply wasn’t practical for a dad with two kids, no matter how quick it was.

Looking for more space, he rolled the dice on a used 2020 Model X purchased directly from Tesla.

That gamble unraveled almost immediately.

Within minutes of driving off the lot, he noticed steering wheel vibration and unsettling crunching noises while turning.

A service visit revealed bad front half-shafts, followed by a growing list of annoyances: squeaky second-row motors, creaking trunk struts, and persistent vibration even after repairs.

At one point, a Tesla advisor casually suggested he should ‘just buy a Model Y’, because the Model X had so many issues, which wasn’t exactly reassuring advice.

What really broke the relationship, though, was the service experience.

The owner described Tesla’s process as putting the burden on customers to prove something is wrong, often requiring multiple appointments if an issue can’t be easily reproduced.

After 36 years of car ownership, he called it the worst certified pre-owned experience he’s ever had.

He still wanted an EV, but he needed a change

To be fair, he didn’t dismiss Tesla entirely.

He praised the company’s Full Self-Driving, Autopilot, and the user interface as best-in-class.

But great software can only carry a car so far.

Deciding he was done with Tesla, he turned to alternatives.

Enter his new 2024 Audi e-tron GT.

According to the owner, it’s a night-and-day difference: confident handling, proper luxury, solid build quality, and a dealership experience that feels polished and professional.

He said that he wasn’t about to abandon EVs, but he had to choose one that finally felt complete.

Funnily enough, he isn’t the only one to have traded his Tesla for an Audi.

Recently, an Arizona woman also traded in her Tesla for an Audi E-Tron, citing the need to avoid ‘tech drama’.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie