A Minnesota Tesla owner claimed his 2025 Model 3 Highland Rear-Wheel Drive is the cheapest Tesla on the market, telling viewers that his model is the best investment. Viewers are not convinced.
On Oct. 1, TikTok user @saintzabi.live posted a video claiming that his 2025 Model 3 RWD is the best Tesla to buy because it is the most affordable, performs just as well as the all-wheel-drive version, and that the 2024-2025 refresh brings exclusive features. The video has amassed more than 26,300 views as of Friday.
“It’s literally the cheapest car you can get from Tesla,” he says in the video.
Indeed, the 2025 Tesla Model 3 Highland Rear-Wheel Drive is currently the most affordable Tesla on the U.S. market. Following Tesla’s quiet discontinuation of the cheaper “Standard Range” Model 3 in late 2024, the RWD Highland now sits at the bottom of the company’s lineup in terms of price. As of October 2025, it starts around $42,490 before destination fees, undercutting the Long Range and Performance trims by several thousand dollars.
How Does RWD Compare To All-Wheel Drive?
Later in the video, he claims that the Rear-Wheel Drive performs just as well as the All-Wheel Drive. “The reason why I didn’t get the All-Wheel Drive is because they perform the exact same,” he claimed.
“The day I realized that is when I was driving in the most horrible snowstorm in Minnesota,” said the Tesla owner. “And this car did better than my Honda Accord. How?”
Many comments under his video strongly disagreed. “AWD 0-60 is almost a second,” wrote one user. That commenter is correct. The all-wheel-drive version of the refreshed Model 3 accelerates from 0-60 mph in around 4.0 seconds, compared to roughly 4.9 seconds for the RWD version.
The dual-motor setup also improves traction in poor weather, making it objectively superior in acceleration and grip. While the RWD can still perform admirably in snow due to its balanced weight and traction control, it does not “perform the exact same.”
He also claims that “the performance spec is overly expensive” and doesn’t offer enough to justify the price. “I have a friend that owns it, he says. “His guy’s car is so fast. It’s so fast that you don’t even need it.”
This claim is much more subjective. It is true that the performance spec is substantially more expensive and faster. Whether the speed justifies the price range is up to the buyer’s personal preference.
What Are The Benefits Of A 2024 Or 2025 Model?
Teslas made after 2024 are internally referred to as Highlands, which the video creator claims are worth the purchase given the new features, such as the lights.
The 2024-2025 Highland refresh introduced a full design overhaul, including slimmer headlights, new taillights, a quieter cabin, updated suspension, and a redesigned interior that replaces the steering column stalks with touch controls. These upgrades are exclusive to 2024 and newer vehicles—older 2023 or 2022 Model 3s don’t include the new lighting, interface changes, or cabin improvements.
