1 month + review: Model S 90D

[Venomboy]

Here's my 1 month+ impressions of my Model S 90D.

Model S 90D, 19" slipstreams, all options except air suspension and that charger upgrade. Black Obsidian with black interior, white headliner, ventilated seats.

The good:

• Beautiful car from all angles. Most cars look good from 1-2 angles; the Model S is stunning all over in terms of the exterior.
• No gas.
• Decent range; I typically charge to 90% every day and get about 269-274 miles on a charge. Kinda wish I would have held out for a 100D, but oh well.
• Tons of interior space. Rear trunk is huge. Frunk isn't bad either. Lots of interior legroom.
• Easy to use controls. Took me about a week to get used to everything but I feel I like I have a good command over all the controls
• Cruise control: easy to use, use it all the time and I find it increases my range by about 1-2%.
• AutoPilot: still a bit buggy, but I know a lot about the technology and what's coming and I have no issues with it. Before the 8.1 update it was a bit wonky, but now it's much better and I have faith that it'll get even better. Besides being a full EV, it's one of the reasons I bought the car

The not so good:

• Fit and finish. Inconsistent gaps between body panels. My Ford Fusion has tighter gaps between panels.
• Some of the interior materials feel a bit cheap: trunk linker, plastic around drivers gauges behind steering wheel, interior door handles.
• Premium Audio: no iPhone audio integration except for Bluetooth. All other audio is compressed (Slacker, XM). So premium audio for compressed music. Hmm. The Audio interface overall is pretty crappy. I've had much older and cheaper cars with better audio interfaces AND the ability to play music directly from my phone or iPod over a cable. Even though I have the premium audio, I find the bass lacking, even with the bass frequencies maxed on the EQ.
• LED interior lights: these are a joke. I bough the Abstract Ocean kit to replace the trunk lights. Need to install them soon as the current trunk lights are useless.
• Price: I feel it's overpriced and for the money the audio, lights, fit/finish could be a lot better.
• Windshield wipers: I drove in heavy rain and they just don't seem to do a good job. It's like there's a film on the windshield or wipers that prevent them from cleaning well.
• Rear visibility and rearview mirror: can't see much out the back, but the backup camera is amazing, even in low light. Is the rearview mirror dimming? Doesn't seem like it.

Overall it's a pretty badass car and I don't regret buying it. But for the money, I think some things could be better

 

[Venomboy]

More not so good:

• No OFF button for radio. I've read previous threads on this. How hard is it to add an off switch for the audio?
• XM: can I get a keypad or a way to punch in the radio station? Album art...please add it.
• Audio overall: bass is very attenuated at lower volumes, but it sounds almost like an AM radio at low volume.
• Cupholders on the center arm rests are useless. If you have a cup in them, you can't use the armrest.
• Lack of pockets in doors: some people have families or need to store a few things. I like to be clutter free, but there's really no storage space in the car
• Lack of lighted sun visor mirrors: every woman that's been in my car is appalled by this. Again, how hard is this?

I'm glad they added the headrest adjustment with 8.1 but surprised it took them this long.

Heated/cooled seats work fine for me, no complaints. No major wear on the seats, either.

I've read many complaints about how Tesla shows pricing on the site. I agree it can be confusing, but I always used the Cash price tab to see what everything costs before the optional rebates, incentives, etc.

 

[dragoljub]

I share most of your feedback after about 1200 miles on my 2017 S90D. I decided to keep the ventilated seats and skip out on the 100D. Performance is the same, and I'm guessing the 90D is lighter than 100D. Possibly more nimble.

To 'turn off' the radio I just push in the left scroll wheel and mute everything.

I actually wish there was an option to have the car mute/turn off the music when you open the doors. Sometimes you don't want music blasting (at slightly lower volume) when you arrive.

No light in the vanity sun visors is frustrating. My wife could barley put on makeup with the interior lighting, basically useless for illuminating the face.

 

[Venomboy]

We have the Model S, new Honda Pilot, and a 2013 Ford Fusion Energy. I don't think the Tesla in terms of interior materials, fit, and finish is better than those 2 cars. It's more minimalist and beautiful and I can't even compare the acceleration. This weekend I was wondering if I made the right decision in buying the car. Love having an EV but for the money, I think it's overpriced.

 

[chillaban]

I've read many complaints about how Tesla shows pricing on the site. I agree it can be confusing, but I always used the Cash price tab to see what everything costs before the optional rebates, incentives, etc.

I also found loan information to be somewhat misleading in terms of payment prices. When I worked with Audi and BMW dealerships, they were always able to quote me a pretty exact number on the spot, right down to the taxes/registration.

With Tesla, even clicking through to the estimator, the final number always ends up being different. Both times in 6 months that I financed my Tesla, the initial offers they gave back involved a 10% down payment so I always inevitably end up writing some sort of 5 digit check that I wasn't planning on writing...

I feel like this is the whole Elon Timeline culture at work, even for payment estimates, and that's just not my style. I'd rather be told up front the exact cost or even a worst-case cost rather than feel like I'm a frog being slowly boiled in their pot...

 

[DrComputer]

Not to rain on the OP's parade, but all of the "not so good" items on his list have been clearly discussed endlessly for many years. Also, the price is a known quantity and Tesla gives buyers every opportunity to sit-in, test drive, mull-over, order and buy the car. With comments like "I think it's overpriced" after buying the car, one would infer that the OP didn't do his homework. While I am always happy for new owners to give their opinion, it doesn't improve the community to give more "me too" reviews.

 

[Joe F]

• Windshield wipers: I drove in heavy rain and they just don't seem to do a good job. It's like there's a film on the windshield or wipers that prevent them from cleaning well.

Clean your windshield using a product with a mild abrasive to fix the problem. I use
Stoner Invisible Glass Water Spot Remover. Rain-X also makes a good product. Problem solved.

Also use regular glass cleaner afterwards, and use same to clean wiper blades too.

 

[Venomboy]

I did do my homework. But a few test drives aren't the same as a 2600+ mile ownership experience. Same thing with reading forum posts. When I first sat in a Tesla I thought it was amazing. Still did after a few test drives.

There's lots of posts where people say they love everything about the car.

As for what improves the community, if there's just positive posts, that doesn't help anyone.

I read a lot of negative stuff on Ford Fusions, still bought one, and I've only had one small issue with the car and none of the problems others have experienced.

 

[Venomboy]

Just ordered some Griot's window cleaner as all my cars have the gassy interior windows.

 

[Joe F]

Just ordered some Griot's window cleaner as all my cars have the gassy interior windows.

You'll probably find it will not work on the exterior of the windshield. There was a film, spots actually, on my MS as delivered. Nothing except a windshield cleaner WITH an abrasive compound will remove it. Good luck.

 

[Viking1]

Rain-X also makes a good product.

Which Rain-X product do you use?

I've noticed poor wiping performance on my new MS. I was going to complain to Tesla and ask for new wiper blades. But, perhaps I will give this a try first.

BTW, on my Dec. 2016 (5k miles) MS I'm getting 263 on a 90% charge. If your getting 269-274 you have some good batteries.

 

[chillaban]

Please do think carefully before going for RainX though.... While it does help bead up water to make it fly off your windshield, RainX also can cause wipers to smear water into smaller droplets instead of wiping away, and also in some cases causes wiper chatter. It's also a pain to remove if you decide you don't like the effect.

I would first recommend a nice deep cleaning of your glass to remove any potential oil accumulation. And obviously, never use those gas station shared squeegee things to clean you windshield -- for whatever reason that seems to be full of oily residue.

 

[Viking1]

^ Standard car wash for this or is there something special you would recommend?

 

[Joe F]

I was referring to Rain-X (paste?) cleaner, which I see they now call X-treme Clean.

I had a very old bottle (pink color) that dried up, and could not find it locally. I saw the Stoner product at Pep Boys, and it works very well. Good too if you get hit with hard water spots from lawn sprinklers like I've had happen at hotels.

RE Rain-X repellent, I've seen threads here stating it caused problems with Tesla's, and have to believe those who had problems, but I cleaned my Dec '16 MS on day 2 with Stoner, and applied 2 coats or Rain-X, and had none of the problems others have had. None. No wiper blade stuttering, which I was assured I was going to have, but after using it for more than 20 years I'm a customer for life I guess. I've never had any of the assured problems on my MS.

Now perhaps Tesla changed the type of wiper blade they install now? Don't know, but I've not had one problem to date.

I've also used Aquapel on a clean windshield, topped with a few coats of Rain-X on all previous cars. Also works well. Have not done that with the Tesla.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Not to rain on the OP's parade, but all of the "not so good" items on his list have been clearly discussed endlessly for many years. Also, the price is a known quantity and Tesla gives buyers every opportunity to sit-in, test drive, mull-over, order and buy the car. With comments like "I think it's overpriced" after buying the car, one would infer that the OP didn't do his homework. While I am always happy for new owners to give their opinion, it doesn't improve the community to give more "me too" reviews.

On the contary it does help the community by saying "me too." If someone is looking to buy and have done their research and what not and the only remaining factors is what others are saying about the car. This one comment, whether for the benefit of tesla or not, push them to either buy, hold off, or choose something else.

As for the price comment. I applaud the OP for saying it. Most people are afraid of labeling their car as expensive for the quality because they risk being labeled as not doing their research/test drive/visit gallery/etc. like you have mentioned. I totally agree with the OP on the price for quality after testing other luxury cars. The only reasons I went with tesla are their charging network and the only EV manufacture with 200+ miles range in town at the time of my purchase. If there was a competitor who had similar car with similar network and maybe even a bit more expensive for higher quailty interior, I would not even hesitate to pick them over tesla. But sadly there are no current real competitor to tesla and I need a new car now not 3 to 5 years from now.