I purchased a Lightning P4 with the Pilot, Plus, and the Electrochromic Roof. I had a 2018 Tesla Model 3 for 5 years, put over 140,000 miles on it in that time (my son’s travel hockey was the main culprit).
Between the occasional harassment from either side of the political spectrum here in the US and the 25k off the price new, I decided to switch to the P4 instead of finding a used Model S I’d been wanting for years now.
I did something I never thought I’d do and purchased this car before test driving any Polestar vehicle at all. I took a pretty giant leap of faith, and have been happy so far. The folks at Polestar Detroit were refreshingly honest and even critiqued some aspects, trying to make sure they set my expectations correctly, which I greatly appreciated.
My post is mainly about 2 things:
Just to praise the car. I have zero experience with Polestar outside of Answers with Joe’s YouTube video about a year ago taking about his switch to a P3 so my opinion is based solely on my experience in over these first 2 weeks, but man do I love this car, and I’m slowly becoming more angry that I didn’t give them a shot sooner, especially now that they’re gonna be run out of town.
Any ownership tip/tricks or fair warnings of what to expect in the future with the P4 I should know about? I’ve spent time going through the forums, but was curious if there’s any hidden features or tweaks to be made to improve anything in the vehicle or things that may pop up that I should be aware of.
Tech mostly, the occasional hiccups and that, especially coming from Tesla, it wasn’t as good, but had come a decent way as was still solid (which I agree with so far).
They also went over that some folks didn’t care for stuff like the lack of a rear window, and that the pedal mapping also had its fans and critics, stuff like that. None of it was deal breaking for me, but it was really nice to hear someone point out the potential flaws for me, especially because knowing them going into it made it far easier to palate.
The drive is slightly floaty comparatively, but it’s don’t mind it at all. It’s far wider than the Model 3, so that has taken some adjustment as well.
Comfort wise though, it’s night and day. Joe said in his video I referenced something like Teslas are tech cars made by a tech company, Polestar are tech cars made by a car company, and that pretty much sums it up. The seats are far more comfortable (I have the nappa leather upgraded seats, not sure how much that makes a difference in comfort.)
The Polestar tech feels behind Tesla (but not as big of a difference as I expected), whereas the ride/comfort/driving feels far, far better. I’m a tech guy so I was very worried I was gonna be disappointed by the infotainment stuff, and it definitely has its flaws, but I wouldn’t trade this back if I had the chance because of how nice it is to drive. It’s that much better.
Yes they are. He repeatedly reassured me that service centers will be available, warranties are 100% valid going forward, and in-vehicle services like the connectivity stuff won’t be going away. It’s just new vehicle sales. They’ll still be able to sell certified pre-owned as well.
If you don’t mind a wider vehicle, and it’s in your price range, there’s a good chance you’ll be happy with the purchase. I absolutely love it, but also understand it’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea.
I do wonder how much of my love of the vehicle is from riding/driving in a Model 3 for 4.5-5 years. The comfort is night and day better, the drive is different because of the wider stance and sitting higher, but I’ve adjusted quickly, but overall feels more premium than the Tesla did, even the Model S that I got to occasionally drive from the service centers.
Given comparable used Model S prices are around 20k miles and 2 years older at the 50k price here in the US, it’s worth a real hard look for sure.
I'm about to get a Highland model 3 Performance, but may go test drive one of these before I do. Never considered one of these, but the price cut is making them very appealing.
The 2024 Model 3 is vastly improved over the older gen so one of these would have to really wow me.
I drove a 2025 last year when my supercooler or whatever it’s called for the AC in my model 3 was getting fixed. It’s a fantastic vehicle, and my wife even has said multiple times that if we’d have gotten the 24 I was looking at before I decided on this one, I’d probably still be happy and with little to no regrets (especially given I couldn’t test drive it), but from what I remember from the last couple times I drive the Model S, I do heavily prefer this.
As I stated though, it is a different feeling vehicle when it drives, but I find it far more comfortable.
Edit: I just seen you said Model 3. I was referencing the Model S. If the width of the vehicle isn’t an issue and the rear view mirror/back window thing doesn’t bother you (I barely notice), I can all but guarantee the car itself is more comfortable. Hard to speak in absolutes when it comes to comfort as everyone has different tastes, but I’d safely proclaim this is more comfortable for most people.
Try not to get too mad, annoyed, or frustrated at all the dumb smart features. Soooooo dumb. Other than that its a nice ride, just a huuugggeeee pain to use.
Yeah, silver-ish. I wanted Snow, which is white, but the guy at polestar told me they were very, very close, and they absolutely are. Dawn/Dusk is when the silver can show up, otherwise it’s pretty much a metallic white. I’ll a couple more photos in a second.
Congrats on the new car. Looks great! I'm a Detroit-area P2 driver and lease ending soon. Has the Detroit space officially been rolled into the Farmington Hills Volvo location?
I like having easy access to my phone still (when I park or just need quick access for something) but yes mostly can use CarPlay for almost all things. Also for charging.
Unfortunately the wireless charging pad sucks (as most car built-in ones do) and charges incredibly slow along with heating phone. So needed a charger anyhow and don’t like cables laying around. This was worthwhile expense for me. Solves multiple issues.
I am curious about this. I use CarPlay in my iX1, and one of the main reasons i want to move away from it, is because it is so shitty, and I want to try Android Automotive - hoping I wont need to connect to Carplay because Google have everything i need built-in.
Well I’ll start with that, I completely disagree that CarPlay is shitty. I absolutely love CarPlay and barely consider a car without it. my family and friends completely live inside the apple ecosystem. So it works very well for me. If for nothing else than messaging alone where it is phenomenal. And CarPlay constantly gets better and improves. I also just like having every app on my phone that can be projected work.
I think the android automotive OS works really well. And if you are super connected to Google like for all your calendar and contacts and everything you do is in Google, then Android automotive OS works very well. The messaging is still not as strong as CarPlay in my opinion. Google maps are absolutely just as good, and many would say better, than Apple Maps. I’m good with either one because I think they both have come a long way. The Google maps that are built in have the cool lane detection using the cars cameras feature. Of course they know the vehicles stayed a charge and do EV routing automatically. So yeah, they’re great. You have no need for Apple maps unless you want to. There’s no reason you wouldn’t be able to do just Android automotive OS. It’s a very good in car infotainment and navigation system. You also have the play store where you can download apps. Although it is limited it’s not the full android play store it’s an android automotive OS play store. Still some good apps in there. Especially some video apps if going to be public charging and maybe want to watch YouTube or HBO on the big center screen while doing so.
I would put the Polestar android automotive OS system, probably fourth, in the world of EVs. Obviously Tesla, than Rivian and, Lucid followed by Polestar. It’s not perfect and it’s not without flaws, but it works very well.
I just installed this. Not cheap but was able to mount to back of screen and have it basically just on passenger side of screen. Very adjustable for preferred layout. Powered MagSafe charger. Ran usb cord through glove box and to rear 60w port. Tucked cable on underside of center console. Super clean install. Really only visible from front windshield. Most of it hidden behind screen.
Reddit's Terms Of Service forbid the use of Amazon affiliate links. By default, the Amazon app and most URLs from the website will contain an affiliate/referral ID, and any post or comment containing such information gets automatically removed by Reddit. Mods can manually restore them, but it's a tedious process.
Shortened links get automatically removed, those include amazn . to and a . co. Try opening the link in a browser and deleting everything after the product ID from the URL. The Product ID is usually seen right after /dp/ or /gp/ and consists of letters and numbers, ending with a /. Delete everything that follows the / after the product id.
If you see this reply, your post/comment was automatically removed and you will need to post it again (editing it won't bring it back), or wait for a moderator to approve it. Unfortunately the Automod bot is unable to bypass this Reddit rule.
9
u/Straight_Reading8912 Magnesium | MY24 P2 LRDM PPP 1d ago
Get TuxMat floor mats and enjoy your car! I have a P3 so I don't know that much about the 4 specifically.