I’ve owned and driven a Tesla Model Y Juniper, the all-wheel-drive Premium version, for almost a year now, and I’ve put about 15,000 kilometers on it. My verdict is simple: it’s the best car I’ve ever owned. It isn’t the best car I’ve ever driven, but as a car to own, none of my others come close.
The cars before it
Before the Tesla, I owned four cars between 2014 and 2026:
- 2014–2018: Peugeot 308 SW (2014 model)
- 2018–2021: Audi A4 Avant (2018 model)
- 2021–2023: Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid (2018 model)
- 2023–2026: Hyundai Ioniq Electric (2019 model)
I’ve also driven plenty of cars once or for a short time, including a Toyota Yaris, several Corollas, a Tesla Model 3, older versions of the Model Y, a Peugeot e-208, and a few BYDs that I drove by chance.
So what do I mean by “the best car I’ve owned, but not the best I’ve driven”? The answer comes from how I went from one car to the next.
I replaced the Peugeot because its mileage was way too high and the engine was close to breaking down.
Next came the Audi A4 Avant, and it’s still the best car I’ve driven. The engine was nice, it was fast, and it responded well to the way I drove. The brakes were very responsive too. Its sport mode was a real sport mode that let me go fast, and the car was spacious enough for most of my random jobs. But honestly, buying it was a young and dumb financial decision. I wanted a nice car to drive, and it was an extremely good car, but buying it was still dumb.
After that, I wanted a very efficient car. At the time I cared a lot about driving as cheaply as possible. The Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid looked classy, in my opinion, and it was one of the most efficient cars you could buy.
Then I moved to the electric Ioniq. It was the same car, but even cheaper to run each month. And it was extremely cheap. I drove about 15,000 kilometers a year, which is normal for me, and I paid maybe 50 euros a month to charge it. That’s insane. Electric cars also need almost no maintenance. There are no oil changes and no engine checks. You mostly just change the tires.
The big problem was range. Looking back, buying an electric car at that time wasn’t the best decision, because the range was so short. I had to charge at least three times a week, which was annoying. Fast charging wasn’t that fast either. On a longer trip I waited about half an hour to charge, and then I could only drive around 180 kilometers. It was cheap to run and maintain, but it wasn’t that nice to own.
That brings me to the Tesla Model Y Juniper Premium, which I bought this year.
Driving it
The Model Y is the best car I’ve owned and the second-best car I’ve driven. I still prefer the Audi A4. Maybe that’s because it’s a gasoline car, and gasoline cars usually feel nicer to drive.
But the Model Y is no slouch. It’s fast and responsive, and the brakes work decently. Its build quality is a bit below the Audi’s, but it’s still a well-built car. I’d give the suspension a 7 out of 10. It isn’t the best, but it isn’t terrible either. It’s quite good.
The suspension is also the biggest difference from the older Model Y and the Model 3. Honestly, their suspension wasn’t good. I’d go as far as calling it garbage. On the Juniper it’s way better. Driving and handling are a little better too, and the space is about the same as in the older Model Y. But the suspension is the key change, and in my opinion, good suspension makes all the difference.
Space for a family
The best part is the space. It’s an SUV, so you can carry almost anything. I have two kids right now, and with two kids you need room for those big child seats. In a small car, it’s easy to bump their heads when you put them into a child seat or baby seat, and that gets more annoying as they grow. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted an SUV: everything sits a bit higher.
The screen and the software
I do miss having a speedometer in front of me. Having only one big screen in the middle is a big change, but it’s not the end of the world. You get used to it quite fast.
The tech and the software are basically perfect. My older cars always had software bugs. The system crashed or got stuck, or Apple CarPlay kept resetting. That kind of thing is super annoying every time it happens.
Tesla doesn’t have Apple CarPlay, and I do miss it occasionally. But Tesla’s own software is superb. It doesn’t crash, and in a year I’ve had zero bugs or other problems with it.
Running costs
The range is super good, especially compared with the Ioniq, although that’s mostly because of the bigger battery. I usually charge once a week, and sometimes twice when I have longer trips. With the Ioniq I had to charge at least three times a week.
The Model Y is still efficient, but it isn’t as efficient as the Ioniq Electric, which was ridiculously efficient. Charging now costs me about 120 euros a month, which is quite a bit more than before, partly because electricity prices went up.
I also still get a road tax discount, and that matters because the Model Y is a heavy car. In a year or two, I’ll have to pay the full road tax, and my monthly costs will go up. Even then, I’d say the car costs less than, or about the same as, a gasoline car, because with a gasoline car you also have to count maintenance.
Maintenance and service
So far this year, the car hasn’t needed any maintenance. There was one small problem, and it was Tesla’s fault. After I received the car, the brakes occasionally squeaked in cold weather. It wasn’t serious, just annoying. I messaged Tesla through their app, which is extremely user-friendly, and I had an appointment within about a day. They already knew about the batch of cars with this problem, and at the garage they fixed it in two to three hours.
No regrets
Overall, I think it’s the best car I’ve owned. It’s spacious, well built, fast, drives well, and needs almost no maintenance. I have no regrets about this purchase.
