ID.3 Family pro 4000 miles in....

[dandandan]

Hi,

Finally got my ID.3 in July 2022 have done 4000 miles so far.

I'm sorry to say I really don't like it.

Everyone is praising its ride, but I can't understand why? Its very rough, lurching over bumps in the road, needing to slow considerably for fairly smooth corners.

The range is 200 miles max, not the stated 259.

Some (working) charger plugs wont "lock" into the socket so wont charge (Wallyford near Edinburgh). I've had the charge cable not release from 3 different chargers now, requiring a touch screen re-boot + lock unlock the doors to release the cable.

By far and away the most annoying user interface I've ever come across. I get an update to my user settings message everyday, if you press cancel it comes back after a second, if you press ok it resets all the settings I've put into the car. Heater goes to either 22 degrees or off, interior lights all come back on at full brightness, the "mode" is reset to comfort, EVERYTIME you start it.

The touch sensitive buttons on the steering wheel are a dreadful idea and lead to incorrect functions being activated by mistake, specifically the cruise control, distance selection. The "OK" button doesn't OK anything? the skip song volume controls are around the wrong way, volume up and down and skip next and back...

The little screen in front of the steering wheel is completely under utilised, why can't I see a big speedo on its own? why can't I see the mileage while driving? why can't I see the driving details (KwH rate etc)? most of the time 1/3rd is blank (not running a navigation) and to be honest the safety car guide screen is interesting for the first 10 minutes but overall is pretty pointless.

The gesture control is a gimmick and it doesn't work. The voice control is "flaky" at best. The AC schedule (pre conditioning) system is random and best avoided.

Major system functions sometimes just stop, lost the heater completely last week, needed to reset the screen and it came back, parking system sometimes not available again a reboot of the screen fixes the issue.

Good things...

The headlights and the auto headlight functions are brilliant, super bright, very clever!
The cruise control is also very clever and results in a pretty smooth drive.
The dealer back up has been very good
The glass roof is cool.
The ID light is also cool

Summary

I wish I had picked a different car.

[GCR50]

It certainly is a car that divides opinions.
I can empathise with some of your concerns.
Overall I do like the car but the range in my 45kw version is not anywhere near as advertised.
I haven't noticed a bumpy ride but did read about some owners collected cars where the transportation blocks hadn't been removed from the suspension.
I hope things improve for you.

[Jamie1c]

It certainly is a car that divides opinions.
I can empathise with some of your concerns.
Overall I do like the car but the range in my 45kw version is not anywhere near as advertised.
I haven't noticed a bumpy ride but did read about some owners collected cars where the transportation blocks hadn't been removed from the suspension.
I hope things improve for you.

Just what I was thinking.

Can't add anything else as I don't have mine yet/ever.

[OB1CCFC]

It’s a heavy car and you feel that weight over bumpy roads. I’ve not driven another EV so not sure if others are better. I think you also notice that weight while braking, which doesn’t feel that great. But you get used to both of these.
Tbh The infotainment has been pretty solid since 2.3 and I don’t get the level of criticism of display or haptic buttons. They are perfectly fine to me.
In the end it’s a lovely quiet, comfortable and punchy car to drive. Efficiency is also pretty decent, I’m averaging 4.3 mi/kWh over the summer.

[Jimmybones100]

For me on my tour it’s the software despite running 2.4 now,and and despite costing more than £40k inside looks like it’s 12K car,scratchy plastic and the seats so bad.

[dandandan]

I'm on V3 software. which I've been told is MUCH better than the previous versions. Which is a worry.

As for the ride its been back to garage to have a suspension turret re-seated? what ever that means so I think they would have spotted the packing blocks then? also I live in the UK so all the roads are bumpy.

[DumfriesDik]

What a shame you are not enjoying the car. Are there any options other than putting up with it?

[OB1CCFC]

And I think the seats are excellent. Amongst the most comfortable I’ve ever had.

[sidehaas]

Our ID3 is more comfortable than any of my other recent cars. My wife has a bad back but gets no problem with the seats on long journeys. So comfort gets high marks from me. Suspect your car has a problem.

I don't have any real problems with the infotainment either, and I like the haptics. The interior is better quality than the Astra it replaced and I really like the open feeling. I drive it before my other car (Octavia VRS) whenever I can. But this all comes down to expectations. If you have come from a big Merc I'm sure it will feel cheap and bumpy, etc.

[GCR50]

+ 1 on comfort.
The car is certainly comfortable to drive and I have arthritis in my lower back and hips.

I just want a longer range.....

[Kwr68]

I must agree with most others don’t have any problems with the car and as with other id owners met when I’ve out and about absolutely love it. I must also say I’m beginning to look at this forum less and less

[Busman]

I have to say that my experience with my lID.3
Pro58 KWH has been fantastic.I just recently went from one end of Ireland to the other and without any issues.The range was as exactly as predicted I have stayed away from this forum for some months now as I was getting tired of the negativity on the forum.My car was delivered with 3.0 software and I have not had any issues with the car .I drove Golfs before I bought my current car and would not go back to a Golf .The ID is a breeze to drive I have not found the ride or to be bumpy or rough.There is a difference in the feel to car and the braking depending on whether you use D or B mode .It is a matter of getting used to both and in the city I use B mode as one pedal driving is brilliant in the city .D mode I use on the motorways and Suburbs.Always remember automatic cars have to be driven differently to manual cars.The style of driving is quite different.I would say that owners of ID.3s who had no experience of driving automaticshave found the change over difficult and their control of the car using brake and accelerator a big adjustment.
Regarding all the tech in the car,all in my opinion are excellent and I have had no issues.There seems to be a cohort on this forum who you would wonder at times are actually owners or are they just on the forum to stir things up.Possibly there are people on the forum who were unlucky with the car that was delivered to them.

[smyth1492]

I agree with everyone on how slow VW are with their update process, however, 2.3 and now 2.4 are perfectly good enough.
I'm looking forward to 3.0 mainly for better route planning and 3.1 for Plug and Charge.

Haptic buttons on the steering wheel are difficult to get used to.

Ride is superb, seats are excellent & is great to drive. As a family everyone thinks this is the best car we have owned.

I'm also finding less on the forums that is positive and of interest, I am just trying to dip in to provide helpful advice to people.

[Sanya]

Hi,

Finally got my ID.3 in July 2022 have done 4000 miles so far.

I'm sorry to say I really don't like it.

Everyone is praising its ride, but I can't understand why? Its very rough, lurching over bumps in the road, needing to slow considerably for fairly smooth corners.

The range is 200 miles max, not the stated 259.

Some (working) charger plugs wont "lock" into the socket so wont charge (Wallyford near Edinburgh). I've had the charge cable not release from 3 different chargers now, requiring a touch screen re-boot + lock unlock the doors to release the cable.

By far and away the most annoying user interface I've ever come across. I get an update to my user settings message everyday, if you press cancel it comes back after a second, if you press ok it resets all the settings I've put into the car. Heater goes to either 22 degrees or off, interior lights all come back on at full brightness, the "mode" is reset to comfort, EVERYTIME you start it.

The touch sensitive buttons on the steering wheel are a dreadful idea and lead to incorrect functions being activated by mistake, specifically the cruise control, distance selection. The "OK" button doesn't OK anything? the skip song volume controls are around the wrong way, volume up and down and skip next and back...

The little screen in front of the steering wheel is completely under utilised, why can't I see a big speedo on its own? why can't I see the mileage while driving? why can't I see the driving details (KwH rate etc)? most of the time 1/3rd is blank (not running a navigation) and to be honest the safety car guide screen is interesting for the first 10 minutes but overall is pretty pointless.

The gesture control is a gimmick and it doesn't work. The voice control is "flaky" at best. The AC schedule (pre conditioning) system is random and best avoided.

Major system functions sometimes just stop, lost the heater completely last week, needed to reset the screen and it came back, parking system sometimes not available again a reboot of the screen fixes the issue.

Good things...

The headlights and the auto headlight functions are brilliant, super bright, very clever!
The cruise control is also very clever and results in a pretty smooth drive.
The dealer back up has been very good
The glass roof is cool.
The ID light is also cool

Summary

I wish I had picked a different car.

Hi, interested to know what car did you run previously. Also, what driving mode are you using and what size wheels does your id3 have?

[Big277wave]

I'm not too bothered about the hard plastic feel of the door cards, but they do tend to mark easily. I only have to touch them and they get a light grey mark. Both my Wife and I think that the internal soft door rests are a little too low.

I don't mind the haptic buttons on the steering wheel, the soft touch for 1mph, harder for 5mph means less button clutter. I agree the volume and channel / track selection buttons should be the other way around, or the selection in the touch screen for radio stations should be a vertical list rather than horizontal to match the steering buttons.

If I use the heated steering wheel or seats, I use the lowest setting so I would prefer the touch buttons on the screen to work 1 press for low, 2 for medium and 3 for full power. I quite like that 1 touch turns them off regardless of setting. The two finger touch of the heating control to control the heated seats is ok, but you have to hold your fingers on it for just the right amount of time.

A scroll bar for Zoom in the map function would be handy, I know you can use 2 fingers on the volume slider but it's not reliable. I'd also like a distance scale bar.

I find the seats reasonably comfortable, the ride is a bit hard though, especially in the rear seats. I don't like the fabric choice for the seats in my 1st edition, they get dirty looking quite quickly. I've a carpet spot cleaner which cleans the fabric well. It's also fantastic for cleaning the rubber floor mats. Compared to my old Zoe, the bigger wheels mean that speed bumps don't jar as much. Long drives don't seem to be a comfort problem.

The sliding centre console cover seems to be a dirt magnet and harder to clean than it should be.

200hp feels like loads and makes the car nippy enough for me. No real complaints about the handling.

Range wise I always though of it as a 200 mile car and that's what I get on the motorway. Manufacturers and dealers should be telling customers that's what they should expect not the WLTP millage which is always too optimistic. it's the same for all cars, electric hybrid or pure ICE. Frankly the motorway range is the only figure you really need to bother with unless you're a taxi driver there's no way you're ever going to get close to the urban range in a day. Whilst a bit more range would be great, 200 is enough for me. I'm ready for a break after driving that far.

[dandandan]

I had a 2019 Ford Focus prior to the VW.

I am definitely an owner as someone hinted at above.

Like many people and posts on here the fact its electric and therefore automatic isn't an issue at all, in most respects its a fine car.
But
The niggles and annoyances are very annoying and its frustrating that a company like VW could release software with these quirks.

I get a new car every three years and do a fair amount of miles and I understand getting used to a new car can take a little while but this has been the most difficult to get used to, I find myself dreading driving it.

on an aside a lot of people are mentioning the seats, apparently my car got the new type (with an arm rest?) but they there is no lumbar or side bolster adjustments which leaves you feeling its a much less expensive car than it was.

[dandandan]

Happy to report after only 15,000 miserable miles I've gotten rid of the worst car I have had the misfortune to own.

VW will have to work very hard to tempt me back into one of their vehicles.

[gailjon]

Happy to report after only 15,000 miserable miles I've gotten rid of the worst car I have had the misfortune to own.

VW will have to work very hard to tempt me back into one of their vehicles.

Well, would VW want you back? Goodbye.

[Sanya]

Happy to report after only 15,000 miserable miles I've gotten rid of the worst car I have had the misfortune to own.

VW will have to work very hard to tempt me back into one of their vehicles.

What car have you replaced it with?

[fatman]

Happy to report after only 15,000 miserable miles I've gotten rid of the worst car I have had the misfortune to own.

VW will have to work very hard to tempt me back into one of their vehicles.

2019 Ford Focus.......to id3 ..... Goodbye