First impressions

[duncsand]

I thought I'd write some thoughts about my new id.3. A lot has been said about delivery issues in this forum, but not so much about practical experiences.

I got my id.3 Family Pro Performance this week. I've done a good few local trips and a long run to the coast today. Enough to start to form some perspectives.

- Build quality is top-notch. No rattles, no squeaks, everything feels well screwed together. The car feels as solid as a rock and absolutely what I'd expect from a VW. Doors close with a typical VW "thunk". Nothing to worry about on build quality - this car oozes confidence in that department.
- Speed and torque are brilliant - this car will get you out of a tight spot easily.
- It feels a substantial car - I've yet to fully get used to its dimensions, which I'm sure I will. My previous car was a Mercedes e-class, which isn't small. But the id.3 feels more substantial - maybe partly because you sit higher. The rear window is quite small and reversing not easy without relying on the camera - which takes a bit of getting used to as your brain is steering the opposite way to when turning to look out the rear window!
- Ride quality is good and I find it a relaxing car to drive. At higher speeds (eg 80) it feels slightly fidgety. Bear in mind I'm comparing it with an e-class, which is designed for relaxed cruising. A shorter wheelbase and higher weight probably contribute. At 70 it's perfect and for an EV where efficiency is a factor, that's probably how I'll drive it on the motorway.
- The turning circle is utterly brilliant - no engine to get in the way means the wheels turn much more than any car I've ever had, making car park manoeuvres easy (subject to visibility).
- Many have commented negatively on the interior quality. Personally I find the changes for model year 22.5 have improved this quite a bit. The seats look very premium and this lifts the overall feeling of interior quality. The door cards could be a bit softer, but to be honest this is quite a minor thing. My Mercedes had similar hard plastics in places. I sat in a Hyundai Ioniq 5 the other day - for me, subjectively, the id.3 has a more premium interior. The door cards on the Hyundai felt like just one sheet of hard black plastic, which isn't something I see commented on. Overall my feeling of interior quality in the id.3 is that it's absolutely fine and some of the negative comments a bit over-done - or perhaps they were made before the new seats were introduced, which does improve things. Either way, I find the interior a nice place to be, not low-rent at all. It could be improved in a few places, but to me this feels like nit-picking - overall, it's good and better than some more expensive competitors.
- Many reviewers have commented negatively on the steering wheel haptic controls. I read this so consistently that it had started to worry me. I have to say, I don't understand the concern at all. The controls don't activate by accident - you have to press deliberately and there's a haptic feedback that makes them feel like physical buttons. I find them completely intuitive.
- Again, lots of comments on a supposedly glitchy infotainment system. I've had no such issues. It's not Apple-level fluidity, but it's perfectly good. I've not seen any glitches or slow-downs. No crashes, not sluggishness I read about. I don't know if software 3.0 fixed some things, but this is perfectly fine.
- The car is packed with technology. Radar cruise control, lane assist, reversing camera, apple car play, etc. Lots to get used to. So far I find these things well done. Lane assist isn't as annoying as some people claim - or, perhaps, my car being on 3.0 means it's been improved? It's only a gentle nudge and only now and again. Far from intrusive. Radar cruise control is scarily good - the car practically drives itself in traffic - even slowing to a stop and then driving off again without any input from me (although my foot was hovering over the brake)!

Overall, I find the id.3 to be the well designed, high-quality car I'd expect of VW. Nothing has disappointed me so far and many of the things I was concerned about have turned out to be complete non-issues. To those waiting, it's worth it. This feels like a giant leap into the future - and a well executed one.

I hope my practical experience helps others worrying about things they may have read - it's easy to over-think small comments, as I have done. In the flesh the things that have been commented on negatively are very small issues. And software 3.0 seems good - maybe my experience is better partly because of this new software version, it's hard to tell. I like this car a lot!

[MattBCL]

Thanks for the review there. It’s really good to hear from someone coming from a larger car too (am currently driving a Volvo V90) so it’s good to hear it doesn’t feel tinny or lightweight compared to a big exec size car.

[DumfriesDik]

Nice impression there @duncsand. Glad you like the car, do you feel it was worth the wait?

[cornbutter]

Yeah I have to say I agree with pretty much everything you've said.

Few of things I'd say about mine.

- Build quality is extremely good, same as yours, nothing squeaks, nothing rattles, its all good. On the piano black trim, yeah it gets dirty but I have a jay cloth I keep in the car, I wipe it down every couple of days, 15 seconds and its clean. Same for the infotainment screen, two second wipe and its grand. Like you I thought the Ioniq 5 feels cheap in comparison to the ID3 interior. The view from the rear window is very limited but I think its definitely made up for with the area view and the rear view camera. I still check over the shoulder for my blindspots but entering the driveway has been made a million times easier with the area view. Same with keeping within parking lines, I wasn't always the best at judging how close I was to the lines and I would have to open my door to judge it before this but the area view means I can see how I'm doing as I'm lining up. I'm pretty much right down the middle everytime now.

- Haptic feedback buttons on the steering wheel, I do find them a bit clunky at times, but nothing too bad. The worst I've had so far is trying to manually set the speed, +/- 10kph with hard press, +/-1kph with a light press, sometimes the difference between the two is not that clear and I end up with the wrong feedback. I don't think I've accidentally pressed any button though which is something I saw many people on here complain about. One thing I will say that wasn't good by default in the car was the "wake words" by the car was being picked up a lot while I was talking in the car. No issue though, just disabled it and can't complain.

-Infotainment Screen. While its not a smooth movement and button press, its not awful either. The caveat to that is during the initial start up it can be very laggy. I try to leave pressing anything until about 20 seconds or so after start up. It does disappoint me that the ID Light doesn't work with Android Auto or Apple Car Play navigation but its a minor point. My old Golf tended to have occasional problems with Android Auto and I haven't had any issues so far with the ID3.

-Emergency braking. I've had two instances so far where emergency braking kicked in where it wasn't really necessary. My driveway is very narrow to my house with bushes on either side, I don't mind the bushes brushing up against the side but one occasion as I was reversing it kicked in at low speed where it definitely wasn't necessary, I presume it felt that it thought the edge of the bush was a lot more solid that it really is. The other was in a multistory car park today as I was going very close to a kerb, it kicked in. Both times have been extremely low speed events (less than 5kph) but its extremely violent and gave my other half a fright both times. I would have thought when its going that slow that the emergency brakes could be a little less 100% instantly but whatever. I prefer those types of non-incidents happening and preventing a major impact in other situations.

-The ACC is taking me a while to get used to. I used Cruise Control quiet a bit before and the lane assist and cruise control functions together feel a little... odd... to start with. I'm sure I just need to get used to it but its not as easy to get used to than CC was. I've also tried letting it take some bends itself and I'm not a fan of it if I'm honest. Maybe I just don't like giving up the control but it doesn't feel safe, especially with anything more than a very gentle curve.

-The weight of the car does not come across in the way the car handles. It feels very nippy and turns so effortlessly and the pick up is insane. I've not had any occasion where its come in handy yet, but I can easily see a situation where if I'm waiting for gap in heavy traffic that it could come in handy.

-The wireless charging does seem to be an issue for me and my partners phone. Doesn't seem to work at all or at worst it seems to drain the phone. I just got a new USBC cable for the cockpit and charge with that when I need it now.

-Range. So far I've only really been doing city driving but the range is incredible. I could easily see myself pushing high 500's with my 77kWh version in the city if not more. The car tends to estimate around 450km when its at 80% and I haven't charged it above 80% yet but it seems like that's achievable. I'll be doing some longer range trips across the west coast of Ireland in a couple of weeks so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I'm pretty much exclusively driving in B mode now, D move feels weird, it just glides and it feels unnatural that after I take my foot off the accelerator that it doesn't start slowing down. I had tried the B mode in the Polestar 2 recently and I hated it, it was way too much regen braking but I feel like the ID3 does the perfect deceleration. So I'm sure all that B mode driving is helping with the range a lot.

-Windscreen wipers. This one does annoy me and I'm not looking forward to my Dad seeing it. There's two issues with it, both have been said here before. Its still the left hand driving configuration of the windscreen wipers. The left hand side wiper comes down last which leaves the bring streak across the drivers eye line. The second issue is there is a decent sized part on the right hand side of the windscreen that doesn't get caught by the wipers. Its not so much that it interferes with your vision but you look at the left hand side of the windscreen and its practically over to the frame that's caught by the wipers. Its honestly such a shitty design oversight and I really wish there was even a software fix to have the right hand wiper to come down last in the sequence.

Overall, 100% worth the wait. Felt like I've got a really premium car and the leap in technology compared to my old 2017 Golf is incomparable.

[sidehaas]

Great hear from new users loving their cars. The forums can be a bit negative at times. I agree with almost all you said. After six months I've found a small niggles but overall the car is great.
One point I thought worth making on setting the cruise control speed. This took me several months to work out! Prior to that I was having the same trouble as cornbutter. A short press des +/- 1 mph or kph. If you want to do +/-5 mph (maybe this does 10 kph?) it's not a long or hard press, it's a swipe. If you swipe up from the - to the+, it does +5, and if you swipe down from the+ to the -, it does -5. The first couple of times this might feel weird, after that it works 100% of the time and I really like it. Until I worked this out I was messing about with hard presses that rarely worked. In hindsight, when they occasionally did work I think my thumb had probably just moved a bit and it detected a swipe.

I also think the complaints about swiping or pressing haptic buttons by accident are complete garbage. If it happens at all it's very rare.

[OB1CCFC]

A good 1st impression review and mostly fair I think.
It is a lovely car to drive and very well put together.
The minimalist and largely hard plastic interior is a matter of taste and I can understand some people being a bit shocked if they come from a more ‘plush softer ’ interior vehicle. I find it fresh and airy.
2 years in the big problem remains software and software update, something you’ve not experienced yet. Hopefully new 3.0 owners will avoid the confidence sapping nonsense earlier adopters have had.
Happy motoring!

[duncsand]

A good 1st impression review and mostly fair I think.
It is a lovely car to drive and very well put together.
The minimalist and largely hard plastic interior is a matter of taste and I can understand some people being a bit shocked if they come from a more ‘plush softer ’ interior vehicle. I find it fresh and airy.
2 years in the big problem remains software and software update, something you’ve not experienced yet. Hopefully new 3.0 owners will avoid the confidence sapping nonsense earlier adopters have had.
Happy motoring!

Yes, I do think I’ve been lucky in going straight to 3.0. I suspect some things have been improved - maybe infotainment, lane assist, etc.

[duncsand]

Well this has turned I to a nice thread - lots of people loving their cars and putting small niggles into perspective. I’m glad my experience is shared by others!

[vanb]

Well this has turned I to a nice thread - lots of people loving their cars and putting small niggles into perspective. I’m glad my experience is shared by others!

I’d like to add that I love having only 2 buttons-not counting the REAR button-for the windows. The number of times I’ve pulled over to speak to someone or at a drive-through and accidentally lowered the rear window-in past cars with 4 buttons. Then having to apologise and faff around raising the back window whilst lowering the front one in order to speak. I wish that car reviewers would get over themselves about this feature. What’s wrong with their passengers? Are they incapable of lowering/raising the window for themselves?

[MattBCL]

Totally agree re the 2 buttons. To be quite honest I’d happily go back to manual winders for my windows. It was hardly an ordeal for the once a month you needed to wind them down. And don’t even get me started on silly electric tailgates!!

[vanb]

Totally agree re the 2 buttons. To be quite honest I’d happily go back to manual winders for my windows. It was hardly an ordeal for the once a month you needed to wind them down. And don’t even get me started on silly electric tailgates!!

Absolutely agree about electric tailgates and seats really! So SLOW!!! My last 2 cars were Audi A7 and A8. The A7 hatchback closing nearly sent me to sleep! Just want to open the boot quickly to put things in then ‘slam’ the hatchback and go!

[ksoni94]

These are great. I've had my ID.3 for 5 months and its been my favourite car that I've had. Couldn't be happier with it.

On some of the points:

- I've never actually noticed the windscreen wiper issue, but maybe its because it hasn't rained a lot in the last few months so I found that interesting.

- I kind of wish cruise control was slightly better on battery. I've taken the car for a couple of longer journeys and I like to be on cruise control on the motorway. I know with electric cars the higher speed is more draining on the battery (vs ICE cars where it can be more fuel efficient) but CC brings down the efficiency even more in my experience. Its trying to maintain a constant speed whilst its on which is fair, that what you've asked it to do. But I wouldn't mind if I dropped the speed by 2-3 mph when the car is going up a hill or something or where its using a lot of power to try and conserve some power. Im not a mechanic by any means so im sure this isn't the solution but I can't help but think that there must be a better, more efficient way to do cruise control for EVs.

- I also share the slight disappointment that the ID Light isn't compatible with CarPlay but its a minor issue and something I imagine they'll bring out at some point.

- The range of the car is really great. I got from London to Liverpool area on a single charge when I was driving to North Wales and was quite surprised at how far I got. So far I've not had to do a journey yet where I've needed to charge more than once on the way to/from my destination.

- The haptic buttons are not too bad for me. The only very personal quarrel I have with it is that I wish that when I pressed the down arrow to change the song playing I didn't have to make a point of taking my entire finger off the button so it doesn't start fast forwarding instead

- As mentioned above the wireless charging can be hit and miss. I find without the right alignment I'll get an error saying my phone was unable to charge. I think ive figured it out now though. But regardless, wireless charging anywhere makes your phone hot so its been mostly a no go for me over the summer and I normally use the cable instead which is just as convenient as its right there.

- Also agree with everyone on the build and drive quality. It feels like a really solid car with a smooth drive and at the end of the day that's kind of what will satisfy most people. I've had a tonne of fun driving it and im looking forward to keep it for the next few years.

[chrisfs]

I think I remember Battery Life saying 3.0 improves the lane assist. Making more of an effort to keep it smoothly in the middle of the lane rather than letting it get near the edge and then bumping it back a bit harshly.

Anyone with 3.0 able to comment on this?

[duncsand]

I think I remember Battery Life saying 3.0 improves the lane assist. Making more of an effort to keep it smoothly in the middle of the lane rather than letting it get near the edge and then bumping it back a bit harshly.

Anyone with 3.0 able to comment on this?

I have a friend with an id.3 on 2.3 who hates lane assist and always turns it off. I’m on 3.0 and find it a complete non-issue. This is only anecdotal and it’s possible I may be less sensitive than my friend. But my assumption is that it’s been improved in 3.0 as my friend isn’t the sensitive type.

[Sheps]

I live in rural Cornwall and the first thing I have to do every time I get in to drive is switch off the Lane Assist. It is not pleasant having a bus coming towards you and being nudged away from the side of a narrow road. I wish it could be switched off as an elective default setting or that there were an easier switch off (three buttons every time I get in the car, even after the briefest of stops, is a pain) - I imagine it can be useful on the motorway but my nearest motorway is 120 miles away.

[monkeyhanger]

It can be done with OBD11.

[cornbutter]

Lane Assist definitely feels smooth on 3.0, but I don't know what it was like before so can't say if its an improvement or I just don't find it too jerky.

[Gwyver]

Yeah I have to say I agree with pretty much everything you've said.

Few of things I'd say about mine.
...
-Emergency braking. I've had two instances so far where emergency braking kicked in where it wasn't really necessary. My driveway is very narrow to my house with bushes on either side, I don't mind the bushes brushing up against the side but one occasion as I was reversing it kicked in at low speed where it definitely wasn't necessary, I presume it felt that it thought the edge of the bush was a lot more solid that it really is.
...

I have a similar situation and I usually reverse up a very steep driveway. I find that switching off "Auto Hold" before I start reversing makes for much smoother progress - the emergency brake doesn't suddenly activate.

The only downside to this is that when I leave the drive and re-activate "Auto Hold" it can take quite a few seconds before this "switch" becomes available for use after the infotainment has switched on and gone through it's "You are online" tedious routine.

[sidehaas]

Autohold and emergency front assist (emergency braking) are two different systems.
I agree though that Autohold has its issues. It's much better to turn it off for manoeuvring in tight spaces.
One of the few things in my ID3 where the lag sometimes annoys me is when trying to drag down the shortcuts menu from the top (where I have autohold).

[Gwyver]

Autohold and emergency front assist (emergency braking) are two different systems.
I agree though that Autohold has its issues. It's much better to turn it off for manoeuvring in tight spaces.
One of the few things in my ID3 where the lag sometimes annoys me is when trying to drag down the shortcuts menu from the top (where I have autohold).

Yes, I also have AutoHold as a dropdown on the shortcuts menu - and that's where I notice the lag.