2014 P85D Owners... hindsight? regrets?

[RobinF]

I have only one regret with my P85D configuration. (That's saying a lot since I had very high expectations for this car being the best car in the world.) It's a relatively mundane one really. If I had it to do over again I would not have opted for the 21" wheels. I've not had such low profile tires before and I did not know how incredibly easy it is to nick the wheel or cut a sidewall and ruin the $500 tire. I've gone through two Michelins now and have spent $1300 so far on replacement tires and wheel repair. The 19" turbines would have been just fine (and been more efficient).
That's it. Otherwise I am a very satisfied customer. And yes I still think it's the best car in the world by my standards.

 

[mtco]

Totally regret it and I feel like a real sucker.

My 2013 S85 was such a great car. Sold that and took delivery in December 2014 of the P85D. Anyone who did similar took a BIG financial hit on the trade-in.

Why would I do that? Because of the hardware upgrades that weren't available on my 85. Auto-pilot and self parking & summoning sounded so unique and cool, and I was swayed by all the performance claims, AWD, and the range promises of the P85D.

I'm pissed at Tesla for their misleading statements, which were obviously made to boost Q4 2014 sales numbers. They also took shortcuts in order to SHIP in 2014 - such as not delivering the perf. seats. Since then, every few months they release something that I don't get that again lowers the value of my car. I know, I know, car companies change things every year. But NOT every few months.

Let me name the ways I feel screwed:

Different suspension (I know some love it, but I want a sedan ride, not a track car). Why did Tesla change it if it was so great? Because the RIDE sucks. I didn't get to test drive it. Too trusting.
Less range than my previous car instead of the more range\efficiency clearly promised. Call this what it is - a lie, false advertising, fraud.
No LTE (good GOD 3G in 2014\2015? Couldn't they at least put in the hardware required to make the switch with software? In a $140,000 car?)
No heated wheel
No 90 kwh battery
No Ludicrous
No autopilot
No self parking
2014 model year will definitely affect resale vs Jan. 2015 car. They should have waited to ship to iron out and deliver more of the hardware. Of course I got the tax credit a year sooner, that helps a little.

OTA software updates that keep you current and protect your value don't help much if you don't have the hardware to use them.

The only thing that would make me feel better is if Tesla offered free or deeply discounted upgrades for some period of time after your purchase, as "purchase protection\insurance" on this huge investment. Just like the stores do if you find the same item for less within 30 days.

Advice, repeated from above poster: Test drive exactly what you're buying before you buy from Tesla.

 

[TexasEV]

Totally regret it and I feel like a real sucker.

My 2013 S85 was such a great car. Sold that and took delivery in December 2014 of the P85D. Anyone who did similar took a BIG financial hit on the trade-in.

Why would I do that? Because of the hardware upgrades that weren't available on my 85. Auto-pilot and self parking & summoning sounded so unique and cool, and I was swayed by all the performance claims, AWD, and the range promises of the P85D.

I'm pissed at Tesla for their misleading statements, which were obviously made to boost Q4 2014 sales numbers. They also took shortcuts in order to SHIP in 2014 - such as not delivering the perf. seats. Since then, every few months they release something that I don't get that again lowers the value of my car. I know, I know, car companies change things every year. But NOT every few months.

Let me name the ways I feel screwed:

Different suspension (I know some love it, but I want a sedan ride, not a track car). Why did Tesla change it if it was so great? Because the RIDE sucks. I didn't get to test drive it. Too trusting.
Less range than my previous car instead of the more range\efficiency clearly promised. Call this what it is - a lie, false advertising, fraud.
No LTE (good GOD 3G in 2014\2015? Couldn't they at least put in the hardware required to make the switch with software? In a $140,000 car?)
No heated wheel
No 90 kwh battery
No Ludicrous
No autopilot
No self parking
2014 model year will definitely affect resale vs Jan. 2015 car. They should have waited to ship to iron out and deliver more of the hardware. Of course I got the tax credit a year sooner, that helps a little.

OTA software updates that keep you current and protect your value don't help much if you don't have the hardwareuntil to use them.

The only thing that would make me feel better is if Tesla offered free or deeply discounted upgrades for some period of time after your purchase, as "purchase protection\insurance" on this huge investment. Just like the stores do if you find the same item for less within 30 days.

Advice, repeated from above poster: Test drive exactly what you're buying before you buy from Tesla.

If you wanted the same range and a "sedan ride, not a track car" it sounds like you wanted a 85D, not P85D. Of course you could have kept your 85 until the new model was able to do the features you were interested in. I don't understand people trading in perfectly good Teslas for a new ones that weren't yet enabled with the features they were interested in. And yes, Tesla has always made improvements every few months, not yearly. If I had waited a few months in 2013 I could have had parking sensors. Such is life.

 

[X-Wing]

Thanks to the OP and contributors of this thread. The are some very valuable information here and as a consumer I really feel empowered.

From anxiously waiting for the Model X to now falling back to the Model S, there is a lot of new information. Now knowing the real world performance of the 85D vs P85D vs P90DL. The non-P 85D/90D seems to be the sensible choice to me. Still not sure about the 85 vs 90 battery chemistry and degradation though.

Anyways, had I based my decision on Tesla marketing and the stated "motor power" or AutoPilot OTA "in a few months", I would be just another angry P85D owner in this thread.

To be fair, as far as diminishing marginal return on acceleration performance, the P85D is actually a fair deal IMHO.

What is not fair though, is the way Tesla been behaving lately in terms of marketing, communication, and delivering the product as promised.

 

[lolachampcar]

mtco,
Some of your issues do not add up to me.
My P85D rides better than my P85+ which I sold as soon as I put a deposit down on the P85D to avoid Tesla's ridiculous trade in valuation and the devaluation of all MS once the PDs started shipping. The sway bars are kinder on the D and the dampers better match the spring rate. That said, I would think there would be someone out there that got "screwed" by getting non-performance suspension on their PD and would be perfectly willing to trade. Complaining about performance suspension on a performance car when you could have driven a P85+ does not make sense.

Tesla changes every few months. I "had" to sell my Feb 13 delivery P85 to get my July 13 delivery P85+. This has been going on since the beginning.

The 90KW-Hr battery was not mentioned at the launch or promised at the launch so you could not have been deceived.

I specifically asked for a January 2015 build for the exact reasons you mentioned. I got a 15 ViN and the correct seats. My car has not been back to the service center for anything.

The above said, perhaps I am reading your post incorrectly and you are basically saying "if I knew then what I know now, I would not have done what I did". If that is the case, then I understand.

I also agree whole heartedly about things like no AP yet and the whole range deal. I had the benefit of waiting a month for my car so I was able to borrow a P85D loaner over night and make sure I understood the range impact before finalizing my order.

 

[mtco]

If you wanted the same range and a "sedan ride, not a track car" it sounds like you wanted a 85D, not P85D. Of course you could have kept your 85 until the new model was able to do the features you were interested in. I don't understand people trading in perfectly good Teslas for a new ones that weren't yet enabled with the features they were interested in. And yes, Tesla has always made improvements every few months, not yearly. If I had waited a few months in 2013 I could have had parking sensors. Such is life.

I understand that you don't understand why some people on this particular thread are unhappy. Perhaps that's because you didn't fall for the ** Tesla was selling a year ago like we did - me based upon my previously good experience with Tesla. This car was supposed to come WITH certain capabilities and items that were NOT delivered, were delivered late, or that we still haven't seen after many "just a little longer" statements from Tesla.

And no, I wanted a P85D. Note that the P85D's ride is much better NOW, because it was changed 4 months after I bought the first of the P85D's - why is that? Maybe someone realized the ride wasn't what it should be? I'm not looking for a cadillac ride here, but something close to other performance sedans would be nice. This ride is stiffer than my 2015 Mini Cooper S 2 door.

Yes, I'm whining. Yes I'm critical of Tesla for not doing better by loyal customers. I also suggested a fix. I'm not going to be quiet and say "ah well, that's life" if I believe something should be done.

And besides, wk057 asked a great question :smile:, which I just realized I'm not adding much to with my detailed answer. So, last post on this subject for me....

 

[lolachampcar]

Is not Tesla back to shipping the performance suspension with current P90D deliveries?

 

[dsm363]

If you wanted the same range and a "sedan ride, not a track car" it sounds like you wanted a 85D, not P85D. Of course you could have kept your 85 until the new model was able to do the features you were interested in. I don't understand people trading in perfectly good Teslas for a new ones that weren't yet enabled with the features they were interested in. And yes, Tesla has always made improvements every few months, not yearly. If I had waited a few months in 2013 I could have had parking sensors. Such is life.

Selling any car after less than two years will take a massive hit so making sure the new car you are going after meets all your requirements seems even more important. I missed the P85+ by 6 months after waiting 3.5 years.

 

[lolachampcar]

You would have been ok selling your brandy new P85 within the first four months. I normally set aside 1$/mile in depreciation assuming I keep the car for 36 months. I managed to sell my four month old P85 and got away for fifty cents a mile which was a very good deal. They were simply in that much demand back in the early days.

I did not do so well on the P85+ to PD move

 

[X-Wing]

Yes, I'm whining. Yes I'm critical of Tesla for not doing better by loyal customers.

People must be crazy to have any expectation at all on a $100,000+ car. /sarcasm

Some people care about principle and will spend a million to fight over a dollar for the right reasons. I certainly fall into that group and had my fair share of worthless but passionate pursuits in life.

Some simply choose to pick his/her battle, which is a also a sound strategy. But in this case, enabling certain type of behaviors from Tesla might ultimately lead to a less satisfactory ownership experience down the road. If they feel that they can easily make their customers bend over, what happens when you need warranty work, or future parts such as battery, drive unit, console screen replacement or body panels?